Important information about infinity focus! So I said in this review video that you can adjust the infinity hard stop on this TT Artisan lens like on all their other lenses that I have had so far ... but in my first try it didn't work! Please check out this RUclips short: ruclips.net/user/shortsdND9KS0Bfg4 And also check out this one, where I show the process on my 50/2. Here it was very easy to adjust infinity focus: ruclips.net/user/shortsp50Q77dMVms Final conclusion: After I tried twice, and applied some force to the focus ring after having loosened the three set screws, I finally also could adjust infinity focus on the 25/2. It works! But apparently TT Artisan sometimes applies some glue to the focus ring, and that you have to "break loose" by applying some force to it. That's not very user friendly ... but still, in the end it's possible to adjust infinity focus on these lenses, at least!
Hi! I'm also having a hard time adjusting the focus ring even with the screws loosened up. Can you walk me through how you break the glue from the lens? I'm scared forcing as this lens might break apart.
@@ianvldz Hi Ian! Unfortunately, I also only have limited experience with these lenses being so “sticky”, because most I have handled were easy to adjust in this regard. I fear it’s a bit a problem of the 25/2 and maybe some other newer lenses. But I can’t really walk you through the process, because the amount of glue or whatever is applied there that makes the focus ring stick might vary a lot between samples. What I can say though is that the three small screws don’t need to be completely removed. Loosening them about maybe two turns with the screwdriver is always enough. In my case, I didn’t just try to turn the focus ring to get it loose, but also pushed it forward (towards the front of the lens). I did that repeatedly. I was lucky and eventually the ring came loose. It didn’t feel entirely comfortable but it worked.
@@ianvldz There's a post about this on DPReview called "TTArtisan 25mm f2 lens focus ring adjustment". Person that posted that took apart their lens to do it, that might be the safer way? Whatever you do, it might be worth reading.
Thank you for reviewing gear for the rest of the world! I get so burnt from photo snobs. I wanted to take an editing class and the guy told me unless I was willing to buy the $4000 laptop don’t bother. This is a hobby for me. I buy used when I can. I will never spend pro money!
Many thanks for your comment! I totally feel what you’re talking about. It’s really not about money or perfection. We’re not sending a rocket to Mars but we’re creating images …!
Hallo Elke, danke für Deinen Kommentar! Ja, ich habe Spaß an diesen Objektiven ... und außerdem wird alles immer teurer - da ist es gut, wenn es auch mal günstige Alternativen gibt!
Another great video Tom and caused me to buy this lens to use on my Fuji XT1. What a great combo and the hard stop is accurate and a game changer. Manual focus so easy with focus peaking using the dual screen mode as well. Add in landscape bracketing and getting some good shots. Thanks for all your hard work. Best wishes.
Great review Thomas. nice to see some German landscapes, I specially liked the landscape at 12:50. I have TT artisans 35mm 1.4 and I use it allmost daily so this lens looks very promising.
Thanks Martin! I still think the 35/1.4 is the best of the TT Artisan lenses, but this 25/2 is very nice as well. I tried to show the weaknesses in my video. But then, I guess no one expects total perfection for 64 Dollars in a lens!
@@tomscameras To be honest, it's still into its original packaging, i've had no time to testdrive it. It should being a cheap(er) replacement for my 23/1.4, because that lens is bigger (although optically better), but heavier, too. And for the X-M1, the 25/2 is the smaller, better alternative. So i can put my 23/1.4 on my X-E2 again. :)
Just got this lens via their official Aliexpress store. Nine days super fast delivery all the way from China to Brazil. And by the way, I bought it after I watched this video review. You made my decision! Love this lens so far. Thanks Tom, keep it up!
Appreciate your work. Hoping you and yours have a great new year. Have the 23mm ttartisan. Have the pergear 25mm which is really great however have to work around clickless apertures. Will probably get this noting that like the 23mm f/8 is the friend for general shots. I use the Fuji x-e3 and x-t30.
Yes I am also a great fan of the clicked aperture. All the manual lenses won't display the f-stop in the viewfinder ... because they are fully manual without electric contacts. So the "clicks" really help when adjusting aperture while you look through the viewfinder! The 25/2 has a bit more even sharpness across the frame than the 23/1.4. And the 23/1.4 is a little bit wider. If I had to chose today, I'd prefer the 25/2. If you already have the 23/1.4, the differences are not huge between these lenses.
Many thanks John! Yes, I also love these "almost" pancakes! Actually, now there is this 25mm and the 50mm f/2. There is also the pancake ultrawide Laowa 10mm f/4 that I really like a lot, but sadly the Laowa is much more expensive than these TT Artisan lenses!
Hallo Thomas, danke für deine Mühe. Sehr hilfreich deine Videos. Du hast mich auf diese günstigen und doch guten Objektive gebracht. Ich habe mir jetzt schon 2 Stück gekauft und bin sehr zufrieden damit. Das TTArtisan 25mm f2 und das 7 Artisans 35mm f1,2. Grüße Oswald
Hallo Oswald, vielen Dank für Dein Feedback. Es freut mich, dass Du mit den Objektiven viel Freude hast. Ja, sie sind günstig, nicht perfekt, aber doch gut ...!
Many thanks Tom for the review. Always looking forward to your videos. Although I’m a happy user of the 23mm 1.4, I might skip a family dining out night and instead get the 25mm just for the small size. I’m not really worried about the softer corners on my Olympus as the lens conveniently becomes a 50mm equivalent. Best wishes 🖖🏻
It's not that the 23/1.4 is a big lens, but yes, the 25/2 is quite a bit smaller. Still it's about 180 grams. It feels very nice in the hand and I guess it mates nicely with an MFT body. But it's definitely not as tiny as the Panasonic 20/1.7 for MFT! 😃
@@tomscameras Got the tiny 15mm 1.7 PanaLeica, the best MFT lens to keep on my camera. My main reason to like these TTArtisan lenses is the analog/mechanical joy they bring from just handling them. Keep those videos coming, my friend.
The pancake (as such) form factor and style of this lens is very appealing on the X-E series bodies. I’ve got others of their lenses 17mm, 35mm and 50mm f1.2 and you can’t beat TTartisan’s performance/ price value. I’ve been waiting for this review so thank you Thomas! But then I remember that my X-E4 came with the Fuji XF 27mm which is half the weight and size. Ok, it’s only f2.8 but at least it’s really good at f2.8.
The XF 27/2.8 is one of my favorite Fujinon optics. It's a beautiful little lens. But of course, we're talking a completely different price range here. I think as a set with the X-E4 you might find some good offers, but the 27/2.8 alone is 400+ Euros, that's really a lot!
@@tomscameras the XF 27mm is a very expensive lens for what it is but for me it (version 2 with aperture ring) came as the kit option for only AU$200 (about US$140) more than body only. For those that get the X-E4 with the zoom kit lens, these TTartisan are a great way to try primes without breaking the budget and the quality is not lacking
@@shred3005 Yes, for that low additional cost, the XF 27/2.8 is a no brainer! I once shot the first version but I really disliked the handling without aperture ring. The new version with aperture ring is very nice. But as you say: It depends on how much you have to pay for it!
Having been very happy with the 50mm f2, as soon as the 25mm was announced I ordered one. On my X-T20 and X-E3 cameras they are perfectly matched for size and weight. Build and handling is pretty decent, and IQ more than adequate for purpose. Even two of the lens's weaknesses - soft corners and vignetting* I find appealing. I shoot mostly B&W on the small Fuji's and both "flaws" tend to draw the eye to the subject. So to me they are an irrelevance. I also own both the Pergear and 7artisans 25mm's. Although small and optically capable, I find their focusing to be unreliable for some reason, whether it's the lens or camera or both or just me I don't know, but after a few weeks of ownership with the TTartisans model I have had zero focusing difficulties. The other Fuji compatible pancakes I own are the Meike 28mm f2.8 and Fuji's own 27mm f2.8. Honestly, the Fuji is in a class of its own and adds AF convenience, and if you can afford the latest model with an aperture ring you have the ideal pancake, however both the older model and the latest one are many times the price of the TTartisans. The Meike is actually pretty decent too and quite cheap, just do not let it near any buildings as vertical straight lines distort quite horribly. Matched with a X-E or X-T 10 line camera and combined with the 50mm f2, the 25mm provides you with a very compact and capable combination for most things, most people would want to shoot most of the time. * I almost always add a touch of vignetting to my B&W shots in post anyway!
