7Artisans 18mm f/6.3 II - the UFO strikes back!
Вставка
- Опубліковано 4 сер 2024
- In this video, I'm shooting the 7Artisans 18mm f/6.3 II "New" pancake lens. This is an upgrade of their former "UFO" lens and now comes with manual focusing up to 0.3 metres. So let's give it a try!
0:00 Intro
0:56 Idea & concept of this lens
1:57 In your hand: Finish & handling
3:30 Photo gallery: A day at the beach
4:34 Sharpness
7:16 Vignetting & distortion
7:55 Shooting in Cologne
11:34 Close focus
12:29 "Point & shoot"!
13:07 Photo gallery: At a Dutch canal in Tilburg
13:56 Verdict
16:23 Outro
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Disclaimer:
The 18mm f/6.3 II lens for this review was kindly provided to me by 7Artisans.
Visit the official 7Artisans website and online store here:
7artisans.store
Get the 7Artisans 18mm f/6.3 Mark II on Amazon US here:
amzn.to/3V97t10
This is an Amazon affiliate link. If you purchase your lens via this link, I'll get a small provision, but the price for you remains unchanged!
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My instagram:
/ my7views
Many thanks to Takahiro Oda for filming this video! Visit Taka's Travel Channel here:
/ @takahirooda
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Score:
On The Rocks - TrackTribe
Caballero - Ofshane
Nebular Focus - Dan Henig
(Available in the UA-cam Audio Library) - Розваги
awesome! love the reflection shots of the cathedral
Many thanks! And yes it’s a fun little lens!
Nice review, very good information and fun and professional delivery!
Many thanks for your feedback, I really appreciate it!
I loved the cathedral shots. Very impressive!
Thanks! It was also great fun to take a tourist's perspective in my home town!
Very nice video for two reasons, Tom. First, I have fond memories of Koln from some years ago, and second, I was looking for a review of this lens and now, after I watched your presentation, I have ordered one for my Fuji kit. Thanks.
Many thanks for your feedback, I really appreciate it! I hope you'll have a lot of fun with your lens!
I bought this lens randomly in sale and this review is best for me after delivery. Thank you so much, greetings from Turkey.
You’re welcome! I hope you have a lot of fun with your new lens! Greetings to Turkiye!
I paired this lens with my xe2 . So much fun! Thank you tom!
Many thanks for your feedback and great to hear you enjoy your setup!
thanks for the great video!
You’re welcome! 🙏
Great video! Mine arrived at 5 Am today! Took some images! Really enjoy it.
Thanks for your feedback! And have a lot of fun with your new lens!
Super helpful review, as always, with great real-world tips on getting the most out of it, thanks ! 😁👍Paul
Many thanks for your feedback!
@@tomscameras Tom - I received the lens earlier this week, and it creates amazing b&w images on my Fuji. I simply put two small marks on the lens focus ring: one for the best accuracy at infinity, and the second for 2m. It works amazingly well. Thanks do much for your advice ! 🤩🏆 Paul
@@paulleith1190 many thanks for your feedback and also the idea with the markings! I wish you a lot of fun with the lens!
Thanks Tom for a very realistic and unbiased review of what this lens is intended for. It can be refreshing and liberating to just pop the lens in, set ISO Auto and shoot away without any worries. Sometimes less is definitely more !
That's exactly what this lens is about, yes! And sure, I get that some guys find the price too high - but let's face it: In absolute terms it is not expensive at all and maybe very unlikely that they'll ever make any lenses even cheaper than that!
I bought one and use it for street photography, it’s a good solid cheap lens, and compact. Thanks Tom.
Many thanks for your feedback and I wish you a lot of fun with it!
Nice review!
Thanks for your feedback! 🙏
Appreciate the review - Fuji shooter and ADV motorcyclist, I've been looking for a fab travel camera that I can leave around my neck and tuck away behind my motorcycle jacket. I settled on the Fuji X-a1 last month from eBay Japan in mint condition. It's an amazing little shooter! I bought the the 7Artisans 25/f2 manual lens, thinking that it would be a good fit. It's still bulky under my motorcycle jacket. So, ordering this 18 based on your review. Also - really appreciate the Kölner Dom photos and especially the reflection shots! Thanks so much!
