About Us

7Artisans Story

7Artisans is a group of Chinese camera enthusiasts who came together for a dinner in Summer of 2015. They discussed their passions over the dinner table. Some were interested in optical design while others were more skilled at running factory production lines, and one was an avid Leica lens collector. Everyone who participated came to same conclusion:“If we involve our skills and work together, we can create new high quality original camera lenses.” That is how the 7Artisans Project began.

During the early stages, many different people joined the project, gradually forming the initial team. The road to fulfilling their goals was a long and laborious one. That story began with testing prototypes and identifying problems, improving on designs, as well as streamlining assembly and identifying further issues. We harnessed these problem solving opportunities to strengthen our existing ideas, and come up with entirely new ones. The cycle of trial and error never ceased.

Years passed since our initial prototype. By September 2016 we reached a total of 100 mass production unit samples of the 50mm f/1.1 lens. We originally started with many members, but part of them left the project due to the long product development cycle. By the time production completed, only 7 members remained.

And now each production packaging of the 50mm f/1.1 lens says, “7Artisans (Chinese: Seven Craftsmen)”. This is in honour of the members who believed in the project from the beginning and embodied the spirit of "Craftsmen". For this confidence and determination, we are named 7Artisans.