The APS-C Dream Lens: Affordable and Unbelievably Good 

Mark. I follow you since you are under 5k subs. When Im looking for a manual lens I always check your channel first. Im from Brazil, with two aps-c Canons and we dont have acess to all this brands. You tecnique of not talk the brand of the lens and not write in title or description is very disturbing and not nice. I know, im youtuber too and we want the views, but, before I can apriciate your nice review I need, first, to know if I can get one or if I can pay one. I looked in beginning, middle and the end of the vídeo and I couldnt find the name. I gave up. (your links dont work in Amazon Brazil). Please, re-think you stragedy to stimulate we watch more! Cheers from Brazil

Hi Mark, I ordered this lens because of your enthusiastic review. It was finally delivered last week and I am very disappointed. Yes, it delivers sharp images, but at least my copy has serious chromatic aberrations, both lateral and longitudinal, so much so that they are clearly visible even without magnification. When I compare my results with your statements, I can't believe that this is the same lens.

I love how you showcase reasonably priced alternatives to high priced lenses. I have purchased 2 lenses you have showcased.

Great video Mark. I just ordered this through your Amazon link. Of note, at least for me, there was an additional $20 coupon from the manufacturer through Amazon at checkout so it was only $179. Not sure if everyone will see that but its worth a look

*Mark i hope you consider reviewing the Loawa 33mm F0.95 APO lens. This thing has one of the most amazing background blur and amazing Red Flair, It is more expensive but it has little Achromatic issues but its a beast!*

I reeeally love your videos and recommendations. BUT I’d love if you mention the lense early or even in the title. I watch your videos anyway. Even rewatched many just because they are so informative. Thanks for your work 🙏

APS-C Blurred~（how to say in english ） 0.95=full size 1.4 light= 0.95 In fact,From the south of China ~ it is an OEM factory with several lens design factories. The coating comes from CCTV. Southern Lens Factory sometimes uses a similar design, but the shell is different. From the nouth of China ~ Zhongyi has worse coating. but Zhongyi has the Nikon lens grinder from the 1980s

Because of this video, I bought the lens recently for my x-e3. Can’t be any happier! Thank you!

Love this channel. As a Hobby photographer, it’s great to find lenses that do 90% of what I want for a quarter of the price. I love my zve10 but spending thousands on lenses just isn’t justifiable

As someone who started selling cameras in 1978 on to 1987 every 35mm camera came with the 50mm lens. it wasn't until about 1983 that "Kit lenses" came out and customer's had the option. to buy the camera with the 50mm, or with the 35-70 kit lens. that's why the popularity of 50mm lenses, not that they were desirable, but that it was the only lens available with the cameras from 1960-1983. I've owned 2 50mm lenses out of dozens of lenses and cameras that I've owned. the first was the 50mm f1.7 that came with my Minolta XD-11 back in 1979, the second I bought a 50mm f1.4 Canon lens for my Canon 5DmII, but I rarely used it. Again, they were popular because it was what they got, not really what they wanted. I did get a 50mm f.095 lens with my 1957 Canon 7 that I bought in 1982, but it was classic and used.

just say/show what the f&ckin lens is....up front....

I have the 7artisans 35mm f0.95 which I absolutely adore and use regularly, but the clicked aperture ring is tempting me to consider swapping for this lens!

Been looking for a fast 35mm for my Sony and can find f/1.8 and f/1.4 but in the $250-$300+ price range and these lenses are pushing 45+ years. Nice to see there is one that you like for cheap money. Well inexpensive money.

Great video! I’ve honestly been on the lookout for a good lens for food photography at a reasonable price for my canon m50. I love 35mm especially on crop sensors. This looks incredible for the price point as well, I was honestly expecting it to be around 400. Also congrats on 50k! Very well deserved 🎉🎉

I wonder what results it would give on my Canon 90D. I´m considering a 35 mm prime and was looking athe the Tamron 35 mm f1.4.

