Very nice review Dustin! I have this lens on my Sony a6000, basically, it’s permanently mounted on it since the day I bought it! I really love this lens. There’s nothing negative about it, especially for the price. Wide open has a lot of character (in my eyes is second only to the legendary Meyer Trioplan 35mm f2.8 and easily on par with the Voigtlander 35 f1.4 classic) while from f5.6 to f8 is razor sharp. I found it a better performer than my Zeiss Planar 1.4/50 on the f1.4-f2 range, especially in the center (despite the difference in focal length). Performance wise, this lens outperforms most of the true vintage lenses in sharpness while shares some of their charm, like the bokeh, the color rendition and the field curvature (annoying for some people, for me is a creative tool). Build quality is pretty much great. The focus ring has the right resistance though I would like a little more clickyness on the aperture ring. Anyway, I can easily recommend this lens to any photographer that love manual vintage lenses. On apsc market is a very rare example a manual 23mm f1.4 lens… most are 25 f0.95 but those lenses are huge! P.S. Dustin, if you have the chance, please, do a review of the new Trioplan 35mm f2.8 II. I want to buy it but I don’t know how it performs on apsc cameras… there are only a few reviews on the web and are made for full frame. Thank you 🙏🏻.
For a tight budget, TT Artisans and 7 Artisans lenses are really great and for those who love manual, they are ideal for the price, with whatever characteristics they bring. I have two 0.95 lenses, 35mm and 50mm and I might get an 85mm, but theyre for APSC so I use them on Canon EOS M and even though the other camera I have is also an old 60D, im bored of cropped and want to get a full frame next, so I can have varied looks for sensor and lenses
Thanks again for honest review. I think this lens would be great and good enough for street photography. I find that the new Fuji 23mm 1.4 WR LM is very expensive and not necessary for my purpose. Also it is much bigger.
Super detailed and unbiased video! IMO it is unbeatable for the price and can outperform most vintage lenses if a "vintage" image and manual focusing is what is pursued.
Great close focus photos. Arizona is awesome. Looks like a copy of Zeiss Jena 35 mm? I have the other 3 TTartisans in series, 17, 35, 50, which all have swirly background. wondering how this fares vs the 17 mm F1.4, maybe do a TTartisans series when run out of ideas for videos
Hi Dustin. I love that Lens onto my Fuji X-E1/E2 series. The haptics are extraordinary, and optically, it does have less field curvative vs. the older, usually 50-90% more expensive Zonlai 22mm F1.8 (and slower, too) i own both lenses for X-Mount. The only thing which is sad, there's not a silver-only version, to match with my silver X-E's. Or for a silver Z-Mount version onto the Nikon Zfc, for these DX users. /edit I'd love to have the Lens & focus markings being laser-etched, not just being printed, and a bigger, thicker aperture ring. That's all. For
Thank you very much for this very comprehensive review. The quality/price ratio of this lens seems really excellent. Practicing a lot of street photography (X100F), particularly at night, it could really interest me, because of its 1.4 aperture, on a Fuji X-E4. Thank you again and all my greetings from Paris.
Even though it is clicked at 8 and 16, you can sort of rest it in between so you get sort of f11-13. Just have to be careful not to move it while focusing.
Thank you for this very helpful review! It seems to be much more reliable than a comparable APS-C lens from 7Artisans or Pergear. How large is the focus throw on this lens? Would it be reasonable to put a focus tab on this for street photography zone focusing? Thanks again!
I can't recall off the top of my head what the focus throw distance is. It wasn't huge. And yes, in general I do find TTArtisan lenses slightly superior to alternatives from those companies, though obviously there's some variance lens to lens.
Thank you for the great and detailed review. I would like to hear your thoughts about this lens compared to the Pergear 25mm 1.8 (which you reviewed about 2 years ago). Which one do you recommend? Is there a big difference in IQ in equiv. apertures? Thank you.
I’m trying to get this lens, but I’m not sure how it would work with a follow focus on it because of the focus ring moving front and back when focusing.
6:21 "I feel that the real world performance exceeds chart test." No truer words. There've been so many times I've read a review and heard the problems with this and that. Take the actual lens into the field and decided to keep it. There are things to keep in mind, but a lens has a way of capturing a certain essence that chart tests can't.
Hi there - it probably would be a bargain. I'm not quite sure what to make of your comment about focal length, however. This is a lens designed to give the classic 35mm angle of view - changing that focal length to something wide would be a completely different lens. Perhaps you would prefer a different focal length, but that's an odd comment to make on a lens designed to be this particular focal length.
@@DustinAbbottTWI thanks and indeed my comment was not very informative. By writting, I kinda wanted to know, could this be all arounder lens for cheap b camera setup (zve10 + this lens)? Or it would be very lacking combining with zve10 or just good enough? Main usage photos, streaming. But for streaming I guess this lens with that camera would be main because I doubt I would leave zve10 with 1k ff lenses just sitting there - i like to have all ff lenses in my ff camera setup/bag. I have now only one ff gm lens and maybe will buy second one in meantime so I wouldn't have ton of ff lenses but enough for one to be not in use and used with zve 10 for photos session outside. But when zve10 goea back to home for streams I would use its apsc lens for streaming.