I have a Meike 28mm. I like its compactness. I think it is more compact than TT25mm. The biggest disadvantage of Meike is vignetting. But at f5.6-8 this is not visible and it is sharp as a razor across the entire field of the frame. The distortion is noticeable, but it doesn't really upset me. I also have 7artisans 25mm. Indeed, focusing is often lost due to the slightest touch on the focus ring after adjustment. It's infuriating. He also didn't have a hard stop at infinity. But I did it by unscrewing the mount and gluing thin strips of plastic onto double tape on the inside of the mount of the required thickness. Now I have a hard stop at infinity.)) In general, I like it. Now I’m trying to understand whether the TT25mm will give the best optical quality or just a clicking aperture and a better focus ring?
Thanks for your detailed feedback! I can only agree with everything that you say! Actually I really love the optics of the Fujinon 27/2.8. That lens, the 14/2.8, 35/1.4 and 56/1.2 are maybe my personal top four of all the original Fujinon lenses. I prefer these even over the more modern offerings cause they are plenty sharp but still have a very nice, harmonic, even classic look to them! But as you say, we're talking a completely different price range there. It's just amazing how much fun and also performance you can get these days from TT Artisan and also other low-budget lenses!
Regarding adjusting the infinity stop, my 25/2 was also stubborn. I had to warm the lens with my hair dryer. Then I had to squeeze the lens (not while mounted on camera) between the rear and front caps so that it couldn’t grow as I turned the focus ring. It finally let loose, so now I can adjust it. My 50/1.2 was easy. This one was not. I imagine they used more locktite during assembly for the 25/2 so that some of it dripped beyond the set screw threads.
Thanks a lot for your feedback on this. Let's just hope TT Artisan will recognize that the adjustable focus ring is actually a bonus feature that many customers would want to use, so they will hopefully adjust their production processes to make it easier again in the future ...
Just ordered mine and looking forward to using it on my x-e2. I was half tempted to sell the camera as I’m more invested into mft cameras and lenses, but I’m going to see if these types of manual focus cheap lenses might reignite my passion for this camera and street photography in particular
I hope you’ll have a lot of fun with this lens! There’s a lot of great MFT cameras as well so maybe it’s interesting for you also to pay attention to what the X-E2 does differently to your other camera and if that adds anything valuable to your photographic experience.
I took this to Europe with me and tried using zone focus on a Sony nex5 camera. Either I was not understanding how to zone focus or the lens was not marked correctly for zone focus. Having said this, I went to camera settings, and used the focus peaking indicator in red to assist determining focus and this seems to have corrected whatever focus issues were encountered. As an inexpensive travel lens it did the job.
Zone focus is a bit tricky if you don't have any experience. And also pay attention to those "depth-of-field" markings. They are all wayyyyyy to "generous", they indicate that you get a huge depth of focus which in reality just isn't there. Generally speaking, if you shoot at f/8, you really have to use the markings for f/2.8 on the depth-of-field scale!! The reason for all this is that those scales were made at a time when people normally made tiny 3x4 inch prints instead of looking at their photos on a huge screen as we do today! I made a video about manual focusing some time ago: ruclips.net/video/43UlxsU3Eno/видео.html
It has a hard stop at Infinity, but if you want to max your DOF, this lens also has a DOF scale which will allow you to easily focus at Hyperfocal Distance and have objects even closer in focus all the way to infinity as well. (also handy if you want to 'scale focus for faster handling.)
One word of caution though: these DOF scales are very … “optimistic”! These go back to the good old film photography days and they are more meant for small prints, like maybe 3x4 inches or so. If you take a photo with a modern digital camera with 24 or more megapixels and then pixel peep, you’ll often find that your photo won’t be 100% sharp if you just trust the DOF scale on your lens.
Thanks a lot for your feedback! Yes the 7Artisan or TT Artisan lenses are also great on the Nikon Z fc ... so I hope you'll have a lot of fun trying it out!
I bought the 25mm f2 from TTArtisan and also I bought the 55mm f1.4 from 7 Artisan, also the 17mm f1.4 TTArtisan... up to now I am learning how to make the best out of them... They are fairly good, I do think I am getting a larger benefit when I compare the price of them... So like my grandpa' use to say, "the ability resides on the photographer not in the gear!!!!" Well what I can say, I am having a lot of fun with these guys!!!!! Oh!!!! I also have the TTArtisan 40mm Macro f2.8 and all of them under my trusty Nikon Z50.
I agree totally! These lenses are not made for professional use but we all know it. But they’re made for those who just want to enjoy their photography and love to learn how to master their gear. And then they give great results. Sounds like a nice set you have got for the Z50!
Thanks Thomas for putting this together. I am just starting out street and am able to get my hands on a Fuji xe1 plus this lens, plus the 35mm 1.4 and 50mm/2. I would appreciate your thoughts on what you think about both the camera and the lens package? I noticed you use a xe4. I have no experience with Fuji at all but love the idea of using this kit to reproduce old school film look to my street photos. I am just a little nervous about using all this equipment I never used and basically know nothing about other than RUclips videos. 😂 Thanks in advance for you thoughts! -Thomas
If you are happy to use manual focus lenses, then it sounds a good package to me! 25, 35, 50 is the three "classic" focal length lenses that in my opinion are the most versatile!
Hi Tom! Great review, as always! I waited)) I was very interested in this almost pancake. Special thanks for the paired shots with 23mm. It seemed to me that 25mm had less chromatic aberrations at an open aperture. Have you ever shot on 25mm 7artisans? Both of these lenses have the same layout of 7 elements in 5 groups. Both have issues with far corners. There are suspicions whether this is the same lens in different cases? Although, 7artisans has a minimum focusing distance of 18cm and a maximum aperture of F1.8, which in fact hardly corresponds to reality. I think there is F2. But the TT has a clicky aperture, which is just cool!)) And the design is nicer.
No, I didn't shoot the 7Artisans or any other older 25mm APS-C lens yet. It's a good question if these lenses share the optical design or not - at least, as you say, the mechanics are very different, also the 7Artisans 25mm f/1.8 that I am aware of has a 12-bladed aperture. (But maybe there are also different versions that I'm not aware of.) But the click-stop aperture and the infinity hard stop are two features that make me prefer TT Artisan in this case.
@@tomscameras I agree! At the same time, TTArtisan is the only manufacturer of inexpensive lenses known to me that provides for a simple adjustment of the infinity hard stop with three small screws on the focus ring.
I own both the 7Artisans and Pergear 25mm lenses. They will be going now the TTartisan one has been with me for a couple of weeks. For some reason the former 2 lenses refuse to focus consistently, whereas the TTartisan one I have no problems with at all.
Ever since I bought myself 50/2.0 I was hoping TTartisan would come up with something a bit wider while using the same barrel design. Unsurprisingly, I've purchased 25/2.0 straight away as soon as it hit the shelves. I've been using it quite a bit during last three weeks or so and I found that your findings are pretty accurate. The only thing I would add to this review is that 25/2.0 just as 50/2.0 suffers from pretty strong longitudinal CA (objects that are out of focus have some magenta or green tint depending on their relation to the plain of focus). Hope some would find that info a bit helpful 🌞
Many thanks for your feedback and also the information on longitudinal CA's! Yes those are the sort of optical errors that you maybe just have to accept with these more simple optical designs. On the other hand, also some expensive lenses can show several optical errors. Overall I totally agree with you, the form factor and barrel design of the 25/2 and 50/2 is very nice. Given that they are so compact, they are surprisingly nice to handle as well.
Like you I bought the 25mm as soon as it was announced based on my experience of the 50mm f2. I am not disappointed! Sure the corners remain weak and there is a bit of vignetting*, but I couldn't care less. I shoot mostly B&W on my Fuji X-T20 and X-E3 cameras and these "weaknesses" I find appealing as they draw the eyes to one's subject. * I almost always add a bit of vignetting in post to my B&W images anyway!
You can adjust the focus ring with the small thumb screws so that the infinity mark will exactly line up with true infinity when you focus. (See my RUclips shorts ...) Once you've done that, the distance markings are reasonably accurate for zone focusing. I'd recommend that you stop down to e.g. f/5.6 or even f/8 when you zone focus, because at f/2 the depth of field still is surprizing shallow.
