7Artisans 35mm f/1.2 - Review
A super-fast manual lens…
… with a few quirks and a multitude of pleasant surprises.
mounted on my Fujifilm X-T2
The 7Artisans 35mm f/1.2 is a fully manual lens designed for APS-C sensor mirrorless camera systems. It comes in all the usual mounts. The lens is a beautifully crafted chunk of metal and glass that feels great in the hand and on the camera. It is not very big, but provides just enough room to reach both the aperture and focus rings comfortably. The focus throw is pretty short (around 150 degrees), but it turned out to be plenty. The lens has a wide-open aperture of f/1.2 and closes down to f/16. Using this lens was an entirely new photographic experience for me - at least it feels that way, in the age of “auto-everything”.
The lens is not without a few image quality issues at f/1.2. There is a lot of field curvature, with a ton of off-center softness at f/1.2. This resolves about f/2 or f/2.8, and the lens is reasonably sharp throughout the remaining range. A little diffraction softening becomes apparent at f/16. There are significant lens aberrations visible at f/2 and wider, with some heavy longitudinal chromatic aberration in areas of high contrast and visible barrel distortion in some images. I would add that all of these issues were trivial to correct in Lightroom.
One problem that couldn’t be fixed in Lightroom was the lens flare, which was a constant threat while shooting on the bright afternoon of my tests. I actually like the occasional subtle splash of multicolored lens flare, but there is nothing subtle about this. The flare from this lens is an image-destroying blast of red and pink. It was easy to correct by adding a small DIY lens hood, made of step rings and screwed onto the filter mount.
Vignetting was present with the aperture wide open, but disappeared quickly when moving to f/2.0. The bokeh was nice during the day, and really lovely as the light began to fade. The depth of field was fun to manage with the aperture ring, and with a little practice it was a simple matter to isolate the subject from the surrounding ocean of soft defocus. Very nice.
The 7Artisans 35mm f/1.2 is not a perfect lens and, for a technical photographer, the quirkiness of its performance at f/1.2 might be off-putting. But perfection is not the point of this lens, and when I embraced its idiosyncrasies and forgave its optical imperfections, I soon realized how much fun I was having. There is something freeing about using a fully manual lens, adjusting the aperture instinctively, for effect, and without much thought about f numbers and “correct” settings. I am a very technical photographer - you have to be, in the macro universe - but letting go of my rigid approach to image capture and yielding to the odd character of this little lens, I was soon remembering just how much fun photography can be.
And then, in an instant, I had an idea and the macro-photography geek in me took over…
What if I reversed this cool lens on some extension tubes?
Watch the video to see what happened - you might be surprised!
In summary, the 7Artisans 35mm f/1.2 lens for mirrorless APS-C cameras is not a perfect lens, but it is a tremendously enjoyable lens to use. Add to that the fact that it appears to be a fairly capable macro-optic when used in reverse and on bellows, and you have an inexpensive, fast, normal prime that I can recommend with enthusiasm!
If you are interested in getting a closer look, these links will take you there. Be aware that some of these links are paid, and that as an Amazon Affiliate I may earn a small commission from qualified sales.