As I love to test new equipment, I combined my new TTArtisan 35mm f1.4 and the Mint Fujifilm X-PRO1 I lately purchased on eBay.
To me it is important to push lenses to their limits. In the case of the TTArtisan 35mm f1.4 the limit is the max aperture opening of f1.4. Typically most lenses are soft wide open but are improving if you start climbing up in the aperture number. The highest sharpness of a lens is usually reached between f5.6 and f8.
The TTArtisan 35mm f1.4 is different. Please have a look to the two pictures I made of the Purpur Sunhat at the end of the sample gallery. The image to the left is made at f1.4 (wide open) the image to the right with aperture f8. First I did not trust my eyes. The image with f1.4 is at the focus point (centered big blossom) sharper and more rich on details than the image made with f8. Please do not misunderstand me, the F8 picture is sharp but there is the bit more, that makes a difference between a good and a great image, at the f1.4 picture. In the second moment I thought “wait a moment, the f1.4 image will be made with ISO200 and the second image with ISO 3200 which of course might explain the difference in details” but I checked this the f1.4 image is made at ISO200 but the f8 image has only ISO400 which on the legendary Fujifilm X-PRO1 should make no real visible difference.
To research this phenomena I will make more pictures soon and come back to this topic.
On the mechanical side, the haptic of the small TTArtisan 35mm f1.4 lens is good the clicked aperture ring and the focus ring are moving well and are not too loose. The overall build quality is not reaching the high level of the 7Artisans 35mm f1.5 APSC lens. The focus and aperture rings are better damped on the 7Artisans lens and the haptic of the metal construction feels more firm.
All in all and of course strongly influenced by the brilliant optical result at f1.4, the TTArtisan 35mm f1.4 is a great compact lens that will be perfect for light weight traveling and images under low light conditions.
