Anyone tried the Risepray/Zonlai 35mm 1.6?

Coyote23 · Joined: 24 Feb 2023 Posts: 21

Looks like there is this one on Ali express and a slightly cheaper one that looks like the Pergear 35 1.6.

EricP · Joined: 17 Jul 2023 Posts: 2 Location: UK

I have it on fuji-x mount..

Although casing looks the same as the Zonlai, the info I've been able to find seems to indicate slightly different optics.. The Risespray has an ED element, whilst there is no mention of this on the Zonlai's..

This lens is not the same as their cheaper version, and much superior in optical performance. Strangely, it also currently sells for less than half the price of the Zonlai's..

It is my current favorite 35mm. Optically, I have nothing to complain about it.. Pretty much perfect characteristics.. Wide open, there is quite heavy vignette, small loss of contrast and soft edges. But by f2 vignette and contrast is ok, and by f2.8 it is very good all round, with decent sharpness even to edges.. It focuses very close (25cm) performance is v good close-up. With a 11mm extension tube, I can get nearly 1:1 magnification, with excellent optical performance. No CA or LoCA to speak of, and almost zero distortion. Field curvature is minimal. Bokeh / specular hilights are reasonable. Overall it renders nicely..

Mechanically, it looks / feels good. Focus throw is decent length, infinity hard stop, clicked aperture. The only flaw is there is slop at the aperture clicks (like the detents are way bigger than the size of the detent bearings). Also the aperture ring is a bit too close to the focus ring, so easy to accidently grab the wrong one..

I also have the 7artisans 35mm f1.2 mk2, and this lens is far superior in all respects. Wide-open the 7artisans is better as a softer-rendering / vintage character / art lens.
I also have the sigma 30mm f1.4 dc dn, and this lens matches it contrast / sharpness from f2.8. But the sigma is worse for LoCA and barrel distortion..

Overall, an excellent lens for the money..

alex_d · Joined: 19 Jan 2019 Posts: 363

EricP · Joined: 17 Jul 2023 Posts: 2 Location: UK

Hi Alex,
I posted a review on this on dpreview a while back - here:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/66912899

Basically, I would rate this as being in the top 2x of the medium-fast 35mm Chinese MF lenses - this and the ttartisan 35mm f1.4.
The ttartisan is probably the better of the two if sharpness + contrast wide-open is important for you. But it is a longer lens, has more barrel distortion and I dislike the taper shape.. The Risespray displays more vintage character wide-open - more vignette, some loss of contrast, slightly soft corners.

Overall, I rate the Risespray very highly for what I desire of a MF lens - slightly vintage characteristics wide-open, but contrasty and sharp across the frame once stopped down a bit (as good as any modern lens). It has none of the aberrations that annoys me - minimal CA or LoCA, no distortion, v little field curvature, and good colors.. And it is also good as a macro lens on top.. (only for objects like small flowers etc, not true macro) - I recently a test of this (with a 11mm extension tube), against my stellar Laowa 65mm f2.8 macro, and was astounded that this was just as good for objects down to 2cm..)

I don't know what the copy-to-copy variations are like, but am very happy with mine.. Have been using mine regularly for over 6months now and nothing has gone wrong. It's crazy cheap for the performance you are getting..

alex_d · Joined: 19 Jan 2019 Posts: 363

ok ericp, thank you for your reply and extra clarification.