TTArtisan 50mm F2 Review | $70 Lens on a $6500 Camera?

[@DannyChau7]

I ordered the L mount for my Sigma fP, this lens is one of the most film-like with organic I've used to date, it is now permanently paired on the fP. I really enjoy the feel and rendering of this wonderful lens.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

I enjoyed it too.

[@CryoftheProphet]

God Bless you Dustin, your videos have always been so peaceful, so informative, really free of overt bias, just good times on this channel.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Glad you like them!

[@gaoldias]

Nice review. So with the M4/3 version of this lens, would you expect the extreme corners to be much better given that the image circle will be made up of about 75% of what you have on FF?

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Yes I would.

[@RealRaynedance]

While I still personally prefer my $20 non-AI Nikon 50mm f/1.4 even with the adapter, I love the fact that we're getting inexpensive, modern, native options that can give a similar look to lenses of that age.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

I totally agree.

[@flyfishfotofan]

Thanks!

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Thank you for the donation and for the feedback.

[@rdog77]

Great Review. Bought this lens for my A7C . Makes it small and easy to carry around.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Cool. Enjoy.

[@AndyDay]

Regarding the vignetting in the image at 5:53 - I'm wondering if that's more a result of shooting wide open with an electronic shutter at 1/4000th as it doesn't tie in with your other results. If you shoot the same scene at f/2 1/4000th but using a fully mechanical shutter, I suspect that the black fringing will probably disappear.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

That could be.

[@AndyDay]

@@DustinAbbottTWI I had the same thing when reviewing the 7artistans 35mm f/1.4 I stated that the vignetting was terrible (great little lens, tho) and they emailed to tell me to shoot fully mechanical. I'm guessing it's something to do with the synchronisation. If you figure out what this is about, I'd be keen to know..!

[@dummatube]

I know what you mean by the 'Illustrative' look that we get from this lens. It seems to have a good overall contrast for large details but a more gentle rendering of areas of texture. This is NOT a loss of detail issue as you can push the 'Clarity' settings in LightRoom to get more texture contrast if you prefer!

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

It’s a unique rendering for a modern lens.

[@masagungwilis]

I bought it yesterday. I use it on EOS R6 fullframe where I find a purple-ish vignete which for me is a little problem, but it was cheap anyway. If somebody use this lens and find a right way to correct the vignette optically or digitally please tell me how 🙏🏼 thank you

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

That tint in the vignette can be difficult.

[@BryanLeeHarpartist]

Got this a few weeks ago and have been having a lot of fun doing some casual portraits and videos with it. As you pointed out, the delay to unscrew the lens cap is a pain, am almost at the point of leaving it uncovered while walking around.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

I definitely didn't mess with the cap when walking around.

[@snappychappy]

Buy a clip on lens cap. Inexpensive and problem solved.

[@rodgercarey3480]

Hello Dustin did you check out ZONE FOCUSING for this lens?

[@lattesweden]

If you shot the nature image at 5:57 with EFCS at 1/4000 then that would have contributed to the vignette at the bottom (this is common for all non Exif lenses at high shutter speeds). So go full mechanical shutter or e-shutter to avoid the extra bottom vignetting.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

The default shooting mode on my A1 is electronic shutter.

[@lattesweden]

@@DustinAbbottTWI Ah, ok, then it isn't that. On my 7Artisans 35/1.4 for instance, or any other non Exif lens if I shot wide open with high shutter speeds (over 1/1000) and EFCS the bottom vignetting gets really bad. But in full mechanical shutter and e-shutter it is ok. Also the bokeh changes. But since you were in e-shutter mode, then I guess the lens just vignettes as much.

[@gitithadani]

Thanks for testing it on the A1. I really like the lens design & though one gets a lot of vintage small lenses one has to add on an adapter so in terms of the form factor it really wins out. And the mechanics seems really good for the price point. I expect vignetting from such a small lens - most small modern lenses have it but there is usually built in software correction. Manual composition is about how one works with the design optics of the lens -incuding its limitations. . And these lenses are not designed for corner to corner sharpness & also closed down to increase contrast. On the other hand the lens does seem to lack contrast even in comparison to many slr lenses. Some may have great contrast & give much more of a frequency curve. I don't know if its the coatings. However such lenses are great for experimenting & delving into MF - be it for still or movement. And at great value

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

I definitely think it is well worth the money.

