Malte´s Photography

First SOOC pictures made with the NEW 7Artisans 50mm f1.2 made on the NEW Fujifilm X-T30III

Yesterday I received the NEW 7Artisans 50mm f1.2 lens. I could not wait to start shooting with this lens. In the evening there has been the monthly Fujifilm Community Wednesday in the Fujifilm X-DEN Showroom in the center of the Altstadt of Düsseldorf. A meeting of famous professional and ambitious amateur photographer. A session to learn, discuss and enjoy art.

In this creative atmosphere I used the time to shoot the first pictures with the new 7artisans lens.

The opening of f1.2 is perfect to set the focus on a person or object you want to highlight but it´s also tricky to set the focus, in case of a human just right on the eye. For all that just started to photograph, if you shoot people the eye must be sharp. Not the glasses or nose, it´s the eyes that are giving us the impression of an sharp or unsharp image. I am using focus peaking in red on the Fujifilm cameras which allows me to judge the focal range at a certain aperture. The smaller the aperture numbers (f1.4 or 1.2) are, the smaller the field of depth. This is getting worse if you are closer to a person or object.

Focusing with the 7Artisans 50mm f1.2 is pure fun. The mechanics, gears and bearings inside of this lens are running smooth but at the same time well damped. It is such a huge difference of focusing manual with an autofocus lens, like e.g. the Fujinon XF 56mm f1.2 R and a real manual lens like the 7Artisans 50mm f1.2. The Fujinon AF lens does focus by wire. The Focus ring is acting as a potentiometer that controls the AF stepper motor and make him follow your movement on the focus ring. Of course, there is a very small delay between turning the focus ring and the lens focus movement. That delay is killing the good feeling of having full control over the focus setting on the AF lenses. My resume is, use the wonderful Fujinon XF and XC lenses mainly for autofocus operation and only in cases where you are shooting an object behind a wire fence, that is fooling the autofocus software switch to manual mode to capture the picture.

The full metal manual 7Artisans 50mm f1.2 lens is pure emotions and fun while manual focusing. It´s a kind of digital detox or an exercise to slow down and getting back to the essential things in life where you as a human has full control of the creative process in making photos. If you never tried a manual lens, you missed something in life. The combination of haptic and solid build quality is stimulating my creativity.

The 7Artisans lens is not a light weight with 410 grams but due to this weight it balances perfectly on the Fujifilm X-T30III and it is lying as it has always been there in your hands. To me a perfect match. The higher weight allows also a longer exposure time down to 1/15s as you can hold the lens / camera combination without shaking. No IBIS needed and the ISO value stays low to guaranty images with less noise and many details even in the night.

Something new on the 7Artisans 50mm f1.2 lens is the aperture with fixed/clicked positions. This shows us the lens concept is 100% still photography, compared to many other 7Artisans lenses that are known for their with out stops running aperture ring allowing to change the opening during filming without any noise.

The lens is fitting with the polished metal lens mount just perfect on the camera bayonet. No play as on the early 7Artisans lenses (even a bit loose mount never resulted into bad images), the 7Artisans 50mm f1.2 is made for a lifetime performance.

Let´s get to the IQ of the lens. I have been shooting at f1.2 – 1.4. The pictures are sharp and a showing great contrast. This might be also the result of the fantastic retractable build in metal lens hood. I had the same kind of metal lens hood on my old Nikkor AF 180mm f2.8 lens. I am loving it. It´s robust, you can´t lose it and you have it always with you.

I am not sure, is the slightly soft rendering in some images is due to the full open lens f1.2 or my poor focusing, I have described the extreme small field of depth, but I will find this out while shooting my 3D Test Chart. I am almost sure it´s the focus and I need to train my skills more by using this lens.

Tonight, the 7Artisans 50mm f1.2 and Fujifilm X-T30III with join me on a visit at the Christmas market. I want to shoot many Christmas impressions and details.