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Could you share a video explaning how to adjust the 3 screws to focus infinity?
Great review! I'm struggling to decide between this and the Voigtlander 27mm ultron f2.0 or the fuji XF23mm f2.0. I have the TTArtisans 23mm 1.4 but I'm looking for something with slightly less optical quirks/rounding/vignetting.
Hmm, these lenses are really in very different price ranges. I do love the Fujinon 23/2, it's compact (for an AF lens), super-fast AF, weather sealed ... a fantastic lens. It's very sharp as well even though maybe almost a bit "clinical". The TT Artisan 23/1.4 or also 25/2 can't 1:1 compete with that Fujinon. I did not shoot the Voigtländer 27/2 yet but from what I have seen so far in other reviews, it also doesn't have the highest border / corner sharpness. So out of the three that you mention, the Fujinon should be the sharpest ... if that matters to you! The Voigtländer 27/2 looks like it's maybe a nice blend between modern and classic optics, and also offers EXIF data and the feature where it switches to magnified view automatically whenever you turn the focus ring. But then it also is many more times as expensive as the TT Artisan 25/2 ...
I think I agree with all of this! Thank you. I was worried the Fuji would be too clinical. I like an arty shot. Perhaps the Voigtlander would be slightly more refined than a TT Artisan but not worth the massive price gap. I think I am looking for a wider field of view version of my 7Artisans 35mm 1.2, Mark II (really impressed if you haven't tried it, and it has a clicked aperture ring/feels very high quality.) But still has the quirks, without the extreme corner blur in my opinion.
I'm a strong proponent of pancake or near pancake lenses. Everyone should have one in their collection, especially with smaller cameras like the X-E and X-Txx lines. Makes it easy to have the excuse to throw it in a coat pocket and do some random shooting on the fly. Now if they could jam a 16 or 18mm in that same lens barrel for a triumvirate... Out of curiosity: Did you try the lens with an IR filter? I realize it's a niche bit of information, but there tends to be woefully low amounts of testing for that sort of thing (i.e. hotspots)
Thanks for your comment. Yes, a 16mm in this form factor would be great. Laowa already showed that it's possible with their even much wider 10mm f/4! No, I don't have an IR filter and didn't try any of my lenses with one so far, sorry!
Thank you for the review. Can you do a detailed video on correcting the lens hard stop for infinity? I have 4 of their lenses and the hard stop on each of them don't match the infinity focus. I know it's the 3 set screws but I tried and not able to get the hard stop at the true focus spot.
Tom’s version seems a lot better than mine. My version at any aperture is noticeably softer across the frame than any Fuji lens I own. It might be ok for small 8x10 prints with “character” but forget about any applications where sharpness and contrast is wanted.
Many thanks for your feedback! I realize sample-to-sample variation is always a problem of all the reviews like mine. I'm sorry to hear that your lens performs so bad. If it's really only usable for an 8x10 print and even then shows a lot of "character", maybe try to contact TT Artisan and/or the vendor of your lens as that sounds like your copy might be faulty.
How does it compare to the Fuji 27mm f2.8? From your Tiktok short you show how to adjust to infinity focus by adjusting the 3 screws, so when you received this unit do you have to adjust the infinity focus screws?
I'm sure you meant my RUclips short, I don't have a TikTok channel (yet)! But yes, the infinity setting needed adjustment on this lens! Again, I won't criticize TT Artisan for that fact, as all the other manual focus lenses from other manufacturers also do not offer an 100% adjusted focus ring and on those lenses, you can't even adjust it for yourself. As for the Fujinon 27/2.8 - I shot that lens a long time ago, I don't have it anymore. It's optically clearly superior and it is auto focus. On the other hand, it's only f/2.8 and it is several times more expensive.
I'm preparing a direct comparison review which should be published in a few days from now. Overall, I do prefer the 25/2 yes. It is smaller, it is even cheaper, and optically I'd rate it a bit above the 23/1.4 overall. However, the difference in field of view between the 23mm and 25mm is noticeable. If you would like your "35mm full-frame equivalent" lens to be a little bit wider, that is a point for the 23/1.4. If you're okay that it's almost a "40mm equivalent" then I would go for the 25/2.
I just received my 25mm f2 unit. The distance scale ring doesn't correspond to the true distance using a measuring tape. Is it common for TTArtisan lenses to have calibration issues? Is a DIY fix possible? Actual 0.8m with measuring tape is 0.7 in the focus distance scale ring, 1m is 0.8, 1.5m is around 1.16, 3m is around 1.5. The distance scale ring when rotated stops exactly at infinity or 0.25 end to end and in line with the center arrow symbol.
Please check my pinned comment above, and also my RUclips short videos, for detailed information on the infinity adjustment! I guess that with proper infinity adjustment, the other distance markings on the barrel should also be more accurate. But still, I guess you maybe should not expect wonders about the precision of these markings, as with almost every current manual lenses.
Hello to Koblenz! Sadly, I don't have the Fujinon 18-55 anymore for a direct comparison. My guess from previous experience is that the 25mm will be overall sharper than the Fujinon 16-50, but maybe not beat the 18-55.
@@tomscameras Thanks. I was toying with buying the TTartisan 25mm as a pancake, but am holding back since the 18-55mm is really good.
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Which one do you recommend TT Artisan 25/2 APS-C or TTArtisan 23mm F1.4 APS? Maybe a versus video? I searched a lot but no one has made a comparison between these two lenses.
I'm preparing a full comparison actually. You got a glimpse of that in this video where I show a few pictures that we took with both the 25/2 and 23/1.4. My impression is: The 23/1.4 is only marginally faster. The bigger difference is in the focal length / field of view (even though it's just 2mm difference, you can see that pretty clearly). Bokeh is different in character, but the amount of background blur is actually not that different. Sharpness characteristics are also different, overall the 25/2 is a bit better. So in the end, right now I think it's hard to recommend the 23/1.4 over the 25/2, given the fact that the latter one is also cheaper. But yes, I'm doing a video where I'll show some more comparison shots with the two lenses! BTW I did a video with the 23/1.4 vs. Kamlan 21/1.8 and Zonlai 22/1.8 already. Here the Kamlan was the sharpest, but the TT Artisan 23/1.4 had the most background blur by quite a margin: ruclips.net/video/VUxQ1W3NFlg/видео.html
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@@tomscameras Thanks for all the information, your videos really help me to choose a lens. Another interesting comparison could be TTArtisan 11mm F2.8 vs TTartisan 7.5mm F2.0, both are fisheye lenses. Keep with great work!
Hi Tom. Greetings from Scotland. Just found you through a search on this lens. Before my question I just wanted to say I love your channel premise, as in showing affordable camera gear. Matches well with my accessible locations idea. I will plug your channel on mine when I next get out. By then I will have a cheaper camera and maybe even a TTArtisan lens. So, to the question. You and others have shown the issue of stray light causing flare etc. Would a lens hood help in all but direct sun in view shots? I did see a picture elsewhere with flare and the sun was out of shot. Surely a lens hood would help. Your thoughts would be appreciated. Regards. Alastair.
Hi Alastair! Yes, a lens hood does help. But it will have limitations - because there still will be situations where the sun is close enough to the image frame that it will already hit the front lens elements even though it's not directly visible in the photo. In theory, you could design a perfect sunshade that is squared-off and covers the lens as perfectly as possible, but such lens hoods are very rare nowadays and they're not available for this 25/2 lens at all. So, bottom line: Yes, a lens hood helps but not in every situation. And remember you can always help a bit by shading the front lens with your hand. Hope this helps, cheers to Scotland!
Sadly not, I never shot the 7Artisans 25/1.8 lens so far. Handling-wise, I do prefer the TT Artisan's clicked aperture ring. There is a new Pergear 25/1.7 lens that also offers that feature and I hope I'll be able to review it soon!
What can you say about the bayonet mount? Is it the same as the 23mm? Can the replacement trick be done? Do you have TT35mmF1.4? It is very interesting whether this can be done with 25 and 35 mm? Thank you!
The 25/50/23 have the same bayonet mount. At least the versions for Sony E / Fuji X! You can interchange the mounts for Sony E and Fuji X with no problem. (Note that the lenses for Nikon Z, Canon RF etc. are different at the rear, cause their bayonet diameter is much bigger.) The 35/1.4 has a bit of a different mount piece. The positions of the little red dot (so you know where to place the lens on the mount) and of the little indent for the locking pin are different here.
