The 7Artisan lenses have done nothing but impress and I feel I have to share the experience.
All samples shot with the 35.
They are lumps of things, that with the S5’s decent stabiliser (not G9 mkII or even G9 mkI or S5 mkII level, but still decent), they have a similar dynamic I would guess to a much heavier cinema camera. Sweeping movements are smooth enough to retain an organic look without annoyance, but not gimbal super-smooth.
Is the 35mm sharp?
Yup (close focus at T4)
The focus throw is smooth and long. This can be simulated to some extent with the linear MF settings in the Lumix cameras and lenses, but the smooth resistance and consistency cannot.
Bokeh, below is very cool.
The aperture ring is slightly stiffer, which is good, because even though it is smaller and to the rear of the lens, I have grabbed it once already thinking it was focus. The slight difference in dampening helps identify it. A follow focus (arriving imminently) will fix this and assist with long throws, which are a little tricky hand held at 270 degrees.
Close focus on the 35mm is very good, but the bees did not like the 86mm wide monster eye looming over them, so I had to drop back.
Some 150 fps (6x) 8bit/1080/420 from the S5 at T11. The long throw was very handy here.
Optically, they are solid and “cinematic” looking, by which I mean and lets face it, everyone has a different take on this, they are sharp, but not clinically sharp, contrasty, but not harsh and they flare a bit, but not like a broken bottle in the sun.
It’s a bit like, they walked up the drive to the house of modern lens perfection, got to the porch and took a seat to watch the sun go down, no need to go any further, nothing to prove.
The thing I like about cinema lenses and this goes for legacy glass also, is they are allowed to have different characteristics at different settings. Bokeh, flare, colour, sharpness all change by T-stop and distance chosen, so you can decide on the look you want, then set the lens settings that support that, rather then the modern habit of matching perfection all through.
I only have a couple of lenses in my M43 stills kit with that ability to shift their role internally and even then only by a little. The Vision 25mm is probably the most effective at that, being super soft and dreamy wide open, then crazy sharp and contrasty at T4, but this is too much for many.
Basically straight into the sun, the right hand file with a little dehaze. Interesting little blue blob in the top flower stem. I have modern stills lenses that would struggle with this, especially wide open.
Even cropped right in, there is nice sharpness and flare control. This lens cost me about $200au!
With a top handle, the kit sits reliably in hand. It is just reassuringly beefy.
For $215 and $279au respectively (about 45% off locally), they are the truest of true bargains.
The 35mm’s colour shift is fixed easily enough by hitting WB adjust (assigned to the thumb nubbin) and drop it straight down towards blue/magenta two notches. Seems to match the 50 then.