7artisans 25mm F/1.8 Schwarz für MFT-fassung

For the price, this lens is incredible. I've done some light shooting and video with this lens and it's so cheap you're kidding yourself if you don't add it to your kit.

Terrific price for a lens that performs well. I bought it for some projects in which I want to go "old school" in my approach to subjects. The bokeh is nice due to 12 aperture blades, which also results in star effects with some light sources in the frame even at f4. Images are surprisingly sharp and contrasty for such an inexpensive lens. Not premium lens sharp, but it still has a "look" to it that sets it apart from my premium glass in a good way. It focuses quickly and smoothly. The non-click aperture is not only a plus for video, but lets me "dial in" auto ISO levels with the aperture ring. It's well made but for one niggle: the marker ring for aligning the aperture with the focus/dof scale is off a bit. If not for this flaw I would give the lens 5 stars.

I’ve been a professional photographer for 40 years, and I can say this is a very good, inexpensive old-school manual lens. Solid all-quality metal construction, actual glass that’s sharp enough, good contrast and color, and a very fast maximum f/stop, which is great to have and is decently sharp wide-open (better than camera phones for sure!) Other reviews here do a very good job of covering the overall lens details, and I completely agree with the positive reviews and their points. If you want a fast, CHEAP, all-metal and glass lens, this is an excellent choice. One final word; the lens ships from China, so it will take a few weeks to arrive if that’s important to you - I ordered mine on October 16, and it arrived today, November 10. Surprisingly fancy packing inside a nice black box, and form-cut foam. Also comes with a packaged cleaning kit of nylon gloves, microfiber cloth, and small spray bottle of cleaning fluid.

I had bought the 7artisans 25mm f1.8 lens for shooting video, especially in low light, but also in daylight with shallow depth-of-field. I prefer manual-everything for this. I had tried the adapted 25/1.8 CCTV lens (as well as its 35/1.7 counterpart) available for half the price of the 7artisans lens (sometimes branded as either Fujian or Fotasy; with the more modern styling), but couldn't live with its barrel's moving around on its own chassis nor with its inconsistent image characteristics. That lens can produce stunning images, but the 7artisans lens produces a considerably-better image - sharper, with more contrast and smoother bokeh. It is also very well-bulit; I am at a loss for words in praising it. Of course, the image is a bit soft at widest aperture, but this is forgivably expected. For those tired of messing with adapted manual-focus lenses for CCCT or 35mm cameras, this lens is the perfect one to start with.

For a sub-$100 lens, the image quality is excellent! Im a big fan of auto focus, but this lens is very easy to manual focus. Get this for your bag and have fun with it!