Hello.
I bought the 7Artisans 75mm f1.4 lens to try out the 75mm focal length, which I'd never used before.
My first impressions: it's very soft at f1.4, very soft.
Perhaps it's just my lens.
So, I didn't take any photos wide open, but started at f2.0 and didn't stop down any further than f5.6.
The lens is all metal and very well assembled, with no play whatsoever; everything rotates very smoothly.
The aperture ring has clicks, but only at the specified apertures; there's no clicking action after f/5.6 and f/8.0.
A lens hood isn't included, but it's essential, as it can sometimes cause fogging from a strong light outside the frame.
And of course, there's a huge amount of chromatic aberration; it's very visible on high-contrast objects, even out of focus.
This is especially noticeable in the last frame.
All the photos below have been edited to my liking.
The photos are clickable. Shot on the a7R2.
All photos were taken on the same day, but in different lighting.
My current travel kit consists of a 21-40-65. I really like the 65, but it's really bad in some situations, and sometimes the autofocus is completely useless. I'm looking to replace it with a 75mm with manual focus. Unfortunately, this 7Artisans isn't at all versatile due to its non-functional wide-open apertures. Certainly not for me. But at 5.6, it shows decent results. So I'll keep it for now. I've already ordered three types of lens hoods for it.
Not too bad. Have you looked at the TTArtisans 75/2? I picked it up for $159 and it’s super sharp wide open and has nice bokeh. I’ll be posting more images from it soon. Autofocus is good and it’s built well with a nice clickable aperture ring.
The hard part for me about a 75mm lens is that I can get 75mm in crop mode when I have a fast 50mm on my A7R5. The quality at 26mp is very good with the Voigtlander 50/1.0 or 50/1.2 or the Sony 50/1.4GM. With the 50/1.0, crop mode gets me a 75/1.4! So a dedicated 75mm is something I didn’t need, but having used it now, I think it will find a place in my travel bag.
I tried it as well, but, like you, was very unhappy with it at wider apertures. The Voigtlander Ultron 75/1.9 + M mount adapter is a safer choice if you want a solid all-arounder. It's not the bargain the 7A is, but it's a nicely solid lens in a small package. When I go out with just two lenses these days, it's usually the 7A 35/1.4vIII and the Ultron.
@mudlake, @Happydan, You apparently misunderstood me. An autofocus lens with electronic focus control is great when there's light, lots of it. But what if it's dark and there are no clear, contrasting objects that would allow you to focus accurately?
Here's an example below. On a Northern Lights trip, I stopped for the night on the shore of a lake. Mountains were visible on the other side, their peaks covered in snow. The night was dark and cloudy. I wanted to take a souvenir photo. I used a Sigma 65mm and tried focusing manually. It was very difficult; the eye sees, but the camera is practically blind. Increasing the shutter speed increases noise, which further hinders focusing.
I used a Nokton 40/1.2; its infinity is stopped down hard. That's it, I got the shot. That's why I want a fully manual lens.
@freaklikeme I've already made my choice: the Nokton 75/1.5 Sony E. I just don't have the money for it yet and I need to get used to the 75mm and figure out if I need it or not. I rarely shoot with the 65mm.
I've been using this lens for a while and was wondering when others would notice it exists. This is first and foremost a character lens (there's a reason 7artisans didn't publish an MTF chart), and it seems sample variation is very high. I tested two copies and one behaved well at infinity but soft close, the other is excellent close and problematic at infinity. I kept the one that performs well close because even though it has the most deranged field curvature I've ever seen the rendering is gorgeous. These are all wide open:
Too late. I've already ordered and paid for the Nokton 75/1.5. I don't think a $150 lens at f/1.4 will be any better than the Nokton. And I'm sure they haven't changed the optical design; there will be strong chromatic aberrations and field curvature.
DmitriyTver wrote:
@mudlake@, @Happydan@, You apparently misunderstood me. An autofocus lens with electronic focus control is great when there's light, lots of it. But what if it's dark and there are no clear, contrasting objects that would allow you to focus accurately?
Here's an example below. On a Northern Lights trip, I stopped for the night on the shore of a lake. Mountains were visible on the other side, their peaks covered in snow. The night was dark and cloudy. I wanted to take a souvenir photo. I used a Sigma 65mm and tried focusing manually. It was very difficult; the eye sees, but the camera is practically blind. Increasing the shutter speed increases noise, which further hinders focusing.
I used a Nokton 40/1.2; its infinity is stopped down hard. That's it, I got the shot. That's why I want a fully manual lens.
@freaklikeme@ I've already made my choice: the Nokton 75/1.5 Sony E. I just don't have the money for it yet and I need to get used to the 75mm and figure out if I need it or not. I rarely shoot with the 65mm.
and I need to get used to the 75mm and figure out if I need it or not. I rarely shoot with the 65mm.
