7Artisans, the Chinese budget lens manufacturer, has released its long-awaited ultrawide AF 10mm f/4 APS-C pancake lens, and this thing is so light you might forget that it’s even attached to your camera.
Coming in at just 2.5oz (71g) – yes, you read that right – the new 7Artisans lens is just half an ounce heavier, if you can even use that word here, than the TTArtisan AF 24mm F3.8 Mini, which, weighing approximately 2oz (57g), is the lightest AF pancake on the market.
Acccording to Chinese technology news publisher, ITHome, The new 10mm f/4 APS-C pancake launched today, October 29, for Sony E-mount and Fujifilm X-mount, with a price tag of ¥699 (approximately $100 / £75) on the Chinese e-commerce site JD.com (unfortunately tricky to access outside of China).
Tucked inside its insanely light, 1.2-inch (33mm) body are nine optical elements in seven groups, including one extra-low dispersion (ED) element, one high-refractive-index element, and two aspherical elements. There’s also a stepping motor (STM)-driven AF system that has a minimum focusing distance of 0.6ft (0.2m).
But considering the inherently massive depth of field that an ultrawide focal length like 10mm boasts, AF might seem unnecessary. And, in all honesty, it may well be.
While AF definitely brings added convenience, when shooting at this focal length, almost the entire frame stays in focus simultaneously, arguably making precise autofocusing redundant unless taking close-up shots.
AF has increasingly crept into wide-angle pancake lenses over the last few years, with recent APS-C releases like the TTArtisan AF 27mm f/2.8 and Viltrox AF 28mm f/4.5 touting the feature. So, no doubt a driving force behind the decision to include AF in the 7Artisans 10mm f/4 pancake was competitiveness.
Still, if you’re not a fan of manual focusing, then, regardless of necessity, the STM AF in the new 7Artisans 10mm f/4 pancake will surely be a welcome feature. But we’ll have to wait for a wider release to find that out for sure.
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