Hey, many thanks for your feedback. I hope you'll love that little 18/6.3 lens! Another one you might have a look at is the 27/2.8 with auto focus - there's two Fuji versions and one from TT Artisan. I did a review of the latter one. If you want you can check it out here:
ua-cam.com/video/hihijvnnqFc/v-deo.html
Just got one. I had to buy an ef/ef-s to ef-m adapter to borrow my mom's ef-s 18-135 for my girlfriend m50 mk ii, to get free shipping i decided to treat myself with the 18mm 6.3 and 35mm 1.4 mk ii from 7artisans.
We are not professionals, we wanted to try some new lenses to have fun (we only used the basic ef-m 15-45 for now), and these prices are good enough for us to experiment a bit.
I like the retro feel and the fixed focal length will get us walking and moving around more to take pictures, hope we won't regret! We spent just 125€ for the adapter and both the lenses, which feels great.
Yes, sounds like a great deal ... and two lenses that are very different to each other, and both a lot of fun to use!
Wow, that is surprisingly sharp for a native x-mount
It's super small and great fun. Plus you don't need to search for some used vintage glass and you don't need any bulky adapters. Still, in one respect the 18/6.3 also is "vintage": that's how the results look, this lens is absolutely not about modern-day perfection! And yes I agree with you: it seems that most folks who get one of these, like it and keep it!
Welcome back from the winter rest :-)
I am playing with the Pentax auto 110 lens set at the moment and the 18mm f2.8 lens is also really tiny as well, but they do not cover APS-c, are still longer than this 18mm and have also no aperture.
The 7artisans seems to be the better choice for a fun and easy walk around lens.
Bye 😊
The Pentax auto 110 is a really cute camera system. And yes it is not APS-C, but "four thirds" so to speak :)
I remember that I saw some sample photos taken with the Pentax auto 110 lenses some years ago. Here's the link (for as long as the DPreview forum's are still online ...):
www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3676117
Great video and all the photos looks fantastic! "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!" If it were 2 yrs ago, I would have passed on this lens and go with tac sharp lens with buttery bokeh, but I guess as you get older, you would appreciate the photography in more "artistic" way. I'll be sure to check out the lens! thank you.
Thanks a lot for your feedback! And yes, I absolutely know what you mean. It's not just getting older, but maybe also having more experience - you're starting to look for something else, not just "perfection" anymore!
Nice. My Mark I is always on my X-E1!
Sounds like a great little combo!
The barrel distortion looks terrible... but I agree, it really does exude a kind of character that strongly resembles a point & shoot film camera and looks like a fun thing to play around with. (I've got an X-E4 too!)
I might pick one up if they come cheap enough in my part of the world. Thanks for the review!
I've seen worse in terms of barrel distortion. But yes, you are absolutely right: This is not about optical perfection - more about some retro-inspired light-hearted fun in photography! And I think that's also why judging such a lens is super personal!
Great - I can now fit my E4 in my pocket with a 27mm street shooter lens. I may be using my ‘big’ TTArtisan 17mm f/1.4 less now! Thanks heaps Thomas!
The TT Artisan 17/1.4 is much better and much faster, of course. But this 18/6.3 is as tiny as a body cap, it does deliver a nice "vintage" look (if you like that) and it is so easy to use. I think street is the perfect environment for this lens!
@@tomscameras that’s the gig I want with fun day outs with the E4 in my pocket. I’ve taken about 10 pictures on iPhones as I just don’t enjoy using them. As an old school pro photographer (since the early 70’s) I enjoy using the Fuji analog style cameras more than worrying about technical perfect images when having a day off! My Pro Fuji cameras and expensive Fujinons are happily left in the studio!
I think whenever you're in a mood to not worry about technically perfect images, and you just wanna snap whatever you see and would like to snap, then you will have a lot of fun with this lens!
