The Funleader Caplens 18mm F8.0 0.45m-∞ for M-mount ($159) is one of the smallest and lightest lenses for any camera. It’s a feat, especially given its full-frame coverage and ultra-wide view. A hyperfocal design, one where you can snap in-focus shots without having to worry too much about adjusting the lens, is a good match for from-the-hip photos. Optical quality isn’t world class, but you might just love the soft results, heavy vignette, and glowing flare the lens creates. The Caplens lives up to its billing—it’s slimmer than a pancake and a lot of fun to use. It’s worth a look if you’re after a wide, artistic lens for your rangefinder or mirrorless camera.
Not Much Bigger Than a Body Cap
The Caplens 18mm F8.0 is a small as lenses get, just 0.55 by 2.01 inches (HD) and featherweight at 1.4 ounces. Its dimensions aren’t far off from a protective body cap, and when mounted to a camera it barely protrudes from the body. Construction is aluminum, available in your choice of black or silver finish. We received the black edition for review.
This is the second version of the Caplens. The first, still available for $99, has a fixed-focus design and is sold for popular mirrorless mounts. It uses the same optics, but doesn’t allow you to adjust focus, and doesn’t focus quite as close as the M-mount 0.45m-∞ edition we’re reviewing here.
The M-mount edition lets you set focus, and opens up compatibility with high-end Leica rangefinder cameras. It’s adaptable to mirrorless systems, so you can use it on any mirrorless camera with a simple mechanical adapter. Funleader sells adapters for Canon RF, Fujifilm X, L-Mount Alliance, Nikon Z, and Sony E cameras.
For this review I used the Caplens with the Leica M (Typ 240) and, with an adapter, the Sony a7R IV.
Set-It-and-Forget-It Focus
To borrow a line from Ron Popeil, the Caplens 18mm F8.0 is one you can set and forget. It’s a manual focus lens, but for many images you won’t have to worry about adjusting its focus lever. The Caplens keeps everything in focus when set to its 3.3-foot (1m) position. The lever clicks into this spot, so it’s easy to set by feel, and it’s quick to shift to infinity for times when you know you’re eyeing a distant landscape, or to its 1.5-foot (0.45m) position for close-up shots.
It makes this one a good fit for photographers dabbling in film. With an analog M you’ll need to add an accessory optical finder to frame up wide 18mm images, something rangefinder devotees are well used to. You’ll need to spend a lot more for a wide angle with focus coupled to the optical rangefinder—the $549 Lomography Atoll 2.8/17 is one of the most affordable examples.
Many digital Leica Ms offer live view focus and support electronic add-on viewfinders for precise framing and, if you want, a magnified view for a bit of precision focusing. I didn’t worry too much, though—there’s room for slightly defocused backgrounds when focusing up close, but at the middle distance everything a few feet from the camera off into the background is in focus.
There are a lot more mirrorless camera owners out there than Leica M photographers, and we’d imagine the Caplens will see plenty of service on Sony E, L-mount, Canon RF, Micro Four Thirds, Nikon Z, and Fujifilm X bodies using an adapter. With these cameras you’ll enjoy the same experience as with any other manual focus lens—direct view through an electronic viewfinder.
A Toy Lens With Artsy Flare
The Caplens’ optics are downright tiny, but the fingertip-sized optical block houses a 6-element/5-group design. Photos show good detail and are relatively free of distortion, regardless of what camera you’re using.
There’s a strong vignette with most mirrorless cameras, though. The corners of photos are much dimmer than the center. The vignette isn’t as strong on digital Leica M bodies, as their sensors are designed for better corner illumination, but the M (Typ 240) shows heavy magenta shift at the edges of the frame.
Color shift isn’t news for M owners, it’s a common issue with certain wide angle designs. If you find it troublesome you can use the lens for black-and-white work, or compensate for the false color using the free Cornerfix app.
The Caplens handles shots directly into the sun quite well. You can use it for backlit shots and induce some pleasing flare. The sunstar effect isn’t obtainable, though—the optics don’t have an adjustable aperture, and one is required to create images with sunstars.
Charming Lo-Fi Imaging
No one will mistake the Funleader Caplens 18mm F8.0 0.45m-∞ for a piece of high-end photo gear. Rather, it’s a lens you can grab when you’re after focus-free snapshots, wide angle views, and images with a generally lo-fi look. The body cap form factor is part of the charm, too. If you’re pairing the lens with a smaller camera, you’ll end up with a kit that slides into a jacket pocket.
And you’ve got some choice as to what camera you use. This M-mount version works with digital and film rangefinders from Leica, and is easily adapted to more commonly used digital mirrorless systems. I tried it with both a Leica M and Sony E mirrorless camera with good results. If you’ve got a mirrorless camera, you can skip the M-mount version and snag the original focus-free version of the lens, now on sale for around $100.
Either way, the Funleader Caplens is worth adding to your kit, assuming you’re a fan of its imaging characteristics. It’s a fun little lens, one that lives up to its moniker.
