Third-party manufacturers have gifted photographers with a plethora of extremely fast glass in the last couple of years and this 50mm lens might be far better than you might anticipate. Expect a weighty, manual focus lens with metal construction and some chromatic aberration — not to mention a lot of bokeh and more opportunities when shooting at night.
In this short video, photographer Evan Ranft heads out into Atlanta at night with the new TTArtisan 50mm f/0.95. As Ranft notes, at just $755, this bokeh beast is significantly cheaper than many of its counterparts. Reviews suggest that quality control might mean a little variance in the units that are being shipped out but on the whole, customers seem pretty impressed by what this ridiculously fast lens has to offer.
TTArtisans started producing lenses in 2019, releasing a 35mm f/1.4 lens also for the Leica M-mount. Don’t confuse the company with 7artisans, another Chinese lens manufacturer making surprisingly fast, refreshingly affordable glass for those who don’t mind soft corners and a fair amount of axial and traverse chromatic aberration. If image quality is what you’re after, you will have to pay a lot more money.
Is this a lens that’s worth investigating? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.