@@tomscameras Great news! It is a pity that 35mm is different. I hoped that with it such a trick would work. Thanks again for the helpful review! Good luck Tom!
No, I shoot all these photos in RAW and edit them in Lightroom, but only saturation, contrast, white balance. Note that I never correct for chromatic aberrations, vignetting or distortion unless explicitly stated. So you can see the quality of the lens in all those regards.
Yes, and I hope I can do that pretty soon. In spec and price, both these lenses are very similar !! And the Pergear 25/1.7 version II finally also adds the clicked aperture ring (TT Artisan has that already!) which is super-nice!
If you're happy with the 7Artisans 25/1.8, I don't think this lens is a great "upgrade". It is a great lens in terms of size, price/performance, and I love the handling with the clicked aperture ring. But still it is also a budget lens.
I did never shoot the 25mm 7Artisans lens, unfortunately. Please also note that color casts towards the corners of the image frame might be often depending on how a specific lens design works together with the filter stack of the sensors. So Fuji, Sony, Nikon, Canon etc. often might perform differently there!
I have this, its weird. its great as my canon m6mk2 can fit in my jacket pocket. Its a bit soft especially in the corners (but that doesnt matter for what I'm using it for. abstract long exposures basically) but... the contrast is pretty woeful. everything looks milky, and this is amplified massively if pointing towards the light source.
mmh ... the low contrast sounds a bit suspicious to me. I don't find that my copy of this lens is low on contrast, it's pretty much on par with all the other lenses that I use. There might be some sample-to-sample variation but also it is possible that your lens is either faulty or (if you bought it second hand) it got excessively dirty at some point. How does it look when you look through the lens or shine through the lens elements with a light? One thing though is for sure, there are better lenses in terms of straylight performance (pointed towards the sun).
@@tomscameras yeah, all looks clean. Just the files seem quite flat. No big deal I suppose and the price is amazing. Contrast can be tweaked in post. But it definitely lacks a bit of punch compared to my other lenses.
Tom, you should also review the Niyi black mist filter - i was the 1st buyer on Aliexpress, as a cheap alternative (1/8) compared to these overpriced, plastic-glass Tiffen filters.
@@tomscameras Black Mist filters do really make a difference, it's that clinical sharpness and overall looks are subtle toned, more film-esque. I much more accept digital this way - but into the end, i prefer 35mm all the time. It's not about image perfection and biting sharpness, but mood, feeling & emotion.
Sorry, I didn't show it in my videos. The reason being that I'm totally not a video guy, only a photographer. That's also the reason why I always criticize clickless apertures, I do know that some video people love them but as a photographer I really, truly hate these! Sorry again! Anyway, I did check the lens now quickly for focus breathing because of your comment: Yes it is visible! I wouldn't call it very strong but it is definitely noticeable if you're looking for it. The lens will "zoom in" a little bit when focusing close.
If you've already got another lens like e.g. the kit zoom lens or something, and this is gonna be your very first manual focus lens, I would maybe go for the 35/1.4. If know you're going to shoot your manual focus lens a lot in more "tight" surroundings, the 25 would be better, cause it offers a little bit more wide angle. Also you can check these different focal lengths on any zoom lens (just set it to 35 or 25 mm for a day and leave it there ...) and see what you ultimately would prefer!
@@tomscameras Thank you for responding, of course I am between those two lenses taking advantage of the great offers of 11.11 on Aliexpress, I already have the ttartisans 50mm 1.2 and it is excellent but I am looking for something more versatile. greetings!
I never tried the Pergear 25/1.8! The thing is that I just like the handling of the TT Artisan lenses a lot as they have clicked apertures and the (user-adjustable…) hard stop at infinity. So if you are a photographer, not a video guy, these two features improve handling so much!
The TTArtisan 27mmF2.8 should also be up for comparison here, especially as it concerns Bokeh characteristics, which to my mind is THE MOST important factor in deciding the overall aesthetic appeal of an image.@@tomscameras
Thank you for this review! I received mine and am using it on a Sony APS-C body. I’m suffering heavy vignetting at f/2, f/2.4, f/2.8, and light vignetting at f/4. TTARTISAN said this is completely normal, but I don’t believe them because I haven’t seen this mentioned anywhere. The vignetting is reminiscent of using an APS-C lens on a full frame body. The lens is pretty unusable at lower apertures. Are experiencing this at all? I think my unit is bad.
Did you have a look at all the photos that I show in this review? I never correct for vignetting in any of the shots that I share in the videos! So, basically yes: the lens will show a bit of vignetting at f/2 and also f/2.8 but it shouldn’t be too extreme.
@@tomscameras Thank you tremendously. I got a bad unit. My vignetting is so bad that on the sides the vignetting actually connects. My TTARTISAN 17mm f1.4 and 35mm f1.2 don’t exhibit that at all.
I`ve tested the lens on a Leica TL2 , and I would say , in my opinion it´s absolutely scrap ...sorry to say. The micro-contrast is one of the worst I´ve ever seen , maybe the lens will work for paper-prints not bigger than 13 x 18 cm . I´ve sold mine two days after my purchase ..but it´s only what I think about it , maybe I´ve only got a " monday-example'" of it .
Sorry to hear about your bad luck with this lens, many thanks for sharing your experience even though it's not a good one! If your lens was only suitable for small 13x18cm prints, I really think you might have got a bad sample there. I mean, all the photos that I e.g. show in my review video could be printed much bigger, and no one would ever worry about the lens quality when looking at them. So again, maybe you just got a lemon. Which understandably is not nice at all from a customer's point of view!
Important information about infinity focus!
So I said in this review video that you can adjust the infinity hard stop on this TT Artisan lens like on all their other lenses that I have had so far ... but in my first try it didn't work! Please check out this RUclips short:
ruclips.net/user/shortsdND9KS0Bfg4
And also check out this one, where I show the process on my 50/2. Here it was very easy to adjust infinity focus:
ruclips.net/user/shortsp50Q77dMVms
Final conclusion: After I tried twice, and applied some force to the focus ring after having loosened the three set screws, I finally also could adjust infinity focus on the 25/2. It works! But apparently TT Artisan sometimes applies some glue to the focus ring, and that you have to "break loose" by applying some force to it. That's not very user friendly ... but still, in the end it's possible to adjust infinity focus on these lenses, at least!
Hi! I'm also having a hard time adjusting the focus ring even with the screws loosened up. Can you walk me through how you break the glue from the lens? I'm scared forcing as this lens might break apart.
@@ianvldz Hi Ian! Unfortunately, I also only have limited experience with these lenses being so “sticky”, because most I have handled were easy to adjust in this regard. I fear it’s a bit a problem of the 25/2 and maybe some other newer lenses.
But I can’t really walk you through the process, because the amount of glue or whatever is applied there that makes the focus ring stick might vary a lot between samples.
What I can say though is that the three small screws don’t need to be completely removed. Loosening them about maybe two turns with the screwdriver is always enough.
In my case, I didn’t just try to turn the focus ring to get it loose, but also pushed it forward (towards the front of the lens). I did that repeatedly. I was lucky and eventually the ring came loose. It didn’t feel entirely comfortable but it worked.
@@ianvldz There's a post about this on DPReview called "TTArtisan 25mm f2 lens focus ring adjustment". Person that posted that took apart their lens to do it, that might be the safer way? Whatever you do, it might be worth reading.
Thank you for reviewing gear for the rest of the world! I get so burnt from photo snobs. I wanted to take an editing class and the guy told me unless I was willing to buy the $4000 laptop don’t bother. This is a hobby for me. I buy used when I can. I will never spend pro money!
Many thanks for your comment! I totally feel what you’re talking about. It’s really not about money or perfection. We’re not sending a rocket to Mars but we’re creating images …!
Thank you Thomas! I was expecting so bad your review of this lens. I love your channel, you're a very kind man. Greetings from Argentina!
Thank you very much for your comment! I'm happy you enjoy my reviews. Greetings to Argentina!
As usual, another great review! Love the way you’ve stayed on top of the TTArtisan lens family. They’re splendid lenses. Thanks Thomas!
Thanks Donald! Yes I admit I have a soft spot for these lenses!
Stunningly beautiful photos.
Many thanks! 🙏
Danke, dass du diese preiswerten Objektive immer wieder ausgiebig vorstellst. Für diesen geringen Preis ist das Objektiv erstaunlich gut.
