ryanli wrote:
Thanks everyone for some lovely shots in the thread. Has anyone compared the TTArtisan to the Sigma 45mm F/2.8 C? I loved the sublime rendering of the Sigma and have regretted selling it, but it's hard to find one in the UK for a good price. I wonder whether the TTArtisan could be the 'poor man's Sigma' as far as rendering is concerned? Dustin Abbott mentions in his review that the TTArtisan has a similar look and feel to the Sigma I series lenses but AFAIK he has not done a direct optical comparison with the 45/2.8.
I just received my copy of the 40/2.0. I own and love the Sigma 45/2.8, so I plan to do some comparison shots. I will get to them by the weekend and post some samples here.
Here’s another one with this lens. The vignetting is from the lens. It looks soft due to web compression but I am happy with this lens. I only brought my a7CR and this lens on this trip. Together, they make for a nice little setup.
nepali wrote:
Here’s another one with this lens. The vignetting is from the lens. It looks soft due to web compression but I am happy with this lens. I only brought my a7CR and this lens on this trip. Together, they make for a nice little setup.
chiron wrote:
The colors of the sky seem odd. What do you think?
It’s the result of my editing. I was wearing sunglasses so this particular pic was overexposed. It is a bit overdone because I was trying to recover a lot. I will post few better ones from this trip soon.
Excuse me,
Perhaps as less as possible editing, to get the right impression what the lens is capable of...
nepali wrote:
It’s the result of my editing. I was wearing sunglasses so this particular pic was overexposed. It is a bit overdone because I was trying to recover a lot. I will post few better ones from this trip soon.
So what's the most favored firmware version right now? I read thru the whole thread but over the course of a couple days... I've got a new 40/2 from Amazon sitting here but I guess Imma need to go back to see what I should update it to for use on my A7R IV... Interesting to see that it seems more optimized for the Z sensor stack, wasn't expecting that but for my use it's no big deal.
I'm coming from the Samyang 45/1.8, price hikes moved the Sony out of contention for me (always felt the rendering was just so so anyway), and I'd been looking at the Sigma... The SY is my last prime with no form of aperture control, and I only reach for it when I don't wanna carry my 35GM nor a manual option, so the 40/2 seemed like a good option. I can post comparisons with the SY later if anyone is curious about that...
Jonas B wrote:
The 20250811 firmware is for E-mount lenses only.
I heard the Z-mount version doesn't need any new firmware. I hope that is correct.
I've been using this E-mount firmware and I think it's great. I’m surprised TTArtisan hasn't released an official version yet...maybe they're still working on it. No rush TTA, take your time; I'm already very happy with this beta 20250811 firmware you emailed Jonas!
Fred Miranda wrote:
I've been using this E-mount firmware and I think it's great. I’m surprised TTArtisan hasn't released an official version yet...maybe they're still working on it. No rush TTA, take your time; I'm already very happy with this beta 20250811 firmware you emailed Jonas!
Of course, sharing is caring and all that... I'm happy with the 20250811 as well. Maybe TTA has other ideas they want to try before releasing v03? Time will tell.
Impulses wrote:
I'm coming from the Samyang 45/1.8, price hikes moved the Sony out of contention for me (always felt the rendering was just so so anyway), and I'd been looking at the Sigma... The SY is my last prime with no form of aperture control, and I only reach for it when I don't wanna carry my 35GM nor a manual option, so the 40/2 seemed like a good option. I can post comparisons with the SY later if anyone is curious about that...
Thanks, I for one would be curious. I did a comparison of the Samyang and Sigma some time ago https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1616217/2/ and personally favoured the Sigma's rendering over Samyang's, so would be keen to know how the TTArtisan compares.
Alan Parker wrote:
I really enjoy the look of the lens; somehow also feels a bit like the Nikon 40/2? Do we have comparisons of that?
All tests here wide open. As noted earlier in the thread, the TTA is basically a 38mm/f1.85 with a noticeably wider FOV than the Z. These are all SOOC of the Z9. I feel the key takeaway is the Z is simply more predictable across the frame, while the TTA's combo of wider FOV, bloom, and ultimately cleaner bokeh balls/less fringing pushes it ahead for me in terms of rendering that I enjoy.
