Shooting the LEICA M10-R with a $400 BUDGET F/1.1 "Noctilux"-type Lens from 7Artisans - REMARKABLE !

I bought for $400 the 7Artisans 50mm f/1.1 lens and tested it on my Leica M10-R camera body. Results are absolutely remarkable and astonishing!
Watch in 4K to avoid artefacts from video compression!
Music: epidemicsound.com

[@DannyChau7]

Best camera review channel on KZbin, love your positive and no nonsense attitude and your views are greatly appreciated.

[@christianheld9720]

Unbelievable. That's very encouraging thanks for this

[@donjagoe]

Superb review, as always. Thanks for the breathtaking honesty!

[@metocvideo]

I have an M4, and recently I bought an M9. The 7Artisans lens gives very pleasing results on film and digital. Note that I said “pleasing”, because the lens is not anything like as sharp and free of optical aberrations as a Leica Noctilux would be. Having said that, I bought the lens specially for female portraits, and it is the best lens I have ever used for glowing, dreamy images. If I stop it down to f5.6, it becomes a tack sharp street lens. The only thing I don’t like is the weight - it is solidly made of brass, aluminum and glass and there is a lot of it. If you think you might like one, bear in mind that it has it’s own character, but do buy it, it is worth every penny and more.

[@Gravitys-NOT-a-force]

The more expensive your stuff, the tougher it is if it gets stolen, too. :-)

[@On_The_Piss]

Why would you have a specific lens for a specific gender? That's creepy.

[@Gravitys-NOT-a-force]

@@On_The_Piss, no. What if he just liked to photograph flowers or mountains?

[@srri8912]

Once again, love your videos!

[@michaelneumann1865]

Great job! Don’t underestimate the importance of side by side comparison even if its absurd difference in cost. It’s highly information. Your video is EXCELENT non the less. Thank you.

[@mathphotographer]

Thanks!

[@astraeusone]

Great vid, Math. But still want to see a blind comparison in portraiture, preferably with different models and lighting conditions) between Apo - Cron, Nocti and 7A glass, all at f/2.0 I am sure the differences are significant but subtle and that is what drives my curiosity.

[@mathphotographer]

Will consider, thx Alex.

[@petergregory7199]

There is definitely an art to photography. It’s not all science. It’s about discovering the properties of a lens and using it to its best advantage. Here you show how you can approach this. Sometimes modest equipment can work just fine. You just need to ‘accentuate the positive’.

[@Mars-si6gj]

Thanks for the video! Just got my m10r yesterday, very exciting. Thinking to get this lense, do I need to adjust anything or 6 coding?

[@rolandfierle1879]

Very interesting video Math! Short question: What about the vignetting with this lens? Looking at the last picture (field with the bicycle), there was a quite a reduction in image brightness in the image periphery compared to the image center. What is your opinion/experience on this topic with the lens? I am trying to buy a Monochrom... ;-)

[@kb5ql]

I really like this lens on my typ240 and M7. Only gripe for me is the barrel distortion (and weight as mentioned by others). Great for portraits and at 1.4 it really starts to sharpen up.

[@thomasgeipel1143]

Wieder ein starkes Video! Man kann es kaum glauben Viele Grüße aus dem Fichtelgebirge Thomas

[@ronanderson5736]

Love the video! Thanks!

[@9Biloela99]

Remarkable

[@BenjaminSussmann]

Great video ! Thank you !

[@mathphotographer]

Thanks Ben :)

[@stephenedmunds207]

Nice video ,i wonder if the recent tt artisans 50mm f0.95 is even better?

[@xe1zlgg]

What makes a lens calibrated ( Matched ) to get excellent result in any Camera.... it is that the lens is calibrated to the SENSOR FILTER STACK.... and photosites micro lensing. Impressive Ttartisan lens.. thanks for share

[@iLLWiLL173]

Cool video...I just recently picked up the 50mm summicrom v5 lens from Leica..I have yet to get my M10-P body that I been wanting...had I known about this lens I might have looked into it more extensively and put the money towards the M body...seems like a great lens..

[@mathphotographer]

It is a great lens, I am quite picky but this lens convinced me.

[@Gvacam1222]

Very interesting video, after selling most of my gear to jump to the SL system, i would use this lens (i had the noctilux 50 asph but the small use can not justify the the CHF 7K

[@mathphotographer]

You will love this lens since its performance is very good for a very low price.

