This happened to me as well. I found a USB-C cable in my stash that finally worked. It’s a heftier cable that I think came with a GoPro or something. It delivers power and data, which some cables don’t do. Keep trying cables. I went through maybe a half dozen until I found one.
Now I just leave it connected and use a different rear cap for the lens. 🤣
VetraLens wrote:
I had ordered directly from TTA and it arrived yesterday. My USB dock seems to be dead—I've tested it with three different cables on two different computers and neither machine recognizes that there's a device plugged in.
I asume there is no other way to check or update the lens firmware?
Can anyone give a synopsis of what the various FW updates were addressing? After some quick test shots, my lens seems to be quite sharp, I don't notice any extreme vignetting (and definitely none of the hard-edged type that was discussed early in this thread), and it seems to focus pretty well. Maybe a bit more hunting than I'd like in low-light situations, but nothing too horrible so far....Show more →
matthewm wrote:
This happened to me as well. I found a USB-C cable in my stash that finally worked. It’s a heftier cable that I think came with a GoPro or something. It delivers power and data, which some cables don’t do. Keep trying cables. I went through maybe a half dozen until I found one.
Now I just leave it connected and use a different rear cap for the lens. 🤣
I had an interesting question posed to me, and after testing, I'm seeing this behavior too. At least on Nikon, the AF 40 does not stop down on power off, but instead switches to wide open. Something to be mindful of if your camera is ever near direct sunlight while off. The AF 75 closes down normally on power off.
I reached out to TTA regarding this focus pulsating issue. They sent me a prepaid label to send the lens back for a replacement. I received another copy and it has the same pulsating issue at aperture higher than f2. Then I realized one thing and maybe you guys have already figured this out. This pulsating issue is only there when in AF-C mode (which makes sense). In AF-S mode, it focuses and locks without any issue at any aperture. I will use this lens in AF-S mode for now until TTA figures out this issue.
RoamingScott wrote:
I had an interesting question posed to me, and after testing, I'm seeing this behavior too. At least on Nikon, the AF 40 does not stop down on power off, but instead switches to wide open. Something to be mindful of if your camera is ever near direct sunlight while off. The AF 75 closes down normally on power off.
I'm curious how the Sony version behaves.
It remains open at whatever aperture is set to when powered off.
nepali wrote:
For me, the 20250811 version reduced the focus hunting issue at higher aperture. It is still there but much better than the official release of the firmware.
Apparently, TTArtisan released "TTARTISAN_AF_40_F2.0_FE_20260129_V.03.fir", the latest firmware. I'm still using the unofficial "20250811" and haven't updated yet. Has anyone tried it?
• Adds compatibility with the Sony A7M5.
• Improves focus breathing performance in certain shooting scenarios.
Fred Miranda wrote:
Apparently, TTArtisan released "TTARTISAN_AF_40_F2.0_FE_20260129_V.03.fir", the latest firmware. I'm still using the unofficial "20250811" and haven't updated yet. Has anyone tried it?
• Adds compatibility with the Sony A7M5.
• Improves focus breathing performance in certain shooting scenarios.
Fred Miranda wrote:
Apparently, TTArtisan released "TTARTISAN_AF_40_F2.0_FE_20260129_V.03.fir", the latest firmware. I'm still using the unofficial "20250811" and haven't updated yet. Has anyone tried it?
• Adds compatibility with the Sony A7M5.
• Improves focus breathing performance in certain shooting scenarios.
A first quick try showed some improvements. That's nice!
I went from the unofficial beta fw 02 (the same as Fred has, not the same as the official v02):
(Checking the version using the camera it stills shows v1. This doesn't matter)
The AF now works a bit better with less or no hunting when setting the AF point at the border or a corner and the light is down to ISo 2500 1/80 and f/2. That is as good as the Sony FE 40/2.8 G focuses in the same situation. This was with the little AF square set to the new small size with a Sony F1.