Hallo Elke, danke für Deinen Kommentar! Ja, ich habe Spaß an diesen Objektiven ... und außerdem wird alles immer teurer - da ist es gut, wenn es auch mal günstige Alternativen gibt!
Thank you for your excellent review!
Thank you very much!
Another great video Tom and caused me to buy this lens to use on my Fuji XT1. What a great combo and the hard stop is accurate and a game changer. Manual focus so easy with focus peaking using the dual screen mode as well. Add in landscape bracketing and getting some good shots. Thanks for all your hard work. Best wishes.
Many thanks Malcom for your feedback! I'm happy you enjoy your lens and I agree it's super-easy to use!
Thanks a lot for your review!!
You're welcome, I'm glad you like the review!
Great review Thomas. nice to see some German landscapes, I specially liked the landscape at 12:50. I have TT artisans 35mm 1.4 and I use it allmost daily so this lens looks very promising.
Thanks Martin! I still think the 35/1.4 is the best of the TT Artisan lenses, but this 25/2 is very nice as well. I tried to show the weaknesses in my video. But then, I guess no one expects total perfection for 64 Dollars in a lens!
Great review, Tom! I have this lens since last Saturday. :-)
Thanks Marc! How do you like the lens so far?
@@tomscameras To be honest, it's still into its original packaging, i've had no time to testdrive it. It should being a cheap(er) replacement for my 23/1.4, because that lens is bigger (although optically better), but heavier, too. And for the X-M1, the 25/2 is the smaller, better alternative. So i can put my 23/1.4 on my X-E2 again. :)
You are a cool guy, Tom. Thanks for the review.
Many thanks for your feedback! :)
Just got this lens via their official Aliexpress store. Nine days super fast delivery all the way from China to Brazil.
And by the way, I bought it after I watched this video review. You made my decision! Love this lens so far.
Thanks Tom, keep it up!
Good to hear that the delivery went so smooth! And I hope you have a lot of fun with this lens! :)
@@tomscameras already having lotta fun! Thanks once again. All the best.
Appreciate your work. Hoping you and yours have a great new year.
Have the 23mm ttartisan. Have the pergear 25mm which is really great however have to work around clickless apertures. Will probably get this noting that like the 23mm f/8 is the friend for general shots. I use the Fuji x-e3 and x-t30.
Yes I am also a great fan of the clicked aperture. All the manual lenses won't display the f-stop in the viewfinder ... because they are fully manual without electric contacts. So the "clicks" really help when adjusting aperture while you look through the viewfinder!
The 25/2 has a bit more even sharpness across the frame than the 23/1.4. And the 23/1.4 is a little bit wider. If I had to chose today, I'd prefer the 25/2. If you already have the 23/1.4, the differences are not huge between these lenses.
I just ordered one based on your review!
I hope you'll have a lot of fun with it! :)
The one review I've been waiting for... Thanks Thomas! I wish there were more of these compact pancake-style lenses available for X-mount.
Many thanks John! Yes, I also love these "almost" pancakes! Actually, now there is this 25mm and the 50mm f/2. There is also the pancake ultrawide Laowa 10mm f/4 that I really like a lot, but sadly the Laowa is much more expensive than these TT Artisan lenses!
Brilliant lens for the price, especially for video (flares and barrel distortion). I'm hoping they make a pancake 18mm or something next!
Hallo Thomas, danke für deine Mühe. Sehr hilfreich deine Videos. Du hast mich auf diese günstigen und doch guten Objektive gebracht. Ich habe mir jetzt schon 2 Stück gekauft und bin sehr zufrieden damit. Das TTArtisan 25mm f2 und das 7 Artisans 35mm f1,2. Grüße Oswald
Hallo Oswald, vielen Dank für Dein Feedback. Es freut mich, dass Du mit den Objektiven viel Freude hast. Ja, sie sind günstig, nicht perfekt, aber doch gut ...!
I use this lens for B&W street photography and it excels in this capacity, especially given it's price point.
Yes, it's super-easy in everyday use and great for street and candids!
Many thanks Tom for the review. Always looking forward to your videos.
Although I’m a happy user of the 23mm 1.4, I might skip a family dining out night and instead get the 25mm just for the small size. I’m not really worried about the softer corners on my Olympus as the lens conveniently becomes a 50mm equivalent.
Best wishes 🖖🏻
It's not that the 23/1.4 is a big lens, but yes, the 25/2 is quite a bit smaller. Still it's about 180 grams. It feels very nice in the hand and I guess it mates nicely with an MFT body. But it's definitely not as tiny as the Panasonic 20/1.7 for MFT! 😃
@@tomscameras Got the tiny 15mm 1.7 PanaLeica, the best MFT lens to keep on my camera. My main reason to like these TTArtisan lenses is the analog/mechanical joy they bring from just handling them.
Keep those videos coming, my friend.
The pancake (as such) form factor and style of this lens is very appealing on the X-E series bodies. I’ve got others of their lenses 17mm, 35mm and 50mm f1.2 and you can’t beat TTartisan’s performance/ price value. I’ve been waiting for this review so thank you Thomas! But then I remember that my X-E4 came with the Fuji XF 27mm which is half the weight and size. Ok, it’s only f2.8 but at least it’s really good at f2.8.
The XF 27/2.8 is one of my favorite Fujinon optics. It's a beautiful little lens. But of course, we're talking a completely different price range here. I think as a set with the X-E4 you might find some good offers, but the 27/2.8 alone is 400+ Euros, that's really a lot!
@@tomscameras Exacty Tom ! Especially the Mk. II version with aperture ring, usually around ~450 EUR is way expensive.
@@tomscameras the XF 27mm is a very expensive lens for what it is but for me it (version 2 with aperture ring) came as the kit option for only AU$200 (about US$140) more than body only. For those that get the X-E4 with the zoom kit lens, these TTartisan are a great way to try primes without breaking the budget and the quality is not lacking
@@shred3005 Yes, for that low additional cost, the XF 27/2.8 is a no brainer! I once shot the first version but I really disliked the handling without aperture ring. The new version with aperture ring is very nice. But as you say: It depends on how much you have to pay for it!
Having been very happy with the 50mm f2, as soon as the 25mm was announced I ordered one. On my X-T20 and X-E3 cameras they are perfectly matched for size and weight. Build and handling is pretty decent, and IQ more than adequate for purpose. Even two of the lens's weaknesses - soft corners and vignetting* I find appealing. I shoot mostly B&W on the small Fuji's and both "flaws" tend to draw the eye to the subject. So to me they are an irrelevance. I also own both the Pergear and 7artisans 25mm's. Although small and optically capable, I find their focusing to be unreliable for some reason, whether it's the lens or camera or both or just me I don't know, but after a few weeks of ownership with the TTartisans model I have had zero focusing difficulties. The other Fuji compatible pancakes I own are the Meike 28mm f2.8 and Fuji's own 27mm f2.8. Honestly, the Fuji is in a class of its own and adds AF convenience, and if you can afford the latest model with an aperture ring you have the ideal pancake, however both the older model and the latest one are many times the price of the TTartisans. The Meike is actually pretty decent too and quite cheap, just do not let it near any buildings as vertical straight lines distort quite horribly.
Matched with a X-E or X-T 10 line camera and combined with the 50mm f2, the 25mm provides you with a very compact and capable combination for most things, most people would want to shoot most of the time.
* I almost always add a touch of vignetting to my B&W shots in post anyway!
I have a Meike 28mm. I like its compactness. I think it is more compact than TT25mm. The biggest disadvantage of Meike is vignetting. But at f5.6-8 this is not visible and it is sharp as a razor across the entire field of the frame. The distortion is noticeable, but it doesn't really upset me. I also have 7artisans 25mm. Indeed, focusing is often lost due to the slightest touch on the focus ring after adjustment. It's infuriating. He also didn't have a hard stop at infinity. But I did it by unscrewing the mount and gluing thin strips of plastic onto double tape on the inside of the mount of the required thickness. Now I have a hard stop at infinity.)) In general, I like it. Now I’m trying to understand whether the TT25mm will give the best optical quality or just a clicking aperture and a better focus ring?
Thanks for your detailed feedback! I can only agree with everything that you say!
