I bought the TTArtisan 23mm f1.4 for my GX9 a year ago. It is great, the focal length is almost standard. It is a bit heavy for my GX9, but that is a small niggle. I like the lens and the photos I get from it. Recently I bought the TTArtisan 35mm f1.4, it is also a very nice lens, less than USD 100. I have a tip, TTArtisan lenses are nice gifts because they come in very fancy packaging and are great quality. But you won't break the bank! 🙂
Lucky of you that got it for free! IMO the lense at its price is unbeatable. It is a joy to use and the images, I have it in an X-Pro I, are very nice but not digital/surgical perfect. They have the right sharpness and contrast to look "vintage" in a good way.
Thanks for the review. I have this lens and use it on Fujifilm APS-C cameras. The problem you mention with the sharp corners is probably concave field curvature. That phenomenon disappears when stopped down and is gone at aperture 2.8 or 4.0. And I agree that it is an excellent lens - not only for the price but in general.
I am a big fan of TTartsans for my Fuji cameras. My affair began with the 50mm f1.2, which despite its odd physical design, produced really nice images but lately they have come out with some real corkers like the 25 and 50mm f2 pancake lenses, the AF 27mm and the f0.95 35mm (all of which I have been very satisfied with) which has a similar design aesthetic to this 23mm. Although for me this lens is a no, as I am not a huge fan of the field of view and I already have it covered with my XF 23mm f2 and my X100T. However, if I did not have that lens and that camera I would be getting one. From my experience with the f0.95 35mm the fast maximum aperture is more beneficial for snappy focusing in lower light than what it performs like at that aperture. Focus wide open then click your aperture stops down to what you need or want them to be and focus is always spot on and although I very rarely shoot much wide open, the facility is there if you really need it, without giving much up in terms of compactness or low weight, unlike the fast AF primes from other manufacturers. And of course it is amazing value for money. You are quite right about legacy wide angle lenses adapted for mirrorless cameras. They are really sub-optimal unless you can afford high end rangefinder ones. With the necessary adaptors they are too big and too bulky and do not deliver very good optical performance.
Another video review of this lens said that the center was sharp, the corners were reasonably sharp, but there was a zone of unsharpness about two thirds of the way from the center to the corners. I wonder if that could be do to the field curvature.
@@mattisulanto really well for my experience. It is sharp enough and easy to carry around, I enjoy using it, it's my first manuaI lens. I use my Em10 with the Ttartisan more often than my Em1 mkII with m.zuiko 12-40 pro
Great review Matti. I am always on the lookout for small, fast, manual focus lenses for my GX85. This one is available for sub $100 U.S. Thanks for calling my attention to it.
It could be possible that the distortion was 'built into' the lens as many vintage lenses have the same effect. The swirly grass in one of those images looks great and is what some people go for. I do get a bit bored with lenses that are sharp corner to corner as they look too digital. I like old MF lenses and they have character and make the shot more interesting especially in black and white!!!
It's rather that the lens is not very well corrected but I guess you also can say the optical imperfections are "built in"😀 It's true that the appeal of many legacy lenses is the not so perfect rendering.
I'm owning this lens from when it was released. majority of the shots are looking great, but when you want to get a sharp subject in the corners (like off center portraits etc.) and blur the other things out, then this extreme field curvature is pretty frustrating when suddenly a part of the background is sharp too even wide open...
@@mattisulanto yes, I watched your vid to the end ;) just wanted to mention that I find this field curvature quite problematic in certain kind of shots. But great vid as always matti! 👌
Thanks for making this review. I wanted to ask if this lens is good for video? Does this have any focus breathing issues? Appreciate you covering manual focus lenses. Should This be my first manual focus lens? Would love a reply. Im an apsc video shooter.
You turn the focus ring until your shot is clear. Quite a few cameras have a focus peak to help. My Canon has the outline of whatever is in focus turn red.
Thanks for the tip. The Sigma is completely another lens, different focal length, different max aperture, AF. If you want an affordable manual focus lens...😀
have this lens on my xt10 now xt3. easily the best starter 23mm MF lens. i have did many amazing shots with this!
I bought the TTArtisan 23mm f1.4 for my GX9 a year ago. It is great, the focal length is almost standard. It is a bit heavy for my GX9, but that is a small niggle. I like the lens and the photos I get from it. Recently I bought the TTArtisan 35mm f1.4, it is also a very nice lens, less than USD 100.
I have a tip, TTArtisan lenses are nice gifts because they come in very fancy packaging and are great quality. But you won't break the bank! 🙂
Thanks for sharing. True, the packaging is nice, but I usually don't talk about boxes in my videos😀
Love the shot of the grasshopper. That picture alone could probably convince people to buy the lens.