[@Alexandrosflower]

Thanks for also looking at a pedestrian sort of lens which holds its own. I have compared the highly praised Voigtländer 50mm 1.2 to the Panasonic 50mm 1.4 on my SL2, but it doesn‘t keep up for sharpness (while it does for character). Such unfair comparisons are fun and sometimes even calibrating. More of that is welcome.

[@iambeautiful8190]

Did you ever try voigtlander 50mm 1.2 ? Should be as good as 40mm.

[@mathphotographer]

Did not try yet, thanks for pointing out.

[@MB-or8js]

First rule: never buy the latest Leica gear new if you are not a collector and an actual user instead. A comparison with the Cosina-Voigtlander 50/1.2 M-lens would have been great. In the video and the example photo shown at 15:40, the upper left corner is more blurry than the area next to it in the same depth of field. Same in the photo shown at 16:36 - lower left and right corners are less sharp than closer to the center at the bottom of the frame.

[@David-my3uu]

I’ve just tried this lens on my M10 and while the results are very nice, as you say, I experienced two issues. Wondering if you found the same: 1. The M10 wouldn’t let me manually select a lens profile in the menus, only option was automatic or off. 2. Live view does not engage when this lens is put on so I have to rely on my rangefinder focus rather than the helpful focus peaking feature of the M10. Can you comment, please?!

[@Gravitys-NOT-a-force]

Somewhere in the video I believe he said he saw no reason to compare images taken with the Leica 50mm Noctilux and the Artisan lens. I couldn't follow that thinking. It's good that you pointed out two obvious shortcomings of the Artisan lens. Hopefully there are MAJOR differences in image quality which Math didn't bother to mention - but what are they?

[@Gravitys-NOT-a-force]

At f/0.95 it's impossible to focus the Leica Noctilux without using Leica's EVF. I'd be amazed if you can focus the Artisan lens wide open at all.

[@davidkieltyka9]

The 7Artisans lens is 6-bit coded as a 50mm f/1 Noctilux. This is why you can’t manually select a profile. Live View works normally for me with this lens on my M10 and M10 Mono. Don’t know why it’s not working for you.

[@davidkieltyka9]

waytoosquirrelly It’s quite possible to focus the 7Artisans lens at f/1.1. It does take care, though, since depth of field is razor thin. Breathe after focusing at closer range and you’ll probably miss. Note that this is independent of your focusing method. My hit rate with live view/EVF hasn’t been any better or worse than via the rangefinder. I’ve also commented on the “shortcomings” of the lens in another post. I’ve experienced neither of them.

[@Gravitys-NOT-a-force]

@@davidkieltyka9 maybe the fault is in the rangefinder of MY M10. Trying to focus the Noctilux with the manual rangefinder on my M10 is just hopeless, not worth trying.

[@rop7495]

There is one aspect of lens testing which is often overlooked, namely sample variability. One might expect a larger sample variability with budget lenses. This, of course, is costly to test and is mostly not done. As everything in life the last mile is very expensive, for wine and for lenses.

[@epstar83]

One of my favourite things about the M system is the huge range of lenses that can be used on it. Second hand there is literally a universe of affordable vintage glass! Particularly with some of the LTM lenses out there.

[@Gravitys-NOT-a-force]

I agree, and without the 'auto-focus' capability, Leica 'M' lenses don't weigh a ton.

[@Case16710]

Plus if you buy vintage Leica glass (and take care of it) you’ll get all your money back should you have to resell it. All my old lenses are now actually worth more than I paid for them.

[@ganandoor56]

Uhm... Well, with L-mount you have even more options. In general you can adapt any vintage lenses and latest Leica M mount on any other brands too

[@LucyS565]

Great video! I have always wanted a Leica film camera!

[@mathphotographer]

thx :)

[@dr.martinkaiser9265]

Nice Video! Thank you !! … A little mistake…🧐… The company Voigtländer is spelled like „fog t lander“ ! 🇩🇪👋👍

[@ChristophProtz]

LoL, Du kommst immer näher in Deinen Videos, wir wohnen in Richterswil :-)

[@mathphotographer]

:) Züricher gehen gerne in Richtung Richterswil, Einsiedeln, Sihlsee (see my videos). Happy weekend!

