Was deciding that a while ago, waited for the first Pergear 25mm reviews to show up since it’s a fairly new lens and from what I saw the Pergear is a clearly a superior lens, in terms of build and image quality. The only advantage of the 7artisans is a brighter light transmission at wider apertures. I’ve bought two of them (one for Fuji and another for micro43), it’s been good, I even like the rendering at wider apertures better than the Fujinon 23mm f/2 (even if with worse extreme corners, more vignetting, which may be the culprit of the slight worse light transmission of this lens when wide open). The bokeh is a lot more pleasing than the fujinon, and the manual feel is surprisingly good for the price, at the level of more expensive lenses.
I never liked my 7A 25 1.8 (m43), it just didn't do anything for me and felt it's price.
I am a fan of the other 7A lenses - 50 1.1, 35 f2, 28 1.4. But not the 25.
I also had the 7artisans 25/1.8 for my Sony. I liked the rendering of the 7artisans - more than the 23/2 of the X100S - but it was kind of weird. It had a midfield weakness that got worse as you stopped it down. Wide open for bokeh detail shots, environmental portraits it was great - but it was rubbish for landscapes at f/8, with a sharp center, sharp edges and corners, and a fuzzy midfield donut.
The Meike 25/1.8 is OK. I don't like the rendering as much as the 7artisans 25/1.8, but it's capable of getting sharp enough across the field at f/8.
I read a review of the Pergear that made me think it was worth trying - but I ended up just getting the Fuji 23/2 instead, and a Meike 28/2.8 for when I want something smaller and MF. I love the Meike 28/2.8 it's one of the most underrated cheap MF lenses for Fuji and Sony right now.
Yes! That's what I thought! I think sometimes third party lens are better than the expensive one. Which one do you recommend to purchase first?Thank you Sr.Cordeiro.
I have the 7Art 25 1.8 and the Meike 35 1.7, and FD 50 1.4 Chrome nose, Quantaray 135 2.8 & Canon 300 4.0. It depends on what you want to shoot, but all the mf glass is very cheap and has pretty good iq.
Jim
I've got the Pergear 25mm 1.8 and I've been very satisfied with the image quality using it on my X-Pro3. I was actually surprised at how sharp it was compared to some of the other manual lenses I've tried (e.g. Pergear 50mm 1.8, Meike 35mm 1.7) even at 1.8. Unfortunately I can't compare to the 7artisans though since I don't own that one.
Honestly, the only thing I don't really like is how the lens looks with the shiny chrome front, but that's subjective. The image quality is superb for what you pay and it is my favorite of all the cheap lenses I've tried. I can post photos later if needed.
After reading the positive posts about the little Pergear 25mm from Sr.Cordeiro and jbroon37, I'm more than a little impressed. Some years ago I got the M43 version of this lens and was totally surprised by how good it was.
My only question is: does anyone know who actually makes Pergear lenses? I've done a bit of research and come up with almost nothing, except for an interesting tidbit: apparently, both Pergear lenses and Brightin Star lenses are, for all intents and purposes, identical.
A further complicating factor is that Pergear is both a lens manufacturer - with its own line of Pergear lenses - but also a moderately large online reseller - and at its online store, one can buy multiple brands of lenses, and not just the Pergear-branded ones. Hmmmm...
As I said, I'm CURIOUS... who is or are the Pergear people?
