TTArtisan has continued to surprise me with lenses that in some way exceed my expectations.  Whether it was a surprisingly sharp full frame fisheye lens, a shockingly competent macro lens that cost right over $100, or tiny little prime lenses like the 23mm F1.4 that are surprisingly competent…and cheap.  They have also experimented with extremely large aperture lenses like TTArtisan’s 50mm F0.95 lens (which I reviewed here). Lenses with maximum apertures like this are notoriously difficult to engineer, and it’s a somewhat surprising trend that these new small lens makers like TTArtisan are taking on such challenges.  But here we are with a second focal length at F0.95 – in this case the new TTArtisan 35mm F0.95.   This is designed for  APS-C mirrorless cameras like Sony E (reviewed here), Nikon Z, Fuji X, M/43, Canon EF-M and RF).  The 50mm F0.95 did a fairly decent job of covering the larger full frame image circle, but that’s not the case here.  This is very much a lens designed for the smaller sensor, and if you try to shoot it on full frame, you’ll get this (second photo shows the proper APS-C crop).

The TTArtisan 50mm F2 is an extremely compact lens (not much bigger than a “pancake” lens).  It weighs only 200g in the Sony E-mount version I tested (it also comes in Canon RF and M mounts, Fuji X-mount, Nikon Z-mount, Leica L-mount, and Micro 4/3rds mounts.). The length is about 35mm, and the diameter is somewhere around 55mm (it’s not specified) with only a 43mm front filter thread.  This is a lens that will easily fit in a pocket and can come along easily.

The list of features is rather short.  This is a manual everything lens with no electronics or autofocus motor.  Aperture is controlled by a tiny aperture ring near the front of the lens.  The ring is clicked, with detents at ½ stops through F5.6, whereafter only full stops are available.  The focus ring is made of metal (with fine ribs) and moves very smoothly though about 120 degrees of focus rotation.   The lens extends a very minor amount during focus.  There are both distance and hyper focal markings etched on the barrel.  Everything is made of metal and actually feels very nicely made.  My one complain about the build is that the front cap is of the screw on variety, and while that allows it to be very thin, it is also a pain to thread it on and off each time as that could cause you to miss a moment.  There is no lens hood.

Manual focus is smooth and fairly precise, though you’ll want to utilized focus aids on your camera body like focus overlays and/or magnifying the image to visually confirm focus.  My focus accuracy was nice and high when utilizing these techniques.  Focus pulls for video are nice and smooth, though there isn’t a lot of room on such a small lens to keep your fingers out of the way.

Image quality is pretty much what I’d expect for a lens like this.  Contrast at very wide apertures is low, with some prominent chromatic aberrations at wide apertures that clear up significantly by F2 but haven’t yet disappeared altogether.  

When stopped down, the lens becomes very sharp and gives you plenty of detail all across the frame.

The aperture iris has 10 blades, which looks pretty cool when you look inside:

The high blade count is offset by having fairly straight blades, which results in some pretty obvious blade lines in bokeh highlights when the lens is stopped down.

Optical weaknesses include some moderate barrel distortion (+10 to correct), some tendency towards being flare prone, and the chromatic aberrations mentioned earlier.  Vignette isn’t bad for a lens with such a wide aperture (about two stops).  Lateral chromatic aberrations (near the edges of the frame) area are well controlled.

F0.95 lenses are valued for their bokeh, but I found bokeh a bit of a mixed bag.  At close focus distances, the bokeh could be nice and soft:

A little further out, though, and the bokeh gets busier.

Minimum focus distance was 35cm, which gives us a little higher level of magnification than the 50mm lens, though this is no macro lens.

Despite these limitations, however, there was certainly plenty of optical performance to allow me to get a number of beautiful images with the lens despite its low budget origins.  The TTArtisan 35mm F0.95 is a clear bargain at about $200 USD, making it a bit cheaper than the 50mm F0.95 before it.  You can get my full breakdown by watching the video review below…or just enjoy the beautiful photos in the galleries below that!

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Thanks to Pergear for providing the review copy of this lens. As always, this is a completely independent review. *The tests and most of the photos that I share as a part of my review cycle have been done with the Sony a7IV along with the Sony Alpha 1 which will serve as my benchmark camera for the foreseeable future (my review here).

Images of the TTArtisan 35mm F0.95

Images taken with the TTArtisan 35mm F0.95

Pros:

• Extremely large maximum aperture
• Great light gathering
• Nicely made lens
• Good center sharpness from wide open
• Good sharpness across the frame when stopped down
• Focus ring moves smoothly and accurately

Cons:

• Soft corners at wide apertures
• Somewhat flare prone
• Strong longitudinal CA

Purchase the TTArtisan 35mm F0.95 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Pergear 

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