If you prefer this review in video and to see some clips the lens in action, check the YT link above. My main macro setup is still m4/3 but I’m always curious about testing Fuji gear.
It’s a lens designed specifically for aps-c mirrorless instead of just a ported mount so there’s no image circle wasted, the design itself is a big upgrade that makes the mark I look like a weird prototype in comparison, with the most notable change being the internal focus now, no more extending barrel – that’s a problem I see with the majority of macro lenses, Laowa had been safe from this lately and now 7artisans came out with this updated lens as well, I’m happy for it. They also managed to shed a lot of weight and it went from 550g to just 339g now, another welcome change specially if you like to shoot with small bodies.
It also keeps being a low budget lens costing only U$179, prices like this usually get people asking “is it a safe buy or a waste of money and I should just save for something better instead?“, my conclusion is that it’s a safe buy, between manual aps-c lenses personally I think only the Laowa 65mm wins for it’s 2x magnification, but it costs more than double the price and 2x might not be a necessity for the majority of photographers, you can also of course increase the 7Artisans magnification with tubes or filters (as you’ll see later), at the expense of losing infinity focus.
The body is all metal and solidly built, the 9 aperture blades create a surprisingly high quality bokeh that impressed me with it’s smoothness, I was used to the more hexagonal shapes of the Laowa 50mm bokeh lately (m4/3). The aperture ring would be better for me if it was clickable, specially since the aperture I shoot most of the time (f/16) doesn’t have it’s own stop marked, instead it’s just a small intermediate gap between f/11 and 22, this makes me check if it’s still sitting at the last aperture used every time I stop to shoot something. The focus ring is super smooth and I can turn it just by flicking my finger, I like this as I shoot single handedly, but note that the throw between 1m and infinity is very small, so if you plan to use it for portraits be aware it will be very sensitive.
I’m using the Fuji X-T2 for this review, raw demosaic in Iridient and processed in Lightroom, without AI enhancements. This wolf spider on my hand was one of the first shots I took the day it arrived from 7Artisans, and I was confident right away with the quality it produces even to the edges of the frame, you can check it with the respective crops below:
Another photo that ‘wow-ed’ me was this fly later:
Also note that despite me praising the image quality, it’s not optically perfect wide open, there are minor optical flaws at 2.8 that don’t matter for me as I shoot stopped down, per my results there’s plenty of sharpness from corner to corner wide open but actual peak sharpness is achieved only at f8 (although between 5.6 and 11 the differences are very minimal). There’s also a small amount of longitudinal aberration that appears to only clear up completely at f8. Outside the tests I didn’t even notice flaws in actual photos as I barely shot it with wide apertures, the few shots that I did still impressed me with the quality in real world subjects.
The working distance is about 8cm from the tip of the lens, it’s what I’d expect for a 90mm equivalent and that’s plenty for me, there’s enough headroom to increase magnification with attachments. After limiting myself to 1:1 for some time for the sake of this review I began using a Raynox msn-202 filter and got a magnification more to my liking, it’s an overkill +22 filter (that also adds a bit of corner distortion) and most of the samples I’m posting next with it were not shot at the maximum magnification possible with this setup, it’s the only raynox I could fit with the stepping rings I already had, but I recommend a weaker diopter like the dcr-250 to pair with this lens if you’re also looking for more mag. All the photos beyond this point are samples shot with the filter.
My conclusion is that it’s a good lens specially in the context of it’s low price, and only two things stop it from being better for me: the lack of electronic aperture control and having just 1:1 magnification. No other manual aps-c lens has aperture coupling, and the first one that comes out with it will get a lot of praise from me regardless if makes the lens more expensive, it makes a world of difference in how easy it gets to judge focus with the screen showing a big aperture when you mean to shoot stopped down. Without aperture coupling the usability is the same as adapting vintage lenses, with the advantage being a lighter weight and a more balanced setup as you don’t have the lens further away from the mount. As for being not content with just 1:1, it’s subjective and it might be enough for most people (as you saw from my samples, it’s perfectly capable at 1x), it’s me who unavoidably needed attachments to increase magnification as the majority of my subjects are tiny. Finally, I recommend you get a separate lens cap for it, as the original that comes with it is the ‘fit around the lens’ kind that isn’t very secure and you definitely will want to get a proper snap/pinch cap.
Hopefully this review helps to clear up doubts you might have had about this lens and it’s capabilities. As of March 2022 it’s priced at U$179, if it you’re interested in it you can purchase the lens directly from 7Artisans or through my affiliate: https://amzn.to/3sLQaGs