TTArtisan lens review
I was planning to write this blog post quite a long time now - but in this case, I think it worth to wait with it, hence more experience, more reflection to the subject. Am I right?
So, I’ve purchased two TTArtisan lenses in the end of August: a 50mm F1.2 and a 35mm F1.4. I was looking for new fix lenses for my Sony Alpha 6400 and these lenses were super cheap (cause both of them are fix manual lenses without any stabilization) so I thought to give them a try. Also, please keep in mind that I’m not a tech guru, so this review is not about technical details (if you looking for that, I recommend Jonas Rask's writing), but experiences - how is it to work with these type of lenses.
These cheap thrills arrived on a gloomy afternoon and I’ve started to use them immediately. My boyfriend and I took the dog on a vacation to the middle of nowhere and it seemed like a good opportunity to try out the lenses in action. I'm quite happy with the outcomes. Unfortunately the camera did not recorded details of the lens settings, because they are manual; and I have forgot to write them down, so I can't offer more details on the settings. Although I set the focal somewhere between 1.2 and 5.6 - mostly on 1.2, 1.4.
First of all, if you have not worked with manual lenses before, it could be a disappointment, because you can easily make out of focus photos. But the other hand I just love this kind of old school stuff, it makes me more concentrated - I have to know what do I want exactly. Especially if I’m working on self portraits, which I do a lot.
So planning ahead is a must in that case, but the ticking sound of the manual focus is just priceless - well, not if you want to make videos, because than the sound can be disturbing, but for photographers it is a nice feel. Back to the future kind of feeling (new age camera with old-school lens).
The lenses a bit heavy which I like, but I can imagine that it can be annoying for some (hence the whole point in MILC cameras is the lightness). Anyway, it is something you can get easily through if you remember how cheap were the lenses.
What else? Well, they are not super sharp lenses, so I think they do not fit to every photographer’s style - for me, it is a match made in heaven. Also, there’s some vignetting at F1.2 (50mm) or 1.4 (35mm), but nothing serious in my experiences.
In conclusion: I am utterly satisfied with the lenses, because they fit well to my style and how I photograph. But they can be annoying for a lot of people, especially for fresh hobby photographers if they are not up to a good challenge and don’t want to deal with manual focus. The manual focus part also not recommended for those who need to act quickly (for example sport or wildlife photography). On the other hand they are lovely lenses for those who willing to sacrifice all hose things that I have mentioned above - should we just call it slow photography?
