7Artisans 9mm f/5.6 full frame (!) lens review

[@RVarrun]

That barrel distortion is negligible for such a wide lens. Wow

[@mytube001]

I recall an old, quite extreme, wide-angle lens from the 90s, the Zeiss Hologon 16 mm f/8. It was custom made for the Contax G1 rangefinder camera. It suffered from the same physical vignetting issue, and actually came with a filter that had a gray spot in the middle, perfectly matching the vignetting pattern, just in reverse, cancelling it all out, though with a light loss of four stops.

[@AdamSpurgin]

The laowa equivalent of this lens is brilliant, and actually has a near-macro capability. I've smudged its lens protector a few times trying to get some shots.

[@lenhister]

Would you say the Laowa is as sharp in the corners as this lens?

[@AdamSpurgin]

@@ivandj707 the laowa 9mm f/5.6 is a full frame lens.

[@TDDPhoto]

​@@lenhister On Phillipreeve there is a review that compares this 7Artisan to the Laowa. Sharpness is basically identical, the Laowa is significantly better close up though so depending on what you want to shoot it might be worth the extra money.

[@lenhister]

@@TDDPhoto I just read it, thank you! Funny how the Laowa is actually wider than the 7Artisans. Looks like the Laowa better overall imo.

[@TDDPhoto]

@@lenhister Yeah this is the case for a lot of lenses, I have multiple 50mm lenses and all of them are ever so slightly different in terms of FoV. Wether or not the extra wideness and better close up performance is worth the extra money of the Laowa is up for debate but truth be told you'll be happy either way I feel. Personally I'd still go for the Laowa as it's only $130 more expensive where I live

[@JohnStekl-kj1tf]

Thanks!

[@christopherfrost]

Thanks for the support!

[@cameraprepper7938]

There are also the Laowa 9mm 5.6 which is smaller an lighter, with a close focus of 12cm. Plus a Brightin Star 9mm 5.6

[@seth094978]

And the Laowa actually has a wider view, too. 135° vs 132°

[@AgnostosGnostos]

recent mirrorless cameras has great high iso perfomance. So the f/5.6 is not a problem with image noise. The deaph of field from a full frame 9mm lens is very deep even with large apertures. So the f/5.6 is fine.

[@Scyth3934]

2:16 I'm curious to see what it would have looked like though!

[@HR-wd6cw]

This would actually make a very good wide angle prime for an APSC camera..... and even better that it's actually for FF so for those of us who have both formats, this could be a dual-purpose lens -- super wide on a FF, and wide angle on an APSC (and even reasonably wide on a m4/3 camera -- 18mm). Of course I would probably only use it for things like architecture and landscape given it's a manual focus lens.

[@seth094978]

Yeah this is so crazy wide I wouldn't even use it on m4/3. 12mm is enough for me.

[@HR-wd6cw]

@@seth094978 On a m4/3 camera it would be 18mm equivalent angle of view though, which isn't exactly ultra wide, but just wide angle, but on a FF, 9mm is super wide, but regardless this lens looks promising as a cheaper alternative to a more expensive zoom if you don't mind focusing manually.

[@80-80.]

It's pure luck that I checked out this video because I was sure it was a crop lens when I read the title.

[@yesthisisdonut]

03:22 seems to expose some major field curvature, look at these soft corners! not the end of the world, not really surprising but certainly something that shold be mentioned.

[@pizzablender]

At short distances, indeed. And the hedge has a blurry bottom left corner. But still, a nice lens.

[@DethronerX]

Beautiful compositions. I have to say, you're one of those people who are going to take ANY lens and take good pictures.

[@Eikenhorst]

Sorry, but at 3:11 the corners of the test chart are completely blurred out. I presume this is due to needing a very close focusing distance to the chart.

[@ddeml]

That would mean that the focus plane is not actually plane... This could also be the reason why the test chart does not work.