Focusing in slightly better light in the center of the image I didn't notice any difference compared to earlier.
I don't have any A75.
EDIT 2: 260204: As the official fw version 03 seem to work well I have taken the beta 250811 down from my dropbox.
I installed the new firmware yesterday and had few minutes to test it out. It somewhat feels a bit better (could be a placebo effect) in AF-C mode. In AF-S mode, it is still great.
Received my silver copy about a couple of weeks ago, and it has been a very pleasant surprise. TBH, it's damn near perfect for what I was looking for and has largely quelled any desire I had for the incoming SG Image 35/2.2. Immediately upgraded firmware upon receipt, and it has been performing very well in AF-C on my A7Cii.
After playing with some of the different lens profile corrections in LRC, I've decided to stick with the FE 50/1.8 profile as I like it best as a starting point for most of my shots so far.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Getting caught up on this thread and appreciate your contributions here Scott. Seems you've done quite a bit of real world shooting with this guy so I'd like to get your thoughts on rendering. Brute force sharpness and critically smooth bokeh matter less for me in a lifestyle lens but I do prefer they render nicely.
I have the Nikon 40 f2 and while its a cool lens, the rendering is so flat that I'll go through a whole trip or shoot and come out with a set of photos that look like they were shot on vintage MF glass. But your shots seem to show a good amount of contrast and color saturation that I don't get in the Nikon. This is a huge plus for me and why I'm a huge fan of the Sigma 35i, but the Sigma is actually pretty heavy when tossing a cam in an EDC or travel bag.
Mystik wrote:
Getting caught up on this thread and appreciate your contributions here Scott. Seems you've done quite a bit of real world shooting with this guy so I'd like to get your thoughts on rendering. Brute force sharpness and critically smooth bokeh matter less for me in a lifestyle lens but I do prefer they render nicely.
I have the Nikon 40 f2 and while its a cool lens, the rendering is so flat that I'll go through a whole trip or shoot and come out with a set of photos that look like they were shot on vintage MF glass. But your shots seem to show a good amount of contrast and color saturation that I don't get in the Nikon. This is a huge plus for me and why I'm a huge fan of the Sigma 35i, but the Sigma is actually pretty heavy when tossing a cam in an EDC or travel bag....Show more →
I agree with your assessment of the Z 40/2, I find it to be ultimately a boring lens from a rendering perspective. The images out of the TTA tend to have more contrast (so long as there isn't flare) and for me, more interesting bokeh rendering. AF has been plenty fast for documentary-style capture on trips and I've not cursed TTA's name for making me miss shots.
Of course I'm post processing my files, so you're not seeing SOOC colors and contrast in the review photos, though my examples in this thread comparing the lenses have been SOOC as reference points. The TTA files take post well and in general I don't feel like I have to do much to them to get them where I want them.
I agree with your assessment of the Z 40/2, I find it to be ultimately a boring lens from a rendering perspective. The images out of the TTA tend to have more contrast (so long as there isn't flare) and for me, more interesting bokeh rendering. AF has been plenty fast for documentary-style capture on trips and I've not cursed TTA's name for making me miss shots.
Of course I'm post processing my files, so you're not seeing SOOC colors and contrast in the review photos, though my examples in this thread comparing the lenses have been SOOC as reference points. The TTA files take post well and in general I don't feel like I have to do much to them to get them where I want them.
Thanks for your feedback! I suspected that this had a livelier rendering than the Nikkor based on the samples you posted. There's only so much you can extract in post if the baseline is so flat. You've sold me on the TTA.
Really enjoyed your shots with this lens btw. I spent the last two years traveling to Seattle area for work (employed by the Spheres basically ) once a month but tended to strike out when shooting there. You did the area justice for sure.
After some more hands-on time, I've decided that I love having it in the kit. It also helps that my daughter who just started shooting also really enjoys using it.
) once a month but tended to strike out when shooting there. You did the area justice for sure.
