TTArtisan 50mm f/1.4 Reviews
Flawed but Magnificent
By David
Rated 4 out of 5
Date: 2023-05-08
Hi there,
After a few months with the lens I feel that I have a holistic idea of both the pros and cons of this lens.
Pros:
-Price (fantastic price for a great quality lens)
-Build (some say it is heavy but for me I like the feel. Focus and aperture rings as smooth as you can imagine)
-Quality (for a $225 lens the image quality is amazing. At aperture 5.6 and smaller you get sharpness across the frame)
-Bokeh (I like the look the lens creates)
Cons:
-Vignetting (very harsh vignetting)
-Not flare resistant (careful in harsh lighting conditions. Hood suggested)
-Aberrations (this is exacerbated when your subject is against a light background. Purple vignetting is harshest, green vignetting is occasional)
-Manual focus (this for me is a pro and con. Thing is, is that you CAN miss with a manual focus. Some struggle with manuals. That being said, the smooth focus ring and consistency of focusing means I have only had a few misses with this lens.
-No lens profile (fixes I use in paragraph below.)
All of the being said, this lens is great. Especially for people wanting to hone in their technical understanding of photography without breaking the bank. Fully manual with no contacts will teach you the exposure triangle fully in no time. Prime lens will help you to think about and really control every element in your frame. There are some drawbacks, but those can be overcome digitally.
My lens profile to correct the aberrations, vignetting, and distortion of the lens are:
-4 distortion
7 purple defringe
(green defringe as needed)
50-100 vignetting depending on the shot.
Here are some sample photos to go along with the review. Best of luck in finding your new lens visionairies.
Beautiful bokeh and handling!
By Benjamin
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2022-08-05
Incredibley smooth bokeh! Without a doubt the best at this price. Very sharp, too, capable of outresolving the A7RIV when stepped down.
Far better than the Sony 50mm F/1.8. Optically I'd compare this to my Sony ZA 55mm F/1.8! Equally sharp, and even better aberration handling compared to the ZA 55mm.
The bokeh from this lens is what's truely special. The optical design seems to be based on the classic Sonnar layout, but with a few extra elements to remove abberations. The end result is you get bokeh that's far better than any vintage SLR lens, completely blowing away every 50mm on any SLR and even DSLR, even Sigma's own Art series. This is possible due to the shorter flange distance on mirrorless cameras, allowing the sonnar design to fit without extending into the mirror box!
This is truly a special lens, and the only comparable lens are the GM and ZA Sony lens. Nothing else comes close.
Happy with my purchase
By Martin
Rated 4 out of 5
Date: 2022-07-21
Interesting and inexpensive lens to use, with a very good construction. It's not the perfect tool optically, but it allows you to take very nice photos when you know the limitations. You just have to learn to take your time because of manual focussing.
Bargain!
By Alan
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2021-12-27
This lens performs brilliantly for the price! Works well for low-light photography. I'm very happy with the image quality even with the aperture wide open. Both attached images were shot with Nikon Z6 ii at f/1.4, ISO 800. The farther away was 1/160s and the close-up 1/50s.
This TTartisan lens is as good as any of my famous brands
By Kirk
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2021-12-08
I bought this to use on a Leica SL and was immediately impressed by its optical performance. The focusing ring and aperture ring are both smooth as silk, with just the right amount of resistance. For the price the lens is a screaming bargain. Waiting for them to make a 35mm version in the L mount. I'll get that too.
Very nice image quality but heavy as a brick for my taste
By Robert
Rated 4 out of 5
Date: 2021-11-01
Sharp images. Nice colors and rendering.
Feels solid...
But what a surprise how I find this small lens heavy!
For me it cannot be a street photography lens, I need a tripod or at least a monopod to support it.
So four stars for the overall quality, including image quality
One missing star for the weight.
All things considered - Great Lens
By Carl
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2023-01-10
For my Nikon Z7, I wanted a basic prime lens, not that expensive, to play around with instead of using a zoom all the time. Just like old film days, when your feet were your zoom with a prime lens.
I looked at the Z 40mm f/2, and this TTartisan 50mm f/1.4. Though the Z lens is fully auto, and the TTartisan is fully manual, it didn't matter. Everything was manual years ago when I shot primes. But, what caught my attention, was comparing the wide open, Fmax, MTF charts on both lenses. This particular TTartisan was actually better, and improved a good deal stopped down.
The TTartisan is heavier, but all metal, solid build, and metal back mount. The 40mm Z lens is lighter, but also plastic, with plastic back mount. Both lenses will perform very well, and I didn't mind a little extra weight. The TTartisan cost less, performed well, 12 blade aperture, and nice bokeh.
TTartisan is manual aperture and focus, and Nikon lens is full AF. But all things considered, as I mentioned above, I bought this lens and very pleased with it. With the larger front element, suggest adding a lenshood.
Fully manual and like it
By Leng
Rated 4 out of 5
Date: 2022-09-15
Pro: Images are very sharp, lens compact easy to use.
con: no lens hoop, otherwise would be 5 stars.
