TTartisans 50mm F0.95. Yet another addition to my need for speed.

Sonnar Brian

Product of the Fifties
Staff member
Local time
10:46 AM
Joined
Jan 12, 2004
Messages
18,551
Popflash had the Titanium Version of the TTArtisans 50mm F0.95 under $550 on Ebay. The filter size for the Titanium version is 62mm, less than the standard edition 67mm. Viewfinder blockage is less. As it is- a Hood on the lens will block the RF window at close focus. A vented hood helps. I had a spare vented hood in 62mm. And a whole set of filters for it. First/Quick impression on the M9- color were a bit soft. I've read reviews stating the lens had a fair bit of Chromatic Aberration. SO- I decided to adjust the RF Cam for the M Monochrom with a deep yellow filter. I also had to pick the distance to use the lens- and went with 2m and beyond. Unlike the Nokton 50/1.0, this lens does not have a floating element which would better correct for close-up use. What I discovered- a slight back-focus at closest distance. I can mentally correct for that.

I took my Daughter to the skating rink yesterday, first outing with the new lens.

All shots wide-open, with a Yellow-2 filter.G1025103-1.jpgG1025127.jpgG1025167.jpgG1025178.jpgG1025217-1.jpgG1025227-1.jpg
 
Last edited:
I'll be adding to this thread as use the lens. This is not a lens for doing critical tests of brick walls and such. First impression- there is a good bit of field curvature "wiggling" back and forth from the center point, as there was with the 50/1.2 Noctilux.

But shooting in the real world- low light, action shots- not an issue.
G1025146.jpgG1025296-1.jpgG1025220.jpgG1025298-1.jpg
 
Last edited:
Met up with a friend at the Marine Museum at Quantico today, brought the TTart 50/0.95 to get some of my "standard reference subjects".

Yellow filter, all on the M Monochrom.
Wide-Open at F0.95. This lens is really good. I'll give it another chance on the M9. But it belongs to the M Monochrom.



Focus is on the rim of the helmet using the RF, then recompose.





This lens was $548, Popflash on Ebay. Probably less than having my Canon 50/0.95 converted to M-Mount, which I am not going to do. That lens- has a new home on the Z5. The TTArt 50/0.95: sharper, weighs less, easier to handle, and takes 62mm accessories. But for the $200 that I pad for the Canon, no complaints.
 
Last edited:
Focus on the eyes, wide-open. Full resolution uploaded on imgbb.





Again, focus and recompose.

One more, with more background.



I adjusted the RF cam on this lens, set it for the Yellow filter on the M Monochrom. Took a couple of minutes, nailed it on the second adjustment.
 

Wide-Open.



This lens is ready for use wide-open. I'm using a 1.25x magnifier on the M Monochrom. This lens does not have a floating element, using below 1m takes some practice and a "mental fudge factor".



Of course with digital Live view, that's a non-issue.
 
Nice b&w tones. Seems like a very nice lens. I'd love to see a portrait session with a real person under various kinds of dramatic lighting like backlight, sidelight and Rembrandt. I bet it would produce some beautiful images.
 
Nice b&w tones. Seems like a very nice lens. I'd love to see a portrait session with a real person under various kinds of dramatic lighting like backlight, sidelight and Rembrandt. I bet it would produce some beautiful images.
I'd like to see you shoot a portrait session with this lens!

I've also used it on the Z5 for one of my Daughter's school get togethers. Lighting all uncontrolled, but results were good. Stopped down, still smooth.

The bokeh is very pleasing on this lens.
 
I'd like to see you shoot a portrait session with this lens!
That'd actually be really fun. First thing I'd do if I owned it would be to run some tests to see how it reacts at minimum focus distance -- what's that one meter? -- so I'd know what to expect under battle conditions. If I understand correctly it doesn't have a floating element to correct for SA so, like the f1 Noctilux, it might benefit from being stopped down a stop or so just to remove a bit of the natural haziness caused by the aberrations at that distance.

I bet it would be a stunning portrait lens. Looking forward to seeing more of your photos with it.
 
I'm impressed with the 1.4/35, 1.2/21, and 5.6/28 TTArtisan lenses I recently bought and now trying out in Saigon with the Leica SL2S. I'll post some results in the coming months. Cheers, OtL.
 
That'd actually be really fun. First thing I'd do if I owned it would be to run some tests to see how it reacts at minimum focus distance -- what's that one meter? -- so I'd know what to expect under battle conditions. If I understand correctly it doesn't have a floating element to correct for SA so, like the f1 Noctilux, it might benefit from being stopped down a stop or so just to remove a bit of the natural haziness caused by the aberrations at that distance.

I bet it would be a stunning portrait lens. Looking forward to seeing more of your photos with it.
The lens close-focuses to 0.7m. "But" used wide-open, a Liveview camera would be better. Some lenses have focus shift when used really close- the Sonnar will do this as well. On this lens- I picked 2m to set the Cam. It's good from ~1m to infinity without fudge-factor compensation.
 
I tried the lens on the M240- images were soft, probably due to CA- same as I found with the M9. That is why I use the lens on the M Monochrom.

Set the calibration of the lens to correct a bit more for back-focus, and used with a red filter. Focus is good past 1meter, anything closer- needs a slight mental adjustment to focus slightly closer than what the RF indicates.

Wide open, and at F1.4. Neighborhood 19th century graveyard.

L1025645.jpgL1025646.jpg
 
On the M240- Focus using the rangefinder with some fudge-factor for close-up, 1.25x magnifier. Wide-Open.
Processed in Lightroom. I liked the colors better than in-camera and with ART.

M2401775.jpgM2401778.jpgM2401779.jpgM2401780.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: JMF
Back
Top