Very wide-angle primes are ideal for landscape and astro/night photography and can also come in handy for wildlife photographers eager to place their subjects within the context of a much wider scene.
There is already a good choice of ultra wide-angle primes from the main camera and lens makers, but now Chinese maker 7Artisans, known for its range of affordable manual focus glass, has brought out a new model, coming in under $500/£500.
The 7Artisans 9mm F5.6 is a full-frame lens for Sony E, Canon RF, Nikon Z, and L-alliance mounts, and offers a very wide field of view of 132 degrees – it is not a fisheye lens, however.
Instead, the lens features an advanced optical structure consisting of 16 elements in 11 groups, including 2 ASPH elements, 2 ED elements, and 3 high refractive glasses. ‘This ensures unparalleled image quality, sharpness, and minimal distortion, even at the edges of the frame,’ according to the company.
There is also a de-clicked ring for changing aperture quietly and smoothly, and a five-bladed aperture for creating 10-pointed sun stars. Another big selling point is the close focusing distance of 20cm, so it can be used for macro work too.
We can see the lens being popular with fans of landscape, astrophotography and wildlife, and it is durable too, with an all-metal design, At the same time the lens is relatively light and compact, weighing 463g with a lens length of 78mm. So it sounds like a good choice for photographers on the move who want to keep their camera bag as light as possible.
The 7Artisans 9mm f/5.6 prime lens goes onsale October 13rd for $479/£459.
Further reading
The best lenses for astrophotography
The best lenses for video
The best Canon lenses
The best Sony lenses
The best Nikon lenses