Great review with plenty of useful info and you have persuaded me it’s the lens for a quick picture when I don’t want to take my Nikon kit out for the day just a pity it doesn’t have a lens cap
Yes, it's tiny and fun and for all those days where you don't want to bother with all that gear ... and also yes, a lens cap or maybe just a small sliding cover or something like that would have been great!
Thank you Tom. That was a very nice review. It convinced me to order one for my Sony A6100 camera to use as a snap shot lens. I think for the price it is a very good lens for snap shot purposes.
Yes it’s just a very simple lens that delivers nice snapshots. I hope you have a lot of fun with yours!
I just ordered one of these for my EOS-M6. The price here in China is under 40 euros which makes it an easy buy. Looks like a fun lens. It''ll be my third 7Artisans lens.
That’s a good price! We Europeans often have the highest prices unfortunately. 😅 I hope you’ll have a lot of fun with it! Greetings to China!
Excellant ! I'm goin to buy this lens for more fun !
I wish you a lot of fun with it then!
A very informative review…thanks. I have just ordered one and am looking forward to some fun with it. I suppose at the very low price that quality control will be minimal, so although I am not expecting first rate quality I do hope I get a “good” one. I just wish there would have been a provision for a lens cap, as the sensor of a mirror p less camera will always have light falling on it even if just walking around, and with reflections coming off of snow it cannot be great for the sensor.
If I read the other comments, it seems that the quality control is okay overall, but there seems to be quite some variation in the focus ring, so in some cases you can focus way past infinity. I read the hint that you focus (using the loupe function of your camera) to infinity and then make a small dot on the focus ring so you always know where infinity really is.
And I agree that even with such a tiny front lens element, a cap of some sort would be great!
Thanks for a great review. Before this video I found several where people who don't know how to use this lens speak nonsense.....
Thanks for your feedback! 🙏
the dutch weather 🥲
Yes, Dutch and German weather is almost as bad as British weather 😂
I have the first version which might even have a slightly better PQ, but there is no focussing. Anything under 2m is kind of blurry. If you use it for just street photography and you find a nice deal for the old version, I recommend you get one. That is a real point-and-shoot.
Thanks for sharing your experience! Personally, I find 2 meters minimum focus distance to be very limiting. I find it already hard to get used to my old LTM cameras where it’s 1 meter. But sure if you wanna go the last step in simplicity, the old UFO lens can be still a great alternative!
@@tomscameras I find the biggest virtue of this lens is that it makes the camera pocketable, good for the just-in-case days. There is also a little manual lens from 7 Artisan, 25mm f1.8(to f16). I picked it up for around 50USD- very good price- to- performance ratio.
Thanks Tom. I love how compact this lens is. It's a measly $85 Australian and I'm looking for reasons not to get it - you're not giving me any - so many thanks!!
Many thanks for your feedback! So if you get the lens, I wish you a lot of fun with it :)
welcome back! i have the original ufo on my m43 body and it is great for those times when i just want the point&shoot experience, but man is it ugly; even with the facing text blacked out. this version looks much cleaner. shame about the "new" text. there's always something, lol.
Hehe yes „NEW“ … sometimes one really wonders what they are thinking! But it is definitely much more fun than the specs might suggests …!
Hallo Tom. Ich besitze beide pancake von 7Artisans (18mm f/6,3 und 35mm f5,6), wobei das 18 mm eindeutig mehr "Spass" aber auch Sinn macht. Ausserdem hat das 35mm einen schrecklichen Fokusring, der grenzwertig ist. Beim 18mm an meiner Nikon zfc kann ich durchaus deine Street-Fotografie-Eindrücke teilen und bestätige, dass die Schärfe vom 7artisans auch mit dem Nikon Kit-Objektiv (16-50 f3,5-6,3) locker mithalten kann. Schade, dass 7artisans nicht den Verschlussdeckelmechanismus vom 35mm-pancake übernommen hat, der hat die Linse vorne beim Drehen des Fokusrings über die Naheinstellungsgrenze hinaus automatisch verschlossen. Grüsse aus Südtirol, Dietmar
Danke für Deine ausführliche Rückmeldung! Das 35/5.6 ist halt in genau dem Brennweitenbereich, in dem hohe Lichtstärke für möglichst geringe Schärfentiefe und weichen Hintergrund am meisten Sinn ergibt. Daher macht da ein 5.6er Objektiv nur begrenzt Sinn. Und man muss bei 35 mm ja trotz f/5.6 immer noch einigermaßen genau scharf stellen. Bei einem Weitwinkel wie dem 18er (also KB-äquivalent 27mm) ist das dann schon etwas anders. Einerseits funktioniert dann das mit dem „Fixfokus“ aufgrund der nochmal deutlich größeren Schärfentiefe einfach besser und zweitens ist die Lichtstärke bei so einem Weitwinkel auch nicht mehr ganz so wichtig, weil das Motiv vor dem Hintergrund freistellen macht man eben bei Weitwinkel ja doch eher selten. Will sagen: ich verstehe, warum das 18er deutlich mehr Spaß macht als das 35ee!
