Ages ago, the guys at West Yorkshire Cameras posted a picture of a lens they “cobbled” together on Instagram. Apparently, behind the scenes they had joked about the fact that I would probably see it, likely be interested, and would even possibly get in touch with them about having a go with it. Seems I took the bait.
Not long later, I had this unusual contraption in my possession.
Recently, the lens market has seen a new fresh offering for us, vintage lenses enthusiastic people. Some workshops, like PPP, Omnar, MS Optics has been offering the possibility to shoot old lenses previously only available on some point and shoot cameras by converting them to the M-mount. By doing so, it is now possible to get these old vintage vibes on various, more serious cameras, from film M mount cameras to digital with various mirrorless brands.
Nowadays, f/1.8 seems synonymous with entry-level. It’s often a compromise between speed, size/weight, and affordability draped in plastic and aimed at budding photographers looking for their first prime or those wanting something light and inexpensive but still faster than a zoom. Mostly associated with the nifty fifty but also often found in 35mm lenses, either those for crop sensors serving as normal lenses or moderate wide angle for full frame. The Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 DX used to be a very popular lens back in my DSLR days and you could get a used one for around a hundred quid. I briefly had one. I remember there being a slightly newer full frame version as well. Then I totally lost touch with lenses made in this century.
I have been following the Chinese newcomer TTArtisan since the beginning with their very first lens, the 35mm f1.4 ASPH that I reviewed on 35mmc. I liked that lens for being both sharp and vintage depending on the aperture, but its size was to the limits of what I would accept to bring with me on a M camera for a long trip. Recently TTArtisan contacted me to review their newest and most advanced lens so far: the TTArtisan 35mm F/2 M APO ASPH.
I’m a street photographer with a preference for manual-focus 50mm-equivalent lenses. I got my start with a Zeiss Contax rangefinder (w/ 50mm Sonnar f/1.5) and Pentax MX SLR (w/ 50mm SMC Pentax-M f/1.7), and loved the compact size, minimal feature set, and high degree of manual control both of these cameras offered me. Today I …
