7Artisans AF 27mm F2.8 Review (Sony E Mount)

Share
image courtesy – nikolaus-burgard.de

A fellow FR-reader (thanks for sharing) stumbled on a review made half a year ago of the upcoming 7Artisans 27mm F2.8 which we reported about here.

The review, for the Sony E mount version, is in both languages, German and English (the red text is in English) and you can read it at nikolaus-burgard.

His summary:

7Artisans has also achieved a very good “autofocus debut” in the APS-C-Sensor camera-range with the AF 27mm f2.8.

I will briefly summarize the objective test results again:
Very good sharpness in the center of the image from open aperture, excellent from f4.
The edges are sharp from an open aperture of f2.8, but for perfectly sharp corners you have to stop down to f4. The slight midzone dip has also completely disappeared at f5.6.
The microcontrasts are always very good.
The vignette is clear at wide open aperture, but completely negligible from f5.6.
Unfortunately, the distortion is clearly barrel-shaped with a mustache, but hopefully there will be a correction profile from the manufacturer soon.
When it comes to color errors, lateral chromatic aberrations are not a problem at all,
the longitudinal chromatic aberrations can appear in the form of slight green bokeh fringing, but are never problematic.
The lens isn’t bad in backlight, but if you overdo it you’ll get flares and reflections here, too.
The autofocus was “unremarkably good” in my test. The eye autofocus for portraits was also very snappy and fast.

Subjectively speaking, the technically clean, “modernly rendered” images without any annoyances such as outlining or bokeh bubbles really appeal to me; that’s what I expected from a modern “40mm” (fullframe-equivalent). Of course, with these technical parameters of a slight wide angle at “only” f2.8, you shouldn’t expect any shallow depth-of-field miracles.
I particularly like taking photos of people with the 7Artisans AF 27mm f2.8 – and they are easy to achieve because of the good eye autofocus.

Given the price of €149 / $129, 7Artisans can be said to have made a really successful debut in the autofocus world of APS-C sensor cameras – because the performance speaks for itself and the price is sensationally cheap in relation to this.

It might not be a bad lens optically, but sadly the fact that it lacks of an aperture ring is a dealbreaker for me.

Share

Fujinon XF500mmF5.6 Size Comparison vs Other XF and GF Lenses (Based on Speculations)

Share

FR-reader Hiergeist made a rendering of the Fujinon XF 500mm f/5.6 R LM OIS WR and compared its size to the Fujinon XF200mmF2, XF150-600mm and also the GF500mmF5.6.

There is a difference in flange distance between G-mount and X-mount of 9 mm – so the lens has to be 9 mm longer at the mount (assuming the optics will be almost identical between GFX 500 and XF 500). Hiergeist aligned the picture along the lens mount.

To be clear:

  1. this is not the real lens, just a rendering
  2. the size of the XF500mmF5.6 is based on the speculation that because it has the same filter size of the GF500mmF5.6, Fujifilm might simply have made and XF version by changing the mount

If that was the case then that is what that lens would look like mounted on an X-H2.

Share

REPORT: Fujifilm X-M5 Release in October: 26MP, 4K/120p, Cheap Build Quality and Made in Thailand

Share

The Chinese Weibo account 独立摄影师联合会 unveiled that it could already go hands on with the upcoming Fujifilm X-M5. In his Chinese tweet he says here:

I just saw the real Fujifilm XM5, which is probably made in Thailand. I feel the workmanship is not very good. It will be released next month [sad face]

Update: It is a prototype, no wonder it feels a bit loose [doge] It has an unusual color scheme, which is quite cool ​​​

This is also the camera that hides behind the code FF240002.

In a follow up tweet a few days later the Chinese account shared some specs here:

  • 26MP X-Trans BSI image sensor
  • X-Processor 5 image processor
  • 3-inch vari-angle touchscreen
  • 4K60p video (4K120p in crop mode)
  • Vlog mode
  • 425-point hybrid autofocus system
  • 20 built-in film simulations
  • Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
  • Expected to be released in October 2024

A little curiosity: there was a time, when the cheapest Fujifilm cameras sold insanely well in Thailand, grabbing 50% of the mirrorless camera market share as we reported here.

Let’s see if the Fujifilm X-M5 will be able to have a similar success as the X-A line had in Thailand. Although I doubt that, as times have changed since back in 2018 and smartphone cameras have become even better. And for Vloggers filming content on the go and without huge image quality aspirations, gear like the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 or similar might be the more convenient pick.

But let’s see how the X-M5 turns out to be.

I am personally not interested in it but I hope the Fujifilm X-M5 will have some aspects that surprise me positively. Fujifilm (or should I say Xacti? ;)) was quite ingenious with some ideas implemented in their cheapest cameras and still today I do not understand why Fujifilm has not passed those ideas to higher end models.

Share

RUMOR: Fujinon XF16-55mmF2.8 MKII is About 30% Smaller and Lighter than Original XF16-55mmF2.8

Share

I have been told (THANKS!!!) that the new Fujinon XF16-55mm f/2.8 MKII will be about 30% smaller and lighter than the original version.

BE AWARE: Our sources said ABOUT 30% and not EXACTLY 30%! So don’t sh*tstorm too hard on me if it ends up being 34% or 26% smaller. ;)

I guess (not rumor) that in terms of size the new XF16-55mmF2.8 will be getting a step closer to the Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 DC DN, which at this point is probably also its closest competitor.

Now, this is not a rumor (!!!) but a speculated list on which lens will be the better pick:

  • PROS of Fujinon XF16-55mmF2.8 MKII (vs Sigma 18-50mmF2.8 DC DN)
    – 2mm wider
    – 5mm longer on the telephoto end
    – aperture ring
    – probably better weather sealing (the one of the Sigma has been reviewed as being “rather basic” by reputable review sites like photozone here)
  • PROS Sigma 18-50mmF2.8 DC DN (vs Fujinon XF16-55mmF2.8 MKII)
    – price
    – probably still a bit more compact

And then there are of course lots of things we still don’t know, so this is just a very approximate and rough list that is far from being any recommendation to go for one lens or the other.

Oh, and the image you see above is just a rendering I quickly made of the XF16-55mmF2.8 MKII.

Share