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My TTArtisan 50mm f/1.2 Lens Review – Worth A $100??

TTArtisan 50mm f/1.2 Lens Review
85
A Super Affordable Beast of a Lens
TTArtisan 50mm f/1.2 Lens

In this review I will be covering the TTArtisan 50mm f/1.2 Lens using my powerful Sony A6400 for the camera body.

This lens is extremely affordable at $98 US, and it has a crazy fast f/1.2 max aperture which will allow for some excellent separation with subjects as you will see in the sample photos below. The incredible low cost of this lens is what caught my attention, but after receiving it I was super impressed with the build quality as well.

A fast aperture 50mm lens like this is ideal for portrait photography in particular, because it works out to an effective 75mm on the crop factor A6400. The lens is also made for the crop factor cameras and comes in a variety of mounts which I cover in the video below.

Key Features:

  • E-Mount Lens/ APS-C Format
  • 75mm Effective Range
  • Aperture Range: f/1.2 to f/16
  • Sonnar Optical Concept
  • 7 Elements in 5 Groups
  • Manual Focus Design
  • 10-Blade Diaphragm
  • Filter Thread = 52mm
  • Minimum Focus Distance = 1.6′ / 50 cm
  • Weight = 11.9 oz / 336 g
  • Retail Price = $98 US

My TTArtisan 50mm f/1.2 Lens Review

When watching my video below, please be sure to select the 4k option and to view in full screen for the highest quality viewing experience 😉 Thanks, Jay

TTArtisan 50mm f/1.2 Lens Review
My TTArtisan 50mm f/1.2 Lens Review – Worth A $100??
Super Affordable Fully Manual APS-C Portrait Lens
So at the end of the day I absolutely think this lens is worth $100 US and as you can see by the sample photos you can produce some killer frames with this full manual extremely affordable optic! The lens is not crazy sharp at f/1.2 and you can see this in particular during the minimum focus tests done in the lab. In the real world however, the lens performs really well I would say. It has some purple and green fringing in high contrast areas when at f/1.2 and f/1.4, but if you stop down to around f/2 most of that goes away and you can correct for in post also, so it's not that big of a deal considering the cost of the lens in my opinion. Build quality on this beast is excellent and aperture ring has a soft click between aperture, while the focus ring spins very smooth with excellent dampening. The all metal design is topped off with a treaded metal lens cap, which is pretty darn cool as well. I highly recommend this lens for those on a budget looking for a portrait lens that can produce some amazing background separation.
Bang For The Buck
95
Feature Set
85
Build Quality and Design
90
Ergonomics
86
Manual Focus Control and Feel
90
Real World Usability
80
Video Quality
75
Real World Image quality
85
Lab Testing Optical Quality
69
Lens Distortion Control
75
Low Light Performance
90
Fun Factor
100
Pros
Super Affordable
Excellent Build Quality
Buttery Smooth Focus Ring
Compact and Fairly Light Weight
In The Real World Produces Awesome Photos!!
Tons Of Fun
Cons
Soft at f/1.2 at minimum focus distance
Soft in the corners until f/5.6-f/8
Suffers from some Chromatic Aberrations @ f/1.2-f/2
Lens Flare/ Glare Control is Not The Best
A kinda weird bokeh rendering on the lights in the minimum focus distance lab testing due to aperture diaphragm design
85
A Super Affordable Beast of a Lens
TTArtisan 50mm f/1.2 Lens

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Real World Sample Photos

Be sure to click on the photos for a larger view!

Lab Testing

Below you will see the lab testing sample photos with the full scene on the left and then 100% crops of the corner area and the center area. Be sure to click on the photos for a larger view!

GEAR USED FOR THIS REVIEW: 


Check out this video for a highly detailed tutorial on How-To focus manually using the Sony A6400


Conclusions

Do you think this lens is worth $100??

Please let me know in the comments below!

So at the end of the day I absolutely think this lens is worth $100 US and as you can see by the sample photos you can produce some killer frames with this full manual extremely affordable optic! The lens is not crazy sharp at f/1.2 and you can see this in particular during the minimum focus tests done in the lab. In the real world however, the lens performs really well I would say. It has some purple and green fringing in high contrast areas when at f/1.2 and f/1.4, but if you stop down to around f/2 most of that goes away and you can correct for in post also, so it’s not that big of a deal considering the cost of the lens in my opinion. Build quality on this beast is excellent and aperture ring has a soft click between aperture, while the focus ring spins very smooth with excellent dampening. The all metal design is topped off with a treaded metal lens cap, which is pretty darn cool as well. I highly recommend this lens for those on a budget looking for a portrait lens that can produce some amazing background separation.

Manual focusing is not as hard as you might think if your subject is fairly still, so if you are un familiar with the process be sure to check out the video above for a detailed tutorial.

That is it for this review and I really hope you got what you were looking for! So tell me, do you think this lens is worth $100?? Do you have this lens already and if so what do you think? Please let me know in the comments below!!

Jay

TTArtisan 50mm f/1.2 Lens Review
My TTArtisan 50mm f/1.2 Lens Review – Worth A $100??
Super Affordable Fully Manual APS-C Portrait Lens
So at the end of the day I absolutely think this lens is worth $100 US and as you can see by the sample photos you can produce some killer frames with this full manual extremely affordable optic! The lens is not crazy sharp at f/1.2 and you can see this in particular during the minimum focus tests done in the lab. In the real world however, the lens performs really well I would say. It has some purple and green fringing in high contrast areas when at f/1.2 and f/1.4, but if you stop down to around f/2 most of that goes away and you can correct for in post also, so it's not that big of a deal considering the cost of the lens in my opinion. Build quality on this beast is excellent and aperture ring has a soft click between aperture, while the focus ring spins very smooth with excellent dampening. The all metal design is topped off with a treaded metal lens cap, which is pretty darn cool as well. I highly recommend this lens for those on a budget looking for a portrait lens that can produce some amazing background separation.
Bang For The Buck
95
Feature Set
85
Build Quality and Design
90
Ergonomics
86
Manual Focus Control and Feel
90
Real World Usability
80
Video Quality
75
Real World Image quality
85
Lab Testing Optical Quality
69
Lens Distortion Control
75
Low Light Performance
90
Fun Factor
100
Pros
Super Affordable
Excellent Build Quality
Buttery Smooth Focus Ring
Compact and Fairly Light Weight
In The Real World Produces Awesome Photos!!
Tons Of Fun
Cons
Soft at f/1.2 at minimum focus distance
Soft in the corners until f/5.6-f/8
Suffers from some Chromatic Aberrations @ f/1.2-f/2
Lens Flare/ Glare Control is Not The Best
A kinda weird bokeh rendering on the lights in the minimum focus distance lab testing due to aperture diaphragm design
85
A Super Affordable Beast of a Lens
TTArtisan 50mm f/1.2 Lens