Fujifilm X-T2, 7Artisans 12mm f2.8
The 4th lens in your basic 5 prime set is your Ultra-Wide Angle lens. We've covered the wide/normal (25mm f1.8), the normal (35mm f2) and one good option for the mild telephoto (the 55/3.5 Macro).
Rounding out the kit on the wide end for now is the moderate Ultra-wide. This is going to be in the 18-21mm range in terms of 35mm equivalent, so 12-14mm. Keeping the focus on cheap options, below $200 USD, there's really only a couple options in this area, specifically the Meike and 7Artisans 12mm f2.8's. These are different designs, not the same lens rebadged (as is so common for these Chinese lenses) and 7Artisans has the better overall reputation for quality, although their offering is a little more expensive (about $10USD more).
I've selected the 7Artisans and have been shooting it for about 6 weeks now. I was extremely impressed with it from the initial presentation through the handling and image quality.
The 7Artisans lens arrives in a very nice presentation box, frankly a much nicer one than many far more expensive lenses. it's nestled in quality foam (no styrofoam or cardboard like Zeiss or Sony/Nikon/Canon respectively) and includes a good rear cap, a push-on front cap, a microfibre pouch, a microfibre lens cleaning cloth and a stick-on focusing tab.
The build quality of the lens is excellent. It's all metal, smooth focusing, no wobble/wiggle anywhere. My stick-on focusing tab did unstick after 6 weeks, but that's just going to happen with anything stick-on. It was a nice add and I'm looking at more permanent attachment options for it.
Optically, it's quite good. Don't expect something that will embarrass the XF 14/2.8 or Touit 12/2.8, but it's sharp everywhere except the extreme corners, has nice colour and a nice overall rendering. The flare control is very 70's, with some loss of contrast and mild to moderate ghosting. Nice sunstars, but expect to deal with ghosts if you include the sun in the frame.
I do recommend this lens quite highly. It's a much better experience in terms of handling and quality than the 25, which was merely nice for the price. The 7Artisans lens could easily command twice the price or more if 7Artisans got access to better coating technology. As it is, I think it's still worth $300USD or so, which is pretty good for a $180 lens.
More images from the 12/2.8 can be found here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mawz/tags/12mmf28/
Rounding out the kit on the wide end for now is the moderate Ultra-wide. This is going to be in the 18-21mm range in terms of 35mm equivalent, so 12-14mm. Keeping the focus on cheap options, below $200 USD, there's really only a couple options in this area, specifically the Meike and 7Artisans 12mm f2.8's. These are different designs, not the same lens rebadged (as is so common for these Chinese lenses) and 7Artisans has the better overall reputation for quality, although their offering is a little more expensive (about $10USD more).
I've selected the 7Artisans and have been shooting it for about 6 weeks now. I was extremely impressed with it from the initial presentation through the handling and image quality.
The 7Artisans lens arrives in a very nice presentation box, frankly a much nicer one than many far more expensive lenses. it's nestled in quality foam (no styrofoam or cardboard like Zeiss or Sony/Nikon/Canon respectively) and includes a good rear cap, a push-on front cap, a microfibre pouch, a microfibre lens cleaning cloth and a stick-on focusing tab.
The build quality of the lens is excellent. It's all metal, smooth focusing, no wobble/wiggle anywhere. My stick-on focusing tab did unstick after 6 weeks, but that's just going to happen with anything stick-on. It was a nice add and I'm looking at more permanent attachment options for it.
Optically, it's quite good. Don't expect something that will embarrass the XF 14/2.8 or Touit 12/2.8, but it's sharp everywhere except the extreme corners, has nice colour and a nice overall rendering. The flare control is very 70's, with some loss of contrast and mild to moderate ghosting. Nice sunstars, but expect to deal with ghosts if you include the sun in the frame.
I do recommend this lens quite highly. It's a much better experience in terms of handling and quality than the 25, which was merely nice for the price. The 7Artisans lens could easily command twice the price or more if 7Artisans got access to better coating technology. As it is, I think it's still worth $300USD or so, which is pretty good for a $180 lens.
More images from the 12/2.8 can be found here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mawz/tags/12mmf28/
No comments:
Post a Comment