7Artisans releases low-budget APS-C 50mm f/1.4 tilt-shift lens

7Artisans has announced a new 50mm f/1.4 tilt-shift lens (buy here). It’s an APS-C lens, available in a range of mounts, including Sony E, Fuji X and Micro Four Thirds.

It features metal construction with a wide f/1.4 aperture. Its shallow depth of field can then be repositioned using the tilt feature, while the centre of your view can be repositioned using shift.

7Artisans 50mm f/1.4 Tilt-Shift

Tilt-shift lenses have been used for decades to help correct things like perspective distortion. They also allow you to rotate and adjust the plane of focus to keep several things in focus that aren’t parallel to the camera’s sensor.

They’re not just for making the world look miniature. Of course, they’re quite commonly used for that, too. And with a lens as inexpensive as the 7Artisans 50mm f/1.4 Tilt-Shift, it makes it an even more accessible effect. But do try to learn what else it can do.

7Artisans doesn’t appear to have announced what the full range of motion in the tilt and shift mechanisms is. Hopefully, those will be coming soon. I would also hope that as the APS-C and Micro Four Thirds versions have smaller sensors, we’d see an increased range of motion in those, but I’m not getting my hopes up.

It’s probably not much of a surprise that 7Artisans has released a 50mm f/1.4 TS lens, though. TTartisan did it a couple of years ago, and it looks like both lenses may share an optical makeup. TTartisan also released a 100mm tilt-shift lens last year.

So, other companies catering to the same market as TTartisan were bound to follow suit eventually. We’ll wait for the inevitable side-by-side comparisons to start popping up before making a final judgment.

7Artisans 50mm f/1.4 Tilt-Shift Specs

Focal length	50mm
Format	APS-C
Mount	Sony E, Fuji X, Micro Four Thirds
Focus type	Manual focus
Max aperture	f/1.4
Min aperture	f/16
Min focus distance	50cm
Max magnification	Unspecified
Tilt Limit	Unspecified
Shift Limit	Unspecified
Optics	7 elements in 6 groups
Aperture blades	12
Filter diameter	46mm
Dimensions	Unspecified
Weight	364g

Price and Availability

The 7Artisans 50mm f/1.4 tilt-shift lens is available to pre-order now for $226 in Sony E, Fuji X and Micro Four Thirds mounts. Items are expected to begin shipping by the end of the month.

There’s no word if or when we’ll see it come for other mounts, but the others will get a little love at some point.

Update: This article originally said that this was a full-frame lens based on an error in the press materials we received and the fact that many images show it on a full-frame Sony body. It has been updated to clarify that it is an APS-C lens.

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