so my understnding is that with infinite focus, id be able to use this lens on my m43 camera while the camera is attached to a stablizier such as a glide cam, or even just do casual filming, giving that i remain a certain distance from the subject, or the intended area within the location that im filming, enabling me to retain a sharp focus? while its set on manual focus through the camera body
My advice is to use the infinity setting for any subject that is at least 2.5 meters away. If you want to use it for closer distances, like 1 or 1.5 meters, use the focus ring and your viewfinder (with magnification function). If you’re a bit more serious about filming, maybe also check out other manual focus lense that have normal distance scales and aperture rings. There are plenty other interesting inexpensive manual lenses from 7Artisans or also other manufacturers.
This lens is good for vintage vibe photography.
Exactly! 😀
Hi Tom. I just received my delivery of this lens today and am learning how to use it. Your video has been very helpful! By the way, is the lens suppose to have a rattling sound or a loose bit when it is not attached to the camera body? Just checking if it's a defect so I can send it back for a replacement. Danke!
Hi Melvin! No there should not be any rattling sounds! To me it sounds there might be a production error or damage due to transport unfortunately!
@@tomscameras I took it for a spin yesterday and the photos came out alright but I'll just check with 7A just to see if there is a loose glass in there.
Did you film that bit on the beach with this lens? Just asking… thnx for sharing this 7artisans lens😊
No, filming on the beach was with my iPhone. There's a scratch in the lens glass which is why there is that one flare in the video shots. 😄
@@tomscameras i noticed the flare, thnx 4 ur reply
Wo käuft man 7artisans sachen in DE? Und is das gleich als TTartisans?
Several big camera stores in Germany sell the 7Artisans lens program! For example: Foto Leistenschneider, Foto Koch and Kamera Express. Just google any of these names to get to their online shops - or if you are closeby to any of them, just pay them a visit.
7Artisans and TT Artisan are two independent companies, despite them having a very similar name. Rumor has it that the company TT Artisan was created by one member of the original team of 7Artisans, but I do not know anything there for sure.
As usual, it is more about the photographer than the gear.
Thanks 🙏
hi did you filter , edited , or color corrected the sample photos?
I always shoot in RAW and use Lightroom to edit contrast, saturation and white balance. All these parameters also could be changed in-camera if you want to.
But I do NOT correct for distortion, vignetting or chromatic aberrations so you can see the quality of the lens for yourself.
Anybody know if the vignetting also occurs on the slightly smaller Micro 4/3 format?
Obviously I didn’t check for myself … but if should be still visible, albeit much less pronounced. In theory, you could try to take a screenshot from my video where it show a photo and crop that for yourself, APS-C is 24x16 mm and MFT is 17x13 mm …
Thanks for the thorough and thoughtful response!@@tomscameras
I don't own Fuji or Leica gear but you're still my fave camera channel because of your thoughtful editing and wry sense of humor!
@@tomscameras
On my canon m50 mark ii all photos are blurry at any distance. What should I do? Any special settings?
Hm … that doesn’t sound good. Did you try to manual focus by using your screen and maybe the magnifying function? Can you then get a sharp photo?