Great lens, thanks! I just checked on the manufacturer's site: But why is it not available for Canon EF-S since it's made for APS-C?? I don't get why we get cut off on most of these great lenses, like there are no Canon DSLR cams out there. Ridiculous!

Reality is the 50mm was a cheap give away with the camera purchase in hopes the buyer would up grade to a 35mm and or 85mm for general professional work. (Wedding and portraiture.) Therefore everyone had a 50mm and it became popular because it was what everyone learned with. 😊

Fighting the urge to run out and buy it right now! Not sure I can hold our much longer.

Too many good lenses! It's getting harder and harder to choose. To be hones I don't like 35mm on apsc, granted I only had sony 35mm 1.8 OSS, and it left bad taste in my mouth.

You are bad for my wallet! I juat saw this video and you completely had me! I want it… but i already have so many lenses.. i will resist.. i will resist 😅

Boy, every other reviewer talks about how poor this lense is, the purple fringing, the awful quality until you stop down to at least f4,:and then it's still poor. The flaring problems...

Sorry, which maker is this? I clicked Amazon link again and again, but can't decide if it's TT or 7. What is the name of the manufacturer?

Irritated that it’s not available for apsc dslrs. A lot of these cheap but good lenses are mirrorless only and that makes me sad 😢

an interesting insight that I would want to point out and this is the second time watching the vid though.. at 14:32 something very nice happens - that Only in manual lenses can be done - Only in in manual lenses you can change the Aperture WHILE shooting video! sure, its not something that film-graphy people will notice right away (cuz of variable ND filters) but its a very useful tool, especially when you're in need for a fast correction without stopping the flow of the filming

Oh to have such a thing for a Nikon crop DSLR... :(

Great video. I’ve been wanting a great low light lens for shooting bands in dark night clubs but also something I can get mileage out of in other use cases. As someone whose first camera was an OM-2n in the early 80s (I still own 5 OM cameras and a ton of Zuiko lenses) with a 50mm lens, I understand its versatility. Sold.

It's too bad I can't use it on my F-mount Nikon D3100..

Hi Mark. Two questions - What do you think of the micro contrast of this lens? And second, how is the edge-to-edge sharpness of the lens for landscape use at the f5.6 and f8 apertures? Thanks.

Many thanks for another informative video Mark! I am considering this lens for my Olympus eM1 mark II camera. Would it make sense to expect it to work equally well on the m43 sensor as on the apsc?

These lenses are usually based on some vintage lens but manufactured with modern materials and precision assembly, hence giving better image quality. Anyone know the equivalent vintage lens of this one?

This is one of the lenses I most enjoyed and had fun and made nice and easy artistic photos, with the Fuji XH1. Very easy to focus, lots of contrast and sharpness wide open. Average photos became interesting. I intend to buy one for a Canon M5. The colors are superb, creamy and glossy if you want. That's a lens one can buy "just" for pleasure. BTW, thank you for the very nice videos, very useful.

I just received this lens yesterday. Very impressive. One minor detail they overlooked, the focus scale on the lens has a marking for f11 even though the lens doesn't have an f11 aperture click. How could you manufacturer a lens and miss something so simple? The hard stop on mine is also quite a bit off of infinity but that might just be my copy. Also when i go from f4 to f8 it only loses one stop of light which doesn't seem correct, that should be 2 stops right? I think the unmarked click between 2.8 and 4 is supposed to 4, and 4 on the lens is actually 5.6. Overall it's a fun and challenging lens to use

@markwiemels what is its sharpness compared to the ttartisan 35mm f1.4 ?

