Definitely punches well above its size and cost. I have thoroughly enjoyed carrying it around and the images it’s cranked out. It might actually end up being my favorite lens to walk around with on the A7Cii.
Definitely punches well above its size and cost. I have thoroughly enjoyed carrying it around and the images it’s cranked out. It might actually end up being my favorite lens to walk around with on the A7Cii.
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.
Scott- Finally got around to reading your review. Sounds like you were able to get a copy of the 40 that didn't have the heavy vignetting? It doesn't bother me as I don't intend to use this for landscapes, but figured if it is possible to get one without the vignetting, happy to send this back and roll the dice until I get a good copy.
Scott- Finally got around to reading your review. Sounds like you were able to get a copy of the 40 that didn't have the heavy vignetting? It doesn't bother me as I don't intend to use this for landscapes, but figured if it is possible to get one without the vignetting, happy to send this back and roll the dice until I get a good copy.
I like using the FE 50/1.8 correction profile as it leaves the image as is and does a good job on the vignette.
I'm finding the AF generally works fine but upon occasion it will totally miss, and refuse to focus correctly. (I think it is focusing past infinity). I have tried AFS and AFC and it doesn't seem to matter much. Is this what other people are seeing too?
It seems to happen most often when shooting at longer distances. I have been turning the camera off and on again, and even unscrewing the lens and then clicking it back into place (at first I wondered if it wasn't seated correctly).
I am within the returns window for the lens, but apart from this issue, I like it a lot. Let's see if a firmware update makes a difference.
It is still occasionally playing up after updating to version 03. It just sometimes refuses to focus and I have to turn the camera off and on again. It does usually work quite well though.
I have submitted a bug to TTA that is affecting at least the Z version on 1.01 in that the lens' aperture resets to f2 on power off/sleep no matter what it was set to while on.
It SHOULD be parking at f16 while off, like every other lens ever made.
It's a recipe for a burnt sensor if you don't use lens caps in the field.
Unfortunately it seems to be playing up even worse today, I think it will have to go back.
I'll be weighing up the Viltrox & the 7Artisans 40mm, and the Samyang 35 f1.8 (or f2.8).
Following videos are of the AF failing in AFS mode, centre focus. Have tried removing and replacing the lens several times, turning camera off and on etc, sometimes this resolves the issue for a bit but then it comes back.
I really like the character of the lens, especially for family-type photos / memories.
Focussing works ok enough for me at 2,8-4,0. Stopped down more, hunting becomes hit-or-miss.
What really worries me though is that the lens stops focusing quite regularly and I have to remove and reattach it to work again. Just as described by ihasa, for example.
I am using the E-Mount version with the latest firmware .03 2026-01-30.
I don't recall this happening with the inofficial firmware, supplied by Roamingscott.
I will try to downgrade to see if I remember correctly.
Is everybody else having this problem, or might this be a hardware defect?
EDIT: @RoamingScott, would you mind sharing that inofficial FW again? Sorry, I can't DM here yet
schmandchen wrote:
I really like the character of the lens, especially for family-type photos / memories.
Focussing works ok enough for me at 2,8-4,0. Stopped down more, hunting becomes hit-or-miss.
What really worries me though is that the lens stops focusing quite regularly and I have to remove and reattach it to work again. Just as described by ihasa, for example.
I am using the E-Mount version with the latest firmware .03 2026-01-30.
I don't recall this happening with the inofficial firmware, supplied by Roamingscott.
I will try to downgrade to see if I remember correctly.
Is everybody else having this problem, or might this be a hardware defect?
EDIT: @RoamingScott@, would you mind sharing that inofficial FW again? Sorry, I can't DM here yet
schmandchen wrote:
I really like the character of the lens, especially for family-type photos / memories.
Focussing works ok enough for me at 2,8-4,0. Stopped down more, hunting becomes hit-or-miss.
What really worries me though is that the lens stops focusing quite regularly and I have to remove and reattach it to work again. Just as described by ihasa, for example.
I am using the E-Mount version with the latest firmware .03 2026-01-30.
I don't recall this happening with the inofficial firmware, supplied by Roamingscott.
I will try to downgrade to see if I remember correctly.
Is everybody else having this problem, or might this be a hardware defect?
EDIT: @RoamingScott@, would you mind sharing that inofficial FW again? Sorry, I can't DM here yet
For you guys having issues, which bodies are you running the lens on?
I haven’t experienced the cited issues above yet, but I’ve also only had the lens for a little over a month.
It arrived with an earlier FW which I used without issue for a little bit. I updated it to the current FW and have been running it on an A7Cii with the latest FW without any significant issue since. The only issues I’ve run into are some inconsistent accuracy when in wide/AFC with some backlighting and when stopping down to smaller apertures.
I had a similar issue with a TTA 75/2 for Nikon. It was kind of like the focus motors would stick close up and refuse to move beyond a certain focusing distance. I moderate whack or two and a shake to move the elements seemed to get it working, but I it didn't bode well for the future. It would also manually focus WAY past infinity. Maybe a bad batch of focus motors?
My Sony versions of both the 40 and 75 don't do this. I had the 40 for Nikon and it was fine as well.
rps_23 wrote:
I had a similar issue with a TTA 75/2 for Nikon. It was kind of like the focus motors would stick close up and refuse to move beyond a certain focusing distance. I moderate whack or two and a shake to move the elements seemed to get it working, but I it didn't bode well for the future. It would also manually focus WAY past infinity. Maybe a bad batch of focus motors?
My Sony versions of both the 40 and 75 don't do this. I had the 40 for Nikon and it was fine as well.
My "bad" copies of each had the same behaviors regarding infinity. Never seen it on the good copies.
@schmandchen@
try this link
Now that inofficial fw is kinda old so i didn't think anyone needed it anymore. I have sold my TTA40 so I haven't tried any version 03. But who knows, maybe the inofficial v.02 will do it for you. Good luck!
But I can describe the focusing behavior now: the focus gets stuck at the closest focusing distance (not mfd, but the closest distance last used by me). If I want to focus further away, it does nothing until I remove and reattach the lens.
After bumping it gently on a wooden table it works fine - for now. It's nothing I care to do to a lens though 😬
Let's see how long this works.. I don't want to get it replaced, since my copy is the best one optically out of 3 I tried.
