Quick Look: 7artisans 35mm f/2 II (vs. 35mm Summicron ASPH II)

It’s been a while since I’ve posted an equipment write-up. Trust me, there are a lot on the backburner! Alas, sometimes the currents of life push against endeavors such as writing about photography equipment…

To help get me back into the swing of things, I decided to whip out a quick overview of the 7artisans 35mm f/2 II for Leica M mount. One of my favorite brands to review, surprisingly, is 7artisans. Despite being an ultra-budget lens manufacturer, they do put out some adequate products that are very affordable. I also enjoy seeing how these cheap Chinese lenses perform compared to the real deal; I’ve included the Leica 35mm Summicron ASPH II for comparison purposes in this write-up.

7artisans 35mm f/2 II & Leica M10-P

Size & Weight

The 7artisans 35mm f/2 II is sized just right. It’s light and balances perfectly on an M body. It’s also pretty much the same size as a Leica 35mm Summicron ASPH II.

The hood is also very impressive for a 7artisans lens. This lens’ size and weight isn’t compromised when using the lens hood. However, the lens hood is a little bit wider compared to the Leica 35mm Summicron ASPH II.

From left to right: Leica 262 & 35mm Summicron ASPH; Leica M10-P & 7artisans 35mm f/2 II; Leica M60 & 35mm Summilux ASPH

Handling

To-date, I think this is the most Leica-like 7artisans lens in terms of handling and appearance. Not optical performance, mind you. But in terms of handling and appearance, 7artisans has tried their best to make this lens feel like a Leica.

The aperture and focus rings both operate similar to the Leica 35mm Summicron ASPH II. The lettering and etching is very close to a Leica (albeit, in a different color). The focus tab is very similar to a modern Leica, too. The aperture ring clicks at half-stop intervals. Rangefinder blockage is essentially the same as the Leica 35mm Summicron ASPH II. If there ever was a lens that tried so hard to be a Leica, and came so close to succeeding, this is one of them.

While it’s impressive that 7artisans has refined the Leica look, it’s immediately apparent that this isn’t a Leica when holding one. For the one, the front lens assembly unit on my copy of moved a surprising amount when gently shaking the lens. Also, I was somewhat skeptical that the lens was securely mounted to my M10-P. I’ve encountered this before with a few other non-Leica lenses. Essentially, when turning the lens to engage the mounting lock pin, it didn’t quite feel like the pin was completely engaged. I could move the lens a tiny bit and sometimes remove it without pressing the dismount button on the camera body. I’ve never encountered this with a Leica lens but have experienced it with non-Leica lenses on numerous Leica camera bodies over the years.

Moving on… It appears this lens is made with metal (at least the exterior). The lens hood is also metal. Overall, it feels well-made, and the metal construction is reassuring. On the flip side, the lens feels hollow but maybe that’s just me.

Finally, I found the focus accuracy to be surprisingly good on 3 different Leica M bodies. Usually, 7artisans is hit-or-miss when it comes to factory calibration, but this lens arrived ready-to-focus.

Image Quality

I’ve included some typical scenes below to highlight how the 7artisans 35mm f/2 II performs in regard to center and corner sharpness, vignetting, bokeh and contrast. Also included are images from the Leica 35mm Summicron ASPH II for comparison purposes.

Images were focused via live-view and in-camera lens profile was turned off for these shots. I’ll allow you to view the images and draw your own conclusions; I’ve added a brief IQ summary of my thoughts at the end of this section.

“Brick Wall” Comparison: f/2 to f/4

Images shot at f/2, from left to right: 7artisans 35mm f/2 II, Leica 35mm Summicron ASPH II
Images shot at f/2.8, from left to right: 7artisans 35mm f/2 II, Leica 35mm Summicron ASPH II
Images shot at f/4, from left to right: 7artisans 35mm f/2 II, Leica 35mm Summicron ASPH II

General Bokeh Comparison @ f/2

Images shot at f/2, from left to right: 7artisans 35mm f/2 II, Leica 35mm Summicron ASPH II. Wide-open bokeh is about the same from both lenses.

General Image Comparison @ f/2

Images shot at f/2, from left to right: 7artisans 35mm f/2 II, Leica 35mm Summicron ASPH II. This example highlights how the Leica lens “pops” a bit more. In other words, it has more contrast, higher color saturation, and a bit more sharpness.

7artisans 35mm f/2 II Lens Flare Example

Example of lens flare on the 7artisans 35mm f/2 II shot at f/2. As you can see from the shadow in this picture, it was a very sunny day, but I still found the lens to flare very easy. The sun was at about 60 degrees overhead and partially blocked by a fence, yet it flared this much wide-open. Every 7artisans M-mount lens I’ve used flares to this degree and this easily, so I consider this “normal.”

Image Quality Summary

Having used a number of 7artisans M-mount lenses, the overall image quality of this lens didn’t surprise me. It doesn’t perform any better or worse than other 7artisans lenses, which is either a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it. While it would have been nice if this lens performed better than other 7artisans lenses, it is important to remember that this is a budget lens. One’s expectations should be kept low and realistic. Conversely, 7artisans lenses do produce images of adequate & consistent quality, and if your budget is around $200, then there aren’t many options and you’ll do OK with this lens.

To my eye, the images rendered from this lens are reminiscent to what is called classic. In other words, wide-open images flare easily, are softer in the corners, and have flat colors & contrast. While center sharpness is decent, it lacks the same “bite” of modern ASPH Leica lenses.

As expected, the 7artisans 35mm f/2 II performs better as it is stopped down. This is true all lenses.

While it shouldn’t be a surprise that that this lens doesn’t perform as good as the Leica 35mm Summicron ASPH II, you have to look at the images side-by-side to see how they perform differently. You have to search out such differences, and only then does it become apparent that it’s not a “good” as the Leica option. When looking at images on their own, the 7artisans 35mm f/2 II does an adequate job, albeit with the shortcomings already mentioned. If it sounds like I’m saying this is a “bad” lens, that’s not the case, I’m just saying it performs like a $200 lens.

Conclusion

True to 7artisans’ design philosophy, the company continues to lean heavy into mimicking the look of a Leica lens. I don’t know if that’s purposeful or a coincidence – after all, there are only so many ways to make a lens. Personally, I don’t mind that 7artisans lenses mimic the look of Leica lenses. It’s a good look. Take note, Voigtlander…

Anyway, if you don’t exactly care about optical perfection and refined German engineering but do want your lens to look like a Leica, then this lens will do the trick. Does that make this lens a Leica knockoff? Perhaps. But if you want your lens to look like a Leica without spending the Leica-money, then I can see the appeal. Just remember that you’re not getting Leica optics or engineering. This lens’ strengths are the fact that it looks like a Leica, produces adequate images, and is only $200.

In short, the 7artisans 35mm f/2 II provides decent performance at a price pretty much all M users can afford. As the saying goes, “If you’re going to shoot with a Leica M, then you should be shooting with Leica glass.” For those that must choose one or the other, however, then this lens is an attractive option.

Image Samples

Quick Disclaimer: Making these reviews/write-ups is a hobby, and my attempt at contributing something useful to the photographic community. All costs of securing the equipment I discuss comes out of my pocket. If you found this review/write-up useful, please consider making a donation via Buy Me a Coffee. As always, thank you for visiting and don’t forget to turn off your computer or smartphone and take some photos!