It was just a year ago that TTArtisan released the first version of this lens and I covered it in my reviews. It’s rare for a company to do such a quick refresh of a newly released lens, but clearly TTArtisan is in a rush to get things right and felt like there were a few key areas that they could make improvements. My two two negatives from my review were 1) a very odd lens hood design and 2) rather poor minimum focus distance (60cm) and maximum magnification. The new TTArtisan 35mm II deals with both of those issues, with a more conventional hood design, a reduced minimum focus distance (40cm), and a smaller, lighter physical design to boot. Priced at only $125, this new lens is going to be a very hard one to ignore for those looking for a budget “normal” lens for their APS-C camera. Should you get one? Dive into my video review or read my text review, or just enjoy the photos below.

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Thanks to TTArtisan for sending me a review copy of this lens.   As always, this is a completely independent review.  All opinions and conclusions are my own. I’m doing this review on a 40MP Fujifilm X-H2 camera. You can find the visit the TTArtisan listing page for the lens to get more information.

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It’s pretty clear the TTArtisan’s ability to improve their lens designs is rapidly growing, as just a year has gone by and already we have a lens that is improved in pretty much every area. One of the key priorities for TTArtisan was to reduce the size of the lens.

TTArtisan managed to shrink the lens by a full 16mm, which may not seem like a lot, but in a lens this size that is nearly a 25% reduction in size. Weight has also dropped by 23g, making for a truly lightweight 176g. The biggest challenge for TTArtisan comes from a fellow Chinese company, Viltrox, whose new AF 35mm F1.7 Air lens will almost certainly be the chief competitor. The Viltrox lens is made of high quality plastics rather than metal (TTArtisan), but is even lighter at 170g despite having a slightly faster maximum aperture of F1.7. The TTArtisan 35II wins for size, however, coming in shorter by about 5mm.

35mm is a slightly oddball focal length on APS-C, landing at a 52.5mm full frame equivalent. It stands to reason why the 33mm (49.5mm) is more conventional, as it is delivering that typical 50mm “normal” angle of view. That extra 3mm is hardly likely to make much of a difference. This is a great focal length that gives a very normal, relatable point of view.

There’s no question that this is a pretty impressively good little lens for just $125…but how improved is it? Read or watch the reviews to get more info.

Build and Handling

Photos taken with the TTArtisan AF 35mm F1.8 II

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GEAR USED:

Purchase the TTArtisan AF 35mm F1.8 II @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Pergear

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Purchase the Fujifilm X-H2 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany 

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Purchase the Fujifilm X-T5 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Find it Used at KEH 

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Purchase the Fujifilm X-S20 @ B&H Photo | Adorama  | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany |

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