The world of affordable manual-focus primes is getting all the more competitive, as 7Artisans brings out a 50mm f/0.95 lens for a host of mirrorless systems.
Building on the success of the firm’s previous 35mm f/0.95, this new optic will be available for Sony E, Fujifilm X, Canon EOS M, Nikon Z and Micro Four Thirds (Olympus, Panasonic, Blackmagic) mounts.
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7Artisans (not to be confused with TTArtisan, which recently released some new primes for Nikon Z) is a lens manufacturer based in China. The new 50mm f/0.95 is a manual-focus lens, with a de-clicked aperture that runs from f/0.95 to f/16. This will make it useful for videographers as well as photographers who want to take advantage of that large maximum aperture.
According to the manufacturer, the lens has a minimum focusing distance of 0.45m and a filter thread diameter of 62mm. Its exterior is constructed entirely of metal, and is listed as measuring 67.5mm in length and weighing about 416g – though we’d imagine there will be some slight variation between the different mount options.
Internally, the lens’ optical construction consists of seven elements in five groups, with two Hoya ultra-low dispersion glass elements. A reviewer at Indonesian website infofotografi.com has already tried out the Sony E version of the lens and found it to be highly capable for producing dreamlike, bokehlicious images – though it did notice a slight tendency towards aperture drift.
The lens joins a comprehensive and interesting line-up of manual-focus primes for mirrorless systems, courtesy of the folks at 7Artisans. While it lacks any fancy features like shake reduction or autofocus, it’s impressively affordable for a lens at this aperture, and that 50mm focal length converted to APS-C (75mm on Sony, Nikon and Fujifilm, and 80mm on Canon) or Micro Four Thirds (100mm) should make it useful for portraits.
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Of course, we’ll have to get our hands on it ourselves before we can determine whether it belongs in our guide to the best 50mm standard lenses. But it’s definitely encouraging to see a widely compatible lens at this price point.
The new 7Artisans 50mm f/0.95 is expected to be available from the 7Artisans site and selected vendors from 08 August and will be priced at around $236 (approximately £170 / AU$318).
Read more:
Best nifty fifty
PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine
Zhongyi Mitakon Speedmaster 50mm f/0.95 review
Nikon Nikkor Z 58mm f/0.95 Noct review