Wide open, both lenses will exhibit a slight bloom effect which we've talked about before. This is most noticeable around the rear petals on the subject flower, and around the stem.
TTA:
Nikon:
Here we have somewhat of a torture test...metallic objects in the background, 90 degrees to the sun. While the TTA has bloom, the Z exhibits more green fringing in the bokeh than the TTA, and IMO, the TTA tends to have a more pleasing bokeh shape towards the center, while the Z is more pleasing towards the edges.
TTA:
Nikon:
This test was mostly to see bokeh shapes near edge of frame (bottom right half of photo). Again, the TTA has less fringing, and better controlled bokeh throughout the background (and renders slightly more bokeh overall) at the cost of pure sharpness in the center. Leaf details are visible on the Z shot that simply aren't there on the TTA.
TTA:
Nikon:
This is my bokeh nervousness test, and I see things I like better in each example both lenses actually struggle with rendering pleasing bokeh at this distance, and the TTA displays significantly darker vignette, though not objectively bad.
RoamingScott wrote:
All tests here wide open. As noted earlier in the thread, the TTA is basically a 38mm/f1.85 with a noticeably wider FOV than the Z. These are all SOOC of the Z9. I feel the key takeaway is the Z is simply more predictable across the frame, while the TTA's combo of wider FOV, bloom, and ultimately cleaner bokeh balls/less fringing pushes it ahead for me in terms of rendering that I enjoy.
Very close indeed! I think I like the Nikon a hair better, but the difference is negligible.
I appreciate the work you put in for this.
Alan Parker wrote:
Very close indeed! I think I like the Nikon a hair better, but the difference is negligible.
I appreciate the work you put in for this.
Yes, ultimately they are very similar at a glance.
I think the key pros for the Nikon are 1) it renders sharper deeper into the corners, 2) has less vignette, 3) renders a flatter image and 4) has stated weather resistance.
The pros for the TTA are that it has 1) the aperture ring, 2) much better-feeling build quality, 3) more bokeh, and 4) less fringing wide open.
I personally like the wider FOV, build quality, aperture ring, and bokeh qualities more than the Z, so the TTA will be my lens of choice.
ryanli wrote:
Thanks, I for one would be curious. I did a comparison of the Samyang and Sigma some time ago https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1616217/2/ and personally favoured the Sigma's rendering over Samyang's, so would be keen to know how the TTArtisan compares.
Since Scott said it's more like a 37mm, I wonder if the better comparison would be with the SY 35mm 1.8 and Sigma 35mm 2.0?
I wonder how it stacks up against them? I gotta admit, I'm pretty dern happy with my SY 35mm 1.8 for its size, cost and output.
Everything I’ve seen about the Samyang would indicate it’s not worth replacing it with another cheap Chinese lens.
Erictator wrote:
Since Scott said it's more like a 37mm, I wonder if the better comparison would be with the SY 35mm 1.8 and Sigma 35mm 2.0?
I wonder how it stacks up against them? I gotta admit, I'm pretty dern happy with my SY 35mm 1.8 for its size, cost and output.
Fred Miranda wrote:
I've been using this E-mount firmware and I think it's great. I’m surprised TTArtisan hasn't released an official version yet...maybe they're still working on it. No rush TTA, take your time; I'm already very happy with this beta 20250811 firmware you emailed Jonas!
Last Saturday I received the lens from BH. According to my camera, it is version 02, whatever that may mean. I did not use (yet) the firmware Jonas posted.
Performance-wise, at f8, it is a tad slower to focus than at f2, but nothing too bad. Certainly not hunting.
But I did not spend too much time with it.
When I do, I need to figure out if I like this better than the Sigma 45 or the Sony 28mm f2 shot in APS-C mode.
both lenses actually struggle with rendering pleasing bokeh at this distance, and the TTA displays significantly darker vignette, though not objectively bad.
