Fantastic review of this lens showing its characteristics and how it compares to others in the market. Auckland NZ is a great place to live. Even better is Christchurch in the South Island where I lived for some years.
You should affiliate to Pergear. It's the best store for us Europeans, because they charge and cover all taxes, otherwise we pay custom taxes besides VAT
Wow that's suuuuuper wide! 18mm vs 9mm is a massive difference, this would be perfect for Real Estate... I bet they use this focal length for doing photos in Japanese hotels lol.
Those two Lenses is about the same, but the Laowa is smaller and lighter, the Laowa also have a close focus of 12cm, the 7 Artisans have 20cm which is a lot for a 9mm Lens.
The lens hood is intergrated with the body and not removable so i can't test and compare, but i don't think so because of the shape of the vignetting pattern
Cityscape, architectural photos, or indoor photos in a very tight space. Or just to create images with huge amount of perspective distortion, something visually different to with a normal ultra wide angle lens can't do.
I have a 14mm Lens which I often think is too wide, so I do not think a 9mm Lens is for me. If I was going to get a 9mm Lens I would get the Laowa 9mm 5.6 because it is lighter and smaller, so it will not take much space in a camera bag, the Laowa 9mm also have a close focus of 12cm.
Dear Richard. Maybe you can help me with the usage of this Lens. I have an S5II and soon an S9 and I am on the jump to get this 7artisans lens cause I mostly use my Sigma 14-24 2.8 at 14mm & F8 and get the desired sharpness I want. However I never used a manual lens and I am afraid of nailing the focus. I am mostly shooting landscapes. What I have heard is that when I shoot at F8-F11 everything is sharp. Is that true? Or better use the infinity mark on the 7Artisans?
Don't use infinity mark. It's almost never accurate. Manual focus with an ultra wide angle lens for landscape it quite easy. I would use punch in to check focus. And once you did it a few times, you will find what is the mark you should turn to. You could even use a pen or sticker to mark it and you can just rely on that in the future. It's really not that hard I'm sure you will figure out very quickly after a few trial and error!
@@TheRealRichardWong Not sure. And by leaving the F arounf F8-F11 should work better I guess? Seen something called Monochrome Live View. This together with Focus Peaking Colour Points should help I hope
f/8-11 make it a lot easier. but i don't recommend turn it to infinity. 1. Infinity mark on the lens is usually beyond infinity. 2. it may still be in focus but not necessarily sharpest.
Thanks for this excellent review Richard. What about when you photograph people with this lens. Do they look weird. I have a Nikon Z body and recently sold my Laowa 15mm lens as I didn't think it was sharp. Any other recommendations for a wide/ultra-wide. I would have loved a Nikon 10-20mm lens as Canon have recently done.
it is extremely easy to distort people when shooting with such a wide lens. Very hard to control/limit distortion especially when the subject is at close distance.
Thank you Richard for your prompt and informative response. I think this won't be a lens for me if it's going to 'barrel' my subjects. Any other recommendations say around 14-18mm. And why are so many of these lenses manual focus only?
ultra wide angle lenses are difficult to use for portrait. The wider it is the harder. But if you managed to pull it off, the result could be really great and different. Laowa makes a 10-18 zoom you could consider. The reason they are manual focus mainly because it's easier to do that
@@TheRealRichardWong Thanks again Richard. Another person has recommended Viltrox 13mm f/1.4 which I believe is autofocus. But it's an APS-C lens...so inadvisable to use on my Z9? Perhaps I should pay up and turn to Nikkor 17-28mm?
I wouldn't recommend Viltrox 13mm with the Z9 because that is an APSC lens... so once you add the crop, it becomes a 20mm focal length lens on your Z9. This 9mm lens is MUCH WIDER than a 20mm or even the Nikkor 17-28.
Not bad for the price you are paying for this lens. Building such a wide angle lens is a challange. Strange that no camera manufacture makes such a wide lens. As you said it is a challange to use it. Maybe usefull for landscape photographers who has time to compose their image, use manual focus and a tripod. This is a niche market. Thanks for making videos of this Chinese lenses that try to find a niche in the market.
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.
Thanks Richard, a really nice review.
Fantastic review of this lens showing its characteristics and how it compares to others in the market. Auckland NZ is a great place to live. Even better is Christchurch in the South Island where I lived for some years.
Hi Andrew, Christchurch is beautiful! I need to visit Christchurch again soon! Thanks for watching
Indeed Insanely wide! Great review as usual
thanks kenneth!
I think the real focal length of that lens is 10 or 11mm because laowa 9mm is wider
Thanks Richard!
To order 7Artisans 9mm f/5.6: bit.ly/3tFstT6 (affiliated link)
You should affiliate to Pergear. It's the best store for us Europeans, because they charge and cover all taxes, otherwise we pay custom taxes besides VAT
Wow that's suuuuuper wide! 18mm vs 9mm is a massive difference, this would be perfect for Real Estate... I bet they use this focal length for doing photos in Japanese hotels lol.
LOL true! It does make tiny space looks bigger! :D
No such thing as too wide 😁 Which is the better lens optically in terms of edge to edge shapness and distortion, this or the Laowa?