Actually I really love the optics of the Fujinon 27/2.8. That lens, the 14/2.8, 35/1.4 and 56/1.2 are maybe my personal top four of all the original Fujinon lenses. I prefer these even over the more modern offerings cause they are plenty sharp but still have a very nice, harmonic, even classic look to them!
But as you say, we're talking a completely different price range there. It's just amazing how much fun and also performance you can get these days from TT Artisan and also other low-budget lenses!
Regarding adjusting the infinity stop, my 25/2 was also stubborn. I had to warm the lens with my hair dryer. Then I had to squeeze the lens (not while mounted on camera) between the rear and front caps so that it couldn’t grow as I turned the focus ring. It finally let loose, so now I can adjust it. My 50/1.2 was easy. This one was not. I imagine they used more locktite during assembly for the 25/2 so that some of it dripped beyond the set screw threads.
Thanks a lot for your feedback on this. Let's just hope TT Artisan will recognize that the adjustable focus ring is actually a bonus feature that many customers would want to use, so they will hopefully adjust their production processes to make it easier again in the future ...
Just ordered mine and looking forward to using it on my x-e2. I was half tempted to sell the camera as I’m more invested into mft cameras and lenses, but I’m going to see if these types of manual focus cheap lenses might reignite my passion for this camera and street photography in particular
I hope you’ll have a lot of fun with this lens! There’s a lot of great MFT cameras as well so maybe it’s interesting for you also to pay attention to what the X-E2 does differently to your other camera and if that adds anything valuable to your photographic experience.
I took this to Europe with me and tried using zone focus on a Sony nex5 camera. Either I was not understanding how to zone focus or the lens was not marked correctly for zone focus. Having said this, I went to camera settings, and used the focus peaking indicator in red to assist determining focus and this seems to have corrected whatever focus issues were encountered. As an inexpensive travel lens it did the job.
Zone focus is a bit tricky if you don't have any experience. And also pay attention to those "depth-of-field" markings. They are all wayyyyyy to "generous", they indicate that you get a huge depth of focus which in reality just isn't there.
Generally speaking, if you shoot at f/8, you really have to use the markings for f/2.8 on the depth-of-field scale!! The reason for all this is that those scales were made at a time when people normally made tiny 3x4 inch prints instead of looking at their photos on a huge screen as we do today!
I made a video about manual focusing some time ago:
ruclips.net/video/43UlxsU3Eno/видео.html
It has a hard stop at Infinity, but if you want to max your DOF, this lens also has a DOF scale which will allow you to easily focus at Hyperfocal Distance and have objects even closer in focus all the way to infinity as well. (also handy if you want to 'scale focus for faster handling.)
One word of caution though: these DOF scales are very … “optimistic”! These go back to the good old film photography days and they are more meant for small prints, like maybe 3x4 inches or so. If you take a photo with a modern digital camera with 24 or more megapixels and then pixel peep, you’ll often find that your photo won’t be 100% sharp if you just trust the DOF scale on your lens.
Dank u! Thanks for the info, i recently bought a nikon z fc camera and i like to shoot with a manuel lens so artisan (7/TT) is my favourite!
Thanks a lot for your feedback! Yes the 7Artisan or TT Artisan lenses are also great on the Nikon Z fc ... so I hope you'll have a lot of fun trying it out!
I bought the 25mm f2 from TTArtisan and also I bought the 55mm f1.4 from 7 Artisan, also the 17mm f1.4 TTArtisan... up to now I am learning how to make the best out of them... They are fairly good, I do think I am getting a larger benefit when I compare the price of them... So like my grandpa' use to say, "the ability resides on the photographer not in the gear!!!!" Well what I can say, I am having a lot of fun with these guys!!!!! Oh!!!! I also have the TTArtisan 40mm Macro f2.8 and all of them under my trusty Nikon Z50.
I agree totally! These lenses are not made for professional use but we all know it. But they’re made for those who just want to enjoy their photography and love to learn how to master their gear. And then they give great results. Sounds like a nice set you have got for the Z50!
Thanks Thomas for putting this together. I am just starting out street and am able to get my hands on a Fuji xe1 plus this lens, plus the 35mm 1.4 and 50mm/2. I would appreciate your thoughts on what you think about both the camera and the lens package?
I noticed you use a xe4. I have no experience with Fuji at all but love the idea of using this kit to reproduce old school film look to my street photos. I am just a little nervous about using all this equipment I never used and basically know nothing about other than RUclips videos. 😂
Thanks in advance for you thoughts!
-Thomas
If you are happy to use manual focus lenses, then it sounds a good package to me! 25, 35, 50 is the three "classic" focal length lenses that in my opinion are the most versatile!
Hi Tom! Great review, as always! I waited)) I was very interested in this almost pancake. Special thanks for the paired shots with 23mm. It seemed to me that 25mm had less chromatic aberrations at an open aperture. Have you ever shot on 25mm 7artisans? Both of these lenses have the same layout of 7 elements in 5 groups. Both have issues with far corners. There are suspicions whether this is the same lens in different cases? Although, 7artisans has a minimum focusing distance of 18cm and a maximum aperture of F1.8, which in fact hardly corresponds to reality. I think there is F2. But the TT has a clicky aperture, which is just cool!)) And the design is nicer.
No, I didn't shoot the 7Artisans or any other older 25mm APS-C lens yet. It's a good question if these lenses share the optical design or not - at least, as you say, the mechanics are very different, also the 7Artisans 25mm f/1.8 that I am aware of has a 12-bladed aperture. (But maybe there are also different versions that I'm not aware of.) But the click-stop aperture and the infinity hard stop are two features that make me prefer TT Artisan in this case.
@@tomscameras I agree! At the same time, TTArtisan is the only manufacturer of inexpensive lenses known to me that provides for a simple adjustment of the infinity hard stop with three small screws on the focus ring.
I own both the 7Artisans and Pergear 25mm lenses. They will be going now the TTartisan one has been with me for a couple of weeks. For some reason the former 2 lenses refuse to focus consistently, whereas the TTartisan one I have no problems with at all.
Ever since I bought myself 50/2.0 I was hoping TTartisan would come up with something a bit wider while using the same barrel design. Unsurprisingly, I've purchased 25/2.0 straight away as soon as it hit the shelves. I've been using it quite a bit during last three weeks or so and I found that your findings are pretty accurate. The only thing I would add to this review is that 25/2.0 just as 50/2.0 suffers from pretty strong longitudinal CA (objects that are out of focus have some magenta or green tint depending on their relation to the plain of focus). Hope some would find that info a bit helpful 🌞
Many thanks for your feedback and also the information on longitudinal CA's! Yes those are the sort of optical errors that you maybe just have to accept with these more simple optical designs. On the other hand, also some expensive lenses can show several optical errors.
Overall I totally agree with you, the form factor and barrel design of the 25/2 and 50/2 is very nice. Given that they are so compact, they are surprisingly nice to handle as well.
Like you I bought the 25mm as soon as it was announced based on my experience of the 50mm f2. I am not disappointed! Sure the corners remain weak and there is a bit of vignetting*, but I couldn't care less. I shoot mostly B&W on my Fuji X-T20 and X-E3 cameras and these "weaknesses" I find appealing as they draw the eyes to one's subject.
* I almost always add a bit of vignetting in post to my B&W images anyway!
Amazing review! I was wondering how accurate the lens's focus distance scales are. Is it good enough to zone focus with?
You can adjust the focus ring with the small thumb screws so that the infinity mark will exactly line up with true infinity when you focus. (See my RUclips shorts ...)
Once you've done that, the distance markings are reasonably accurate for zone focusing. I'd recommend that you stop down to e.g. f/5.6 or even f/8 when you zone focus, because at f/2 the depth of field still is surprizing shallow.
Could you share a video explaning how to adjust the 3 screws to focus infinity?
Please check my pinned comment above, and also my RUclips short videos, for detailed information on the infinity adjustment!
Ttartisans 25mm & Xt30ii
Be a sweet pairing together
Compact.
Absolutely!
Great review! I'm struggling to decide between this and the Voigtlander 27mm ultron f2.0 or the fuji XF23mm f2.0. I have the TTArtisans 23mm 1.4 but I'm looking for something with slightly less optical quirks/rounding/vignetting.
Hmm, these lenses are really in very different price ranges. I do love the Fujinon 23/2, it's compact (for an AF lens), super-fast AF, weather sealed ... a fantastic lens. It's very sharp as well even though maybe almost a bit "clinical".
