Zhongyi Freewalker 24mm f/1.7 Lens Review

Zhongyi Freewalker 24mm f/1.7 Handling and Features

This lens sports an all-metal lens barrel and mount, finished in satin black. The build and finish is reminiscent of lenses from a more simple time, when M42 screw fit lenses were king. The lens feels quite weighty for its size, thanks to the heavy-duty construction, but it still only weighs under 250g. As a result it feels like a good companion to the Sony Alpha 5000 camera used for testing.

The focus and aperture rings are well damped and very smooth to operate. There is just the right amount of resistance there to prevent accidental movement and fine adjustments are a pleasure to apply. Those who record video often, will be glad to hear that there are no click stops on the aperture, which allows seemless exposure adjustments to be performed whilst recording. A useful hyperfocal scale is etched onto the lens barrel and closest focus is 15cm, which is quite close for a lens of this type.

The scale on the aperture ring isn't linear, so the ring needs to be turned further at fast apertures than at slower ones to apply the same amount of adjustment. This can take some getting used to, as close attention need to be paid to what aperture values are actually written on the ring, especially as aperture values at the slower end of the scale are so closely bunched together that some values are missing.

The lens accepts 49mm filters, and the filter ring does not rotate during focusing, which will aid the use of graduated and polarising filters.

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