Intro
I generally avoid recommending lenses for the Sony E mount system that fall on the cheaper side. Typically they have shoddy build quality and glaringly bad image performance. Come to my surprise when I got my hands on the TTArtisan 35mm f/1.4 for Sony E lens, it was quite usable at only $73.00 USD!
The TTArtisan 35mm f/1.4 is designed for Sony APS-C (crop sensor) cameras like the Sony A6xxx cameras. It’s incredibly compact and has decent handling with the very smooth focusing ring. I tested this lens for over a year with a Sony A6600, Sony A7C, and my trusty Sony A7SIII. For full transparency, TTArtisan sent me this lens to review but they had no influence on my judgement of this lens. If anything I took almost a year to fully produce an in-depth review of their product.
To test the full capabilities of this little lens, I filmed a short documentary/profile video of fellow street photographer Simon Shim.
Filmed entirely on the TTArtisan 35mm f/1.4
Specs
Focal Length: 35mm (52.5mm Full Frame equivalent)
Sony E Mount (Crop Sensor) Also comes in Fuji X, Leica L, M43, Nikon Z, and Canon EF-M mount
Minimum Focus Distance: 28cm/.28m
Max Aperture: f/1.4
Minimum Aperture: f/16
Optics: 7 Elements in 6 Groups; 10 Diaphragm Blades
Weight: 180g
Dimensions (Diameter x Length) 56mm x 44mm / 2.2" x 1.7"
Filter Size: 39mm
Weather Proofing: Unknown (Safe to assume none)
Price: $73 USD
Build Quality
The lens is built out of a sturdy metal construction, which is surprising considering how many modern mirrorless lenses are generally plastic. It weighs more than the Sony 40mm f/2.5 G I reviewed last. To be quite honest, I was surprised at the build quality considering it’s a sub-$100 lens.
It is completely manual focus and has a very well dampened focus ring close to the lens mount that telescopes and then a very clicky aperture ring. The aperture ring is a little quirky at first to use. The aperture control is very thin and a little hard to adjust since there’s very little to grip. The ring moves in half-stops from f/1.4 - f/4 before it goes in full stops between 4, 5.6, 8, and 16. This aperture ring has to be the biggest complaint I have about the otherwise decent lens body. I wish TTArtisan had expanded the grip/gears on the aperture and focus ring.
The glass element construction diagram is shown on the top of the lens barrel and is quite unique. There’s nothing that screams beautiful about this lens , but it does remind me of manual focus film camera lenses from the past. The design seems like an ode to the vintage manual focus lenses from the analog era.
The lens cap is a screw-on metal cap which lends to security of your front element but is quite cumbersome to screw on and off when you want to quickly take photos. The front of the lens also has threads for 39mm filters.
The optical design of this lens consists of 7 glass elements in 6 groups with 10 diaphragm blades which produces decent bokeh. This lens most likely does not have any weather sealing so use with caution in wet or sandy weather conditions. There’s no rubber gasket to protect your camera sensor in the event of rain.
Performance
The TTArtisan 35mm f/1.4 also comes in multiple camera mounts if you have a Fuji X, Canon EF-M, Leica L, M43, or Nikon Z camera. The compact nature of the lens and slim profile of the A7C makes it a fabulous option for discreet street photography. This lens is completely manual so it will slow down your shooting process for better or for worse.
The lens is very soft and almost “dreamy” until you stop down to f/2.8 or f/4. Focusing might be difficult when opened up at f/1.4 but with focus peaking on the modern cameras, this problem can be avoided. This is a 35mm lens for APS-C/Crop Sensor cameras so the Full Frame equivalent is about a 50mm lens.
Vignetting and distortion are problems for this lens, but expected for something so small and affordable. Surprisingly, flaring wasn’t an obvious issue when I used this lens but definitely flared more often than expensive lenses with anti-flare coating.
If you're very strict with your bokeh, you’ll be surprised to see very pleasing bokeh balls in out of focus elements. Now this isn’t saying this is on par with the top of the line lenses, but you’ll get relatively spherical bokeh balls with some obvious cat-eye bokeh in the edges. I don’t detect obvious onion ring effects going on, but there is some “soap bubble” effect happening to the dimmer bokeh balls.
You could probably convince people that these images were from a lens that was 4x or 5x the cost of the TTArtisan 35mm f1/.4
Sample Images
Click on the photo to view a larger image.
Final Thoughts
Overall, this lens surprised me in many ways. The all-metal construction, dedicated aperture ring, max aperture of f/1.4, and decent image quality were all factors that pleased me when shooting.
You’ll appreciate this lens even more if you have experience shooting manual 35mm film cameras that feel and shoot similar to this TTArtisan lens. It’s an obvious ode to vintage metal film lenses of the past and if you shoot photos understanding the image-taking process requires a bit more time, you’ll thoroughly enjoy shooting with this.
Pros:
All metal build quality
Manual aperture ring
Smooth and dampened focus ring
Great focal length for street photography
Opens to f/1.4
Small profile
Cons:
Image quality is decent but not great
Chromatic aberration & sharpness is lacking
Aperture ring is very thin and difficult to use
Mounting and un-mounting this lens is difficult with the small grips
Rating: 2.5/5
I gave the final rating a rather harsh score even though I’d ultimately say I was surprised at the performance of this lens. It felt just ok in the hands, considering the annoyingly small aperture ring. I managed to film a short documentary with this lens so it’s obviously useable in the real world, albeit it takes some time getting used to. If you don’t have much money to spend on lenses and don’t mind shooting on manual lenses, I’d say you should go ahead and try shooting with the TTArtisan 35mm f/1.4. You’re not making a huge commitment spending $73 USD on this lens if you’re not aiming for professional photos!