The TT Artisan 23/1.4 or also 25/2 can't 1:1 compete with that Fujinon. I did not shoot the Voigtländer 27/2 yet but from what I have seen so far in other reviews, it also doesn't have the highest border / corner sharpness. So out of the three that you mention, the Fujinon should be the sharpest ... if that matters to you!
The Voigtländer 27/2 looks like it's maybe a nice blend between modern and classic optics, and also offers EXIF data and the feature where it switches to magnified view automatically whenever you turn the focus ring. But then it also is many more times as expensive as the TT Artisan 25/2 ...
I think I agree with all of this! Thank you. I was worried the Fuji would be too clinical. I like an arty shot. Perhaps the Voigtlander would be slightly more refined than a TT Artisan but not worth the massive price gap.
I think I am looking for a wider field of view version of my 7Artisans 35mm 1.2, Mark II (really impressed if you haven't tried it, and it has a clicked aperture ring/feels very high quality.) But still has the quirks, without the extreme corner blur in my opinion.
I'm a strong proponent of pancake or near pancake lenses. Everyone should have one in their collection, especially with smaller cameras like the X-E and X-Txx lines. Makes it easy to have the excuse to throw it in a coat pocket and do some random shooting on the fly. Now if they could jam a 16 or 18mm in that same lens barrel for a triumvirate...
Out of curiosity: Did you try the lens with an IR filter? I realize it's a niche bit of information, but there tends to be woefully low amounts of testing for that sort of thing (i.e. hotspots)
Thanks for your comment. Yes, a 16mm in this form factor would be great. Laowa already showed that it's possible with their even much wider 10mm f/4!
No, I don't have an IR filter and didn't try any of my lenses with one so far, sorry!
Thank you for the review. Can you do a detailed video on correcting the lens hard stop for infinity? I have 4 of their lenses and the hard stop on each of them don't match the infinity focus. I know it's the 3 set screws but I tried and not able to get the hard stop at the true focus spot.
Thanks for your suggestion. I will try to do that soon!
@@tomscameras would be great! 👍
@@mart_photo Please check my pinned comment above, and also my RUclips short videos, for detailed information on the infinity adjustment!
@@tomscameras thank you!
Tom’s version seems a lot better than mine. My version at any aperture is noticeably softer across the frame than any Fuji lens I own. It might be ok for small 8x10 prints with “character” but forget about any applications where sharpness and contrast is wanted.
Many thanks for your feedback! I realize sample-to-sample variation is always a problem of all the reviews like mine. I'm sorry to hear that your lens performs so bad. If it's really only usable for an 8x10 print and even then shows a lot of "character", maybe try to contact TT Artisan and/or the vendor of your lens as that sounds like your copy might be faulty.
How does it compare to the Fuji 27mm f2.8?
From your Tiktok short you show how to adjust to infinity focus by adjusting the 3 screws, so when you received this unit do you have to adjust the infinity focus screws?
I'm sure you meant my RUclips short, I don't have a TikTok channel (yet)!
But yes, the infinity setting needed adjustment on this lens!
Again, I won't criticize TT Artisan for that fact, as all the other manual focus lenses from other manufacturers also do not offer an 100% adjusted focus ring and on those lenses, you can't even adjust it for yourself.
As for the Fujinon 27/2.8 - I shot that lens a long time ago, I don't have it anymore. It's optically clearly superior and it is auto focus. On the other hand, it's only f/2.8 and it is several times more expensive.
@@tomscameras Many thanks.
Great vid. Would you recommend this over the 23mm 1.4?
I'm preparing a direct comparison review which should be published in a few days from now.
Overall, I do prefer the 25/2 yes. It is smaller, it is even cheaper, and optically I'd rate it a bit above the 23/1.4 overall.
However, the difference in field of view between the 23mm and 25mm is noticeable. If you would like your "35mm full-frame equivalent" lens to be a little bit wider, that is a point for the 23/1.4. If you're okay that it's almost a "40mm equivalent" then I would go for the 25/2.
@@tomscameras perfect.exactly the information what I was looking for. Thank you. Looking forward to that comparison video.
I just received my 25mm f2 unit. The distance scale ring doesn't correspond to the true distance using a measuring tape. Is it common for TTArtisan lenses to have calibration issues? Is a DIY fix possible?
Actual 0.8m with measuring tape is 0.7 in the focus distance scale ring, 1m is 0.8, 1.5m is around 1.16, 3m is around 1.5.
The distance scale ring when rotated stops exactly at infinity or 0.25 end to end and in line with the center arrow symbol.
Please check my pinned comment above, and also my RUclips short videos, for detailed information on the infinity adjustment!
I guess that with proper infinity adjustment, the other distance markings on the barrel should also be more accurate. But still, I guess you maybe should not expect wonders about the precision of these markings, as with almost every current manual lenses.
Hi Thomas, I'm in Koblenz. I like your videos. How does the 25mm compare to the Fujifilm 18-55mm at 25mm?
Hello to Koblenz! Sadly, I don't have the Fujinon 18-55 anymore for a direct comparison. My guess from previous experience is that the 25mm will be overall sharper than the Fujinon 16-50, but maybe not beat the 18-55.
@@tomscameras Thanks. I was toying with buying the TTartisan 25mm as a pancake, but am holding back since the 18-55mm is really good.
Which one do you recommend TT Artisan 25/2 APS-C or TTArtisan 23mm F1.4 APS? Maybe a versus video?
I searched a lot but no one has made a comparison between these two lenses.
I'm preparing a full comparison actually. You got a glimpse of that in this video where I show a few pictures that we took with both the 25/2 and 23/1.4.
My impression is: The 23/1.4 is only marginally faster. The bigger difference is in the focal length / field of view (even though it's just 2mm difference, you can see that pretty clearly). Bokeh is different in character, but the amount of background blur is actually not that different.
Sharpness characteristics are also different, overall the 25/2 is a bit better.
So in the end, right now I think it's hard to recommend the 23/1.4 over the 25/2, given the fact that the latter one is also cheaper. But yes, I'm doing a video where I'll show some more comparison shots with the two lenses!
BTW I did a video with the 23/1.4 vs. Kamlan 21/1.8 and Zonlai 22/1.8 already. Here the Kamlan was the sharpest, but the TT Artisan 23/1.4 had the most background blur by quite a margin:
ruclips.net/video/VUxQ1W3NFlg/видео.html
@@tomscameras Thanks for all the information, your videos really help me to choose a lens. Another interesting comparison could be TTArtisan 11mm F2.8 vs TTartisan 7.5mm F2.0, both are fisheye lenses. Keep with great work!
Hi Tom. Greetings from Scotland. Just found you through a search on this lens. Before my question I just wanted to say I love your channel premise, as in showing affordable camera gear. Matches well with my accessible locations idea. I will plug your channel on mine when I next get out. By then I will have a cheaper camera and maybe even a TTArtisan lens.
So, to the question. You and others have shown the issue of stray light causing flare etc. Would a lens hood help in all but direct sun in view shots? I did see a picture elsewhere with flare and the sun was out of shot. Surely a lens hood would help. Your thoughts would be appreciated.
Regards. Alastair.
Hi Alastair! Yes, a lens hood does help. But it will have limitations - because there still will be situations where the sun is close enough to the image frame that it will already hit the front lens elements even though it's not directly visible in the photo.
In theory, you could design a perfect sunshade that is squared-off and covers the lens as perfectly as possible, but such lens hoods are very rare nowadays and they're not available for this 25/2 lens at all.
So, bottom line: Yes, a lens hood helps but not in every situation. And remember you can always help a bit by shading the front lens with your hand. Hope this helps, cheers to Scotland!
Do you have a video where you compare ttartisan 25mm f2, with 7artisan 25mm f1.8??
Sadly not, I never shot the 7Artisans 25/1.8 lens so far. Handling-wise, I do prefer the TT Artisan's clicked aperture ring. There is a new Pergear 25/1.7 lens that also offers that feature and I hope I'll be able to review it soon!
What do you think about this on a full frame camera? What the effective specs ( like aperture and focal lengths changes )
This lens won’t work on a full frame camera because it can’t cover the bigger image circle. It’s really designed for APS-C cameras (and MFT) only.
Thx. some of the skies have a weird purple cast. is it the editing or SOOC?
That is because of the editing. So entirely my own fault!
