TTArtisan AF 35mm F1.8 II Review | A Surprisingly Strong Lens for $125

[@Jwitherow1964]

You go boy. Nice and the price is hard to beat

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

For sure.

[@shermn8]

Nice review DA. Thanks! For a measly $125, I'll buy one! It'll be a great travel, street lens.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Definitely.

[@soneeeee4440]

great review, love the "scaled down on 26mp sensor" - much appreciated info (i got this lense for a6400).

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Enjoy!

[@Liam-c9u3r]

Loving my 35/f1.8 II! The compact size and beautiful metal body make it perfect for shooting on the go. Did a couple of test portraits this week, and the sharpness really stands out. Can’t believe it was only $125!

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

It is a surprisingly good lens for the money. Absolutely.

[@soneeeee4440]

RE: X-H2 -- Could you post/provide a list of cheap(er) AF lenses you have used (non fuji and fuji) that seem to resolve well/do justice to the 40mp sensor on the x-h2? I'm looking at getting an xh2 but quite worried about the AF even after 7.1 update. Photo is 80% of my work, but the video application I do is widebody aircraft clips perpendicular to runway with panning and zooming in/out for take off landing roll. I'm thinking about getting xh-2 as i see an open box at a good discount, but not sure if the af will be annoying vs my G9 (photo and video) and a6400 (photo only). THANK YOU

[@marcp.1752]

Excellent review, as usual, Dustin! I'd love to see your review here from the new TTArtisan 23mm F1.8 AF, now a 127 USD budget alternative for Fujifilm users. (but not limited to X-mount). Since my X-E1 into 2012, i am looking for a budget 3rd party 35mm FoV in FF terms lens for Fuji - with AF.🙂 I have bought the 23/1.4 R Fujinon into late 2023 for my X-T1.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Stay tuned next week.

[@Lance_Magillicuddy]

I think it's great that over the last few years these Chinese manufacturers have been coming out with budget lenses. Not every photography project is doing portraits of the Queen of England for official archival purposes. Sometimes you just want to take family snapshots. I've been wondering regarding these inexpensive Chinese lenses. Are they recycling old Canon or Nikon lens designs that have expired patents or has lens design software improved to make designing a lens easier cheaper and faster?

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

I think early on that might have been the case, but at this stage I think that most of these brands (particularly Viltrox) have gotten very good engineers working on optical designs.

[@pbpraga3963]

Please help me... I bought a micro 4/3 adaptor to sony e mount and when i set averything the lens manual focus, the ring, doesnt work. I cant focus the image. Does this problem ring a bell to you? the lens is a sigma 16mm 1.4 for lumix.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

I'm afraid I have no experience with adapting M43 to e-mount.

[@pbpraga3963]

@@DustinAbbottTWI ok, but is it possible that the sigma lens focus, only works electronically?? even if it has a physical ring?

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

All mirrorless autofocus lenses use a "focus by wire" system, so yes, even input to the manual focus ring must be routed through the focus motor.

[@pbpraga3963]

@ thanks, thats my answer.

[@soneeeee4440]

you can only use manual lenses with the adapter. i bought kamlan 50 1.1 for m43 and works great on a6400

[@9Mtikcus]

I think all these options are great, I'm not in the market for a 35mm but these have a place, especially for the budget or a student that has very little money. Pick up a used Fuji X-T2/3/4 or X-T20/30 etc (or a Sony) or even a new entry level camera, you can get the body (X-T30 MKII or XM-5 with kit lens and buy a couple of these cheap primes and have a decent entry level setup for £1000 (or half that if shopping used body)

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

That's a fair point.

[@VincentTse]

just like the 56mm 1.8, this will again be compared with Viltrox's latest offering of 35mm F1.7

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Very true.

[@ernstvandijk6342]

Through the window I see a tree in full leaf. How is that possible in January?

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

It's evergreens (pines and spruces) you are seeing through the window, and they stay green all through the winter. This video was actually filmed on December 18th, as I often work nearly a month in advance of release dates.

[@ernstvandijk6342]

@@DustinAbbottTWI I see, I couldn't make out the tree species through the window. You are lucky to be surrounded by nature! I had no idea you shoot your videos so long in advance, you surely need that time for editing. By the way, today I learned that Sony will announce a 16mm 1.8 G lens next month, I hope you will review it.

[@ArunaSena]

One thing people forget to mention about tt artisan and their updates is that it only works on windows 10

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Windows 10 specifically, or Windows but not Apple?

[@juehuadai3903]

Optically it's not as good as Viltrox 35mm F1.7, but this one compatible with my NEX-5R, so have not choice, and the same time it helps me save a few dozen bucks.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Fair enough. I do love the Viltrox. Great little lens.

[@lionheart4424]

Great review Dustin! I own the 27mm f2.8 pancake and the 56mm f1.8 lenses from TTA. I use them on my X-T2 (24MP sensor) and I really like their image quality. To me they feel vintage, but with AF! I love the build quality of the 56mm f1.8, looks good on the X-T2. I agree that if you want superior quality you should go with Viltrox, but the TTA lenses for their price are just amazing. Hope you review their new 23mm f1.8 later.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

That's a solid take. I'm just finishing up the review of the 23mm F1.8.

[@carlosandreviana9448]

I don't understand why you keep jeopardizing your reviews and the real performance of lenses by using a Fuji camera

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

In many cases (for what reason I don't know), these third party brands actually produce the X-mount versions first. That means that if I want to release in or around the product announcement (maximum traffic!), I need to review the X-mount version. Sometimes the E-mount and Z-mount versions arrive months later.

[@lionheart4424]

@@carlosandreviana9448 X-Mount is undoubtedly the most popular APS-C system right now. When it comes to AF speed the lenses usually perform the same as in other mounts, where it differs is in accuracy which is always the fault of Fuji cameras. In any case, Fujifilm shooters still appreciate reviews of lenses in X-Mount.