There is no shortage of ultra-wide prime lenses for the full-frame system, and now NiSi has thrown its name in the hat. Well-known for making outstanding optical filters, this is NiSi’s first attempt at manufacturing lenses. For the last few weeks, I’ve been shooting with the NiSi 15mm f/4 Sunstar Super Wide Angle Full Frame ASPH Lens mounted on the Sony Alpha a7R IV Camera. How did the lens perform? Read on to find out!
Key Features of the NiSi 15mm Lens:
- Aperture range of f/4 to f/22
- Manual focus only
- Minimum focus distance of 0.2m
- Maximum magnification of 0.13x
- Dimensions of 2.97 x 3.16″ (75.6 x 80.5mm)
- Weighs 16.57 oz. (470g)
Build Quality and Features
The NiSi 15mm lens feels solid in the hand. It’s dense, compact, and balances well on a full-frame mirrorless camera. The manual focus ring is smooth with hard stops on either end. I prefer this on any lens, but it is essential on a manual focus-only lens like this one. You can change the aperture opening by full stops, and there is no weather sealing. Because of the compact nature of this lens, it takes 72 mm filters, which are considerably less expensive than 77mm or 82mm filters.
The full name of this lens includes “Sunstar”, which is a unique feature. Unlike many manufacturers who make rounded aperture blades for a more pleasing smooth bokeh, NiSi has embraced straight aperture blades. This results in wonderfully well-defined, crisp, and pleasing sunstars from point light sources such as the sun or light bulbs. To achieve the sunstar effect on most lenses, one would need to stop down the aperture to f/22, which introduces diffraction-associated softness to the overall image.
Image Quality
The image quality of this lens is excellent throughout the frame from f/5.6 to f/11. There is some softening at the corners when you reach f/4, and slight sharpness drop-off towards the outside 1/3 of the image. However, narrowing the aperture by just one stop (f/5.6), results in extremely sharp images throughout the frame. I achieved the sharpest images at f/8.
Like many ultra wide-angle lenses, there is mild “mustache” deformity of straight lines. It’s not very objectionable and is only significant when shooting test charts. Lens flare is also very well-controlled. I saw very little ghosting when pointing the lens directly at the sun. Finally, vignetting (darkening at the corners) is mild at f/4 and f/5.6, but is imperceptible at f/8 and beyond.
Manual Focus Only
For ultra wide-angle lenses, I have no issue with a lack of autofocus. I use this lens exclusively for landscape, cityscape, and architecture photography. The shorter the focal length, the less auto focus is necessary because almost everything will be in focus no matter what. Essentially, setting the aperture to f/8 and the focus point close to infinity will achieve maximum depth of field no matter where you point the camera. This is also why many ultra wide-angle lenses for smartphones don’t offer auto focus.
However, if you do want to focus on something close and blur out the background, you can easily do that with manual focus. In fact, I’d argue that even for auto-focus lenses, you should switch to manual focus under such situations so you can precisely choose the focus region.
Limited EXIF Information
There is no electronic data passed on from the lens to the camera body. For example, if you change the aperture on the lens, the camera won’t know this. The image on the LCD will get brighter or darker, however. Also, if you want to utilize the proper amount of image stabilization, you’ll have to tell the camera what focal length (15mm) lens you have attached.
Room for Improvement
Living in the wet Pacific Nothwest, I frequently shoot in inclement conditions. Weather sealing would have been welcome. Although I don’t miss the autofocus, I do miss not seeing the complete EXIF information on the image files.
Conclusion
The NiSi 15mm f/4 Sunstar lens is amazing value for the money spent. It is bitingly sharp at most aperture values, produces pleasing sunstars at all apertures, and shows minimal chromatic aberrations, vignetting, and lens flare. Weather sealing and electronic contacts to transmit EXIF data to the camera would make this lens even better.
