If you're in the market for an affordable lens that doesn't compromise on quality, the 7Artisans 85mm f/1.8 AF deserves attention. With its promise of excellent image quality and solid build, it could be the next valuable addition to your gear.
Coming to you from Christopher Frost, this detailed video reviews the 7Artisans 85mm f/1.8 AF lens. Frost appreciates its solid metallic build and the inclusion of a USB-C port for firmware updates. However, it lacks weather-sealing, which might be a drawback for some users. The lens has an auto/manual focus switch and a smooth aperture ring, but the ring can be finicky, often shifting out of automatic mode too easily. The focus ring is responsive, although slightly slow, and the lens exhibits noticeable focus breathing, which could be problematic for video work.
The video explores the lens's performance on a full frame camera. At f/1.8, the center sharpness and contrast are impressive, but the corners are softer with some color fringing. Strangely, stepping down to f/2.8 increases the softness in the corners. By f/4, the center remains sharp, but corner softness persists until f/8, where chromatic aberration improves. This uneven performance might concern those needing consistent sharpness across the frame, though portrait photographers may overlook this due to the pleasing bokeh.
Frost then tests the lens on a 24-megapixel APS-C sensor size. Here, the lens performs exceptionally well, with sharpness and contrast in the center and improved corner sharpness due to the crop factor. By f/2.8, the image quality is excellent across the frame, continuing up to f/11 before diffraction softens the image at f/16. This makes the lens a strong contender for APS-C users looking for an affordable portrait lens.
The video also addresses distortion and vignetting. On a full frame camera, a small amount of pincushion distortion is present, and vignetting is significant at f/1.8. Stopping down to f/2.8 or f/4 reduces the vignetting. Close-up performance shows softness at f/1.8, requiring stopping down to f/4 for sharper results. Against bright light, the lens performs adequately, with minor flare but noticeable glare when the light source is at the edge of the frame. Using the supplied lens hood is recommended to mitigate this issue.
One of the lens's highlights is its bokeh quality. Frost notes that out-of-focus backgrounds are beautifully smooth in various situations, although cat-eye shapes appear in bokeh balls at the edges of the frame at maximum aperture. The lens also displays some longitudinal chromatic aberration at f/1.8, which diminishes by f/2.8 and disappears by f/4.
Overall, the lens offers good value for its price, with a few quirks. Its corner softness on full frame cameras may be a dealbreaker for those needing edge-to-edge sharpness. However, it shines on APS-C cameras, providing sharp images and pleasing bokeh, making it an excellent choice for budget-conscious photographers. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Frost.
