Should You Buy the 7Artisans 75mm f/1.4 If You Already Own the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM?
Honestly, the case for buying it is weak — here’s the breakdown.
Where the 7Artisans Has an Edge
The lens does bring some genuine advantages. It’s a native RF mount, which means no adapter and a cleaner setup on any RF body. At f/1.4 versus f/1.8, you’re picking up about ⅔ of a stop — which does matter for low-light work and adds a marginally different character to the bokeh. And the price is a fraction of Canon’s own glass.
Where It Falls Short
Manual focus only. This is the big one. The Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM has one of the fastest, most reliable autofocus systems in its class. The 7Artisans demands that you nail focus manually — which at f/1.4, on a portrait subject at any distance, is a genuine discipline. Anything moving, anything fast-paced: this lens will frustrate you.
Optical quality wide open. Budget f/1.4 lenses tend to arrive soft, with visible aberrations and focus shift at their widest aperture. Your Canon at f/1.8 will likely resolve sharper with better contrast than the 7Artisans at f/1.4 — or even f/2. The extra stop isn’t free.
Focal length overlap. 75mm and 85mm on full frame are not meaningfully different. You are not adding a new perspective or creative tool to your kit. You’re duplicating one you already own.
When It Would Make Sense
There are legitimate reasons to pull the trigger. If you’re shooting deliberately — on a tripod, in controlled light, with time to focus — manual glass is no penalty at all. If the EF adapter on your RF body genuinely bothers you and you want a native short telephoto, it fills that slot cheaply. And there’s a real following for the rendering character of fast Chinese primes: wide open, they have a soft, slightly vintage look that some photographers actively seek out.
Bottom Line
If you’re on an RF body and adapter friction is a real issue, that’s a defensible reason to buy. But optically and practically, the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 with adapter outperforms it in most real-world use cases. The 7Artisans makes more sense as a first fast prime — not as an addition to an already solid lens sitting in the same focal range.