2CFA-Blog

The L-Mount system, used by Panasonic, Leica, and Sigma, is known for its high-quality full-frame mirrorless cameras. While the "big three" manufacturers offer excellent lenses, there's a growing ecosystem of third-party lens makers providing unique and often more affordable options. This guide focuses on three such brands: Laowa (Venus Optics), 7Artisans, and Brightin Star, providing a comprehensive list of their L-Mount lenses. This list will be updated as new lenses are released.

Why Choose These Brands?

These manufacturers often specialize in lenses that fill specific niches:

• Laowa: Known for its unusual and specialty lenses, particularly wide-angle and macro options. They frequently offer manual focus lenses with unique features not found in mainstream lineups.
• 7Artisans: Focuses on affordable, compact, and often fast manual focus prime lenses. They are a great choice for photographers looking for creative options on a budget.
• Brightin Star: Focuses on affordable manual focus prime lenses.

The Lens List:

Here's a breakdown of the current L-Mount lens offerings from Laowa, 7Artisans, and Brightin Star, categorized by brand and type:

Key Lens Highlights and Considerations:

• Laowa's Uniqueness: Look for extremely wide-angle lenses (like the 9mm, 10mm, 11mm, and 12mm options), macro lenses (often with 2:1 magnification or greater, not explicitly listed here but likely among the longer focal lengths), and the "Probe" lens (the 24mm f/14 and T14 are almost certainly variations of their unique probe lens for unusual perspectives). The "AUrogon" is an art lens series.
• 7Artisans' Value: This brand offers incredibly affordable lenses, many with very fast apertures (f/1.05, f/1.4). They are almost exclusively manual focus. The T-stop lenses are designed for video (cine) use.
• Brightin Star's Value: This brand is also a good option for those seeking affordable lenses.
• Manual Focus: The vast majority of these lenses are manual focus only. This requires more skill and practice but can be very rewarding, offering greater control and a more engaging shooting experience. It also contributes to the compact size and lower cost.
• Special note about Apertures: Note the very small apertures of many of these lenses. This means that less light will be able to enter the lens, and therefore, low light photos might not be very practical.