

In this post, I will compare the new 7Artisans 35mm f/2 lens ($289) with the Leica Summicron-M 35mm f/2 ASPH lens model 11879 ($3,295):

General observations





In my tests I removed the lens hood of the Leica Summicron lens since the 7Artisans lens doesn't come with a lens hood.

The EXIF in all of my photos show Leica Summicron-M 35mm f/2 ASPH lens because the 7Artisans 35mm f/2 lens is 6-bit coded as the Leica Summicron-M 35mm f/2 ASPH.

I also noticed that the 7artisans lens has a narrower field of view and is probably more like a 40mm focal length.

The Leica Summicron lens has half aperture stops and a smoother aperture ring.

The 7artisans lens has wider distance marks on the focusing scale (easier to see your zone focusing).

In my tests the minimum focusing distance of the Leica Summcron was 65 cm, while the 7artisans needed around 75 cm.

The 7Artisans 35mm f/2 lens comes with two lens caps and a small screwdriver for focus adjustment (I have not tried it, my focusing seems to be spot on):





Technical specifications

Here are the technical details of the 7Artisans 35mm f/2 lens:

Lens design: 7 elements in 5 groups

Angle of view: 63°

Number of aperture blades: 10

Minimum focusing distance: 0.7m

Filter size: 43mm

Maximum aperture: f/2

Minumum aperture: f/16

Weight: 205 g

Available only for Leica M-mount

Price: $289

Size comparison

Leica Summicron-M 35mm f/2 ASPH on the left, 7Artisans 35mm f/2 on the right:

Weight

Weight comparison (with lens caps):

7Artisans 35mm f/2 lens: 7.65 oz / 216 g

Leica Summicron-M 35mm f/2 ASPH lens: 9.05 oz / 256 g (without lens hood)

Wide open (f/2) comparison

Comparing manual focusing lenses for sharpness wide open is always a challenge because of the margin of error that can be introduced. I took the f/2 comparisons shots multiple times to make sure I did not misfocus and there is still a chance that my focusing was not 100% accurate - please take this in consideration when looking at the test photos (click for larger view).

7Artisans 35mm f/2 lens at f/2 (full resolution link):



Leica Summicron-M 35mm f/2 ASPH lens at f/2 (full resolution link):



7Artisans 35mm f/2 lens at f/2 100% crop (full resolution link):



Leica Summicron-M 35mm f/2 ASPH lens at f/2 100% crop (full resolution link):

Colors comparison

7Artisans 35mm f/2 lens at f/8 (full resolution link):



Leica Summicron-M 35mm f/2 ASPH lens at f/8 (full resolution link):



7Artisans 35mm f/2 lens at f/5.6 (full resolution link):



Leica Summicron-M 35mm f/2 ASPH lens at f/5.6 (full resolution link):

V

Vignetting

The vingetting of both lenses when wide open is almost identical.

7Artisans 35mm f/2 lens vignetting wide open:



Leica Summicron-M 35mm f/2 ASPH lens vignetting wide open:

Barrel distortion

The barrel distortion is noticeable with the 7artisans lens and almost non-existed with the Leica 35mm Summicron - this is one area the Leica has a clear advantage - the first picture is from the 7artisans lens:

The next sample is from the Leica Summicron - here the lines remain straight:

Sharpness

I did several different tests and it was hard for me to find any significant difference in the center performance of the 7Artisans 35mm f/2 lens when compared to the Leica Summicron-M 35mm f/2 ASPH (100% crops, click for larger view):

Conclusion

I am planning to do some more testing in the future, but I really had a hard time finding any flow in the 7artisans lens or any significant difference in the image quality when comparing it to the Leica Summicron-M 35mm f/2 ASPH lens.

While the previous 7artisans 50mm f/1.1 lens was soft wide open, I cannot really say the same for the new 7artisans 35mm f/2 - the lens is sharp across all apertures.

Keep in mind that we are comparing a $289 lens with a $3,295 lens...

Pros (what I like):

6 bit coded

Smooth focusing ring

Focusing tab

Small and light

Solid build, nice fit and finish

Cheap, excellent price/performance ratio (a bargain at $289)

Cons (what I don't like):

No lens hood

Minimum focusing distance is actually 0.75m

In the next few weeks I will continue to upload sample photos to flickr taken with the 7Artisans 35mm f/2 lens and the Leica M10 camera:

7Artisans lenses can be purchased at: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | eBay US | eBay UK | AliExpress.