TTArtisan 50mm 1.4 preview

I am quite excited: I was eagerly awaiting this lens, and it arrived incredibly quickly from China after ordering it from Peter at LeicaRumors.com. Thanks to Chloe at TTArtisan as well for the prompt replies!

I reviewed the TTArtisan 50mm 0.95 and was unimpressed with its optical performance. But when it was at its best it was really good. That design is extreme and the price so low that compromises were to be expected.

Will the new fast 50mm prime lens from the same company be different?

First impression?

The presentation is exactly the same as the 0.95 sibling: quite nice, an outer box with a graphic rendering of the lens and inside is the PU leather clad hinged box with a red faux velvet lined interior. The little screwdriver to calibrate focus has its own space in the box, whereas with the 0.95 it didn’t. Let me say that the focus calibration was a doddle. At the second attempt I got it right: I didn’t even take the supplied focusing chart out of the box (by the way, it still is the one for the TTArtisan 35mm 1.4) but used one of mine at around 2m distance. First shot out of the box showed far focus. Turned the calibration ring counter-clockwise 3-4mm and tried again. Slightly close focused. Turned back clockwise by 1-2mm: spot on. Great!

The build quality is, to be honest, top notch. A hefty chunk of metal and glass in the hand, beautiful item and really well made, with no wobbles and tight tolerances. Smooth focus, faint roughness that I expect to fade with use like on Leica products. The aperture ring clicks positively and is a pleasure to use, it stays where you put it while shooting. Engravings filled with paint, beautiful machining. I can’t find a thing to complain about here!

The TTArtisan 50mm 1.4 is built by DJ-Optical like all its siblings and also the 7Artisans lenses. They are getting better. It also comes with a metal push on lens cap with felt inside, not as incredible as the 0.95 front lens cap but still high quality. Even the rear mount cap is high quality, which robust plastic and perfect fitting.

The lens is not small and it certainly isn’t light: it weighs 399g, and it feels like it. It is long as well:

By comparison the aluminium built black version of the Leica Summilux 50mm 1.4 ASPH weighs 335g and is 53.5mm long by 52.5mm wide. The TTArtisan is definitely bigger and heavier. I don’t find it to be obnoxious though.

Ergonomics are stellar in my opinion: wide and easily identifiable ribbed focus ring, which caters for users like me, and a perfectly sized and shaped focusing tab, catering for the many “tabbers” out there. Both ways of focusing are great.

Have you shot any images with it?

I certainly have. First impression? Wow. Just wow.

But I will be writing a much more detailed review as soon as I have had enough time to really put it through its paces.

I would like to show you this portrait of a very nice lady that graciously allowed me to photograph her:

Have you noticed the amount of detail in the plane of focus? And the smooth bokeh? This is an unedited image, just some cropping to remove distracting shapes from the left. I’m impressed.

I leave you with a few more images from my first outing with it, including a distortion assessment, which looks like it is of the pincushion sort.