Those two Lenses is about the same, but the Laowa is smaller and lighter, the Laowa also have a close focus of 12cm, the 7 Artisans have 20cm which is a lot for a 9mm Lens.
I haven't done much comparison yet. I'll see if i can do a comparison review in the near future!
Great review. One more lens to add to the to-buy list.
thanks for watching Stephen!
Great review. Could the persistent vignetting be caused by the lens hood?
No.
The lens hood is intergrated with the body and not removable so i can't test and compare, but i don't think so because of the shape of the vignetting pattern
@@TheRealRichardWong ok
It's tempting, as I believe the Laowa lens is not available for Canon. Canon just released a 10-20mm L series zoom but at a pro price.
Yes correct, the Laowa 9mm is not available for Canon.
Thank for a great review. Is is same optic as Brightin star 9mm f5.6?
Maybe, but the Brighting Star is lighter
The design does look very similar. I will see if i can get Brightin Star to send me a sample to compare
What are some possible use cases for a lens as wide as this?
Cityscape, architectural photos, or indoor photos in a very tight space. Or just to create images with huge amount of perspective distortion, something visually different to with a normal ultra wide angle lens can't do.
It would be great a comparison review of the brightin star, now that is out
I will see if i can get hold of a sample and compare that!
I have a 14mm Lens which I often think is too wide, so I do not think a 9mm Lens is for me. If I was going to get a 9mm Lens I would get the Laowa 9mm 5.6 because it is lighter and smaller, so it will not take much space in a camera bag, the Laowa 9mm also have a close focus of 12cm.
i cannot make it sharp, i don't know what's wrong. Tried it with my A7IV and also using peak focusing
Dear Richard. Maybe you can help me with the usage of this Lens. I have an S5II and soon an S9 and I am on the jump to get this 7artisans lens cause I mostly use my Sigma 14-24 2.8 at 14mm & F8 and get the desired sharpness I want. However I never used a manual lens and I am afraid of nailing the focus. I am mostly shooting landscapes. What I have heard is that when I shoot at F8-F11 everything is sharp. Is that true? Or better use the infinity mark on the 7Artisans?
Don't use infinity mark. It's almost never accurate. Manual focus with an ultra wide angle lens for landscape it quite easy. I would use punch in to check focus. And once you did it a few times, you will find what is the mark you should turn to. You could even use a pen or sticker to mark it and you can just rely on that in the future. It's really not that hard I'm sure you will figure out very quickly after a few trial and error!
@@TheRealRichardWong Not sure. And by leaving the F arounf F8-F11 should work better I guess? Seen something called Monochrome Live View. This together with Focus Peaking Colour Points should help I hope
f/8-11 make it a lot easier. but i don't recommend turn it to infinity. 1. Infinity mark on the lens is usually beyond infinity. 2. it may still be in focus but not necessarily sharpest.
Thanks for this excellent review Richard. What about when you photograph people with this lens. Do they look weird. I have a Nikon Z body and recently sold my Laowa 15mm lens as I didn't think it was sharp. Any other recommendations for a wide/ultra-wide. I would have loved a Nikon 10-20mm lens as Canon have recently done.
it is extremely easy to distort people when shooting with such a wide lens. Very hard to control/limit distortion especially when the subject is at close distance.
Thank you Richard for your prompt and informative response. I think this won't be a lens for me if it's going to 'barrel' my subjects. Any other recommendations say around 14-18mm. And why are so many of these lenses manual focus only?
ultra wide angle lenses are difficult to use for portrait. The wider it is the harder. But if you managed to pull it off, the result could be really great and different. Laowa makes a 10-18 zoom you could consider. The reason they are manual focus mainly because it's easier to do that
@@TheRealRichardWong Thanks again Richard. Another person has recommended Viltrox 13mm f/1.4 which I believe is autofocus. But it's an APS-C lens...so inadvisable to use on my Z9? Perhaps I should pay up and turn to Nikkor 17-28mm?
I wouldn't recommend Viltrox 13mm with the Z9 because that is an APSC lens... so once you add the crop, it becomes a 20mm focal length lens on your Z9. This 9mm lens is MUCH WIDER than a 20mm or even the Nikkor 17-28.
Not bad for the price you are paying for this lens. Building such a wide angle lens is a challange. Strange that no camera manufacture makes such a wide lens. As you said it is a challange to use it. Maybe usefull for landscape photographers who has time to compose their image, use manual focus and a tripod. This is a niche market. Thanks for making videos of this Chinese lenses that try to find a niche in the market.
I think Laowa had 9mm ff for few years? 🤔 Just saw phillipreeve's review. This 9mm seems to be a 9.5mm but the Laowa one is 8.9mm.
@@macrodeon Is the Laowa 9mm a FF lens? And which phillipreeve's review are you refering to?
@@angeloplayforone ff too, and i really don't know how Laowa managed to make it even a little bit smaller
yes Laowa was the first to make a full frame rectilinear 9mm lens, here is my review: ua-cam.com/video/as95Fo_z1TU/v-deo.htmlsi=rJeIsr46-a2yr2ON
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.