1 week ago
14
APS-C cameras are quickly becoming the main choice for everyday photography. I've owned a Nikon Z50 for seven years now, and it's still my favorite everyday camera, especially for travel, street, and urban photography. But finding lenses for it has always been a problem.
The lack of lenses has been the biggest reason so many people haven't bought a cropped-sensor Nikon, and I'm sure this has been the case for Sony APS-C shooters too. Fortunately, that's not the case now. Third-party lens manufacturers are making a huge selection for us. Maybe this is the reason APS-C cameras are finally becoming so popular?
Ultra wide lenses for those wanting to shoot interiors and landscapes were the biggest problem. They simply didn't exist, but that's all changed now. To my delight, I discovered that 7Artisans, who are making some fabulous affordable cropped- and full-frame lenses, have a 10mm f/2.8 autofocus lens for Z, X, and E mount. That's 15-16mm full frame equivalent.
Testing The 7Artisans AF 10mm F2.8 Z
I got my hands on a copy, popped it on my Nikon Z50, and off out I went. The first thing I liked about this lens was that it's metal. I appreciate that plastic lenses are light, but they just don't feel serious or give me confidence. That's probably just me who thinks like that, I realize. Despite the metal, it's a fairly small, light lens, weighing approximately 232 g. It felt good on the Z50, nicely balanced. The physical characteristics, and how a lens feels to hold and use, are really important. Regardless of the optical quality, you want a lens you want to use.
The second thing, quite a big thing, is the lens has an AF/MF switch. This is actually a huge deal for me, because when I'm shooting something like street photography, I want to set my focal distance and then switch off autofocus, so I can then react quickly to a situation on the street and not have to worry about AF trying to find focus. The first few shots I made with this lens, I did just that, and it worked a treat.
There are electronic contacts for autofocus, aperture control, and data capture, along with a USB-C port for firmware updates. This is all protected with a gasket around the mounting plate to keep out rain and dust.
Optical Performance
Is the corner sharpness softer than the center? Is there chromatic aberration, vignetting, and flaring? I believe the obsession some have with image quality and pixel-peeping can get a little silly. It doesn't matter as much as some make out it does, but it still matters. As I'm a photographer who likes to spend time out with my gear actually pursuing photography, not buggering around pixel-peeping at home, there will be no lens test charts shot at every aperture here. Just some real-world observations.
Out on the streets, I shot wide open at f/2.8, and closed down to f/11, plus a few apertures in between, in a variety of situations. Being an ultra wide lens, I'm using it to capture a wide scene, obviously, and to do that successfully, I want to include a good balance of foreground, mid ground, and background. Therefore, I want a decent depth of field, so the best aperture I select is around f/8 or f/11. At these settings, I found the images were sharp right across the image, from edge to edge. There's also a decent amount of contrast too.
Using this lens from f/5.6 to f/11, I was incredibly happy with the results.
At f/2.8 and f/4, the corners aren't so sharp, although they start to improve a lot at f/5.6. But this doesn't matter. If I use this lens at f/2.8 or f/4, I'm not concerned about the entire frame. I'm going to be mostly close to the subject I'm shooting, and the background and edges of the frame being softer really don't matter because it doesn't ruin the photo. That's why I find shooting test cards pointless.
In fact, shooting at f/2.8, not only do you get soft edges, you also get vignetting. Again, it doesn't matter. If anything, a little vignetting will help draw attention to the center of the frame where your subject is. It saves me adding it in post. If you look at the two images below, one shot at f/2.8 and the other at f/8, you'll barely notice the vignetting or softer corners on the f/2.8 sample.
I shot a very high-contrast test image to take a look at chromatic aberration. When I took the image into Photoshop and zoomed in, I noticed the lens had been recognized and chromatic aberration reduction was already activated. I switched it off, and couldn't see any. If it does decide to appear in future photos, it's a non-issue, as correction is a click of a button.
The only optical imperfection to be concerned about with a lens like this is barrel distortion. We're in fisheye territory, after all. It's a perfect focal length for shooting urban scenes with lots of straight lines, and the last thing you want is for them to be distorted. Barrel distortion was noticeable, particularly when placing vertical lines in my foreground. However, this was only an issue when the foreground was a foot or two from the camera. Other tests with a foreground 3-4+ feet away were very good. Luckily, any distortion is easily rectified in post too. Good old Photoshop!
As I wandered the city streets, trying to find compositions that had a good balance of foreground, mid ground, and background, I quickly realized I could get very close to my foreground, as close as 0.3 m actually. That was really nice. As mentioned, barrel distortion, particularly when so close to a foreground subject, is an issue if that foreground has vertical lines. But if there are no obvious lines, it's not a problem.
Flare is one of those things you either love or hate. I go out of my way to buy older lenses without modern coatings on them, because I like playing with different kinds of flare. I didn't get to test this little 7Artisans 10mm AF f/2.8 lens for flaring to any great degree, because we've barely seen the sun over the past two months.
The one test I did get to do was shooting directly into the sun at f/2.8. When shooting wide open like this, you tend to get the most flare, including large ghosting circles and a washed-out hazy look. I didn't get any that was really noticeable. I was both impressed and disappointed.
Key Features
- APS-C | f/2.8 to f/16
- 15mm (full frame equivalent)
- 11 elements in 10 groups
- 2 ASPH, 3 ED, and 2 HR elements
- 105.3° angle of view
- 7-blade diaphragm
- Minimum focus distance: 11.8"
- AF/MF switch
- 62mm filter thread
- USB-C port for firmware upgrades
Conclusion
The 7Artisans AF 10mm f/2.8 Z is fairly small, light, and durable, and I found it to be very capable for every scenario I encountered over multiple days of testing. Being able to easily switch from autofocus to manual and back makes it perfect for street, travel, architecture, interiors, and landscapes. On top of this, it's incredibly affordable at just $199.
I was very impressed with this lens. It's one of very few lenses I would want to take on a vacation with me, or have in a bag on a day trip. It gets a 9/10.
English (US) ·