I wonder if you pair this with an anamorphic lens, as in 1.33x, how that would be. 🤔

Based on this video I just grabbed this lens before heading on a quick "vacation" and I'm not sure I'm impressed. My current walk-around lens has been a Sony 35mm 1.8, what everyone ranks as an OK, not great lens, I initially really learned photography back in the film camera days with my dad's late 60's/early 70's Nikormat with a 50mm lens, so the 35mm on a crop (a6400) is my go-to. Yes, at f.95 it can practically see in the dark, and the build quality looks and feels incredible, but I'm not impressed otherwise. I've spent 2 days with this lens and I can't nail focus to save my life, I have other manual lenses that I don't have a problem with, but with this one, the focus assists on and off, peaking levels... everything changes from subject to subject trying to nail the focus. With a lot of work, you can get a pretty sharp focus on portrait-type shots (and from 4' away I can get a sharp eye on the dog but the nose and everything else are blurred) but nothing gets me sharp focus at longer distances, landscape type shots, nothing works. At infinity Everything is out, even trying f stops up to f8, and a little in from the infinity stop where the focus peaking is the best it's better, but not great (both my Tamron superzooms are MUCH better, and the Sony 35 is in a different league, with identical manually set f stop, shutter and ISO). The Sony "walks around" with a Best Buy Platinum UV filter/lens protector (tested to be one of the better budget choices) and a lens hood all the time, so I figure, maybe one of them is giving the Sony an unfair advantage... I take them off... it's the same. I finally decided I'll try to take a picture of a very textured shower mat with both lenses at different distances from about 1' to 12', the same exact settings, everything. There's just no comparison. This lens looks OK full screen, the Sony looks crisper, but if you zoom in to full size the Sony remains crisp and this one falls apart. This one is so bad, after all the awesome reviews here and other places I don't even feel like I just got "a bad one." It feels like I'm doing something entirely wrong. Unless I'm missing something it's going back, and I'll probably send it back as defective.

Nice review. I got the TTArtisan 35mm f0.95 because of your review of that lens and it's wild bokeh. And now this comes along. I only wish they released a month earlier so it could have been an option ;-) Enjoying the TTArtisan tho!

Thnx Mark I ordered by your link....can't wait to get that feel on the lens...

Damnit, now I gotta buy another lens. I don't have a 35mm prime anyways... Hope my wife doesn't find out. I may have to stop watching your videos... (just kiddin). This sounds like a great lens at a great price and I don't have anything that will go down this low in aperture. Lets see, 35mm... check, Aperture F 0.95... check, very low chromatic aberration... check, Sharp? check... works with Canon M mount... check. Inexpensive? another check. Now I gotta sell something else so I can justify another purchase LOL. Thanks for another great in-depth video! (Damnit).

50mm is so popular because it was shipped with almost every camera ever sold.

As an introverted amateur photographer, I feel less uncomfortable with a telephoto lens like an 85mm, lol. But, this lens looks very interesting for short films.

please let's not forget how to actually create a creamy-dreamy mess ;-) edit: i started with a Canon AE-1 when i was 13, that was 1979. no auto-focus. not by far. and when the first AF bodies and lenses came out they - excuse my language - sucked. so i still love manual lenses today although i love my Sony AF. yes, i'm a Sony guy...

Tempting,. The X-T3 that I've just bought has the TTArtisan 35mm f/1.4. Perhaps sell that lens and get the Brightin.

I really want to thank you for introducing this lens to me. It was SO affordable I just had to try it, and holy heck this is a chonky boy. Put it on my fuji x-e3 and suddenly I feel like I have a budget mini Leica q2. Im too scared to travel with my leica kit with all the aggressive pick pockets over seas. But THIS! I can pack this 35 when I have time for slow photography, and pair it with the newest 18-55 zoom lens and be set. I love the manual focus and the full brass lens cap. Seriously, thank you for helping me fall in love with my fuji gear again!

Its been a while since you posted this video, is this the best vfm 0.95 lens for my apsc? I am not expecting a super sharp lens i just want to use it for night and cinematography I wish they had the exif data pins on it

Thanks for the video, but I think you don't understand food photography. Newbies automatically go wide open for food shots (because a blurred background is, and always will be awesome). I went down the same route when I started - but for the end user, ie the customer looking at the food/menu - a shallow depth of field image lacks story, context and substance. If you actually pay attention to high end food photography, you're more likely to find focus stacking than bokeh. That said, in a series, a single creamy bokeh detail image is magical. I've ordered the TTArtisans 35mm 0.95 after watching your review. I plan to try it out on a maternity shoot this week.