[@charbelesber1257]

Great review as always, do you think using it lens on a sony apsc will result in a better corner sharpness ?

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

It should, as the weakest part of the of frame is cropped off.

[@Heart0rHead]

I think this lens is a better pick than 50 0.95 options from TTArtisan, 7Artisans or Meike as at that F0.95 in portraits you generally have focus on eyes only and you don't always want such shallow DOF. This 50/2 has very circular bokeh which 0.95 don't have. It costs 3 times less than 0.95 options and is 2-3 times smaller. For bodies like X-T20/30 or M43 it's ideal combo.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Fair enough. Enjoy.

[@marsdengriswold4610]

Number of elements? Resolutjon lines per mm, center, edges,& corners?

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

You can look at the linked article for a breakdown of elements. I don’t test in LPMM, as that is available in the MTF chart

[@staLkerhu]

I'm impressed! I mean, probably even a Canon EF or R 50mm 1.8 outperform this lens, but both sharpness and bokeh quality seems like pretty close. I don't know how will I choose, but I wanted to get a 50mm in between my R 35mm 1.8 and Sigma 105mm 2.8 for cheap, and to be honest, I might end up choosing this one, because of the unique look it provides.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Exactly.

[@randallbrander8157]

Maybe this lens is made for an APSC Sony camera. The vignetting better for those cameras.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

It is designed for full frame, but yes, APS-C would elminate most all of vignette.

[@Donbros]

Hm i dom't have 50mm length XD but should i grab it, should i?

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

This is definitely a nice value lens.

[@marcp.1752]

Hi Dustin, great review. I am watching your reviews (mostly via web page) since many years. Please also review the new TTArtisan 25mm F2 (APS-C), which comes into different flavours (Fuji X, Sony E, Canon M, MFT Mount) For 55 USD it's way cheap. I paid 64 EUR with shipping. Thanks for your nice reviews, keep up the great stuff. Greetings

[@matt12v2]

Thanks for the review!

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

My pleasure!

[@homecareful]

Maybe it is just my copy, but I don't find it to be a value purchace even at $59. The images contantly battle an attempt at sharpness through a silk stocking like haze and the colors are muted to simply wrong. I shot a grayish green ceramic bowl that ended up a tan-- to the point where HSL controls for green could not touch it. I am not impressed and will probably sell my copy for $30 to get it out of the way.

[@karikaru]

That's probably where the cheap price comes in - the quality control and manufacturing tolerances.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Sometimes cheap is cheap.

[@homecareful]

Amen, Dustin. Wise words, but in this case it turns out that I share in the blame. My hood came in for the lens and subsequently, the haze and muted colors improved nicely. There is still something that holds this lens back, but I can now agree that the TTA 50/2 is a solid value.@@DustinAbbottTWI

[@jango71]

@@homecareful Which hood did you buy? A good fit?

[@peterebel7899]

In the last months I started to enjoy using vintage lenses I even don't need to buy due to them being still around. One adapter and the world is open with all the special colors, flares, bokeh. (FD100 2.0, FD 50 1.4, FD 28 2.0 - my favorite so far - and FD 20 2.8) Just: I am using them paired with a 30MP sensor, 45MP are not needed at all. Enjoying photography and its results is generating unique shots, not just razor sharp images. Thanks for this review!

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

That's fun!

[@Xinrui24]

Very nice compact lens!

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

I think so too!

[@randallbrander8157]

This lens reminds me of pics from the 50s to the 70s. Classic look.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

That's correct.

[@aloharay]

I think the smaller than full frame format cameras will get the most out of the center portion of the glass, avoiding the weaknesses you experienced in the corners. I would say the weakest aspect of this lense is lower quality coatings that allow ghosting and it's particular color profile. Would have been nice to take some outdoor nature shots with this and another more expensive lense to show the difference in color rendering. Cheers.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

That seems pretty accurate to me.

