TT Artisan 56mm f1.8 Review: A New Autofocus Lens for Fujifilm Cameras
Today we're talking all about the brand new TT Artisan 56mm f1.8 lens, an autofocus portrait lens for Fujifilm X mount cameras.
Intro: Disclaimers and Initial Thought
TT Artisan 56mm mounted to a Fujifilm X-Pro1
TT Artisan 56mm f/1.2 Autofocus Lens
TT Artisan 56mm mounted to a Fujifilm X-T5
I’ve been using the TT Artisan 56mm f/1.8 lens for a while now, and have shot concert photography, street photography, family photos, and I used it at a recent portrait shoot with my friend, who is an awesome trumpet player living in New York. So, I have a lot to say about it, but before we get to that, let’s talk first about what comes in the box.
In The Box
Included is a front and rear lens cap, lens hood, and paperwork. The cool thing about the lens cap is that it also has a built in USB-C port and contacts that meet with the lens contacts when you attach it. So, when you want to update your firmware, you just need to put the lens cap on and you must make sure you line up the dots properly so it’s connecting correctly. Put the lens cap on, plug a USB-C cable it into the port, and viola, you can download your firmware.
Now, this is super cool because, obviously, instead of having a USB-C port on the barrel of the lens (which some lenses do), it’s just on the cap. So just make sure you don’t lose the lens cap.
TT Artisan 56mm f/1.8
TT Artisan 56mm f/1.8
I like the included retro-looking lens hood for a number of reasons:
First, when you put it on the lens, it just looks super cool. But, obviously, more important than that, it works. It helps to reduce flare because this lens does have quite a bit of flare. The other cool thing about the lens hood is the shape, which helps to protect the front element of the lens.
The only downside to the shape of the hood is that you can’t put the lens cap on when the hood is attached. You need to remove the hood to do this, which can be a bit annoying, but I found myself just leaving the hood on most of the time without worrying about the lens cap since it extend around the element anyway.
TT Artisan 56mm f/1.8
Build Quality
Now, let’s talk about the build quality. For a lens that costs $160 USD, this thing is built really, really well. It’s metal, which is nice. The whole barrel is made of metal. It has a large, smooth focusing ring if you want to manually focus, and it has a metal lens mount as well. But at the same time, it’s very light and compact.
The size and weight make the 56mm a great lens for your compact Fujifilm camera. I used it on my X-T5 as well as on my X-Pro1, and it really fits nicely on both cameras. It also looks nice on the cameras as well, with a nice fit and finish throughout.
Autofocus Performance
Let’s talk about autofocus. Overall, I would describe the autofocus performance as “okay.” This lens has a stepping motor, which is not bad—it’s just, it is what it is. It’s a stepping motor, and there are a couple of things that are not great about that.
Let’s talk about the good stuff first. For just everyday portrait shooting, and even when I did some concert photography, it did a good job of finding the eyes and locking the focus on them. TT Artisan says that it has some kind of eye tracking built into the lens, which I couldn’t figure out exactly what that means, but it did say it on their website where it has all the features of the lens.
I did find that for everyday shooting, if people or subjects aren’t moving fast, it the lens worked fine. But for, say, kids on their bikes (like I tried to photograph mine with this lens), it didn’t really follow them very well. It had a little bit of trouble just moving fast enough to lock into focus, which is kind of what I expected.
And then there was one other weird thing with the autofocus that I found. When I tried to go from infinity to something very close, the lens just didn’t want to move a couple of times, so it just wouldn’t focus and sort of froze up. What I had to do in that situation was put the lens on manual, manually focus close to the object, then put it back on autofocus, and then it was fine. Strange.
TT Artisan 56mm f/1.8
TT Artisan 56mm f/1.8
Image Quality
Alright, now let’s talk about the most important part in my opinion: image quality. I have to say that I was really, really impressed with the image quality of this lens. I went back after I did my portrait shoot with Wayne, the trumpet player I mentioned earlier. I did a bunch of shots with the TT Artsian, but then I also used my Fuji lenses at the same shoot. I used the 50mm f/1.0, 35mm f/1.4, and my the 16-55mm f/2.8.
The images from the TT Artisan held up really well side by side with those I took with my Fuji lenses. They’re very sharp, and they have a lot of detail. I don’t think you’re going to find anything to fault them on for that if you’re looking for a lens in this price range.
Conclusion - Is It Worth It?
Alright, so the magic question: should you buy this lens? Well, how should I know? I have no idea what your financial situation is like; you might be up to your eyeballs in debt. But seriously, for the price point, I do think this should be near the top of your list if you’re looking for a lens under $200 for portraits that’s going to give you very good quality, decent autofocus, and a nice user experience.
So, check it out. I think you’ll really like it. If you don’t want to spend three, four, five hundred dollars on a higher-end or more expensive third-party lens, this might be the one for you.