TTArtisan 10mm f/2 has arrived, and here’s everything you need to know

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This is my review of TTArtisan 10mm f/2.

I’m a professional portrait photographer using the best camera lenses in my work and projects, including TTArtisan lenses. And now, I’ve taken an in-depth look at TTArtisan 10mm f/2 to help you determine if this lens is the best choice for your excellent pictures.

I have reviewed numerous excellent TTArtisan lenses on my channel. TTArtisan is an exceptional lens brand that consistently provides photographers with a wide range of high-quality and affordable camera lenses.

In this TTArtisan 10mm f/2 review, we will analyze the camera lens performance in practice, customer reviews, and potential alternatives for your photography experiences.

Let’s get started!

TTArtisan 10mm f/2 Overview

The TTArtisan 10mm f/2 lens is one of the outstanding camera lenses within the TTArtisan ultra-wide-angle lens family. [1] The TTArtisan 10mm f/2 lens features compact and portable, 13 Elements in 10 Groups and excellent image quality from centre to edge. This affordable lens helps you to get some excellent effects with your images.

Many photographers and users favour this lens’s ability to capture exceptional images even in low-light conditions. The TTArtisan ultra-wide-angle lens family has several lenses. Here is a list of three lenses we found.

• TTArtisan 11mm f/2.8 Full Frame Ultra-Wide Fisheye Lens
• TTArtisan 7.5mm f/2 Fisheye Lens
• TTArtisan 10mm f/2

Our detailed analysis will focus on the TTArtisan 10mm f2. This TTArtisan 10mm f2 is the most popular and brand-new product suitable for various situations.

Let’s look closer at the new TTArtisan 10mm f/2 lens, specifically designed for APS-C cameras, boasting a fast f/2 maximum aperture. This lens is versatile and compatible with multiple camera systems, including Sony E, Fujifilm X, Nikon Z, Canon RF, and Micro Four Thirds.

Although TTArtisan has previously released several fisheye lenses, the 10mm lens we are discussing is their widest rectilinear lens. It provides a field of view of 105 degrees, equivalent to a 15mm focal length on most APS-C cameras or a 20mm focal length on Micro Four Thirds cameras. This lens is priced at only US$169, making it one of the most affordable options for a fast ultra-wide-angle lens.

Specifications

Despite TTArtisan’s recent release of several autofocus lenses, the 10mm lens under discussion is a fully manual focus lens without any electronic contacts or features. TTArtisan’s strategy is to develop autofocus and manual focus lenses simultaneously, depending on photographers’ specific needs and preferences.

Compact and Design

When purchasing a camera lens, many people consider portability and lightweight as crucial factors to take into account. Here is some detailed information about the size and weight of the TTArtisan 10mm f2 lens.

Similar to other manual focus lenses from TTArtisan, the construction of this lens is very solid, with a predominantly metal build. The entire body is metal, including the rear lens mount and front lens cap. Additionally, the lens comes with two front lens caps: one made of metal that can be screwed onto the metal filter holder and another made of rubber that can be used independently if you prefer not to use the filter holder.

This robust construction and inclusion of multiple lens caps provide flexibility and durability to the lens. You can attach a 72mm filter to the front of the lens by utilizing the included filter holder. This feature lets you quickly and securely use filters to enhance your creative photography or achieve specific effects.

I mentioned that the construction of this lens is solid, and this time, I had the opportunity to test it out and assess its performance. I took the lens out on the first day to capture some photos. I made a mistake as I didn’t securely mount the lens onto the camera.

Consequently, when I removed the camera from the camera bag, the lens slipped from my hand and fell onto a solid concrete floor. I vividly remember watching the lens drop slowly and hit the floor, bouncing a few times. I immediately thought, ‘Oh no! I haven’t even started the review, and I’ve already damaged the lens.’ However, upon picking up the lens, I noticed several dents, mainly on the front filter holder and a few smaller ones on the body. Surprisingly, the glass elements appeared undamaged.

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I consider myself fortunate as the filter holder safeguarded the lens, resulting in no visible damage or internal components being loose. I captured some test photos and did not notice any abnormalities, indicating that the lens successfully endured the fall from approximately 1.5 meters or 5 feet onto a solid concrete surface.

Later that day, I contacted TTArtisan to inform them about my regrettable mishap, explaining that the lens appeared in perfect condition aside from a few dents on the body.

