7Artisans 9mm F5.6 Lens Review

Many thanks for the provided 7Artisans 9mm F5.6 lens Oleg. For the provided camera Panasonic LUMIX S5 many thanks the store ProFotoSale.

Navigation

1. In short
2. Main Specifications
3. Assembly
4. Focusing
5. Image quality
6. Sample Photos
7. My experience
8. Alternatives
9. Price
10. Results
11. Video review from Oleg
12. User Comments
13. Add your review or question on the lens

Please note that the 7Artisans 9mm F5.6 lens is available in different mounts. This review shows the 7Artisans 9mm F5.6 version for mirrorless cameras with a mount Leica l (Panasonic L + Sigma L). At the same time, 7Artisans 9mm F5.6 is also available with mounts Sony E, Nikon Z и Canon r.

In this review I will call the 7Artisans 9mm F5.6 lens for short 7Artisans 9 / 5.6.

In short

7Artisans 9/5.6 is a modern ultra-wide-angle lens for full-frame mirrorless cameras, only manual focusing and manual aperture control. Was announced October 13 2023 year.

7Artisans 9/5.6 is interesting due to its extremely wide viewing angle, high-quality build and good image quality. At the same time 7Artisans 9/5.6 costs about one and a half to two times cheaper its direct competitor LAOWA 9mm 1:5.6 W-Dreamer RL FF.

Very important: 7Artisans 9/5.6 is a “rectilinear lens” ultra-wide-angle photo lens. 7Artisans 9/5.6 is not a phish (Fish-eye/Fisheye). 7Artisans 9/5.6 practically does not bend straight lines in the frame (has low distortion).

It's important: at the beginning of 2024 7Artisans 9/5.6 is in the TOP 3 widest angle lenses (not fisheyes) for full frame cameras: LAOWA 9mm 1:5.6 W-Dreamer RL FF, 7Artisans 9/5.6 and Brightin Star 9mm F5.6. But it is worth noting that the viewing angle is LAOWA 9mm 1:5.6 W-Dreamer RL FF still a little larger/wider than 7Artisans 9/5.6 and Brightin Star 9mm F5.6 (135° vs. 132°).

Blog: all lenses from 7Artisans You can find here.

Main technical characteristics of 7Artisans 9mm F5.6:

Review Instance Name	On body: 7Artisans 9mm F5.6 NO:00298 Bayonet side: L-mount
Basic properties	Manual focus only Manual iris control Metal mount, metal case, metal front cover Multi-Enlightened Optics Virtually internal focusing Extremely wide viewing angle
Front Filter Diameter	does not support classic front filters
Focal length	9 mm, diagonal viewing angle 132 degrees EGF for Leica cameras with APS-C sensor will be about 13.5mm
Zoom ratio	1 X (this is a fixed lens, it does not have a zoom)
Designed by	Option from the review for full-frame mirrorless cameras with a mount Leica l (the “L” alliance includes Panasonic L и Sigma L). This lens exists with mounts: Sony E Nikon Z Canon RF Leica L
Number of aperture blades	5 straight petals
Tags	bayonet mount mark (red dot on the bayonet) focusing distance scale, in meters: 0.2, 0.3, 0.5, 0.8, 1, 3 meters and infinity mark, in feet: 0.8, 1.2, 2, 3, 10 feet depth of field scale for F/5.6, intermediate value between 5.6-8, 8, 11, 16, 22 aperture scale on the aperture ring with a red dot for reference
Diaphragm	from F/5.6 to F/22, controlled using the aperture control ring. There are marks for F/5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22 and one intermediate value between F/5.6 and F/8 (most likely F/6.3 or F/7.1). The ring rotates with pronounced clicks
MDF	0.2 meters, maximum magnification ratio approx. 1:15
The weight	446 grams (measured, lens without caps, version for Leica L) 506 grams (measured, lens with caps, version for Leica L)
Optical design	16 elements in 11 groups Uses 2 ED elements, 2 ASPH elements, 3 HRI elements The optical design is clickable for magnification.
Lens hood	Metal, rigid
Manufacturer country	Made in China (there is no data on the country of manufacture on the lens itself)
Period	From October 13 to 2023
Price	View on Aliexpress from the official dealer 7Aartisans

Most likely the lens Brightin Star 9mm F5.6, announced October 21, 2023, is a complete copy/rebrand of 7Artisans 9/5.6.

The 9mm focal length on a full frame camera gives an extremely wide angle of view that can be very difficult to photograph.

Assembly

The lens arrived for review in very good condition, in its original box. The box contains the lens itself with front and back caps and small instructions. In the middle of the box there is a soft foam niche-holder. The box design is stylish and beautiful. Initially, the box is surrounded by additional beautiful cardboard wrapping, which serves as a seal.

In general, the lens well assembled. 7Artisans 9 / 5.6 has metal mount for bayonet, and the lens case itself is completely made of metal, anodized aluminum is used.

Important: lens mount also painted black (dark brown), which makes the design of 7Artisans 9/5.6 complete and pleasant enough. Typically, these lenses have a metal mount without color.

