Review of the TTArtisan 27mm f2.8 for Fujifilm X – Perfectly fun

Many thanks to Alwin Kok who kindly loaned me the TTArtisan 27mm ƒ2.8 lens.

Introduction

The latest brand to provide third party lenses for Fujifilm X-mount is TTArtisans, and in this review, let us take a quick look at the TTArtisan 27mm ƒ2.8 which was only just made available in late October 2022 for USD149, how it performs and who is this lens for?

Technicalities

Firstly, the TTArtisan 27mm ƒ2.8 is tiny at only 93 grams (the Fujifilm battery NP-W235 weighs 91 grams) with a 39mm filter size. Even so, the lens comes with an aperture ring running from ƒ2.8 to ƒ16 and is equipped with 7 diaphragm blades and yes, a stepping motor for auto-focus.

At the weight of a Fujifilm X-mount battery, there are very little reasons to not bring the TTArtisan 27mm ƒ2.8 out.

A very pleasant surprise is that the TTArtisan 27mm ƒ2.8 has a very useful minimum focusing distance of 0.35 meters (1.148 feet) and coupled with an angle of view of 56 degrees.

An example of how the shorter focusing distance is useful is when one needs to go closer to subjects like in this case of a portrait shoot with Friska here. (more samples below)

In a sense, one gets everything one needs with the TTArtisan 27mm ƒ2.8, autofocus, an aperture ring, and with a little interesting bonus of that the bundled back lens-cap actually doubles up as a dock for firmware updates through USB-C.

I really like this concept as it means TTArtisan will not have to worry Fujifilm may block updates through their camera bodies nor one needs to spend extra for a dock.

Handling and Image Samples

As the TTArtisan 27mm ƒ2.8’s widest aperture is at ƒ2.8, a full frame equivalent of ƒ4 depth of field wise, most if not all of the samples were simply shot wide open.

The TTArtisan 27mm ƒ2.8 is snappy, fast and silent to focus. In fact, I felt it was slightly faster if not as fast as Fujifilm’s own XF27mm ƒ2.8 R WR offering.

One thing to note is that the TTArtisan 27mm ƒ2.8 is not rated as a weather-resistant lens like the Fujifilm XF27mm R WR (the 2021 version)

Optically the lens is ‘sharp enough’ in my own opinion. The TTArtisan 27mm ƒ2.8 will not match Fujifilm’s higher tier and much more costly options like the XF23mm ƒ1.4 WR, XF33mm ƒ1.4 WR etc in terms of sharpness but one thing is, it does well enough for one to be content with it.

Another point to note is the lens does vignette considerably when shot wide open at ƒ2.8. Its something one can easily fix in post-processing but for those who are not keen on vignetting and do not post-process this will be important.

The TTArtisan 27mm ƒ2.8 is not the fastest nor the sharpest but yet, the imperfections still doesn’t detract from that it is a very enjoyable lens to use.

and especially at USD149 or cheaper, frankly this lens is outperforming its price bracket.

Out of curiousity, I decided to bring along the TTArtisan 27mm ƒ2.8 for a portrait shoot and well, it performed admirably well enough (the main lens was actually the XF56mm ƒ1.2 R WR)

Keeper-rates from the auto-focusing performance was pretty high too, and the TTArtisan 27mm ƒ2.8 easily kept up with the pacing of the shoot with the 40mm equivalent focal length nifty and easy to handle.

Conclusions

I seldom use this very non-technical word for photography equipment, but the TTArtisan 27mm ƒ2.8 while optically will not excel or win any awards, makes up for this by simply being ‘cute‘ and a joy to use.

It is snappy, renders decently well, very compact and light and most of all, at USD149 or lower, simply makes the Fujifilm XF27mm ƒ2.8 WR at USD399 look overpriced and not really that great a purchase unless one is particular about weather resistance or well, the Fujifilm branding.

The TTArtisan 27mm ƒ2.8 will be a lens I will bring along for the days where I simply wish to walk around and photograph to my heart’s enjoyment, when I am tired of having to content with sharpness, bokeh character and other technical aspects of photography.

And, to finish off, it seems that though very seldom mentioned, TTArtisan has also released a Titanium finish variant of this lens, and that’s what I will purchase for use on my X-Pro3.

Thank you for reading.

Disclaimers:

1. All product photos and samples here were photographed by me. I believe any reviewer with pride should produce their own product photos.
2. All images were shot with the X-Pro3 and edited in LR CC Classic to my preferences. 
3. This review is not sponsored.
4.  I do not do affiliate purchase links to keep myself neutral. I write as a passion and a hobby, and I appreciate that photography brands are kind enough to respect and work with me.
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