ArtraLab Similar Steel Rim 35mm F1.4

My first impressions of this lens were less than great. Perhaps expectations were a little too high after the Nocty-Nonikkor delivering everything I have come to expect from ArtraLab — smooth tactile focus, impeccable user experience, fit and finish indicative of a far more expensive lens and most of all the signature Noct look promised.

Usually I refrain from such immediate impressions but it carried with me into the first shoot “If the focus tab is this slippery, how do I focus?” No knurling on the focus tab, and the usual tactile ArtraLab helicoid replaced for a cam coupled experience, yet in practise it wasn’t so bad. I have a lot of experience with the little brother to what inspired this lens - the Leica Summaron 35mm F2.8, and it’s not quite as nice as that. The Summaron tab had enough texture to nudge with a fingertip, knurling on the sides to help pinch, with the ArtraLab you end up doing a combination of both pinching and nudging. I’m one of the few left who really champions how a lens operates, as it is an intrinsic part of the image making process. With the Steel Rim I was hoping for better. Not bad, but room for improvement. the same goes for the overall fit and finish too, less than what I am used to seeing from ArtraLab. I understand that Leica lenses are more complex to design, and they certainly did not skimp on the optics but if I had received this lens earlier in the development cycle (they told me about this lens around six months ago) I could have fixed this issue for them. This is where false economy of influencer review structures come to play, hurting both brand and consumer. Lets also address the elephant in the room, yes I shot combat sports wide open on a manual lens — that’s why my feedback actually matters. It makes much of this review that much harder to write, it’s a major weak link and right at the front of the chain.