New TTArtisan 500mm f6.3 Tests
I received the new TTArtisan 500mm f6.3 for review and have just started to put it through some tests.
It's a lens designed for mirrorless only, and as of right now has Sony E, Fuji X, Canon RF, Leica L and Nikon Z. I have mine in Fuji X mount.
Here's a picture of it in box with a 3-year-old human hand for scale 😉 It's big, but not overly massive, and not at all as heavy as you would think. Which actually had me concerned a bit for IQ. Not that heavy glass means better glass all the time, but seems that way...
I took it out tonight to take photos of the moon on my Fujifilm X-T1. Unfortunately, my internal battery had died in that camera and it reset all the settings. One setting I forgot to change back was RAW shooting, so all I got was JPEGs. But attached is a SOOC JPEG at F8, ISO 400, and 1/1000.
Amazingly, I seem to have focused on the back of the moon and missed focus on the front. I didn't realize the depth of field would even make a difference here. I'm sure people who shoot the moon already know about this stuff, but this is the longest lens I've ever owned.
And a quick crop with some exposure/sharpening done on the JPEG. I can't wait to try again and actually shoot RAW, because I think there's a lot of potential here!
Quote from Cory Maben on September 28, 2023, 4:54 amDid they give you an indication of how much it is going to cost? I kind of want one of these properly telephoto lenses, but I don't foresee it getting a ton of use, so a nice budget option would actually be killer.
It's available now for $329. I've been getting these review copies after they release lately. Not very helpful for me xD
I did some more testing tonight and will have some fun results posted soon!
I was able to design and 3d print a mount for the Pentax Q. It was hard because there is only about 8.5mm between the Fuji X mount and Pentax Q mount. But we got it on there.
It's amazing to see the moon that close on the screen. The quality isn't any better than just cropping on the Fuji. In fact, it's worse in just about every way. Could be in part it was really tough to focus, and a passing by fly would cause the whole scene to wiggle xD
And with some clouds passing by
I posted a video about this adapter and lens, check it our if you're interested in more:
Usually a full moon doesn't look impressive because the light is coming straight forward. You can't see any craters. Get the moon in another phase. It looks soft on my 200-500 w/ D7200. Check it out here in a different phase, I don't have an example of a full moon, probably because they generally look terrible. No tripod, hand held snapshot- maybe 10 shots to dial in the exposure. Wide open, hand held.
Da Moon by Mark Kasick, on Flickr
Elephant in the room . It's a 500, manual focus. ??
Quote from KankRat on October 9, 2023, 11:36 pmUsually a full moon doesn't look impressive because the light is coming straight forward. You can't see any craters. Get the moon in another phase. It looks soft on my 200-500 w/ D7200. Check it out here in a different phase, I don't have an example of a full moon, probably because they generally look terrible. No tripod, hand held snapshot- maybe 10 shots to dial in the exposure. Wide open, hand held.
Elephant in the room . It's a 500, manual focus. ??
Beautiful shot, and good tip! That does bring out the craters definition much better.
Yes, it is manual focus, and for mirrorless camera bodies only. It feels a lot like a remade vintage manual lens, with less fringing problems.
I want to try and get the moon rising behind a building shot from a distant. That would be a dream shot.
Quote from James Warner on October 11, 2023, 1:42 amQuote from KankRat on October 9, 2023, 11:36 pmUsually a full moon doesn't look impressive because the light is coming straight forward. You can't see any craters. Get the moon in another phase. It looks soft on my 200-500 w/ D7200. Check it out here in a different phase, I don't have an example of a full moon, probably because they generally look terrible. No tripod, hand held snapshot- maybe 10 shots to dial in the exposure. Wide open, hand held.
Elephant in the room . It's a 500, manual focus. ??
Beautiful shot, and good tip! That does bring out the craters definition much better.
Yes, it is manual focus, and for mirrorless camera bodies only. It feels a lot like a remade vintage manual lens, with less fringing problems.
I want to try and get the moon rising behind a building shot from a distant. That would be a dream shot.
I don't think releasing a manual lens today is odd, but a 500mm manual is. It could be that I am just not "thinking out of the box" but I don't know what this lens is intended for. Wildlife photographers are not only looking for AF but the fastest, most accurate AF.
I looked on Ebay people still buy the Nikkor AI-S f4. They all seem to be out of Japan?
Nikon 500mm f4 AI-S for sale | eBay
The building Moon shot is a great idea. People do that in Downtown Chicago.