[@giladkingsley]

It's because the corners of the chart are just much further away than the center of the chart is to the camera

[@ddeml]

​@@giladkingsleybut don't you see this issue on virtually any other good lens?

[@WineLad]

​@@ddemlyou do! just not quite this extreme. It's just a compromise that should be accounted for should you decide to buy a more affordable lens.

[@MysterDaftGame]

I was thinking about that as well It seems to have huge field curvature at close focusing distance

[@grhmbl]

why not use the test chart? You did so for the Samyang 10mm 3.5 too. And I would be curious how these two compare with each other.:-)

[@TheMetalButcher]

What a fun run and gun lens. Set to F5.6, infinity focus, and let the camera figure out the rest. Then your post process all has a standard amount of vignetting and distortion to correct. Could be fun for funky portraits too.

[@tristandu1776]

I was shopping for lens for the zf, you literally reviewed all the lenses that I was interested in. Can't be more helpful.

[@piotrch0]

Chris, will you test the Brightin star 9mm f/5.6 RL, too? It has the same specs as 7A, was announced at the same time, is already released and 7A and BS have a history of releasing same, just repackaged optical systems. The difference is, the BS comes with a rear filter thread! Would be cool to confirm if it offers the same performance as 7A, cause if it does than I think with the filter thread it would be a winner for many!

[@RubenNavarroMartin]

Came here to ask the same question!

[@EST84x]

"so here's a big hedge instead" made me laugh. 😂

[@felixespana2004]

Hi ! I am not english native, so I would be glad if you can elaborate this phrase for me ! I believe Chris refered about the great amount of edges in the bush. Thank you in advance and greetings from Chile 🇨🇱 🙋🏻‍♂️

[@rodmehta5356]

Looks like "Fallen Angels" in rural Wales, but without the guns and the noodles. Interesting lens. I've got the 12mm fisheye version and really like it, all things considered.

[@JaredHoyman]

This would be a great contender for my real estate walk throughs.

[@scrptwic]

I have the Rokinon 8mm 3.5 fisheye lens It would interesting to see a comparison between these wide angle lenses

[@PavlosPapageorgiou]

Is there field curvature? Your distortion chart seems to suggest that.

[@jeremytheoneofdestiny8691]

3:30 field curvature!

[@7artisansOfficial]

Hi Chris, thank you for your personal comment. I am very grateful for your support and help to 7Artisans. I believe that with the help of you and all your friends in the future, 7Artisans will bring more affordable products to everyone.❤

[@dscottstoness2436]

Thanks for the great review. I am debating Laowa vs 7Artisans 9mm f5.6.. Phil Reeves has reviewed and compared. Says Laowa 9mm is actually wider than 9mm and 7artisans is actually about 9.5mm but they are close in sharpness and both significantly better than Voightlander 10. Laowa has back filter for ND. But Laowa 9mm 5.6 is not okay/offered for Canon RF - and I have seen elsewhere referenced to not being okay on canon (must be color shift?).

[@piotrch0]

I have the Laowa 9mm f/5.6 FF and it sure as shit doesn't have a rear filter thread. You know what does tho? The Brightin star 9mm f/5.6. Seems to be just a rebadged 7Artisans, with the slapped-on filter thread in the back, as they have a history (7Artisans and Brigthin star) of re-badging, and they announced and released these at the same time.

[@flikflak24]

Be fun but also awesome if that had matched the orange of the Sony camera for the Sony e-mount version

[@princeharbinger]

Looks like a good performer. Is the lens hood removeable at all? It would be nice if you could test the LAOWA 9MM 5.6 FF-RL soon.

[@ciba20]

test and compare with this lens

[@princeharbinger]

@ciba20 Just had a look at Bastians' review over on phillipreeve. Looks like Laowa is better with distortion and is slightly wider than this lens. There's still the Brightin Star to look forward to, which hopefully will be a better performer. The Brightin Star also has the advantage of a rear filter. I just wish they would have designed the lens similar to what Pergear did with their 14mm MKII where the hood has an attachment ring that allows filters.

