Leica lenses have excellent image quality combined with a solid build. Zeiss and Voigtlander also produce some stellar optics. I have always been interested in other “cheap” third party options for the Leica M mount. Several manufacturers produce M mount lenses, but most are not rangefinder coupled (for example Meyer-Optik-Görlitz). Handevision was one of the first brands to produce a series of rangefinder coupled Iberit lenses for Leica M. Recently, another Chinese manufacturer came up with the 50mm f/1.1 lens for Leica M-mount (Sonnar design) that is sold under the 7artisans and DJ-Optical brand names.
The 7Artisian 50mm f/1.1 lens for Leica M-mount costs $370 and can be purchased at Amazon US, Amazon DE, Amazon UK and eBay. I received a lens for review from the manufacturer – here is my preliminary report that will be updated in the next few weeks as I have more time to shoot with the lens (fyi: the lens is shipped from Asia and I did not have to pay any import duties in the US):