What can you say about the bayonet mount? Is it the same as the 23mm? Can the replacement trick be done? Do you have TT35mmF1.4? It is very interesting whether this can be done with 25 and 35 mm? Thank you!
The 25/50/23 have the same bayonet mount. At least the versions for Sony E / Fuji X! You can interchange the mounts for Sony E and Fuji X with no problem. (Note that the lenses for Nikon Z, Canon RF etc. are different at the rear, cause their bayonet diameter is much bigger.)
The 35/1.4 has a bit of a different mount piece. The positions of the little red dot (so you know where to place the lens on the mount) and of the little indent for the locking pin are different here.
@@tomscameras Great news! It is a pity that 35mm is different. I hoped that with it such a trick would work. Thanks again for the helpful review! Good luck Tom!
Have you used film modeling for the photo in this video? If so, which ones?
No, I shoot all these photos in RAW and edit them in Lightroom, but only saturation, contrast, white balance.
Note that I never correct for chromatic aberrations, vignetting or distortion unless explicitly stated. So you can see the quality of the lens in all those regards.
@@tomscameras Thank you for your research.
in comparison with the TTArtisans 35 f1.4, which is sharper at max aperture?
The 35/1.4 is sharper overall. But keep in mind that it is a very different focal length as well!
could you compare this lens with the brand new pergear 25mm f1.7 ?
Yes, and I hope I can do that pretty soon. In spec and price, both these lenses are very similar !! And the Pergear 25/1.7 version II finally also adds the clicked aperture ring (TT Artisan has that already!) which is super-nice!
Using 7artisan1.8f. Should i change to this lens? How it compares to 7artisan 25m 1.8f ?
If you're happy with the 7Artisans 25/1.8, I don't think this lens is a great "upgrade". It is a great lens in terms of size, price/performance, and I love the handling with the clicked aperture ring. But still it is also a budget lens.
No purple color effect in the corners of every shot I hope like on the 7Artisan lenses?
I did never shoot the 25mm 7Artisans lens, unfortunately.
Please also note that color casts towards the corners of the image frame might be often depending on how a specific lens design works together with the filter stack of the sensors. So Fuji, Sony, Nikon, Canon etc. often might perform differently there!
Would you review nisi Len 9mm. f2.8?
I hope to get a sample of it. It’s a very interesting lens. Can’t promise anything yet though!
I have this, its weird. its great as my canon m6mk2 can fit in my jacket pocket. Its a bit soft especially in the corners (but that doesnt matter for what I'm using it for. abstract long exposures basically) but... the contrast is pretty woeful. everything looks milky, and this is amplified massively if pointing towards the light source.
mmh ... the low contrast sounds a bit suspicious to me. I don't find that my copy of this lens is low on contrast, it's pretty much on par with all the other lenses that I use. There might be some sample-to-sample variation but also it is possible that your lens is either faulty or (if you bought it second hand) it got excessively dirty at some point. How does it look when you look through the lens or shine through the lens elements with a light?
One thing though is for sure, there are better lenses in terms of straylight performance (pointed towards the sun).
@@tomscameras yeah, all looks clean. Just the files seem quite flat. No big deal I suppose and the price is amazing. Contrast can be tweaked in post. But it definitely lacks a bit of punch compared to my other lenses.
Tom, you should also review the Niyi black mist filter - i was the 1st buyer on Aliexpress, as a cheap alternative (1/8) compared to these overpriced, plastic-glass Tiffen filters.
I'm overall not the huge user of filters like that ... but I heard a lot about the black mist filter. Maybe I really should give it a try! 😃
@@tomscameras Black Mist filters do really make a difference, it's that clinical sharpness and overall looks are subtle toned, more film-esque. I much more accept digital this way - but into the end, i prefer 35mm all the time. It's not about image perfection and biting sharpness, but mood, feeling & emotion.
how about the focus breathing? 25cm mfd is good for filmming
Sorry, I didn't show it in my videos. The reason being that I'm totally not a video guy, only a photographer. That's also the reason why I always criticize clickless apertures, I do know that some video people love them but as a photographer I really, truly hate these! Sorry again!
Anyway, I did check the lens now quickly for focus breathing because of your comment: Yes it is visible! I wouldn't call it very strong but it is definitely noticeable if you're looking for it. The lens will "zoom in" a little bit when focusing close.
I need You help! This lens ? Or the 35mm 1.4 ?
If you've already got another lens like e.g. the kit zoom lens or something, and this is gonna be your very first manual focus lens, I would maybe go for the 35/1.4.
If know you're going to shoot your manual focus lens a lot in more "tight" surroundings, the 25 would be better, cause it offers a little bit more wide angle.
Also you can check these different focal lengths on any zoom lens (just set it to 35 or 25 mm for a day and leave it there ...) and see what you ultimately would prefer!
@@tomscameras Thank you for responding, of course I am between those two lenses taking advantage of the great offers of 11.11 on Aliexpress, I already have the ttartisans 50mm 1.2 and it is excellent but I am looking for something more versatile.
greetings!
TTartisan 25mm f2.0 vs PERGEAR 25mm f1.8 ?
I never tried the Pergear 25/1.8! The thing is that I just like the handling of the TT Artisan lenses a lot as they have clicked apertures and the (user-adjustable…) hard stop at infinity. So if you are a photographer, not a video guy, these two features improve handling so much!
The TTArtisan 27mmF2.8 should also be up for comparison here, especially as it concerns Bokeh characteristics, which to my mind is THE MOST important factor in deciding the overall aesthetic appeal of an image.@@tomscameras
Thank you for this review! I received mine and am using it on a Sony APS-C body. I’m suffering heavy vignetting at f/2, f/2.4, f/2.8, and light vignetting at f/4. TTARTISAN said this is completely normal, but I don’t believe them because I haven’t seen this mentioned anywhere.
The vignetting is reminiscent of using an APS-C lens on a full frame body. The lens is pretty unusable at lower apertures.
Are experiencing this at all? I think my unit is bad.
Did you have a look at all the photos that I show in this review? I never correct for vignetting in any of the shots that I share in the videos!
So, basically yes: the lens will show a bit of vignetting at f/2 and also f/2.8 but it shouldn’t be too extreme.
See my video at 7:54 … this is the amount of vignetting you should get!
@@tomscameras Thank you tremendously. I got a bad unit. My vignetting is so bad that on the sides the vignetting actually connects. My TTARTISAN 17mm f1.4 and 35mm f1.2 don’t exhibit that at all.
@@I922sParkCir Sorry to hear that! I hope you can get a replacement lens then!
More street photography using this lens please
Yes actually it's a great street photography lens. I should do that more often!
I'm very pleased my TTArtisan 25/2 arrived today. Really impressed with build quality. Image quality, gotta test it yet tomorrow in London.
Best bang for ya bucks.
I agree!
Are these images Raw or jpeg?
They're all RAW. But I do never correct for vignetting, color fringing, chromatic aberrations or distortion so that you can see how the lens performs!
Thx Tom, just a heads up, this is NOT a full frame lens, its APS-c. cheers, t
Oh, thanks for pointing out! It was a typo in the video description, I corrected it quickly!
Seems that Canon m gets the middle finger with this one, too bad as it costs half than the 23mm\f1.4...
Yes, it's still kind of unbelievable that you can buy a lens like this brand-new for just 64 Dollars ...!
Are u in pajamas? 😂 4:22
lol … nope
No f 11 😂
Well, f/11 on APS-C should be avoided anyway, because of diffraction. :)
I`ve tested the lens on a Leica TL2 , and I would say , in my opinion it´s absolutely scrap ...sorry to say. The micro-contrast is one of the worst I´ve ever seen , maybe the lens will work for paper-prints not bigger than 13 x 18 cm . I´ve sold mine two days after my purchase ..but it´s only what I think about it , maybe I´ve only got a " monday-example'" of it .
Crap is a strong word, it's only 55usd on B&H. Certanly more buck for the money than a Leica😂
Sorry to hear about your bad luck with this lens, many thanks for sharing your experience even though it's not a good one!
If your lens was only suitable for small 13x18cm prints, I really think you might have got a bad sample there. I mean, all the photos that I e.g. show in my review video could be printed much bigger, and no one would ever worry about the lens quality when looking at them.
So again, maybe you just got a lemon. Which understandably is not nice at all from a customer's point of view!