@@tomscameras I have found on amazon solving my problem, but I don't understand what exactly I should do. This is the solving i found: "I liked the price. I found I had to tune the focus by undoing the screws on the back and turning the lens. This was easy though, and it is now quite sharp. This is a useful cheap, small and light lens (on micro 43). There is no lens cap though, so I am a bit concerned about damaging it. Overall pleased with it for the price"
so basically its made for 1.5x crop and it has to be adjusted for canon (1.6x) or m43 (2x) not worth buying in this case...
Oh competition for the ttartisan 25mm pancake.
mmh, not exactly competition - these two lenses serve some very different purposes, actually! Also 18mm is quite a drastic difference to 25mm in terms of field of view!
@@tomscameras Yeah, only cheap manual focus. But in price category they are close.
@@YehudaSamson true. That makes it hard to judge because many will ask … why get a lens that is only f/6.3 if another one that is f/2 is kind of the same money … but I do like the 18/6.3 because it is a real “pancake” … And also hyper simple to use!
Does it close when you turn it one way till the end ?
Close? what do you mean? That there is a mechanical lens cap or something? No there is not!
@@tomscameras Yes something like like Olympus 15mm f8 and 7 Artisan 35 mm f5,6 body caps they both do close when you turn them one side all the way. I though this one has the same system but it seems not
@@dasIDS no, unfortunately it doesn’t have such a mechanism! Would be great if it had!
The images are edited or SOOC?
All my images (in every review) are RAW and edited in Lightroom. "Editing" means things like white balance, saturation, exposure!
BUT I do never correct for vignetting, distortion or chromatic aberrations (unless explicitly stated in the video) so you can see how the lens performs.
@@tomscameraswhat about contrast / tone curve? In these shots contrast is pretty good so I wonder how it is without editing?
@@Heart0rHead Yes, contrast is part of editing. But actually, you HAVE to decide on a tone curve, also on white balance, color saturation ... either the camera does it for you or you do it yourself ...
But having said that, I didn't edit the pictures of this lens very differently from those of all my other lenses. Yes it is a "vintage" lens design, but still coatings are modern, so the contrast is also similar to other lenses overall ...
Thanks
Is not for me. I love pancakes, but with better optics. Why nobody makes something like the Canon EF 40mm 2.8 or the 24mm 2.8? Without the AF motor it would be even smaller and the image quality is great on this. Even the Pentax pancakes are great. I don't know if Nikon have pancakes too. But I think cannot be difficult to copy the EF optical designs (and adapt it to mirrorless flange distance), the patent may be obsolete today.
There's a selection of very good 27/2.8's, both from Fujifilm and also TT Artisan, for example. As for the 40mm f/2.8: That's a more typical DSLR focal length - due to the much higher flange distance that's the focal length where you can most easily make a pancake lens for a DSLR body! The same goes for this 18/6.3 - the "pancake" style comes naturally at the short flange distance that a mirrorless camera provides! That's why pancakes for DSLR and mirrorless cameras tend to have different specifications.
Nikon makes a 28 and a 40 for the Z cameras that are something like pancakes. The 40 is a little bigger but still quite small.
@@johntravena119 The Nikon lenses are great. But they are not pancakes, they're just normal compact lenses :)
Also, they are designed for full frame, so they don't directly compare to the ones for Fuji (which is APS-C only). Yes, sure you can use the Nikkors also on their APS-C bodies. Still, the 28/2.8 is still much bigger than the Fujinon 27/2.8 ... because the Nikkor is made for full-frame in the first place and the Fujinon is not.
If you'd design for APS-C and not full frame, you'd surely get a 28/2, not f/2.8, within the same physical size of the Nikkor lens.
I still rate these two Nikkors highly, cause for full frame cameras which is their intended purpose, they're both awesome budget and compact options with good optics.
@@tomscameras I hear ya. They’re about as close to pancakes as anything Nikon currently makes though and they’re quite a bit shorter than the Nikkor 50mm for Z.. I’m impressed with the quality of this 7Artisans pancake you reviewed here. It looks like fun too. For $60 it’s a bargain - a bag of groceries costs that these days!