TTArtisan kindly offered another sample, and I agreed to accept it. Although I believed the accident hadn’t caused any damage to the lens, I didn’t want to risk providing inaccurate test results due to my silly mishap, which could affect image quality to some extent.

Therefore, the test results I am sharing with you were conducted using the second sample provided by TTArtisan. I also compared the photos taken with the first and second lens samples and couldn’t find any noticeable differences.

First and foremost, I must emphasize that the build quality of this lens is excellent, as it proved resilient even after enduring a drop. Secondly, I highly recommend utilizing the provided lens filter holder, even if you don’t intend to use a filter. It is an additional layer of physical protection to safeguard the lens from accidents or mishaps.

Aperture

Additionally, it’s worth noting that the aperture ring is located near the lens mount and features distinct clicks. There are two clicks per stop, allowing you to adjust the aperture from the maximum aperture of f/2 down to the minimum gap of f/16. This configuration provides precise control over your photographs’ depth of field and exposure settings.

Many affordable mechanical lenses in the market typically have variable clicks per stop design. This means these lenses often have two clicks per stop when the aperture is near the maximum. However, as you adjust the aperture halfway, it transitions to one click per stop. If you don’t visually inspect the lens while adjusting the aperture, it may be challenging to determine whether a single click corresponds to a half-stop or a full-stop change in aperture value.

With the TTArtisan lens, each click consistently represents a half-stop change in aperture, ensuring ease of use and clarity when adjusting settings. The primary focus ring operates smoothly, offering a focus throw of approximately 90 degrees. It’s important to note that this lens has no weather sealing, making it unsuitable for rainy weather. Additionally, caution should be exercised when shooting in adverse weather conditions due to the significant front element and the absence of a deep lens hood.

Due to the absence of a deep lens hood, raindrops can quickly accumulate on the front element of this lens. With a weight of approximately 340 grams, it can be considered slightly heavier than the average APS-C lens. While it may not be categorized as heavy, its importance relative to other lenses in its class is still worth noting.

Image Quality

Let’s delve into the image quality, starting with assessing image sharpness. When checking the center of a photo captured at f/2 using the 40-megapixel Fujifilm XH2, there is a slight softness in the center.

However, the sharpness noticeably improves at f/2.8 and further at f/4.

There is a noticeable softness as we move toward the image’s corners at f/2. However, the corner sharpness gradually improves as we progressively stop down the lens. It must stop at around f/8 for the corner sharpness to become decent.

It’s important to note that when reaching f/11 and beyond, diffraction softens the overall image slightly.

The optimal corner sharpness is achieved at f/11.

This TTArtisan lens has a minimum focus distance of 25 cm, just under 10 inches.

When shooting at the minimum focus distance, the sharpness at f/2 is considered acceptable.

Indeed, when you progressively stop down the lens, the sharpness tends to improve gradually. This means that as you decrease the aperture value and increase the f-number, you can expect a gradual increase in overall image sharpness.

Bokeh

Achieving a blurred background, also known as bokeh, is typically not a significant concern for an ultra-wide-angle lens. This holds for the TTArtisan lens as well. Despite its fast maximum aperture of f/2, achieving a significant level of background dissolution or bokeh is challenging unless you are shooting at the minimum focus distance. The wide-angle perspective of the lens limits the amount of background separation and blur that can be achieved. 

While it is true that the background can appear aesthetically pleasing with a nice bokeh effect under specific circumstances, such as shooting at the minimum focus distance.

Vignetting

When shooting at its maximum aperture of f/2, the images show a slight presence of vignetting. While it is not severe, it is noticeable. However, the vignetting somewhat improves as you stop down the lens to f/2.8 and f/4. Indeed, even though there may still be a small amount of vignetting, it is generally not a significant issue when capturing well-composed photographs.

Chromatic Aberration

The TTArtisan 10mm f/2 lens comes with commendable chromatic aberration control. Upon inspecting the photos taken with this lens, there is minimal to no noticeable chromatic aberration, even when examining high-contrast images. The lens minimizes color fringing and maintains good image quality in such scenarios.

Ultra-wide-angle lenses often exhibit substantial distortion, and many modern lenses rely on software correction to address this issue. However, the TTArtisan lens lacks electronic contacts, preventing the camera from automatically applying distortion correction during image capture.

