TTArtisan APS-C 25mm F2 Lens (Black, E Mount)

Lets get this out of the way first- This isn't an optically perfect lens. Far from it. Wide open, this lens produces a somewhat soft and hazy picture that I'm sure some people will be put off from. If you want optical perfection, this isn't the lens for you.THAT BEING SAID- I love this lens. For one, it's the cheapest new lens (I think) that you can buy for the Fuji X mount. That alone gives it a lot of leeway to misbehave a bit, in my book. It's built of metal and feels good to use- the focus ring is well dampened and the clicked aperture is ideal for still photography. Not being a video shooter, I vastly prefer this over declicked apertures.The image quality, for all its flaws, provides what I find to be a pleasing character. It's not perfect for everything, but ... MoreLets get this out of the way first- This isn't an optically perfect lens. Far from it. Wide open, this lens produces a somewhat soft and hazy picture that I'm sure some people will be put off from. If you want optical perfection, this isn't the lens for you.THAT BEING SAID- I love this lens. For one, it's the cheapest new lens (I think) that you can buy for the Fuji X mount. That alone gives it a lot of leeway to misbehave a bit, in my book. It's built of metal and feels good to use- the focus ring is well dampened and the clicked aperture is ideal for still photography. Not being a video shooter, I vastly prefer this over declicked apertures.The image quality, for all its flaws, provides what I find to be a pleasing character. It's not perfect for everything, but this is a lens that begs to be shot wide open at contrasty night scenes in the city. It's wide open characteristics are similar to using a slight diffusion filter. Considering that a good diffusion filter costs almost as much as this lens (Or more, if you splurge on the best filters you can buy), I treat this lens more as a special purpose tool than something to use for every occasion.That character disappears quickly when you stop down, becoming a very sharp lens very quickly. The diffuse look disappears almost completely after the first click down, so you don't need to use it all the time and still have a fast 2.8 aperture without the haze. It's also very small, and pairs well with my X-M1 as a setup that can get tossed in my shoulder bag without a second thought. It's a very fun lens, and if you aren't expecting the level of optical precision that Fuji lenses often strive for, this is a fantastic lens for the money.

You can find my review of this lens, along with its 50mm brother on that red arrow video site under the name "Camera Carnage". Bottom like is this is one of the great bargains in manual lenses. Construction is great. Tactile sensation on the aperture and focus rings is smooth and excellently damped. Optically it's very good. I really enjoy shooting this on my FujiFilm bodies. The stop on the focus ring is adjustable, which is nice in case your setting at infinity isn't quite perfect. Some people don't like the spin-on lens cap, but I appreciate how much space it saves, and how secure it is. The extra effort to take it on and off isn't a red mark for me. Focal length is perfect in my opinion for street photography, and the infinity focus is at an excellent distance ... MoreYou can find my review of this lens, along with its 50mm brother on that red arrow video site under the name "Camera Carnage". Bottom like is this is one of the great bargains in manual lenses. Construction is great. Tactile sensation on the aperture and focus rings is smooth and excellently damped. Optically it's very good. I really enjoy shooting this on my FujiFilm bodies. The stop on the focus ring is adjustable, which is nice in case your setting at infinity isn't quite perfect. Some people don't like the spin-on lens cap, but I appreciate how much space it saves, and how secure it is. The extra effort to take it on and off isn't a red mark for me. Focal length is perfect in my opinion for street photography, and the infinity focus is at an excellent distance for zone focusing. I love this lens so much that I am probably selling my XF 27mm f/2.8 AF pancake and replacing it with this.

This is fantastic for the price! It's my first time trying a 27mm fixed and wanted to get a feel before deciding whether to invest in a better one. I'm pleasantly surprised by the quality. There is some vignetting but the fact that this is the only issue I've noticed with the lens is shocking, given that the Fujinon one is $500+. I'm very pleased with this.

Great lens, small and sweet, solid

I'm thrilled with this lens on my Fujifilm X-T3. Build is excellent, size is wonderful, feel is great - just a very fun lens to shoot. So far, results are excellent, all apertures. All my other lenses are Fujifilm XF series, and this shockingly inexpensive lens certainly holds its own. Would definitely buy more TTArtisan.It arrived quickly, with email status reports along the way. 100% happy, thanks.

