TTArtisan Lenses - Redux

35mm F 1.4 TTArtisan Lens. Buy yours here.

I have been using the 35mm F 1.4 TTArtisan lens for about a week now. I bought it, just as I threatened to do, because it shares the same physical layout as my first TTArtisan purchase, the 17mm 1.4. Both are bright, smooth focusing, and have half-stop clicks on the aperture ring, the 35's being quite distinct and the 17's almost imperceptible. Still, I am generally pleased with their performance, but decided that I wouldn't complete the trio by buying the 50mm F 1.2 since the control placement on my 7artisans 50mm 1.2 is very similar to the other two.

The 35 has some minor quirks. First, the half-stop clicks end at F 4.0 and thereafter click on the full stops only. Second, there is no click to identify F 11, only a red dot on the aperture ring between F 8.0 and F 16. Lastly, the distance scale is only in meters.

TTArtisan Filter Sizes, Lens Hoods: The 35mm and the 17mm both use unusually small filters, the 17 using a 40.5mm filter while the 35 a 39mm. Neither size is impossible to find, as they were both standard filter sizes for Leitz lenses. When it comes tor lens hoods, the 35mm lens isn't fussy at all, since any hood for a so-called "normal" (50mm full frame equivalent) lens will do. Finding a hood for the 17mm was a bit of a struggle, since even the so-called "wide angle" hoods introduced some vignetting (obstruction at the very corners of the frame). I settled on a Nikon HN CP17 lens hood which I just happened to have, but definitely did NOT pay full price for. A less expensive alternative would be one from a third-party maker on eBay since Nikon no longer sells this hood, as it was designed for the discontinued P7700 Point-and-Shoot.

November 20, 2021

On The Road: I've taken the lens out on three morning walks and today I came up short in the inspiration and opportunity departments. In this shot of a dustpan on the side of a garbage truck there was none of the distortion normally associated with wide angle lenses when used at short working distances. I find this image relaxing to look at, maybe because the two dimensional nature of the scene doesn't challenge my notions of perspective, since there is no foreground or background.

One final note: Another reason I won't be buying a TTArtisans 50mm F 1.4 lens is its 52mm filter threads, while the 7Artisans is already threaded for 49mm.  I purchased step-up adapters for so I can use a 49mm polarizer on all of my manual lenses. Just in case. Incidentally, 49mm is the native filter size for the Fuji X100 and X70 cameras.

November 20, 2021

Entomologists Of The World Rejoice! I didn't realize that there was so much merchandise with this proclamation. Sweat shirts, T-Shirts, and windshield decals were easily found. Again, the longer subject-to-camera distance made this image easy to mentally process because of the gradual perspective transition from right (near) to left (far). 

November 21, 2021

This last photo is the only in-camera monochrome image that I actually like. By using the 35mm lens, I was able to include more of the shaded mountainside and less of the sky in the background. 

Thinking Wide: While I doubt that I'll be carrying both lenses tomorrow, this exercise did clarify the importance of the background, and how much it can add to. or detract from, the photo, taken as a whole. In this photo (right), I was able to use the blue sky and fluffy clouds to my advantage. In and of themselves, the sky background doesn't add anything to the photo, but it doesn't take anything away either. It allowed me to separate my dancing subjects from their surroundings. A wide angle lens, used at a low angle, and a short shooting distance helped to make this a real money shot. But had I used that same lens on my tree, the background would have been an uneven merger of blue sky and mountain shadow, thus introducing a possible distraction for the viewer.

I believe I'll be content to consider my collection of manual focus Fuji-compatible lenses complete. I have several adapters to allow me to use both NIkkor and Takumar lenses, should I need something a little longer. A collection of manual focusing prime lenses takes up less space that my "business" cameras, and if I ever take a road trip again, this retro-kit of a body and a couple of lenses would suit me fine.

Fuji X100S, FlashQ Flash

1/1000 second, F 4.0, ISO 200

Taking A Break: I felt I deserved a break from manual focusing, and went in a totally different path I brought a Fuji X100S camera and a QFlash, just for fun. The Fuji's leaf shutter would allow me to use a wider variety of exposure times, but 1/1000 seems to be the minimum setting to avoid possible transmission delays when using radio flash triggers.

This particular stop sign has a makeshift blinder installed on the side to prevent drivers from a side street from misinterpreting its intended audience. I used the QFlash to help me maintain the dark sky while improving the color saturation in the sign. I  held it as high overhead as I could in an effort to even the top to bottom exposure. It worked reasonably well, and the "hot spots" aren't too distracting.

In this shot, the early morning sunlight created a highlight on my subject's left. All Minions look the same to me. The radio trigger feature allowed me to position the flash high overhead, as you can see by the shadow cast by the goggles.

1/1000 second, F 5.6, ISO 200 with flash

In this test shot, I  set the camera's exposure manually to darken the sky. I mounted the flash on the camera's hot shoe, set it to full power, and fired away. Before the flash could fully recycle, I made a second exposure to compare a "with flash" exposure with a "no flash" one. The camera to subject distance was about seven feet.

1/1000 second, F 5.6, ISO 200 without flash

When compared to the "no flash" version on the right, you can see that the little flash can really make a difference at close range. Based on this subjective, non-scientific evaluation, I estimate the outdoor guide number at full power to be about 40 at ISO 200. This is at odds with the factory Guide Number of 91, adjusted by a factor of 1.4 to accommodate the higher ISO of 200.

Guide Numbers Are Just Guides: If your wondering about the discrepancy, it's because factory guide numbers assume that the flash will be fired indoors, and that some of the light reflected from the walls and the ceiling will contribute to the total illumination on the subject. In the absence of reflectors, much more light is just lost, and the Guide Number will drop accordingly.

A leaf-shuttered camera and a small flash. Don't leave home without them.