7Artisans 9mm F5.6

The 7Artisans 9mm F5.6 is a full-frame compatible lens that comes in Canon RF, Leica L, Nikon Z and Sony E mount options.

For a rectilinear lens, it has an astonishingly wide field of view - pretty much as wide as it gets without going curvilinear or 'fisheye'. Speaking of which, 7Artisans also offers a capable 10mm F2.8 Fisheye and some other desirable lenses, including the super-fast 50mm F1.05. Like those two, the 9mm F5.6 is a fully manual lens with no built-in electronics, but that isn't a drawback, as we'll see later.

Key features

There are 132° degrees of key feature packed into this diminutive lens. Put your eye to the camera's viewfinder and it gives an instant wow factor - in fact, several people we tried this on genuinely said 'Wow!' out loud. It's simply amazing how much you can squeeze into the image frame, making the lens ideal for sweeping vistas in landscape photography and cityscapes.

It also plays into your hands when you're shooting architectural interiors and simply can't get enough into the frame even when your back's up against the wall. The lens could potentially be great for starry night photography, although the modest f/5.6 aperture is a bit on the slow side for full-on astrophotography. As a rectilinear lens, the 9mm aims to keep distortion to a minimum and give a natural view, unlike the notoriously extreme barrel distortion of the 7Artisans 10mm fisheye lens.

Considering the small size of the lens, it's surprising that 16 optical elements are packed into it, arranged in 11 groups. High-end glass includes two aspherical elements, two ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements and three HRI (High Refractive Index) elements. The overall aim is to maximise sharpness, contrast and clarity while keeping unwanted aberrations to a minimum. Coatings are also applied to reduce ghosting and flare.