All marks and labels on lenses engraved and filled with paint. The back cover is unmarked (no-name for L-mount).

The front lens cap is metal, without latches, just fits snugly against the body frame. There is a special fabric seal on the inside of the lid. The cover is fixed tightly. Removing and installing the cover is pleasant.

The lens weighs almost 500 grams. In your hands, the lens feels like a solid thing.

The 7Artisans 9/5.6 itself is quite compact and has a built-in rigid metal petal hood.

The diaphragm consists of 5 blades. Recently, among manufacturers of manual wide-angle lenses, it has become common to install an aperture mechanism with 5 blades. A small number of petals allows you to get a pronounced star ray effect. In the case of 7Artisans 9/5.6, you can get a 10-ray star from bright/point light sources.

The diaphragm can only be controlled manually using a special ring. The aperture ring rotates with pronounced pleasant clicks. The aperture control ring is located from the front of the lens, behind the focus ring. This arrangement of the aperture ring is quite convenient. On other lenses, such as 7Artisans 35 / 1.2, the aperture control ring is close to the mount and it is not always convenient to rotate.

Focusing

The focusing ring is metal, ribbed, wide, and comfortable. The ring rotates on 90 degrees (1/4 of a full turn). Focusing is smooth and enjoyable.

During focusing, the entire lens unit moves, but the front and rear lenses move by about 2-3 millimeters; you may get the feeling that the lens is focusing internally. The front convex lens moves in the middle of the body frame without leaving the length of the built-in lens hood. Focusing can be called virtually internal. Due to the very small movement of the lenses, there can be serious problems with precise alignment, as well as problems with focusing accuracy at different temperatures. Some specimens may require intervention into the insides of the lens to correctly select the adjustment rings (as shown in this video).

There is a scale on the ring with the focusing distance in meters and feet. There is a depth of field scale. The minimum focusing distance is 20 centimeters, and the maximum magnification ratio is approximately 1: 15.

7Artisans 9 / 5.6 has a small 'Focus Breathing' effect (changes in viewing angle during focusing). During focusing towards the MDF, the viewing angle decreases.

Focus Shift (change in focusing distance due to aperture) is missing.

Hard stop (hard infinity mechanical stop) for fast and accurate focusing under any operating temperature conditions, the lens does not have.

Focus peaking with 7Artisans 9/5.6 and Panasonic LUMIX S5 works good.

Image quality

Overall, 7Artisans 9/5.6 is good and even very good.

It is worth noting that slight vignetting and changes in image color at the edges and corners of the frame (the so-called color shift/shift-color) can be an optimization problem for some full-frame sensors.

Sharpness

1. F/5.6 lens has good resolution in the central area of ​​the frame
2. with aperture down to f/8 resolution becomes excellent
3. there is a strong, but not critical drop in sharpness in the far corners of the frame. By closing the aperture in the farthest corners of the frame, sharpness increases slightly
4. at the same time, the edges of the image (not the corners) show high resolution already at F/8
5. good contrast
6. minor coma
   

Distortion

1. there is a small barrel-shaped distortion
2. distortion is complex, slightly “mustachioed”
3. It is not difficult to select the correct distortion compensation parameters using modern image processors

Vignetting

1. moderate (!) vignetting on f / 5.6
2. vignetting almost completely disappears at F / 11
3. vignetting easily fixable in the editor

Aberration

1. there is a small amount of chromatic aberration
2. Most chromatic aberrations are at the far edges and corners of the frame
3. overall the lens copes well with aberrations

Rest

1. Five aperture blades make it easy to get 10 star rays. In this case, the small number of aperture blades, paired with an ultra-wide-angle lens, is more of an advantage than a disadvantage
2. from bright light sources you can get a small amount of glare, the lens behaves well in backlight, including during night shooting
   

Important: at the time of the creation of this review, there was no 7Artisans 9 / 5.6 profile for popular RAW converters. You can create a profile yourself or wait for its release.

Sample Photos

Camera used Panasonic LUMIX S5 (24 MP Full Frame CMOS sensor). For the camera Panasonic LUMIX S5 many thanks the store ProFotoSale. All photos in this review are shown without processing, according to the principles ZEROJPEG.

Original photos in RAW format (Panasonic '.RW2′) can be download / watch this link (about 30 photos, Google Drive gallery).

My experience

7Artisans 9/5.6 is wonderful. Take it and shoot! If only there were photo tasks for such an extremely wide viewing angle. But who has already shot with circular fisheyes (like Sigma EX 4.5mm 1:2.8 DC HSM CIRCULAR FISHEYE), there is nothing to be afraid of 9 millimeters of focal length.

 

Alternatives

Shown below are all rectilinear ultra-wide angle photographic lenses [DO NOT FISH] with a focal length of 13 mm or less for full-frame cameras.