Hi, I currently have a Pen-F and Sigma 30mm 1,4 and am very happy but unfortunately too big. I am interested in a bright compact lens mainly for street photography and I am undecided between the two TTartisan lenses 23mm 1,4 (plus compactness) and the 17mm (plus focal but less compact) what do you recommend? I would have doubts about their sharpness, to be picky, the potential that the two lenses have in post-production both with open and closed aperture.
Thank you for the review. MF lenses are a no go for me when these mirrorless camera companies boast all day long on how sophisticated and perfect their AF systems are. I get it for video. I’m old school so I’d buy a camcorder for video if I wanted to shoot it. I like a camera to take pictures. 👍🏻
The pricepoint to performance ratio is certainly something to be excited about!
Definitely.
Very nice review Dustin! I have this lens on my Sony a6000, basically, it’s permanently mounted on it since the day I bought it! I really love this lens. There’s nothing negative about it, especially for the price. Wide open has a lot of character (in my eyes is second only to the legendary Meyer Trioplan 35mm f2.8 and easily on par with the Voigtlander 35 f1.4 classic) while from f5.6 to f8 is razor sharp. I found it a better performer than my Zeiss Planar 1.4/50 on the f1.4-f2 range, especially in the center (despite the difference in focal length). Performance wise, this lens outperforms most of the true vintage lenses in sharpness while shares some of their charm, like the bokeh, the color rendition and the field curvature (annoying for some people, for me is a creative tool).
Build quality is pretty much great. The focus ring has the right resistance though I would like a little more clickyness on the aperture ring. Anyway, I can easily recommend this lens to any photographer that love manual vintage lenses. On apsc market is a very rare example a manual 23mm f1.4 lens… most are 25 f0.95 but those lenses are huge!
P.S. Dustin, if you have the chance, please, do a review of the new Trioplan 35mm f2.8 II. I want to buy it but I don’t know how it performs on apsc cameras… there are only a few reviews on the web and are made for full frame. Thank you 🙏🏻.
Glad you are enjoying the lens.
For a tight budget, TT Artisans and 7 Artisans lenses are really great and for those who love manual, they are ideal for the price, with whatever characteristics they bring. I have two 0.95 lenses, 35mm and 50mm and I might get an 85mm, but theyre for APSC so I use them on Canon EOS M and even though the other camera I have is also an old 60D, im bored of cropped and want to get a full frame next, so I can have varied looks for sensor and lenses
I agree. TTArtisan in particular has often pleasantly surprised me with the optics of some of their lenses.
13:20 is the best photo you've taken!
Great video: analytical, thorough and warm - as allways
Thank you.
Thanks again for honest review. I think this lens would be great and good enough for street photography. I find that the new Fuji 23mm 1.4 WR LM is very expensive and not necessary for my purpose. Also it is much bigger.
Totally agree
@@DustinAbbottTWI one more question how does it compare with fuji 27mm for street photography
Super detailed and unbiased video!
IMO it is unbeatable for the price and can outperform most vintage lenses if a "vintage" image and manual focusing is what is pursued.
Totally agree!
Great close focus photos. Arizona is awesome. Looks like a copy of Zeiss Jena 35 mm? I have the other 3 TTartisans in series, 17, 35, 50, which all have swirly background. wondering how this fares vs the 17 mm F1.4, maybe do a TTartisans series when run out of ideas for videos
I'm not sure where the optical designs are coming from, but it seems to me that TTArtisan is punching above its weight optically.
Maybe that would be a fun video: Vintage replacements with modern lenses?
Could be, for sure.
Great review! Thank you, Dustin! Going to buy this lens for my Canon R10
Enjoy
Great review Dustin! Thanks a lot!
My pleasure!
Hi Dustin. I love that Lens onto my Fuji X-E1/E2 series. The haptics are extraordinary, and optically, it does have less field curvative vs. the older, usually 50-90% more expensive Zonlai 22mm F1.8 (and slower, too) i own both lenses for X-Mount. The only thing which is sad, there's not a silver-only version, to match with my silver X-E's. Or for a silver Z-Mount version onto the Nikon Zfc, for these DX users.
/edit
I'd love to have the Lens & focus markings being laser-etched, not just being printed, and a bigger, thicker aperture ring. That's all. For
Glad you are enjoying the lens, Marc.
@@DustinAbbottTWI Yes, it's great for
Great review as ever Dustin. Thanks for sharing.
My pleasure!
Excellent video 😊
Thank you very much!
What are your thoughts comparing this lens to the zonlai 22mm 1.8 ,the performance and specs seem very similar.
I feel like the TTArtisan lens is better executed. Better centering, better build, better peformance (larger maximum aperture, too)
It's got the looks of my old Pentacon
Exactly.
