This was hands down the finest product review I've seen on KZread. Yes, the lens is interesting. Very interesting! Yet, I am more amazed by the review. Simon, you have taken your skills as photographer, an artist, an enthusiast, and a narrator and have created such a compelling video. Most product reviews on KZread are a simple unboxing, a few minutes of commentary and an affiliate link. What you've done here is given people a genuine feeling of experiencing the lens in a multidimensional way. Your early lens reviews were great too, but this is next level. Inspiring. Well done!

@Simonsutak

Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for your kind words. I really appreciate your comments, especially as this was my first go at reviewing a brand-new lens. I took you advice (from last year), and took the lens for trips into central London, as there are so many wonderful sites to photograph. And it was a lot of fun! All the best, Simon

@trinityharbour7054

Жыл бұрын

@@Simonsutak I was very fond of your abbey photos!

@Simonsutak

Жыл бұрын

@@trinityharbour7054 I've just posted three more on Flickr - www.flickr.com/photos/95859572@N06/?

@trinityharbour7054

Жыл бұрын

@@Simonsutak Those were great! Love the locations and framing.

@willgraves1258

Жыл бұрын

He reviews lenses like they are fine wine

Oh Simon you sweetheart you! Having moved from M42 to Minolta vintage glass for my BMPC 4k, I finally 'sprang' for the 7 Art 4mm one hour ago. Now, five minutes ago I saw this video's thumbnail. Excellent, excellent many times over! I'm subscribed... Which I should have long ago.

Welcome back Simon.

@Simonsutak

Жыл бұрын

Thank you! A lot has been going on - it's good to be back...

@markfarrand6556

Жыл бұрын

Yes - a welcome return. Particularly liked the Westminster Abbey shots. Do you know if they make something similar for full frame?

@Simonsutak

Жыл бұрын

@@markfarrand6556 I don't think they do.

@markfarrand6556

Жыл бұрын

@@Simonsutak that’s a shame - better keep hunting for a Takumar!

Hi Simon! Love your channel! I just picked one of these up, and I'm really enjoying it so far. I'm also using it on e-mount. One thing I've found extends the uses of this lens (at least on Sony mirrorless) is that you can use clear image zoom to "flatten" the sphere into a more conventional field of view (with varying degrees of curvature and ultra-vignetting depending on the degree of zoom).

Simon, I enjoy your thoughtful remarks and reviews. I have a 6.5 mm circular fisheye, and like you also enjoy the perspective it delivers, great fun and unique opportunities.

Such a wonderful, wonderful review. Thank you so much.. and yes, I'll be purchasing one for sure.

Although 7Artisans didn't pay you to make this, they should send you money after the fact for making such a great video of their product. more a thank you for your work and not paying for a positive review.

I very much enjoyed you view on this lens and I won’t be long before I will buy my own thanks 👍🏻

Thanks for sharing those fun things to try with that lens. 👍

great, a new video ! 😁

The black borders confuse the auto exposure. One should try partial frame measuring.

Your video was very interesting for me coz I am interested in buying the glass. So...Thanks for your informations :) The pictures of the church are impressive!

@Simonsutak

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

Fascinating video, Simon. I have been playing with a Nikon 10.5mm fisheye (with the hood chopped off!) on a Fuji GFX 50s. Similar results and similar problems with getting fingers etc in the edges of the image! I had decided against using a tripod, as unless looking straight up, legs would always appear in the image. I have always hated seeing people holding their camera away from the face to take photos, but with this combo, it is perhaps the best way of getting images without unwanted body parts!

Great video and I love the creative photos you captured with it. Sadly the lens won’t fit on my Leica SL, even with an adaptor. It’s just 0.75mm to short a flange distance. Great to see you back!

I'm not generally a fan, but I must admit those borders have piqued my curiosity a tad. And some of these images are indeed, as Mrs Simon's Utak says, quite beautiful.

I love mine! Lots of fun! I don’t seem to get my head in the edge of the shot … it’s my feet!! 😂🤦🏻‍♂️

there are some interesting tools to help you use this lens that you might not have thought of. You can get an arca swiss plate for your tripod. They come in lengths up to a foot. I got a 7 inch one off amazon for 11 bucks. A selfie stick, or you can turn one of those L bracket handle grips with a cold shoe, 90 degrees. Have the handle behind the screen.

I was excited when YT showed me a that a new of video yours was published. And what a disapointment when I saw what the video is about. But now you made me check ebay for aps-c cameras, so I can use this lense :D

@Simonsutak

Жыл бұрын

Ha ha...thank you for this comment. I wondered how Subscribers would react to me doing a review of a new lens!

I bought this lens based entirely on this video. No remorse at all. I'm an armature photographer that mainly takes macros and landscapes to post on Flickr. Views, likes and comments are are the only reward. One of the first photos I snapped with this lens did rather well in that regard so it was worth the $150.00. In fact I have started considering the purchase of a used micro four thirds camera and another copy of this lens so as to have a dedicated setup.

@Simonsutak

Жыл бұрын

Good to hear and I've just looked at your Explore photo. It's excellent, with great flare!

