The focusing ring is enough dampened and turn by around 120° from 0.5m to infinity , it is nicely ribbed and allow for a good grip Regarding the ninja-star aperture shape and possible reduction of focus shift: at this point I can’t recall the exact source; it’s one of those ‘things I read on the internet.’ I have a theory about why the shape might minimize focus shift, but since I’m not an optical engineer and have no way to verify it, I’ll refrain from potentially digging myself further into a hole. 🙂 I use a clear (UV) protective filter instead of a cap so I'm always ready to shoot instantly. I only use a cap when I throw this in a bag with other gear without padding — which is never. The UV filter never gets in the way, and never gets lost, either. I felt like getting 90% of the Voigtlander 50mm 1.2‘s qualities for about 40% of the price. Not a bad deal in my book. TTArtisan 50mm 1.4 on Leica M10 The lens is fairly small and light compared to other 50mm f1.2 lenses. This makes me think it’s using ultra-high refractive or some type of hybrid elements mostly instead of glass. I don’t know for sure on this one.

How is the vignetting on the TTArtisans 50mm F1.2? Do you like it? Does it get too sharp for portraits? My experience is that a sharp landscape-type lens is not particularly good for portraits. But super sharp portraits are a style. A trend even.

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A fast aperture 50mm lens like this is ideal for portrait photography in particular, because it works out to an effective 75mm on the crop factor A6400. The lens is also made for the crop factor cameras and comes in a variety of mounts which I cover in the video below. Key Features:

The Brightin Star 50mm f1.4 has a calmer warmer feeling than the TTArtisan 50mm f1.2. The Pergear 50mm f1.8 is a bit on the wild side with its flaring and will often cast an orange / brown haze to the image, which is cool when you want it. I did not like the 7Artisans 55mm f1.4 so much. Mainly because of the build quality, but I would rank the image quality somewhere near the Brightin Star with the way it renders, overall pretty decent but the copy-to-copy variation on that lens was pretty wild, so wait for the new version if you like that brand. The TTArtisan 50mm F1.2 lens is constructed of seven elements in five groups, has a minimum focusing distance of 50cm (19.7”), uses a 52mm front filter thread and has a 10-blade aperture diaphragm with an aperture range of F1.2 through F16. The Sony FE 50mm 1.8 is the cheapest of Sony’s ~50mm lenses. The AF is on the noisy side and there are also some optical compromises (corners at infinity, loCA correction, Coma correction) to be aware of. The weight is the same as this TTArtisan lens, but the latter is way smaller.I think the lens has a nice retro-look to it and looks a bit out-of-place on the X-H1 but would like fabulous on an X-T* or X-Pro series. If you’re planning to buy the TTArtisan lens it has a 67mm filter size. I use a K&F 10 stop variable ND filter which is 77mm so I would use a 67mm-77mm step ring.(I bought 77mm size so one filter fits all my lenses). See my Kit List for all the little accessories I use day to day. TTArtisan 50mm f0.95 + Lumix GX880 video rig! Can I recommend the TTArtisan 50mm f0.95? The bokeh of this lens reminds me a little of Fujifilm’s own XF 56mm f/1.2. It is a little more “defined” than lenses like the 50mm f/1 or 90mm f/2. Take a look at the powerlines in the portrait above to get a feel for what I mean. As is often the case when using lenses with strong vignetting on the later Sony sensors there is a slight buish teint in the corners visible. This is more pronounced at wider apertures and it is rarely noticeable in real pictures, but you might still be able to spot it in one or two of the sample pictures. Sharpness infinity (42mp Sony A7rII)

The optical-, as well as the build quality of the lenses from both companies are amazing. It’s getting better and better. 7artisans makes incredibly well built lenses, of which I currently own the M-mount 75mm f/1.25 as well as the new X-mount 35mm f/0.95 (review here). When shooting objects on the same focal plane, the TTArtisan doesn’t really sharpen its corners up until about f5.6. I also own the 50 Lux ASPH and here’s my take on how it differs (on the Leica M) from the TTArtisan 50/1.4 images in this review: Leica claims the Lux ASPH is actually an APO design yet was not branded as such (IIRC this was mentioned by lens designer Peter Karbe in an interview). This seems to be supported based on low LoCA and very low wide open purple fringing compared to the TTA 50/1.4. I rarely notice this problem in images with it. It also has very low distortion. However, it has a few flaws that can be annoying: a drop in sharpness and that becomes quite nervous in the mid zone between around f/2.5-4.5 with corresponding wavy field curvature, making rule of thirds subject placement problematic; ‘ninja-star’ aperture opening between f/2.5-5.6 (apparently to minimize focus shift); not so great flare resistance. It will produce a similar, though less colorful flare ring as the TTA wide open and IMO is generally not great at resisting veiling flare with bright light just outside the frame. It does not have to be a specular light source; it could even be an overcast sky. Unfortunately this is something I’ve noticed with other Leica lenses, particularly the various modern 90s I have owned (Summarit, Macro, APO-ASPH).If you are willing to try a manual focus lens and explore the 50mm focal length (75 mm full-frame equivalent), at a low price point you can’t really go wrong with the TTArtisan 50mm f/2. Personally, the TTArtisan 50mm f/2 is all about a freedom feeling. It gives you the option to go super lightweight and in an unobtrusive way. It is similar to the experience you get with Fujifilm's smaller f/2 lenses.