Thanks. It was posing there and was big enough for this lens😀
Lucky of you that got it for free!
IMO the lense at its price is unbeatable. It is a joy to use and the images, I have it in an X-Pro I, are very nice but not digital/surgical perfect. They have the right sharpness and contrast to look "vintage" in a good way.
TTArtisan is very nice, good quality
Thanks. I'd say the value can be pretty good.
such a great review! I appreciate the quality of this video, in production and points made
Awesome! Thank you!
This really is a great review! I agree.
Thanks for the review. I have this lens and use it on Fujifilm APS-C cameras. The problem you mention with the sharp corners is probably concave field curvature. That phenomenon disappears when stopped down and is gone at aperture 2.8 or 4.0. And I agree that it is an excellent lens - not only for the price but in general.
Thanks. Yeah, I mention the curved focus plane in the video.
It reminds me a bit of Lumix 20mm f 1.8
I am a big fan of TTartsans for my Fuji cameras. My affair began with the 50mm f1.2, which despite its odd physical design, produced really nice images but lately they have come out with some real corkers like the 25 and 50mm f2 pancake lenses, the AF 27mm and the f0.95 35mm (all of which I have been very satisfied with) which has a similar design aesthetic to this 23mm. Although for me this lens is a no, as I am not a huge fan of the field of view and I already have it covered with my XF 23mm f2 and my X100T. However, if I did not have that lens and that camera I would be getting one. From my experience with the f0.95 35mm the fast maximum aperture is more beneficial for snappy focusing in lower light than what it performs like at that aperture. Focus wide open then click your aperture stops down to what you need or want them to be and focus is always spot on and although I very rarely shoot much wide open, the facility is there if you really need it, without giving much up in terms of compactness or low weight, unlike the fast AF primes from other manufacturers. And of course it is amazing value for money.
You are quite right about legacy wide angle lenses adapted for mirrorless cameras. They are really sub-optimal unless you can afford high end rangefinder ones. With the necessary adaptors they are too big and too bulky and do not deliver very good optical performance.
Another video review of this lens said that the center was sharp, the corners were reasonably sharp, but there was a zone of unsharpness about two thirds of the way from the center to the corners. I wonder if that could be do to the field curvature.
Always on my Omd Em10 Mk II
How does it work on MFT?
@@mattisulanto really well for my experience. It is sharp enough and easy to carry around, I enjoy using it, it's my first manuaI lens. I use my Em10 with the Ttartisan more often than my Em1 mkII with m.zuiko 12-40 pro
Great review Matti. I am always on the lookout for small, fast, manual focus lenses for my GX85. This one is available for sub $100 U.S. Thanks for calling my attention to it.
Thanks for watching.
Good video … you can put the lens info into settings in the menu … I did it with my LENSBABY and the info comes up !
Thanks for the tip! It depends on the camera I guess.
The photos look good to me.
Thanks. Indeed, they look good.
It could be possible that the distortion was 'built into' the lens as many vintage lenses have the same effect. The swirly grass in one of those images looks great and is what some people go for. I do get a bit bored with lenses that are sharp corner to corner as they look too digital. I like old MF lenses and they have character and make the shot more interesting especially in black and white!!!
It's rather that the lens is not very well corrected but I guess you also can say the optical imperfections are "built in"😀 It's true that the appeal of many legacy lenses is the not so perfect rendering.
I'm owning this lens from when it was released. majority of the shots are looking great, but when you want to get a sharp subject in the corners (like off center portraits etc.) and blur the other things out, then this extreme field curvature is pretty frustrating when suddenly a part of the background is sharp too even wide open...
Thanks for sharing your experience. I mention the same problem in the video, but if you pay more, you can get a lens that has flatter focus plane.
@@mattisulanto yes, I watched your vid to the end ;) just wanted to mention that I find this field curvature quite problematic in certain kind of shots. But great vid as always matti! 👌
Thanks for making this review. I wanted to ask if this lens is good for video? Does this have any focus breathing issues? Appreciate you covering manual focus lenses. Should This be my first manual focus lens? Would love a reply. Im an apsc video shooter.
So a cheap and almost perfect lens as long as you don't pixel peep. 👍
Exactly!
Can you do a video how to focus using manual focus ? Thanks
I'll look into it and maybe I'll make a tutorial.
You turn the focus ring until your shot is clear. Quite a few cameras have a focus peak to help. My Canon has the outline of whatever is in focus turn red.
It good option for canon eos m 200??
I'd say yes, if it's available for the Canon M mount.
Thanks
Used, sigma 19mm f2.8 $100. I think it’s better 😂
Thanks for the tip. The Sigma is completely another lens, different focal length, different max aperture, AF. If you want an affordable manual focus lens...😀