Thank you very much for this very comprehensive review. The quality/price ratio of this lens seems really excellent. Practicing a lot of street photography (X100F), particularly at night, it could really interest me, because of its 1.4 aperture, on a Fuji X-E4. Thank you again and all my greetings from Paris.
I think this would be a fun street lens, and an inexpensive way to practice your manual focus skills.
Nice review, Thank you!
My pleasure.
No F 11? I use that a lot for street photography. It’s almost a dealbreaker. I’d have to think about that.
You can use F11; I definitely don't recommend anything smaller than F11 under most circumstances.
Even though it is clicked at 8 and 16, you can sort of rest it in between so you get sort of f11-13. Just have to be careful not to move it while focusing.
Thank you for this very helpful review! It seems to be much more reliable than a comparable APS-C lens from 7Artisans or Pergear. How large is the focus throw on this lens? Would it be reasonable to put a focus tab on this for street photography zone focusing? Thanks again!
I can't recall off the top of my head what the focus throw distance is. It wasn't huge. And yes, in general I do find TTArtisan lenses slightly superior to alternatives from those companies, though obviously there's some variance lens to lens.
Love the TTArtisan lenses !
I've been pretty impressed with TTArtisan as well. Good value and performance.
As a curiosity, I'd be interested to see the a7iv focus map utilized in manual focus lens reviews.
I'll be doing an a7IV review starting this week, so I'll take a look at that.
Hi Dustin, thanks for the review! How would you say it compares with the Samyang 21mm 1.4 (price aside)?
I would say the Samyang is sharper.
Could you say that the corner problems would largely disappear on micro 4/3?
I can't say that with confidence as I haven't tested it there.
Thank you for the great and detailed review. I would like to hear your thoughts about this lens compared to the Pergear 25mm 1.8 (which you reviewed about 2 years ago).
Which one do you recommend? Is there a big difference in IQ in equiv. apertures?
Thank you.
This is definitely the stronger lens in both build and image quality.
I’m trying to get this lens, but I’m not sure how it would work with a follow focus on it because of the focus ring moving front and back when focusing.
Typically getting geared lenses makes more sense for follow focus.
Id love to use this for video, is this a good lens for this sir?
It will work fine.
@@DustinAbbottTWIis there a focus breathing issue? How was your experience with this aspect?
6:21 "I feel that the real world performance exceeds chart test." No truer words. There've been so many times I've read a review and heard the problems with this and that. Take the actual lens into the field and decided to keep it. There are things to keep in mind, but a lens has a way of capturing a certain essence that chart tests can't.
Thanks.
Nice review!
Glad you enjoyed it
Zve10 + this = bargain? Though 20mm would be more appreciated. Or 16mm..
Hi there - it probably would be a bargain. I'm not quite sure what to make of your comment about focal length, however. This is a lens designed to give the classic 35mm angle of view - changing that focal length to something wide would be a completely different lens. Perhaps you would prefer a different focal length, but that's an odd comment to make on a lens designed to be this particular focal length.
@@DustinAbbottTWI thanks and indeed my comment was not very informative.
By writting, I kinda wanted to know, could this be all arounder lens for cheap b camera setup (zve10 + this lens)? Or it would be very lacking combining with zve10 or just good enough? Main usage photos, streaming. But for streaming I guess this lens with that camera would be main because I doubt I would leave zve10 with 1k ff lenses just sitting there - i like to have all ff lenses in my ff camera setup/bag. I have now only one ff gm lens and maybe will buy second one in meantime so I wouldn't have ton of ff lenses but enough for one to be not in use and used with zve 10 for photos session outside. But when zve10 goea back to home for streams I would use its apsc lens for streaming.
Anything can take a picture worth that $99 USD already, and this lens far exceeded what $99 lens should do.
Agreed.
What's the mini table tripod?
Oben Tabletop Tripod shown in video: bhpho.to/3vL8YWy
Hi, I currently have a Pen-F and Sigma 30mm 1,4 and am very happy but unfortunately too big.
I am interested in a bright compact lens mainly for street photography and I am undecided between the two TTartisan lenses 23mm 1,4 (plus compactness) and the 17mm (plus focal but less compact) what do you recommend? I would have doubts about their sharpness, to be picky, the potential that the two lenses have in post-production both with open and closed aperture.
I don't think I've tested the 17mm, but I do think this 23mm has a lot of bang for the buck and might be a better street option.
Thank you for the review. MF lenses are a no go for me when these mirrorless camera companies boast all day long on how sophisticated and perfect their AF systems are. I get it for video. I’m old school so I’d buy a camcorder for video if I wanted to shoot it. I like a camera to take pictures. 👍🏻
Fair enough.
I was moved when I saw the 100 drachmas bill.
Many people in EU countries love seeing their native currency.
@@DustinAbbottTWI it used to be, 20 years ago. Now it's all euro. That's what impressed me the most.