[@peterivarsson9267]

Tell me is leica better than the canikso?

[@estiningtyas2443]

Melihat video anda , saya merasa seperti punya M 10 R , walaupun saya tidak memilikinya .

[@zhengricky5446]

unfortunately 7A had released a 50 0.95 LTM lens

[@andrewjames9963]

Nice gmt

[@mathphotographer]

GMT Master II, Pepsi, Basel World 2018 :) I love it too!

[@ericyum6729]

I wonder what modern camera body and lens would fail this kind of "tests"?

[@cybermau]

Ohhhh I´ve just bought a Noctilux ,95 2 Hand.... but this lens is so good....

[@mathphotographer]

:) It is a really good budget lens, believe me.

[@ruudkuiper5515]

It has no soul to me, the sharpness isn’t even coming close to the Leica lens.

[@simonkimber1152]

Buy one second hand. They plunge in value and second hand in the UK you can get used for £200 ISH. Not a great fans on this lens. Would prefer something more vintage

[@Nicholasishappy]

I think the price of leica is not so much of high quality but more so on how they are being hand made and assembled whereas other lenses are factory made. whilst quality may typically be lower than the leicas but it isn't an absolute statement that the leica branded must be "better"

[@mathphotographer]

Thanks Nicholas, I think your point on "hand made" is a good one. This improves quality and, of course, makes gear much more expensive!

[@connormazzola9792]

50mm Summilux from BH is $4,399 not $8,000.

[@JoeThorntonJr]

Nice Rolex

[@mathphotographer]

:) GMT Master II Pepsi, Basel World 2018.

[@j.p.7708]

I have seen the “Leica” 🤣

[@mathphotographer]

:)

[@msamiullah001]

spending that much on camera and then buying a cheap lens doesnt make any sense

[@michaelgebauer5235]

Hmm, for less than 16.000 bucks I would rather buy a Fuji X-PRO3, the complete range of Fuji lenses and add a Fuji X-T4 as a second body on top.

[@andrewmills903]

its not a Leica

[@elderinmoi1571]

The person is stupid as can be spending the money on a body that looses money instead spending the money on (Leica) lenses that only go up in price over time. If you start buy a type 240 and buy nice lenses. Only with Leica Lenes you get the Leica look and that is Part of the reason. So if you don’t even care, or are unable to spot a difference go with a Sony 😉 I also wonder how come that every new „reviewer“ falls in the same trap, telling everybody how well these Chinese lenses were made. They are brand new. Of course they will feel like they are build just as good but check them back after some heavy use. It is not mindful to make a statement about build quality after owning the lens for a couple of days.

[@mathphotographer]

Thoughtful comment, thanks. Leica lenses are made for eternity, and you are right, how long the 7Artisans will last we will find out in 10 years. Having said that, I still believe that the build and image quality is outstanding for a price of $400.

[@samrn8806]

400$ is more than half of my salary in a month

[@mathphotographer]

Hi Sam, I am not saying that $400 is nothing, I know that it is hard to make $400, believe me. I had hard times in my life many years back. I am only putting it in perspective to usual original Leica lenses and then $400 is comparably cheap.

[@manilamartin1001]

Its 6 weeks of filipino salary

[@kennlw5]

Sorry..I just don’t see 8k NOPE

[@slothsarecool]

yay for supporting the CCP

[@jimwelsh844]

Chinese copy. Duplicating/ripping off Leica engineering IP. Now that they had to invest very little into engineering, they low ball the price and kill the value you get in Leica.

[@davidkieltyka9]

This 50mm isn’t a Noctilux copy. (The TTArtisan 50/.095 OTOH might be.) The optical design is more in the Ernostar or Zeiss Sonnar tradition than anything Leitz/Leica has ever done. Stop the 7Artisans lens down to f/1.4 and it’s a near dead ringer for the classic Zeiss 50/1.5 Sonnar.

[@bernie0617]

Jim, I totally agree with you. Another example of Chinese predatory pricing in attempt to replace some European blue chip companies sur as Leica

[@marcr8968]

@@bernie0617 This is untrue. The 7 artisans is a typical Sonnar design and advertised as such. It is not at all like any Leica optical designs such as the Noctilux.

[@On_The_Piss]

And yet you are probably typing this on an "Assembled in China" iPhone. How ironic. If you don't want a Chinese lens, don't buy one.