At sub 200 bucks, yeah, I guess it's the best. But if you spend a bit more, you can get the 7Artisans for around 250. I have both and at whide open, which is what you buy these lenses for, the 7 has less abortion and is sharper. If I want to use a lens stopped down, I would go for another lense, maybe an f2 lens, to have even better image quality across the stops range in the first place. But if it comes to f0.95 fotos and lenses, I would definitely recommend the 7 over the Brightin.

3 things: 1) I hope you are feeling better. 2) Can you give me a paypal, venmo or chase id to donate. I have my paypal linked to a different email than I have for youtube. 3) I've done well with your lens recommendations. I am having trouble with indoor photos at swimming pool. Kids are swimmers and there is low light. If worth time, can you post a video about brightness settings? I have the aperture set to 2 or lower on multiple lenses, but the outcome is just blah because it's just kinda dark in my kids' home pool. But the outdoor shots are absolutely fabulous. Especially, since you did video on using the Tv mode. Ew, I was crushing it!

👍

hello there. is there a version with a canon EF or EFS mount? this lense sounds nice for my M3 but i would like to use it on my 750D (T6i)

Going through so many of your videos are great. I do have a question though about Mieke.vs TT.vs.7artisans looking at a number of their F.09 versions and other ones and they often look like they're literally manufactured by the same company or do they come from the same factory or something? Or subcontracted or is there any explanation for this. One of your videos featured the Mieke but I could see yet I could only find the exact same model but it was made by Ttartisans. Weird.

30mm on ASPC is alot closer to 50mm on FF, than a 35mm on APSC is. For whatever reason they're far and few.

but in APC 35mm = 52.5mm in full frame - NOT? if you take a photo on APC is the focal lens of 52.5mm in full frame.

Great video. You said you tested a few f0.95. How does it compare with the Mitakon 35mm for.95 Mk II? Thx

Did u know the lens mitakon 35 f0.95? That’s the most perfect lens I ever used!!

Try before you buy... usually these lenses have a major drawback like a very slow focus ring... not great for many manual focus tasks

How it compares to the Fuji 35mm f1.4 or ttartisan 35mm f0.95?

Sigma 30mm 1.4 FTW

The amazon link to the lens in your description is only a 2.0 lens? Doesn't go down to .95 like you say? Or am I missing something?

is it better than sony 35mm 1.8? because i use another manual lens with 1.8 ,almost all of them have same character only sharp at the center -_-

Really want to get this lens. I shoot mft and I’m not as thrilled by the idea of a 70mm prime, but I’m extra thrilled by the 0.95

Hello, I'm new in the world of cameras, been on Mobile Photography and I will buy the Nikon Z50, but I see many lenses like this one, and I'm not sure how can I use it on my Z50, do I need an adapter for this specific lens, or the lens fit in any camera without adapter??? How do I know if the lenses that I like fits my Z50?

It's currently on sale, just bought one for 36% off 190usd. Can't wait!

How’s the microcontrast? That’s what I’m looking for. 3d Leica pop?

Can you hook me up with a website where I can purchase the XT1 for the price you discussed "under 300.00"

I see TTArtisan make the same lens, anyone try it?

This lens got me real excited. I was about to order one but found out the mount is EF-M but my mount is EF-S. Are there any transition mounts from M to S out there?

Thanks so much for the great info! And good to hear about this insane quality at this price!! Sounds like a very versatile lense :)

How much is the focus throw on this lens? Last 7artisan lens I bought had only around 45 degrees of focus throw and it is shit to focus and is useless in half of the situations.