[@ciba20]

@@princeharbinger thank you!

[@princeharbinger]

@@ciba20 No problem.🙏🏽

[@lIREADYIl]

available for Canon RF?? wow ivwas about to spend $2300 on the new RF10-20

[@victorlim5077]

Yeah. Save the money. Excited to get this for the Nikon Zf. The lens matches the Retro vibe.

[@lIREADYIl]

@victorlim5077 good point, this lens is already available to buy too, it came wearing a cape for sure lol

[@carbonium1264]

Chris compare this lens to laowa 9mm 6/5.6 Please🙏🙏🙏

[@amermeleitor]

This lens, hyperfocal distance at f11, very high shutter speed and a Sony camera with gyro stabilization could be the best action cam in steroids. Maybe it could work with a Panasonic S5IIX too, the stabilization it's great

[@timelapsebylkunl72]

Thank for a great review. Is is same optic as Brightin star 9mm f5.6?

[@kian8382]

it seems there's some de-centering, the bottom left corner shows more fuzziness than others.

[@swistedfilms]

Not bad at all! I don't shoot wide angle very often but this could be a good option.

[@DigiDriftZone]

This is 6mm APS-C equivalent? 🤯 - really interesting lens, thank you for the review!

[@piotrch0]

Yes, so far the widest rectilinear you can get is 7.5mm on APS-C. Laowa makes one.

[@LOOKINGFOREXPOSURE]

The lens gods have been paying close attention to me lately. Finding a FF RL SuperUltraDeluxe Wide Angle Lens is nearly impossible for Sony. Kinda want the new EF 10-20mm f/4 on a Metabones adapter though.

[@The_CGA]

9mm is such a wide length that I have no professional use cases in my photo or video practice. So it’s all down to price and its video performance for my KZbin stuff, which doesn’t bring home enough for more than one cheap lens a year. As things stand I think the new Laowa zoom has my ticket for super wide

[@andreschwarzkopf1994]

when i bought laowa 9mm i shot 50% with it(report etc) and 70-200 :D soo? :) i have iris 11mm and say i need go more wide and same for 9mm :D (i need 8mm for my use :) )

[@eskay2250]

So Canon are permitting this as a third party lens for their RF system or is an adapter needed?

[@przybylskipawel]

Distortion charts seemed very soft in corners? How is that so?

[@pizzablender]

Photographed at a short distance, where field curvature is not corrected. It is not a macro / repro lens, so it is not a big deal.

[@ikoyDaPnoy]

At $479.00 U.S., I wish they added made this a tilt-shift for $600-700. Though "non-fisheye," Ultra Wide Angle (UWA) lenses skew the vertical perspective significantly the wider the lens is. This is quite evident when taking photos of tall structures (i.e. architectural photography). A tilt-shift UWA would have made this a "must buy" at those prices but for most people, a 9mm UWA without tilt-shift is just too wide due to the nature of the vertical skewing.

[@chirsd666]

I have the similar (and even more expensive) Laowa 9mm f5.6 and also 17mm tilt-shift, which are used for architectural work. The 9mm FOV is so wide, using it horizontally (to eliminate perspective distortion), it pretty much gets everything in the frame. I'm not sure shifting would provide any benefit. Beside that, this is a compact lens. The image circle on a shift lens needs to be substantially larger than the sensor to avoid mechanical vignetting (image circle clipping the sensor) while shifting. That would be a much larger lens.

[@MysterDaftGame]

​@@chirsd666designing a full frame shift lens is like designing a regular medium format lens

[@ritrattoaziendale]

Hey Chris, will you be able to use the chart for the new RF 10-20 L?

[@christopherfrost]

I'll be checking to see that it works

[@AstroSquid]

Oh no, no APSC.. hehe.. why?!?!?!!?.. Though I assume it would even better being cropped, but maybe the f stop would be too high.

[@mb-moose]

Cardiff?

