The TTArtisan 23mm f/1.4 lens is a fully manual, all-metal lens designed for a variety of crop sensor cameras. In this video, I discuss my initial impressions using the lens and also whether or not I think it's worth picking up.
Using a manual lens on a mirrorless camera can seem at first like more trouble than it is worth, but it really depends on the specific lens. I have personally had mixed results manually focusing some of my autofocus lenses, as the manual focus can sometimes seem like an afterthought. With the TTArtisan 23mm lens, this is certainly not the case, and one of the best parts of the lens is how smooth and confident the focusing is. In fact, it only took a minute or two for me to become acclimated to manually focusing the lens, especially when used with focus peaking. In the video, I also discuss the build quality of the lens, which is made extremely well, the aesthetics that are equally pleasing, and the image quality. I used the 23mm primarily on my X-T4 over the course of two days with my family, and in the review, I give my feedback and show some sample images. I hope you enjoy it!
Listening while looking at your images, i thought about the photos I've taken with the vintage lenses (all 60's and 70's Minolta) adapted on my fuji x bodies. I'd be interested in your thoughts on using new lenses like this one versus old ones from film days. My old minoltas were pretty cheap. Like you, i enjoy using simpler lenses on occasion. And thanks for the article.
Hey Ted, I think that's a great idea. I haven't used any vintage lenses on my Fuji but i will probably pick something up and give this idea a try. I would imagine the older Minolta glass would do better than the newer 3rd party, but maybe not. It's a fun premise. Thanks for the comment and for reading/watching!