[@niluss6]

I just got this and it is unnecessarily heavy. I also recently got an Atri Hori (Rockstar) 14mm f4.5 and it is heavy also. I don't get why they build cheap lenses this way. My old Porst 50mm f1.6 is made of plastic and is about the same size without the adapter. It is way lighter. With the adapter, it's about the same weight. I feel these type of lenses, since they're compact, should also be lighter. Building it in pure metal kinda defeats the point.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Still not very heavy in an absolute sense.

[@christophmunch4796]

An adapted Minolta MD 50mm f1.4 which costs about the same will yield better performance, especially regarding vignetting and corner sharpness. Additionally it can be adapted to all kinds of mounts. The only argument pro the TTArtisan is the even smaller size...

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

There's some argument for vintage lenses, for sure.

[@Grumpygrumpo]

finding a good vintage one thats the same price isnt always feasible

[@christophmunch4796]

@@Grumpygrumpo Of course it is. No problem to get a Minolta 50mm f1.4 in good shape for $69. And a Minolta 50mm f2 which also is a very sharp performer is even significantly less!

[@dennishardinglandscapephot3540]

I compared the TTArtisan 50mm F2 to a Nikkor 50mm F1.8 E series on a Sony A7R111 and the Nikkor was far superior.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

That very well may be.

[@MEBoisv]

It must pair excellently with a Sony A7c

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

That would be a more natural fit, for sure.

[@MEBoisv]

@@DustinAbbottTWI well I ordered one and B&H got it to me yesterday. So far I'm really happy with it. Thanks for the review.

[@d30gaijin]

Of late I have been interested in vintage lenses for use on my digital cameras. Specifically some of the older Meyer Optik lenses. Problem is I have to buy them sight unseen off eBay and it's turned out to be a crap shoot as to what I get because many of the sellers are not camera people, they are more flea market types so can't provide much info about the lens. For that reason I have turned to the TT Artisans 25mm f/2 and the 50mm f/2. They exhibit similar characteristics to much of the old Meyer glass but at least I know I am getting a new lens with a warranty. In other words I am actually shopping for the lens character/defects.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

I completely know where you're coming from, and I've actually viewed these types of lenses similarly. They often easier to use (no adapters) and much cheaper.

[@dummatube]

A “50m f2”? Wow, does it come in it’s own 164ft case? 😂

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

No, they'd have to charge more for a case that size.

[@pierredumas7331]

Quebec City 😊

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Yes - it is a fabulous place.

[@pierredumas7331]

@@DustinAbbottTWI My city 🤩

[@globalpostureinstitute]

No 3D pop

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Well, I'm not quite sure what all should be expected from such an inexpensive lens.

[@jiucheng3080]

Another lens for the cheap market. A toy. But worthy to try 70$

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

That's the thing - the low price point makes it low risk.

[@Jwitherow1964]

It’s cheep but who wants a lens this cheep on a full frame lens

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Someone with no money ;)

[@charleyb9912]

cheep is not always bad .......what a way of thinking lol

[@kel_]

niceee

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Thanks

[@JeffBourke]

$70 is absolutely absurd.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

It is.

[@patmat.]

Cheep Chineese noodles Yes! Cheep Chineese plasticky things ... sometimes useful. Cheep Chineese lenses no thank you, not in my plate.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Plasticky? There's no plastic on this lens.

[@TheHeartofuae]

The sensor is the heart of the camera and the lens is the eye, and if the eye isn't OK, the brain can't help, stay away from very cheap lense

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Perhaps, but I got a lot of beautiful images with that eye.

[@charleyb9912]

that may have been the case 40 years ago, but not today, TTArtisans, 7artisan & co have some very good lenses, it is not always necessary to spend a lot of money on them, besides these companies use old designs so not always high development costs...if you are very skilled & creative, others will not notice between expensive & cheap lenses, you can shoot a whole Hollywood movie with 100 dollar lenses, no one will notice..