I have a Mitakon 35mm f0.95 ii which is an excellent lens, but this sounds even better. The trouble with the Mitakon is chromatic aberrations are terrible. It’s the mk ii version of the lens as well which is said to have improved upon this flaw. It might be a quality control issue though as it’s soo bad on my copy that I just use it for b&w images. But if what you say on this lens is true, then I might seek one out. Also a clickable aperture is nicer, although the declicked one on the Mitakon isn’t a major issue for me.

Numbers scare me, May I ask a dumb question, what optics book explain to visualize lens mm and focal stops to the output eye can see ?

Ive got the Laowa 33mm, how would you say that compares? I really like that lens, the only thing I'd say is bad is the weight and the uneven vignette. Other than that its really nice

you can become the next model for an AI man

To bad it's not available for Canon EF(-S) :(

I just want a budget lens with a large aperture, no a low focal ratio isn't a big aperture.

Would this be good to shoot a short black and white video?

What manufacturer is this lens from ? I can't find it from your link ?

Nice video! But is this is very very sharp, than what kind of sharp is the Sigma 56mm f1.4 DC DN C?

Have you tried brightin star 35mm f/1.7 i like their size and wanted to know if its better than 7artisan lenses. Also whats your thoughts on 7artisan 35mm 1.2 mark 2

Please, are the Brighting Star lenses available for Leica M? Thank you

Pity that there's no EF offering.

I learned off a manual exposure, rangefinder focus and black and white. I do miss being able to just take my time to get the right shot. Had to be deliberate with film....

Thanks. I did try buying the Brightin Star 35mm through an affiliate link but the Amazon price was double the factory price! So this is in lieu of whatever your commission might have been. Very impressed with the lens!

Anyone know how big an image circle this lens creates on a full-frame sensor? Esp because there is ZERO vignetting on an APS-C sensor, I'm hopeful it covers most or even all of a full-frame sensor. Thanks...

Can you compare TTArtisan, 7Artisan and Brightin Star 35mm F0.95?

50mm on full frame is the most popular because it closely matches our perceived eye field of view

Is this the actor from The Hangover?

Interesting that Robin Wong showed that the CA of foliage with sky as background on f/0.95 was so severe it's borderline unusable SOOC.

please, i can't get around it..🥲 a 35mm lens, on a APS-C will ALWAYS increase to Xmm (X= focal leght * crop factor) or, if i choose a lens that say "for APS-C", it's already compensated? thanks

It's not available in Amazon nor B&H Where can I get it except the official web ?

How's this lens compare to Sirui Night Walker 35mm T1.2 lens?

wish this was made for canon EF/EF-S mount ;v; it looks like a rl good n fun lens

Does anyone makes a 28 mm equivalent lens for fuji x mount? I’m looking for an manual alternative to the fuji 18 mm f2.

@markwiemels Thank you for your work, I love your videos. I keep coming back to your channel.... I already have the TTArtisan 35m f1.4 and I like the lense. How do you compare it to this Brigthing Star? Is the BS worth as a second 35m manual?

Hi Mark. I’ve created my own site and will be vlogging this summer, about both Sony APS-C cameras that I use, but about Sport Touring Motorcycling. I just want you to know that I recommend to those on my page, Sony ZV e10 Video and Photography, that if they want sound advice, intelligent discourse and honest recommendations, that they watch and subscribe to your site, and your work. I really appreciate your knowledge and the articulate way in which you dispense it. Thanks, Stay well my friend and enjoy.

The lens box looks like a direct knock off of the boxes from Zeiss Contax Lenses of the Yashica/Contax era

Now, try it on a full frame and get overwhelmed

Great channel! What do you shoot with?

Curious how it goes up against the TTArtisan

These can focus to infinity? Amazon is sold out right now sadly. They’ve got the TTartisans though.

Have just seen 3 of your videos but they were all interesting! Subbed, great to hear of these obscure lenses! Planning on 6700 + Sony 11mm and the 75mm and maybe that lens cap looking lens, if its not too hard to find some place... I don't need any zooms, I rather use a slider. A macro would be nice, but its not really necessary for what I do with my camera...