{"id":35465,"date":"2022-12-12T11:02:11","date_gmt":"2022-12-12T10:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/?p=35465"},"modified":"2026-03-24T12:15:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T11:15:04","slug":"review-funleader-18mm-8-0","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/review-funleader-18mm-8-0\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Funleader 18mm 8.0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/h2>\n
\"Funleader
Funleader 18mm 8.0 M-mount and Pro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I try to be as objective as possible when reviewing lenses, but I am not always free of preconceptions. When it comes to this Funleader 18mm 8.0 I didn’t really want to review it at first. Funleader sounded more like a name of a company for adult toys to me and with the fixed f\/8.0 aperture (and fixed focus) it felt like some Holga\/Pinhole lens as well. But the Funleader team did not only keep being persistent in asking me to review their lens, they also improved its design: the lens can now be focused and more importantly the Funleader writing on the casing is much smaller. So this time I had a closer look and found out that it is actually a rather complex design consisting of 6 elements in 5 groups. But is this enough for an 18mm lens? Let’s find out together.
\nLens is being tested on 42mp Sony A7rII and 24mp Leica M10
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Sample Images<\/h2>\n
\"Funleader
Sony A7III | Funleader 18mm 8.0 Pro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Funleader
Leica M10 | Funleader 18mm 8.0 M-mount<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Funleader
Sony A7III | Funleader 18mm 8.0 Pro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Funleader
Sony A7rII | Funleader 18mm 8.0 Pro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Funleader
Leica M10 | Funleader 18mm 8.0 M-mount<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

You can find most of the sample images in full resolution here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Specifications \/ Version History<\/h2>\n
\"Funleader
Funleader 18mm 8.0 Pro and M-mount<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There are already three different versions of this lens available, I received the improved Pro version for E-mount and the M-mount version for a review. In the following table you can find the differences and similarities between these three versions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
<\/td>18mm 8.0<\/th>18mm 8.0 M-mount<\/th>18mm 8.0 Pro<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Diameter:<\/td>62 mm<\/td>51 mm<\/td>58 mm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Field of view:<\/td>100\u00b0<\/td>100\u00b0<\/td>100\u00b0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Length:<\/td>15 mm<\/td>14 mm<\/td>17 mm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Weight:<\/td>80g<\/td>40g<\/td>71g<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Filter diameter:<\/td>-<\/td>-<\/td>-<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Number of aperture blades:<\/td>-<\/td>-<\/td>-<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Elements\/Groups:<\/td>6\/5<\/td>6\/5<\/td>6\/5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Focus Range:<\/td>fixed<\/td>0.45 m to infinity<\/td>0.3 m to infinity<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mounts:<\/td>E, Z, RF, L, X<\/td>M<\/td>E, X<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

buy from ebay.com<\/a> (advertisement\/affiliate link) for $140<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Disclosure<\/h2>\n

The 18mm 8.0 Pro as well as the 18mm 8.0 M-mount were kindly provided free of charge by Funleader for reviewing purpose for a duration of 4 weeks.<\/p>\n

Handling \/ Build Quality<\/h2>\n

E-mount<\/h3>\n
\"Funleader
Funleader 18mm 8.0 Pro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The E-mount Pro version has a nice and sleek casing design and the mechanical construction is more sophisticated than I would have expected. It is a unit focus design but only the inner barrel with the lens elements moves on focusing. The focus ring also has click stops at distance settings of 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 1.0, 2.0 m as well as infinity.<\/p>\n

\"Funleader
Distance scale<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Operating this tiny focus ring with my big hands took some getting used to though.<\/p>\n

M-mount<\/h3>\n
\"Funleader
Funleader 18mm 8.0 M-Mount<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The M-mount version has a vastly different design. It features a small focus tab which has only one click stop at 1.0 m. It isn’t rangefinder coupled and interestingly brings up the 50\/75 mm framelines.<\/p>\n

Thanks to its tiny size there is no rangefinder blockage at all.<\/p>\n

\"Funleader
Not fully covered 6-bit code reader on Leica M10<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This lens shares an issue with most of the MS-Optics lenses<\/a> though: the lens doesn’t fully cover the 6-bit code reader of the digital M-mount cameras, therefore under bright light the camera will often think you changed the lens and throw you ouf of live view should you be using that.<\/p>\n

Vignetting<\/h2>\n

light falloff
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n