Boutique Third Party Brands
There are a number of small lens makers who have been developing lenses particularly for modern mirrorless cameras. Most of these (but not all) are budget, manual focus alternatives.
June 20, 2022
TTArtisan 50mm F0.95 Review
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. The most [Read more...]
January 10, 2022
TTArtisan 23mm F1.4 Review
TTArtisan has started to emerge from the pack of the many newer lens makers who produce inexpensive lenses in my mind. I’ve seen a consistent theme in the lenses that I’ve tested where their optical performance has exceeded my expectations. In times past I would often resort to adapting vintage lenses t [Read more...]
November 22, 2021
Brightin Star 50mm F0.95 Review
Over the past few years, it has become increasingly common for what I call “Boutique Third Party” brands (small lens startups) to deliver some really interesting budget lenses. Many of the early lenses were designed for the smaller APS-C sensor, but recently I’ve seen more of them tackle the more challeng [Read more...]
November 21, 2021
Brightin Star 50mm F0.95 Image Gallery
Over the past few years, it has become increasingly common for what I call “Boutique Third Party” brands (small lens startups) to deliver some really interesting budget lenses. Many of the early lenses were designed for the smaller APS-C sensor, but recently I’ve seen more of them tackle the more challeng [Read more...]
September 27, 2021
NiSi 15mm F4 ASPH Review
NiSi has historically been a company that has made filters for other people’s lenses, and a search of their products shows a lot of filters with very high reviews. But at some point they clearly decided that their optical glass expertise could just as easily go into the construction of lenses themselves, which has re [Read more...]
September 18, 2021
NiSi 15mm F4 ASPH Image Gallery
NiSi has historically been a company that has made filters for other people’s lenses, and a search of their products shows a lot of filters with very high reviews. But at some point they clearly decided that their optical glass expertise could just as easily go into the construction of lenses themselves, which has pr [Read more...]
August 31, 2021
TTArtisan 40mm F2.8 1:1 Macro Review and Gallery
Macro seems to be the new thing among the smaller, boutique brands coming out of China. The TTArtisan 40mm F2.8 1:1 Macro (which we’ll call the TTArtisan 40M for brevity) is the second such 1:1 macro lens that has come across my desk in the past month. Like all of the TTArtisan lenses to this […] [Read more...]
August 12, 2021
7Artisans 60mm F2.8 Macro MK II Gallery and Review
The past several years have seen the rise of a number of new Chinese lens makers, many of which follow a fairly typical blueprint of lens design. Metal construction, full manual focus and aperture control, and no electronics. Many of those early lenses had nice construction in terms of materials, but there were some [Read more...]