[@Laundry_Hamper]

Knowing the history of Nikon's similarly wild wide angle primes engineered pre-computer aided design, the physical parameters of the optical solutions they arrived at, the tiny quantities of lenses with such wild engineering challenges which could realistically be built, the prices those lenses sold at when new and the absolutely obscene costs of those lenses on the second-hand market today...fooookin' 'ell

[@SyntheticFuture]

9 mm 😮 And with minimal distortion. That's crazy. I have no use for something that wide but I can see real-estate photographers drooling already 😂

[@smith507]

The new RF 10-20 f4L also has some amazing specs, 1mm longer than the 7Artisans but also 1 stop wider aperture. Can't wait for Chris to test that one as well.

[@Thefuror38500]

@@smith507 Not the same price either aha

[@andreschwarzkopf1994]

go laowa 9mm FF they did it years ago :D

[@sKyyyFir3]

it is like looking left and right at the same time

[@CalebThomasMedia]

How is this lens so good?! What the heck?!

[@carlosandreviana9448]

My copy is not that good in the corners. Quite the opposite

[@tristandu1776]

This lens is crazy

[@matthewpeters2062]

Honestly the vignetting is BARELY there imo. OUTSTANDING lens

[@mnm5529]

I wonder why 7Artisans 10mm f/2.8 has the wider angle 178° compared to 7Artisans 9mm f/5.6 angle 132°, I assume due to distortion corrections done optically. But still the mind explodes knowing how wide it is and even almost 0 distortion. 👍 😊

[@jan.tichavsky]

That's a fisheye lens, not rectilinear.

[@hellopsp180]

1:59 - Sounds like a Challenge :D

[@RealRaynedance]

When practically every lens mount is nickel-plated (I assume), I appreciate this one being black.

[@SlaveNCMC]

laowa 9mm f/5,6 is significatly wider.

[@carlosandreviana9448]

The copy I got is not even close to sharp in the corners, at 6.3

[@christopherfrost]

Send it back to 7Artisans - unless you're doing something wrong, you have a defective copy

[@WU_Foto]

Thx for this video. This lens shows great results of vignetting in comparison to my Voigtländer 10mm.

[@Twobarpsi]

9mm! Wow that is wide angle.

[@_benjimouse_]

Anyone else been waiitng for the "official CF review" before deciding to get this one?

[@itacatv2146]

Considering it’s so sharp wide open, they could’ve easily gone up to f/4.

[@thecaveofthedead]

Estate agents and Air-bnb grifters will be lining up around the block for this one.

[@thephotoyak]

It looks decentered. Sharp in the top right, not sharp in the bottom left.

[@D3HuC]

Looks like laowa with another name 🤔

[@PavlosPapageorgiou]

You could say wide angle lovers but that sounds like a euphemism...

[@Seapatico]

I'm sorry, what?! 9mm full frame lens that's a great performer?!

[@DigiDriftZone]

Exactly.. how??? - I need this in my life

You disappointed me. Bushes? Why not the irreplaceable, brilliant brick wall?

[@Durio_zibethinus]

With no filter can be attached, the potential is wasted by huge margin, but I get the reason behind it 😅

[@area51pictures]

Frankly, even if this lens is *technically* a different lens than the Laowa 9mm 5.6, 7Artisans is nasty for ripping them off. Laowa literally did it first, and set that world record on their own. And they didn't even improve on it. If you're gonna steal from someone, improve upon it, or do something new. Adapt it for EF, or a faster aperture. But this is nasty.

[@pizzablender]

Well, a combination of focal length and aperture is not that creative. See how many 50 mm / 1.8 lenses exist.

[@piotrch0]

Brightin star added a rear filter at least, but still can't see any reviews confirming or denying if they use the same optical system as 7Artisans.

[@cuorebiancorossoo]

I love my voigtlander 40 1.2

[@peterebel7899]

I love my FD100 2.0

[@MrEldran]

first!

[@michaeltuffin8147]

This lens sucks