Not as Good As Olympus 25 mm, but good and solid bargain

This review is for the Micro 4/3rds version. I had to try it, especially after one reviewer below declared it equal to the Olympus 25 mm F/1.8, which I bought on sale at B&H a few years ago.I compared the TT Artisan 25 mm to my Olympus, both at F/2.0 on my Lumix G9. There's no contest. The Olympus wins. They appear equally sharp and contrasty in the center, but at only halfway to the edge the TT Artisans has blur that is noticeable on an 8 x 10 print if you're close enough. Ok, who does that? In a harder test, bare tree branches against a grey winter sky the TT Artisans has noticable purple fringes around the branches at F2.0, but not the Olympus. The fringes clean up a lot at F/2.8, and are gone at F/4.It has a great mechanical build and feel. I prefer the ... MoreThis review is for the Micro 4/3rds version. I had to try it, especially after one reviewer below declared it equal to the Olympus 25 mm F/1.8, which I bought on sale at B&H a few years ago.I compared the TT Artisan 25 mm to my Olympus, both at F/2.0 on my Lumix G9. There's no contest. The Olympus wins. They appear equally sharp and contrasty in the center, but at only halfway to the edge the TT Artisans has blur that is noticeable on an 8 x 10 print if you're close enough. Ok, who does that? In a harder test, bare tree branches against a grey winter sky the TT Artisans has noticable purple fringes around the branches at F2.0, but not the Olympus. The fringes clean up a lot at F/2.8, and are gone at F/4.It has a great mechanical build and feel. I prefer the focus ring in front of the aperture ring. But what perplexes me is that It's actually about the same size and even heavier than my most excellent performer, Nikon's 50 mm F/1.8 all-metal manual focus pancake lens! TT Artisans could have made this lens smaller for Micro 4/3rd which is one of the reason I like the format.Ultimately I decided to keep this lens, lenses are more than just for pixel peeping, and it's pretty cool and fun for manual use at $55, but only 4 stars.

Sharp, Simple, Solid

This is a really solidly built little lens, and was perfect for getting back into photography by ditching the kit lens on my Sony a6000. At f/4 or f/5.6 it's razor sharp, and at f/2 it's soft in a romantic way that can be fun. The aperture clicks so you always know what you're doing, and the focus range is great to have to. An absolute no-brainer of a lens to buy, especially if you're having Fuji x100 envy but instead have an APS-C camera in need of some love.

Vintage in a compact package

I shoot a lot of vintage lenses. In fact, I have about 75 different lenses from the 60s through the 80s. A defining characteristic of these lenses is their fully spherical, and usually simple (by today's standards) optical formulae. Because of this, they produce unique rendering that works really well for certain things, particularly where subject separation is desirable. This lens is essentially one of those lenses, but with modern coatings, a small image circle, and a petite housing.For portraits and other subject photos, this lens does quite well. Combined with a cheap APS-C body like an A6000, it makes for a good compact sidearm, festival, or street setup. It has an image circle that *just* covers the format, and has extreme spherical aberration towards the ... MoreI shoot a lot of vintage lenses. In fact, I have about 75 different lenses from the 60s through the 80s. A defining characteristic of these lenses is their fully spherical, and usually simple (by today's standards) optical formulae. Because of this, they produce unique rendering that works really well for certain things, particularly where subject separation is desirable. This lens is essentially one of those lenses, but with modern coatings, a small image circle, and a petite housing.For portraits and other subject photos, this lens does quite well. Combined with a cheap APS-C body like an A6000, it makes for a good compact sidearm, festival, or street setup. It has an image circle that *just* covers the format, and has extreme spherical aberration towards the edge of the circle. When shooting subjects, particularly at wider apertures, I find this desirable because the spherical aberration is both more apparent and gives a dynamic appearance to the background which draws ones eyes to the subject. For street/candid purposes, the lens has very good performance stopped down past f/4 and focused beyond 1.5m, at which point it provides serviceable detail for objects not in critical focus - see the photos of the folks in the back of the truck, and the fellow on the hay bale.This lens does struggle with landscape and far-subject photography. When stopped down, some spherical aberration is still visible towards the edges of the image, which can be particularly awkward if some edges are cropped out, but not others. High-contrast, high-detail areas in landscape images do a good job of producing small chromatic aberrations which are noticeable in quantity.Overall, this matches or exceeds the performance of any of my vintage 20mm-class lenses in a small and fast package. Combined with a compact body, such as anything from the A6000 series, it yields a superior alternative to fixed-lens compacts or slow interchangeable lenses from the same system at a great price.