the fact that camera manufacturers are now reaching out to you shows how good your content and photography is i cant wait to see where you will be in a year from now!
Very solid review!! I am using this lens since the last April and its basically my main lens for the Sony a6000. I am a manual lens user 90% of the time for the last many years (i have only the Sony 18-105 f4 for some very special occasions i.e. when i need to zoom past the 50mm or for AF shooting). Even though i have a Voigtländer 35mm f1.4 and a Trioplan 50mm f2.8 II, i prefer to shoot at 35mm (equivalent) and that was the reason i tried such an inexpensive lens. 23mm native APSC and MF glass is quite rare and for 120euros its a bargain. Initially, i was a bit skeptical because i am quite picky about build and image quality but thankfully, TTArtisan made a masterpiece here!! The construction is totally on par with my Voigtländer (600 euros) and Trioplan (900 euros) lenses, minus the lack of many aperture steps beyond f4 (though i don't care much because i am rarely using the half stops past f2.8). But the most impressive thing is its unique image rendering! Between f1.4 and f2.8 the field curvature effect is strong, giving an element of inexpectancy to the images (for those who are not accustomed to field curvature, if you are shooting at wider apertures the the focus plane is curved from the center to the edges, so you have a perfectly sharp center, blurred mid sections and again some sharpness at the very edges of the frame). That was a common attribute of the old lenses (60s, 70s, 80s), before the aspherical and APO designs that brings the corrections to the modern glass. Is it bad? Yes and No. If you need a clinical sharp lens for profession shooting then its a problem. But for artistic photography is just awesome!! Close the aperture past f4 though, and you gonna have a perfectly modern image quality. I shot some stunning landscapes recently at f8 with this lens and the quality was superb on my 60x80cm prints on fine art paper! What i don't like (so much): 1) its not a particularly fast, especially for a f1.4 lens. Because of the small barrel diameter you don't gonna have too much light on the sensor (actually my 18-105 f4 passes just 1/3 of a stop less light at f4 because its barrel is almost twice as wide). 2) the focus ring needs some calibration for the infinity mark. On Sony version the infinity is actually slightly in front of the 5m mark, but i managed to fix it using the three screws around the focus ring (DONT do this if you are not experienced).
Thank you! I’m glad you've taken a liking to the lens. It's definitely tough to beat at that price point for the quality it offers. As you said, it's not perfect, but it's great for what it is. I do wish the aperture ring was a little wider to make it more comfortable to grip.
I don’t think I’d be able to have the patience for a manual lens other than some occasional shots, but it’s nice that lenses like this are out there for those who enjoy it. It seems like a good deal.
Yeah, it's definitely not something I will want to use all the time. It's a fun change of pace every once in a while, but I will always prefer using an AF lens.
the fact that camera manufacturers are now reaching out to you shows how good your content and photography is i cant wait to see where you will be in a year from now!
Haha thank youuu 😁
I was surprised too!
I totally agree! Amazing photos
☺️
Very solid review!! I am using this lens since the last April and its basically my main lens for the Sony a6000. I am a manual lens user 90% of the time for the last many years (i have only the Sony 18-105 f4 for some very special occasions i.e. when i need to zoom past the 50mm or for AF shooting). Even though i have a Voigtländer 35mm f1.4 and a Trioplan 50mm f2.8 II, i prefer to shoot at 35mm (equivalent) and that was the reason i tried such an inexpensive lens. 23mm native APSC and MF glass is quite rare and for 120euros its a bargain. Initially, i was a bit skeptical because i am quite picky about build and image quality but thankfully, TTArtisan made a masterpiece here!! The construction is totally on par with my Voigtländer (600 euros) and Trioplan (900 euros) lenses, minus the lack of many aperture steps beyond f4 (though i don't care much because i am rarely using the half stops past f2.8).
But the most impressive thing is its unique image rendering! Between f1.4 and f2.8 the field curvature effect is strong, giving an element of inexpectancy to the images (for those who are not accustomed to field curvature, if you are shooting at wider apertures the the focus plane is curved from the center to the edges, so you have a perfectly sharp center, blurred mid sections and again some sharpness at the very edges of the frame). That was a common attribute of the old lenses (60s, 70s, 80s), before the aspherical and APO designs that brings the corrections to the modern glass. Is it bad? Yes and No. If you need a clinical sharp lens for profession shooting then its a problem. But for artistic photography is just awesome!! Close the aperture past f4 though, and you gonna have a perfectly modern image quality. I shot some stunning landscapes recently at f8 with this lens and the quality was superb on my 60x80cm prints on fine art paper!
What i don't like (so much): 1) its not a particularly fast, especially for a f1.4 lens. Because of the small barrel diameter you don't gonna have too much light on the sensor (actually my 18-105 f4 passes just 1/3 of a stop less light at f4 because its barrel is almost twice as wide). 2) the focus ring needs some calibration for the infinity mark. On Sony version the infinity is actually slightly in front of the 5m mark, but i managed to fix it using the three screws around the focus ring (DONT do this if you are not experienced).
Thank you!
I’m glad you've taken a liking to the lens. It's definitely tough to beat at that price point for the quality it offers. As you said, it's not perfect, but it's great for what it is. I do wish the aperture ring was a little wider to make it more comfortable to grip.
Zone focus
You forgot to mention that this lens at 1.4 produces very good bokeh and has been compared to the Sonnar lenses.
Good point!
I don’t think I’d be able to have the patience for a manual lens other than some occasional shots, but it’s nice that lenses like this are out there for those who enjoy it. It seems like a good deal.
Yeah, it's definitely not something I will want to use all the time. It's a fun change of pace every once in a while, but I will always prefer using an AF lens.
Excellent video 😊!
Thank you!
Any lens hoods for this lens that work with the a filter? The original lens cap is horrible
It is, but I've never looked into finding something, so I'm not sure.
The scale on this lens is a bullshit, usually has nothing to do with the real DOF mostly :/ Check f/4 and distance 2m...
So I've been told. It is a cheap lens after all.