@@johntravena119 the Nikon 26mm seems more like an actual pancake, unlike the 28mm.
🤔 Hm, ist das Fotografieren mit diesem Objektiv nicht irgendwie, wie mit dem Handy zu fotografieren?
Es ist unter dem Strich ganz anders!
Man, I would sell the trees in my yard! I would be millionaire!
🤣
If only we didn’t need trees to take CO2 out of the atmosphere.
I bought it. And I'm not looking for perfection, quite the opposite. 🤗
I hope you'll have a lot of fun with the lens! :)
I keep having the odd feeling when I see reviews of this lens that it’s too sharp. It’s crossed over from “toy lens” into “weak real lens” levels, which is an awkward spot for me. It isn’t good enough to be a real lens, but also not bad enough to really satisfy the low-fi craving. I’d be more tempted by something like a 20mm f/8 made of plastic rather than glass. That’d probably deliver more on the soft disposable camera vibes.
I see your point. And yes, I'd not mind if the 18mm would have even higher corrected optics. But I guess I'm in the camp of those photographers who like the lens just as it is. :)
@@tomscameras Don't get me wrong, I think it's probably a solid option for someone on a budget. Cheap vintage lenses don't come this wide, and good lenses this wide are significantly more expensive. Even the TTArtisan 17mm is twice the price of this.
But I have the TTArtisan 17mm, so this isn't quite as appealing, the size gains aren't enough to justify it.
But if there was also a softer plastic lens, I'd probably get one. If I had a FF camera, I'd get one of those adapted FunSaver optics in a lenscap, but the field of view on APS-C for those doesn't make sense to me.
@@thebitterfig9903 No I do get your point actually. Never looked at it like that so far. There's that concept of the "uncanny valley" regarding the look of computer generated human characters such as in animated movies and such. If they look very abstract (like in a comic book) then everyone loves it, but if they are too realistic but just not 100%, then people react very bad to it. Maybe the same applies to lenses in regard of image quality.
But apart from all that, I also agree that if you're looking at cheap compact wide-angle lenses (especially for APS-C) then your choices are very limited. And the 18/6.3 is just such a nice lens in use. Maybe I forgive it a lot because I just love how easy it is in everyday use, I mean: you don't even have to think about the aperture setting :) and 90% of photos you also don't have to worry about focusing! But yes, the optics are not 100%. I am okay with it this way but I do see your point. Much appreciated!
Vignetting and color shift when just a tiny bit of light hits the lens are amzing!
Amazingly useless w/o correction.
Well, I wouldn't call it "useless" … but definitely this lens was never designed for people looking for some optical perfection!
"New" 🤣🤣🤣
It was new when the video was released ... :)
@@tomscameras Yes, I know, I also had a chuckle with the "newer" "newest" remark 😊
@@laika25 sometimes their marketing is just a bit funny, yes 😂
Do not buy this lens, it's terrible. Any smartphone camera in the last 10-15 years takes better photos. Go get a spare battery with the money.
I got this lens last week and really tried loving it... it distorts really bad, flares a lot, all shots are blurry even on infinity, heavy vignetting, colors are weird etc.
Sorry to hear that. It might be that you just don’t like the characteristics of this lens and/or maybe you also got a faulty one.
But anyway, thanks for your feedback!
Love your videos!
Anyone who has bought this lens. You may need to find infinity and put a dot there. My infinity wasn't anywhere close to the marking on the lens. Just a word of caution. What a great lens! Always in my bag or in my pocket... (or on my camera).
Thanks a lot for this information! That’s always the problem with us review guys: we usually only have one sample and when it is sent to us directly from the factory, if might be even hand picked. So in some cases I also bought some 7Artisans or TT Artisans lenses for myself, so I was just a „regular customer“. I never found any quality difference between those lenses and the ones that were supplied to me by the manufacturer directly, which is a good sign.
So many thanks for your input and the idea with the little dot. Sounds very simple! Enjoy your lens!
@@tomscameras ya man! This lens is so much fun. Will always be with me... cause why not. (btw... my infinity was almost halfway in between infinity mark and the arrows... a little closer to the infinity mark... but not by much).