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7 Artisans 28/1.4

D&A

Well-known member
Hi All,

I just purchased and received this lens. Thank you to everyone here in this thread who generously provide enormously helpful feedback, greatly appreciated! Before I express my thoughts regarding my initial observations on very preliminary testing, let me mention what I came across as a potentially good lens hood for the lens. I was a bit hasty yesterday in posting the links to two potential hoods without having the opportunity to try them out and whether they would result in any issues.

After receiving the lens this morning, I went through my bin of legacy hoods from years past and came across a Minolta D57KE hood (I never have even shot Minolta). It appears almost ideal, stylish, and with just a few quick shots (due to inclement weather), doesn't appear to show any vignetting. A bit further testing will be required but so far looks good.

I've seen them as cheap as $12.00-14.00, although some list them higher.

I'll post a link to one for sale with a pic (link is below) and as can be seen, it has a knurled knob that tightens the hood onto the barrel of the lens itself. First the hood easily slides over the front of the barrel and comes to a stop. The knob is then tightened. A filter on the lens is not an issue. As seen in the pic of the hood, the lower half of the hood surrounds the lens barrel and filter. The top half of the hoods above the lens and filter and this is the portion that provides some shade and protection.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Minolta-d5...h=item33fd882eea:g:3lUAAOSwfwpcILIF:rk:1:pf:0

The only thing I would caution is although I would never pick up a lens by its hood, regardless how it's attached, since this hood does not screw in but is held by tight friction, it could slide off if one attempted to pick up the lens by the hood, thereby causing the lens underneath to fall. Of course all hoods attached this way have this potential, but the amount of friction holding this hood to this lens is a bit less than usual.

The hood because it doesn't flair out, and not too long, doesn't add significantly to blockage of the viewfinder vs. the lens without this hood. The shape of the hood matches the lens exceptionally well and complements it. I blackened out the word "Minolta".

So far looks and functions quite well. OK, onto my initial thoughts in my post directly below.

Dave (D&A)
 

D&A

Well-known member
Just some brief comments about the lens I just received. My very brief preliminary testing, primarily at moderate distance only (primarily due to the inclement weather), echoed what other have found. It's an exceptional performer, especially in light of it's price. Even at f1.4, centrally, it's quite sharp and the outer zones although can't match in resolution are good. I am pleasantly surprised at it's level of performance at f1.4 and its why with reluctance, I will gravitate away from my low light mainstay 28mm, the VC 28mm f1.9.

I shoot in venues that often require hand held manual focus under extremely low light and need a focal length of approx. 28mm. By f2, its almost ideal edge to edge.

I haven't tested it at long distances (like landscapes), where often a lenses weakness (especially in the outer zones) will show. I hope to get around to that.


Not sure if the box it came in, is a newly designed box or for the North American market. It is black color slick looking cardboard and looks like its paper layer all around was glued on possibly revealing something else underneath, if I peeled it off. All the paperwork, sample images, pouch with screw driver for focus adjustment and optional finger focusing grip was in a little plastic pouch.

Lens sat cradled in a dense foam material. Is this how everyone's lens came?

Most say their lens required no front/back focus adjustment. I am very critical when it comes to precise focusing at all distances (examine each image at 100% actual pixels), so I spent most of my time with the lens in this regard before I took test images as described above. My copy back focused, not only at close range, but at infinity, where the rangefinder image overshot infinity by a considerable margin. Resulting test images for focusing confirmed this, on all my cameras. Adjustment via their instructions took all of 5 min and lens then focused perfectly and made a world of difference in performance. As others have expressed, why don't all manufacturers of rangefinder lenses, allow quick user adjustment of front/back focus. This design was brilliant.

I've been using the VC 28mm f1.9 lens (in silver). Its much smaller and lighter and much lower in contrast, making it especially ideal for B&W. It has its advantages but of working in very low light with this focal length, the 7 Artisans 28mm f1.4 is ideal...so I guess I'll put my VC 28mm f1.9 up for sale as there is always something else needed on the horizon.

Again I appreciate everyone's posted images and descriptions as this truly helped in making an informed purchase decision. Thanks!

Dave (D&A)
 
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V

Vivek

Guest
Dave, Thanks for your account. Yes, the packaging is as you describe. Sleek. :)
 
V

Vivek

Guest
Thanks. They are pricey here, when found.

Stop the lens all the way down to see if there is vignetting or clipping. Wide open, you can NOT discern that.