Autofocus for SLR cameras:

1. Canon Zoom Lens EF 11-24 mm 1: 4 L USM UltrasonicCanon EF
2. Sigma 12-24 mm 1:4.5-5.6 DG HSM EX, Canon EF, Nikon F, Sigma SA, Sony A, Pentax K
3. Sigma 12-24 mm 1:4.5-5.6 II DG HSM, Canon EF, Nikon F, Sigma SA, Sony A
4. Sigma 12-24 mm 1: 4 DG A, Canon EF, Nikon F, Sigma SA

Autofocus for mirrorless cameras:

1. Canon Lens RF 10-20mm F4 L IS STM, Canon RF. Yes, this is a full frame zoom lens. Record-breaking lens among zooms
2. Sony FE 2.8 /12-24 GGM,Sony E
3. Sony FE 4 /12-24 G,Sony E
4. laowa 10 mm 1:2.8 ZERO-D Auto Focuss C&D-Dreamer FF II, Sony E, Nikon Z. Record-breaking lens among primes

Manual for SLR cameras:

1. IRIX 11/4 Firefly + IRIX 11/4 Blackstone, Canon EF, Nikon F, Pentax K
2. SAMYANG / ROKINON 10/3.5, Canon EF, Nikon F
3. Nikon Nikkor 13 mm 1:5.6 (versions NON-AI [K] 1975-1977, AI 1977-1982, AI-S 1982-1998), Nikon F
4. Vivitar Series 1 13 mm 1: 2.8 ED AS IF UMC, Nikon F, Canon EF, Pentax K, Sony A, most likely 13 mm are fake, and the lens itself completely copies Samyang / Rokinon 14mm 1: 2.8 ED ASPHERICAL IF
5. LAOWA 12 mm 1:2.8 D-Dreamer Zero-D, Canon EF, Nikon F, Pentax K, Sony A

Manual for mirrorless cameras:

1. LAOWA 9 mm 1: 5.6 W-Dreamer RL FF, Nikon Z, Leica M, Leica L, Sony E. Yes, this is 9 mm for full frame and it’s not a phish. Record-breaking lens. Viewing angle 135°
2. 7Artisans 9mm F5.6, Sony E, Nikon Z, Leica L, Canon R. Viewing angle 132°
3. Brightin star 9 mm F5.6, Sony E, Nikon Z, Leica L, Canon R. Viewing angle 132°. Clone copy 7Artisans 9mm F5.6
4. LAOWA 10-18 mm 1:4.5-5-6 C-Dreamer Ultra Wide Zoom, Sony E, Nikon Z, Leica L
5. laowa 10 mm 1:2.8 ZERO-D C&D-Dreamer FF II, Leica L, Canon RF
6. LAOWA 11 mm 1: 4.5 C-Dreamer RL FF, Nikon Z, Leica M, Leica L, Sony E, Canon RF
7. LAOWA 11 mm 1:4.5 C-Dreamer RL FF+, Nikon Z, Leica M, Leica L, Sony E, Canon RF, DL, lite version
8. LAOWA 12 mm 1:2.8 D-Dreamer Zero-D, Sony E, Canon RF, Nikon Z, Leica L
9. Laowa FF II 12-24 mm F5.6 C-Dreamer, Leica M, Sony FE, Nikon Z, Canon RF
10. Voigtlander HELIAR-HYPER WIDE 10 mm F5.6 ASPHERICAL, Sony E, Leica M
11. Voigtlander Ultra-Wide Heliar 12 mm F5.6 ASPHERICAL, M39+ version II, Leica M+ version III, Leica M, Sony E
12. IRIX 11/4 Firefly + IRIX 11/4 Blackstone, Sony E

Lenses are named according to the markings on the lens barrel. List of all ultra-wide-angle autofocus lenses for cameras with APS-C sensor here.

Price

7Artisans 9/5.6 is in the area 500 dollars. The easiest way buy 7Artisans 9 / 5.6 at Aliexpress.comFor example, at the official dealer of 7Aartisans here at this link.

Results

7Artisans 9/5.6 is a high-quality and interesting ultra-wide. Record-breaking lens. Despite the extreme focal length, it has good optical performance.

10 main advantages

1. record focal length for its class
2. very good build quality
3. stylish design
4. smooth focusing ring
5. compact sizes
6. there is a depth of field scale, a focus distance scale
7. complex optical design with a large number of special optical elements
8. five aperture blades (for pronounced 10 star rays)
9. good resolution in the center of the frame starting from an open aperture of F/5.6
10. low cost (compared, for example, with CANON LENS RF 10-20mm F4 L IS STM)

10 main disadvantages

1. some units require adjustment to focus at infinity (example)
2. the focusing distance scale does not correspond to real values ​​(most likely due to problems with adjusting the working distance)
3. focus ring rotates only 90 degrees
4. no CPU pins to form the correct EXIF, there is no lens profile for popular RAW converters, the lens is not 'hardwired' into modern cameras
5. front cover without latches
6. low aperture, for example, like this Laowa 10mm f/2.8 ZERO-D Auto Focus C&D-Dreamer FF II F/2.8 is used
7. no support for filters on the bayonet side
8. the farthest corners of the image respond poorly to aperture stops and show low resolution
9. slight distortion
10. probably Brightin Star 9mm F5.6 completely repeats 7Artisans 9/5.6 (exclusivity is lost)

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Material prepared Arkady Shapoval. Training/Consultations | Youtube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Telegram