7Artisans’ Upcoming AF 18mm f/2 Lens

credits: 7Artisans

In addition to the new AF 10mm f/2.5 MAX full-frame fisheye, which we looked at in last week’s Sunday magazine issue, 7Artisans has also announced an upcoming AF 18mm f/2 wide-angle lens for APS-C cameras. For now, the lens has been shown for Sony E-mount, where its 18mm focal length gives a roughly 27mm full-frame equivalent field of view. It is part of 7Artisans’ lightweight “LITE” series, so the lens weighs only around 109g and measures approximately 64mm in diameter and 32mm long. Despite the pretty low weight, it still uses an all-metal lens body.

Optically, the 18mm f/2 uses six elements arranged in five groups, including one ED element and three high-refractive-index elements. The relatively bright f/2 maximum aperture should make it useful for low-light street photography, interiors and nighttime shooting, while the aperture can be stopped down to f/16. There is also a physical aperture ring on the barrel and 7Artisans has given the lens a square metal hood.

Autofocus is handled by an STM stepping motor, which should make the lens suitable for both stills and video. Minimum focusing distance comes in at 0.2m. As noted, the lens has only been announced at this point and is not available yet, and 7Artisans has not confirmed exactly when it will go on sale. Pricing is also still unknown, as is whether additional APS-C mounts will follow the Sony E-mount version.