Very beautiful images! I have a great idea for a shot for this lens. Use this from a drone pointing nadir and you get a horizon forming a circle at the edge. This creates a 'mini globe' on the sky. I have seen such images done with panoramic photo stiching. This would allow you a camera to acquire such images naturally and you could then do after effects on the frames, like expand the sky to the whole, or mask the edges out have the sky be the athmosphere of your Globe in dark space.

for the overexposed part, maybe it's because a big part of your frame is black and your camera tends to average everything ?

@Simonsutak

Жыл бұрын

That might be a contributory factor, but then it the over-exposure would probably happen more consistently. With me, it only happened at seemingly random times and only occasionally (in bright contrasty conditions).

Nice video! Was curious about this lens. I do notice quite a bit of the height of the sensor doesn't get used. The circle could be bigger, without getting cut off. Is that the case, or does it just look like that in the video?

@Simonsutak

Жыл бұрын

Yes, you're right - the circle doesn't extend to (near) the top and bottom of the frame - indeed, for some images I've cropped the frame nearer the circle. However, the details are good enough to cope with this crop.

A very interesting and well-made video, Simon. My problem with using a lens like this is the same problem I have with any prime. Once it's on the camera you're committed to it unless you want to carry a second camera and lens or risk getting dust on the sensor by changing lenses "outside". And how often do we wish that we had a different focal length on the camera when out shooting? You demonstrate that the lens produces very fine results, and the price is certainly very attractive. It's an APS-C lens but I imagine it could be used on a full-frame camera to get the full 4mm effect but with a smaller image, but how much smaller? I'm currently awaiting a Minolta 17-35mm f3.5 G lens and expecting to have a lot of fun with the wider perspective.

@Simonsutak

Жыл бұрын

Yes, I agree. It's a lens I probably wouldn't take on a walk around trip on its own. But I seldom go out with only one lens anyway. All I can say is that when I was walking around London I was so intrigued with the circular fisheye perspective I kept the lens on my camera for virtually the whole time. Enjoy your new Minolta!

@AnkitGupta12

5 ай бұрын

Hi @@Simonsutak - i am thinking to get this fun lens for my Sony a7iii. I see that it is for APSC, but can you share some images taken on a sony FF body?

@Simonsutak

5 ай бұрын

@@AnkitGupta12 Hi Ankit, I have used the lens on a Sony a7iv, but only on the camera’s crop (APS-C) mode. It works well on the crop. FF simply places the same image further into the frame, and doesn’t noticeably change the angle of view in the image. If you'd like me to send you comparison shots, please email me at simons.utak1@gmail.com with your email address. Hope this helps, Simon

@AnkitGupta12

5 ай бұрын

@@Simonsutak will mail you!! Thanks!!

The biggest problem is the focus - bc it's manual - it's exceptionally difficult to get the plane proper at 4mm I found myself kissing someones face 😅

@Simonsutak

6 ай бұрын

I agree; it's hard to tell if you've nailed the focus even in magnified live view. For infinity shots (based on looking at downloaded photos on a computer screen) I now know were to set the focus - slightly before the infinity mark on the lens.

@SimonTheExile

6 ай бұрын

@@Simonsutak I'm using a Laowa fisheye and have a similar issue, at infinity it drastically looses sharpness, every with 10-12 meters is fine. I find myself counting meters 😅 maybe I buy a laser range finder.

Any chance to mount it on Canon 70d with ef-s mount 🤔🙏?

@marksieving7925

Жыл бұрын

It's only made for mirrorless cameras, not DSLRs.

Do you get the 225 degree angle of view on Micro Four Thirds?

@Simonsutak

Жыл бұрын

I only used it on a 1.5 times crop sensor; I don’t know what it would be like on Macro Four Thirds.

I figure you can use black and white to clean up the borders without going into Photoshop!

@Simonsutak

Жыл бұрын

Yes, you can clone, using software such as FastStone.

@simon359

Жыл бұрын

@@Simonsutak No, I’m talking about it either shooting in black-and-white or editing in black-and-white. Fuji XT4.

Hello, Simon. Fantastic review and video. I do have a bit of constructive criticism to contribute. I've noticed you seem to split your audio files and sprinkle them throughout the videos, but since your microphone has a bit of hissing/static, it just sounds a bit awkward with it popping in and out. Maybe consider filtering out those white noises if background music isn't your style. Apart from that, excellent content.

@Simonsutak

Жыл бұрын

Hi, thank you so much for this feedback - I'll filter out the white noises in my next KZread. Cheers, Simon

I'm surprised that there's so little colour fringing with this lens.

@Simonsutak

Жыл бұрын

So was I!!

@urbanimage

Жыл бұрын

@@Simonsutak I have the Nikon 10.5mm and that sufferers quite a bit from fringing, and in comparison makes the results from this 7Artisans lens look quite remarkable.

@Simonsutak

Жыл бұрын

@@urbanimage Yes, my Pentax 10-17mm fisheye is purple fringing monster wider open!

For some reason I thought you was younger than your hands are. You only sound about 50 odd