Hi All,

I just purchased and received this lens. Thank you to everyone here in this thread who generously provide enormously helpful feedback, greatly appreciated! Before I express my thoughts regarding my initial observations on very preliminary testing, let me mention what I came across as a potentially good lens hood for the lens. I was a bit hasty yesterday in posting the links to two potential hoods without having the opportunity to try them out and whether they would result in any issues.

After receiving the lens this morning, I went through my bin of legacy hoods from years past and came across a Minolta D57KE hood (I never have even shot Minolta). It appears almost ideal, stylish, and with just a few quick shots (due to inclement weather), doesn't appear to show any vignetting. A bit further testing will be required but so far looks good.

I've seen them as cheap as $12.00-14.00, although some list them higher.

I'll post a link to one for sale with a pic (link is below) and as can be seen, it has a knurled knob that tightens the hood onto the barrel of the lens itself. First the hood easily slides over the front of the barrel and comes to a stop. The knob is then tightened. A filter on the lens is not an issue. As seen in the pic of the hood, the lower half of the hood surrounds the lens barrel and filter. The top half of the hoods above the lens and filter and this is the portion that provides some shade and protection.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Minolta-d5...h=item33fd882eea:g:3lUAAOSwfwpcILIF:rk:1:pf:0

The only thing I would caution is although I would never pick up a lens by its hood, regardless how it's attached, since this hood does not screw in but is held by tight friction, it could slide off if one attempted to pick up the lens by the hood, thereby causing the lens underneath to fall. Of course all hoods attached this way have this potential, but the amount of friction holding this hood to this lens is a bit less than usual.

The hood because it doesn't flair out, and not too long, doesn't add significantly to blockage of the viewfinder vs. the lens without this hood. The shape of the hood matches the lens exceptionally well and complements it. I blackened out the word "Minolta".

So far looks and functions quite well. OK, onto my initial thoughts in my post directly below.

Dave (D&A)
 

D&A

Well-known member
Thanks. They are pricey here, when found.

Stop the lens all the way down to see if there is vignetting or clipping. Wide open, you can NOT discern that.
Thanks Vivek. I had intended to say that I checked the hood with the lens stopped all the way down at min focusing distance. I'll test again when the weather clears up here. If I do come across any of these hoods here cheap, I'll let everyone know.

ADDITION: I just rechecked this hood for vignetting, setting aperture to f16 and focusing to minimum distance as well as focusing distance set to infinity, against white wall and a blue sky. I could detect no light falloff nor actual cut off of any part of the corners. Compared these shots to those taken exactly the same without the hood mounted.

Dave (D&A)
 
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jrp

Member
The Leica version has some purple fringing wide open, so is not ideal for night shooting or shooting indoors in the presence of windows and other objects with clear bright/dark edges. How does the new contender perform?
 

D&A

Well-known member
The Leica version has some purple fringing wide open, so is not ideal for night shooting or shooting indoors in the presence of windows and other objects with clear bright/dark edges. How does the new contender perform?
Hi,

Don't take this as gospel, but I performed a quick test for this indoors (wide open) with a extremely bright lamp, with sharp edges and a steep light fall off into dark. I detected no purple fringing but then again I'd would hestotate saying any definitive until I tested further under a wide range of lighting/shooting situations.

Dave (D&A)
 
V

Vivek

Guest
Do you mean the Summilux M 28/1.4 has CA wide open? That is surprising to hear.

The 7 Artisans 28/1.4 (it is available only in Leica M mount) does not suffer from that.

Also, there are no profiles available for this lens. Despite that, aberrations are barely noticeable.

Do try one. :)

The Leica version has some purple fringing wide open, so is not ideal for night shooting or shooting indoors in the presence of windows and other objects with clear bright/dark edges. How does the new contender perform?
 

scho

Well-known member
Do you mean the Summilux M 28/1.4 has CA wide open? That is surprising to hear.

The 7 Artisans 28/1.4 (it is available only in Leica M mount) does not suffer from that.

Also, there are no profiles available for this lens. Despite that, aberrations are barely noticeable.

Do try one. :)
I agree with Vivek. An outstanding M mount lens that performs well on both a Leica M rangefinder or Sony A7Rx. Also works well with TAP on my A7RII.
 
V

Vivek

Guest
There is a new lens hood introduced by 7 Artisans. It is listed on eBay.
 
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