7 Artisans and Meike

[jimagine]

I can't believe I'm actually posting this but for anyone shooting with the Pocket/Micro I feel obligated.

We picked up a used Pocket as a crash cam for a project recently and I wanted to grab some small MFT crash lenses for the project - specifically to cover 12, 25, 35mm.
I did the google and ebay thing and found I could cover the 35mm with a cheap Meike and the 25mm with a new thing called 7 Artisans. We're talking about $70 dollar lenses here.

Anyway, long and short of it is I was so blown away with how good they looked in post and cut with our main lenses (all Sigma Art) that I shot a test the other day with the Sigma 18-35.
So we all know that the Sig is praised, fairly, for it's detail and contrast wide open.
The 7 Artisans actually out-performed the Sig open and stopped down at 25mm.
More amazingly, the colors and bokeh/OOF are pretty identical to the Sig - with the 7 Artisans showing better micro contrast.
Oh and 7 Artisans is about 1/3 stop faster.
Seriously.

So this thing is all metal, well damped with 12 rounded blades and cost me $69.99
Oh and the Meike 35mm - also all metal and well damped with 9 rounded blades has a bit better bokeh/OOF than the Sig at 35mm, not as sharp open (but close) but actually better stopped down to f/2.8.

And I'm just blown away that the 3D/micro contrast quality that I'm always looking for when testing glass is there with both of these cheap little things.
Regarding the sharpness, I'm sure it's because I'm shooting at 2.88 crop utiliizing the sweet spot of the glass, but I'm still pretty shocked .

[alex.stefani]

A friend of mine tested these cheap lenses on the BMCC and told me the results were very good...thank you very much for the post! Have you any shots taken with the 7artisans and BMPCC?

[jimagine]

I just shot the 7Artisans 25mm extensively on the T-day break to make sure I'd be comfortable using it for critical work in the coming week - and it's just an amazing almost silly surprise.
Maybe I have a golden copy but this lens is simply great. I tested virtually every 25mm option in the last year while buiding a small, MFT set of lenses separate from our big glass on MBSBs.
That includes everything from the Voigt to the Panaleica and honestly, the 7 Artisans is sharpr wide open than any of them and has better bokeh (much better than the Voigt IMO) than any of them.

Again, this is at 2.88 crop hitting the lenses sweet spot but that's the point here - these are lenses for the Micro and Pocket.
Just get one. It cost $69.99.
I'd buy it tomorrow for 10 times that price.

And If they made a set of these I'd buy them all tomorrow.
I'm actually surprised that you're the only person who responded to my post because I would have been all over this if I had read about it here.

I'll post a couple of examples when I get into the studio.

[Ryanite]

really cool find! I'd love to see some examples.

For me having spent so much on a metabones speed booster do you think I'd get similar results with the ef version?

Also is this the one? https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/7artisan...9_nI7iaFXs0qnA

or maybe it'd be good to build a MFT set but unbolting this speed boosters gonna be annoying.

[jimagine]

You need to get the MFT version https://www.amazon.com/7artisans-25m.../dp/B073F52N4W
For the record, as you would expect with something so inexpensive, it ain't perfect. Specifically it has a short focus throw, and a backwards aperture direction. But this is minor when you consider it's overall quality.

Regarding the Metabones, they only work converting FF glass to MFT - you can't use them with this.
But you wouldn't want to. The great thing is how small and light these lenses are compared to a FF on the MB. We use a set of Sigmas on MBs as well as other big glass and I use this set of small MFT primes just because we can fly them around on small gimbals, sliders and monopods on stripped down Pockets and Micros.

And for your edification I also offer the Meike/Neewer 35mm https://www.amazon.com/Meike-Mount-M.../dp/B06ZZ7QKZR

This is also all metal well damped w/ a 9 blade iris and very similar bokeh/OOF to both the 7 A and Sigma. Not as sharp wide open as the 7 A but very good - a lot better than a Nikon 1.4 AIS wide open for instance. Stopped down to f/2.8 it actually matches/betters the Sigma stopped similarly on the Metabones.

There's also a 50mm 2.0 version of the Meike/Neewer that's built the same, 9 blade, identical bokeh and color/contrast characteristics.

I have a separate lightweight kit with a Micro and Pocket, the Rokinon 12mm, 7 Artisans 25mm, Meike 35mm and 50mm and an Oly 12-40mm for run and gun.
Sometimes it's liberating to get away from the bigger cams and lenses and support gear...and sometimes it just makes it possible to get a lot more shots and creative shots in challenging circumstances..

[Ryanite]

awesome thanks, they do offer a EF version though but I guess using that with the speed booster would essentially negate the benefits of using the better middle area of the lens right?

Does the 70 odd mm give you any trouble? Being 25 with a 2.8 crop, I'd imagine anything handheld would be out of the question.

[shijan]

Nice find. Never hear about those 7 Artisans lenses. Do you have any test images?
BTW. I use BMMCC with Meike 6.5mm f/2 Fisheye Lens http://www.bmcuser.com/showthread.php?20125
It is vey nice lens. Very sharp and very contrast lens compare to any other lens i have. Too sharp and too contrast for my taste. Works very well with with OLPF filter. Other Meike are very different in quality.

[jimagine]

awesome thanks, they do offer a EF version though but I guess using that with the speed booster would essentially negate the benefits of using the better middle area of the lens right?

Does the 70 odd mm give you any trouble? Being 25 with a 2.8 crop, I'd imagine anything handheld would be out of the question.

Again, the 7 Artisans 25mm is a native APS-C mount - no EF version. There is an EOS M but again it's a small lens that doesn't cover FF and wouldn't work with the metabones.

I find the 72mm kind of a great FOV in the sense that it's at the end of normal and beginning of protrait. In my world anything handheld is out of the question with any lens .
Seriously though, I've never shot anything professionally handheld and have a hard time watching footage that is (aside from cams w/ 5 axis stabilization which oviously isn't in this discussion.)

[jimagine]

Nice find. Never hear about those 7 Artisans lenses. Do you have any test images?
BTW. I use BMMCC with Meike 6.5mm f/2 Fisheye Lens http://www.bmcuser.com/showthread.php?20125
It is vey nice lens. Very sharp and very contrast lens compare to any other lens i have. Too sharp and too contrast for my taste. Works very well with with OLPF filter. Other Meike are very different in quality.

Never tried the 7.5mm but then again I never tried any "cheap" glass before I picked these up for a shoot. But if you like that Meike then you should try the 35mm 1.7 because it has great IQ and bokeh and makes a great little 100mm on the micro. And I wouldn't call it overly sharp, but it is very useable wide open

[trispembo]

Regarding the Metabones, they only work converting FF glass to MFT - you can't use them with this.

Actually, the BMPCC MB Speedbooster needs an input lens that is S35 or APS-C and upwards. So many EF lenses designed for APS-C will work just fine.

My favourite is the Tokina 11-16mm which I use extensively on my pocket camera with the 0.58x MB SB.