Distortion

After checking this photo, I find the distortion level quite acceptable. Applying a +8 distortion correction in Lightroom significantly reduces the visible distortion in the image. Wide-angle lenses often face challenges with lens flare due to their protruding front elements, and the absence of a deep lens hood exacerbates this issue. Therefore, lens flare control becomes crucial in the performance of such lenses.

Initially, I had concerns regarding the lens flare performance of this TTArtisan lens, as many of the previously reviewed TTArtisan lenses exhibited average performance in this aspect. However, I am happy to report that the lens flare performance of the TTArtisan 10mm lens is quite respectable, even when shooting directly into the sun.

Typically, the level of lens flare in the TTArtisan 10mm lens is kept to a minimum, and the most extreme example may result in some lens flare, as shown. However, even in this severe case, the contrast remains acceptable.

Sunstars and Focus breathing

When using the TTArtisan lens, achieving sun stars is reasonably achievable. By simply stopping down to f/2.8, you can already capture reasonably sharp eight-point sun stars. Further stopping down to f/4 enhances the sharpness and length of the sun stars, resulting in visually pleasing and well-defined shapes. Therefore, this lens is an excellent choice for incorporating beautiful and simplistic eight-point sun stars in your photos or videos.

When it comes to focus breathing, the TTArtisan lens offers remarkable performance. When adjusting the focus from 1 meter to infinity, there is virtually no noticeable focus breathing. Even when focusing at close distances, such as 0.5m or the minimum focus distance, any focus breathing that does occur is minimal. This lens allows for consistent framing and minimal distortion when changing focus distances.

Among all the lenses I have tested in the past year, this lens stands out with the smallest amount of focus breathing. Considering its affordable price of $159, it offers exceptional value for a 10mm lens with a maximum aperture of f/2. TTArtisan has delivered a lens that performs admirably, making it a worthwhile investment at its price point.

Alternatives

If TTArtisan 10mm f2 isn’t the right fit, other similar lenses also fit your needs.

LAOWA 9MM 2.8 APS-C

The TTArtisan 10mm f/2 lens offers a wider angle of view than the TTA lens, although it has a slower aperture by one stop. Additionally, it is smaller and lighter in size than the TTA lens.

Check Price

LAOWA 10mm f/4 

It is like a pancake lens and much smaller and lighter than TTA 10mm and all the alternatives, but it is two stops slower. It is also 2 to 3 times the price of the TTA 10mm.

Check Price

7Artisans 10mm f2.8

The 10mm F2.8 lens adopts the design of 8 diaphragm blades, which can quickly create an 8-pin dazzling starburst at night, which is very suitable for night scenes. 

Check Price

Conclusion

I like the solid build quality of this lens. It’s great to hear that it passed your tests, demonstrating good image quality with minimal chromatic aberration, effective lens flare control, and the ability to produce beautiful sun stars. These factors contribute to an overall positive experience with the lens.

Indeed, while the image sharpness at f/2 might not be the absolute best, having the option to shoot at such a wide aperture is still valuable, especially when prioritizing other factors such as low-light performance or shallow depth of field.

If maximum sharpness is a priority, stopping the lens to f/4 or f/5.6 would likely yield excellent results. The availability of the f/2 aperture allows for versatility in different shooting scenarios, catering to sharpness-conscious photographers and those who prioritize other creative aspects.

Using the lens at f/2 for wide-angle portrait photos can provide a beautiful shallow depth of field and subject separation, which can be pretty appealing for that genre. On the other hand, stopping down to f/4 or f/5.6 for landscape photography allows for increased depth of field, ensuring the foreground and background are in focus.

This aperture range helps capture more details, maintain a sharper overall image, and enhance the sense of depth in the scene. Adapting the lens’s aperture to suit different photography genres and desired effects is an excellent way to maximize its versatility.

While the TTArtisan 10mm f/2 lens may not be flawless, it offers considerable value for its price point. It may not excel in every aspect, but it performs well enough for most use cases. Considering its affordability at just $169 on Amazon, it provides excellent functionality and image quality for those needing an ultra-wide-angle lens. It’s a budget-friendly option that offers much value and can be reliable for many photographers.

Buy TTArtisan 10mm f/2 lens

Sample Pictures