[Music] Hi I'm Dustin Abbott over the last Couple of weeks I have released reviews Of two very interesting new 56 mm Options right now for Fuji X Mount which Is where I reviewed them both but also Soon to be available for both Nikon Z And Sony E mounts as well I give both of These lenses very positive reviews Largely because they were capable of Performing well even on my very high Resolution Fujifilm xh2 with its 40 Megapixels of resolution now the fact That these were released so close Together are fairly similarly priced and Have very similar focal links and Maximum aperture beg the question by you And by me which one of these is a better Bang for your buck a better option for You if you are looking to invest in a Budget portrait lens the answer as we're Going to see is a little bit complicated But I'm going to dive in today and what I'm going to do is I'm going to first Give you some reasons to choose the V TRS I'll give you some reasons to choose The TT Artis and then I'll give you a Conclusion followed by a detailed Optical comparison if you really want to See how they far out in a variety of Situations I've actually been testing These lenses in a lot of different ways Because I've had Early Access to both of Them so I've had quite a long time to
Spend with them and to kind of compare And contrast and so I'm going to to try To give you quickly the benefit of my Experience in having used them so let's Talk about some reasons to choose the Vrs here instead now the first of these Is price the VR retails for $139 while the TT Artisan retails for $168 now obviously neither one of those Is all that expensive however one is About $30 cheaper now the second of Those is size you can see with them side By side that while they share a similar Diameter both of them are 65 mm in Diameter both of them have a 52 mm front Filter thread the vro is a full 7 mm Shorter and it weighs in at about 65 G Less so the vrox is 171 G versus 236 G For the DT Artisan now while being a Little bit smaller and lighter we get to Our third advantage and that is that it Is just a little bit brighter fil TRS Went with a somewhat uncon conventional F1.7 maximum aperture versus the more Typical f1.8 maximum aperture on the TTR Artis that's not a huge difference Obviously but it's about a 12% Difference in light Gathering potential And so it means that if you're shooting In equivalent situations the uh vtr's Going to be just a little bit brighter And that could have some advantages in a Variety of different Situations in terms of a handling area
That I prefer the vro the vro has an Integrated USB b c port for firmware Updates that is located in the lens Mount TTR Artis has gone a little bit Different route in that they have a USBC Port in the actual rear lens cap and so To do the firmware updates and by the Way the firmware update process is very Similar but it requires having the lens Mounted on that cap I prefer the Integration of the VR for the simple Reason that it is possible to lose these Caps which would put you in a situation Where you're unable to do firmware Updates whereas having it attached to The lens means that it's always there Another handling Advantage is that the Vrox has a shallow but normal style uh Lens hood here and so it's going to do All the typical things it's not perfect Doesn't baned on as in place as Precisely as what I would like but it's Fully useful you can use filters while Using the lens Hood you can reverse it For storage if so desired it is typical In its operation that's a positive here Meanwhile on the TTR Artisan side of Things we have what almost looks like an Anamorphic adapter for a front lens Hood It's a really unconventional design and While it does integrate into the lens Better and it bayonets into place better So there's an ergonomic advantage in That sense it is a very odd functional
Lens Hood in that you cannot use filters And get at them when you have that Mounted also its design means of course It's impossible to reverse it for Storage so essentially this is either an Always off or an always on type Proposition for most people if you plan On using filters it's probably an always Off but if you want to have the shade And the protection it's an always on Type proposition because there is no way To just reverse it for storage so I Would say that functionally there is a Pretty clear Advantage for the V TRS Despite the fact that the build quality Of the TT Artisans is actually a little Bit nicer now as noted there will be a Breakdown on some of these Optical Points I'm going to draw but I'm just Going to list them now and we'll Evaluate them later together the vrox is The more consistent optically of the two When it comes to sharpness and contrast It is sharper across the frame it is More consistent across the actual Aperture range it is just a stronger Lens optically when it comes to the Basic sharpness and resolution and its Consistency across the frame I also Found when shooting portraits that I Slightly favored the results from the Vro and that while in many ways as we'll See they're very very similar the vro Has just a little bit more contrast just
A little bit more Sparkle when it comes To things like the eyes and the lips Things that can be really important for That so I do give it a slight uh kind of Thumbs up when it comes to Portrait work I also found that as far as that Consistency there is no Focus Shift here I did notice a little bit of focus shift I believe with the TTR Artis as you stop The aperture down not true with the vrs I also found that the vtrs had a flatter Plane of focus and so you can focus Anywhere on the frame and get flat Results even on my test chart whereas With the TTR Artis as we're going to see That wasn't true so there's definitely Some compelling reasons to consider the Vro there's also some very compelling Reasons however to consider the TT Artisan first of all the build quality Is not even close the TT Artis is a Surprisingly nicely made lens for the Money and so it it's all an an anodized Metal finish here whereas the vrox is I Think it's a tough lens nothing wrong With it but it's very much plastic and So as far as the overall aesthetic of The lens this is a much more attractive Lens and it just feels more premium in The hand now that build quality also has Some practical advantages for example The focus ring here is just better Implemented it's it's wider it has a Nicer feel to it there is no sound
Associated in it so it's a very nice Manual focus experience while I like the Damping of the V TRS if you listen in a Quiet environment you can actually hear A little bit of drag there as you rotate The ring and so it's just not as nicely Implemented as what we see on the TT Artis I also found that although TT Artisan is very new to doing autofocus When it comes to these two lenses on Fuji I prefer the autofocus from the TT Artisan as you can see here as I do Focus changes inside it's not like Lightning quick but it is smooth and it Is confident in going from one subject To another and that's true indoors and Outdoors when it comes to the vtrs I Found more visible steps along the way Some unnecessary defocusing it's just More inconsistent and the speed is not As fast as what I saw with the TT Artisan and so overall whether you're Looking indoors or outdoors I actually Prefer the results from the TT artisan And the VR it's fine for most Applications but it is definitely more Leisure and getting to its Focus that was true to a lesser extent When it came to video Focus as well Unfortunately again things are just not F fantastic on in my opinion on Fuji When it comes to autofocus for video on Fuji bodies anyway and so you get these Third party lenses and there's even more
That's Lost in Translation sometimes so Neither one of them is fantastic but if I was pushed I would choose the TT Artisan by a slight bit the only thing That I'll say for the vro is that its Autofocus is just a little bit quieter But the overall Focus quality is better From the TT Artisan one Undisputed area Of advantage for the TT Artis is that it Has higher magnification it can focus a Little bit closer and as we're going to See in our Optical breakdown while they Have the same focal length listed on Them the TT Artis is Noticeably tighter in its Framing and so It's a longer focal length than what the Vrox is vrox I think is a little bit Wider than 56 millim I say the TTR Artis Is a hair longer and so as a byproduct There's probably about a 2mm difference Between the two and so it definitely Shows up and so it can focus closer it's A little bit longer in focal length end Result his maximum magnification is 0.14 Times for the TTR Artisan whereas for The vro it's only 0.11 times and so it And by the way that difference as we'll See is very very noticeable I also noted That the TTR Artis was much better in Its up close performance it cannot just Focus closer and give you more Magnifications its performance is much Much stronger up close than what the VTR Is the vro gets a little bit soft as and
Lower contrast as you you focus very Closely I also found that while it's not By a wide margin both of them are Roughly the same when it comes to Distortion there was a little bit less With the TTR Artis both of them are Roughly the same when it comes to V to Vignette but the TTR is also just a Little bit better in that metric as well When compared side by side I did prefer The Sunstar from the TT Artisan just a Little bit cleaner looking than what I Saw from the build trss and surprisingly To me I actually found when I was doing Direct comparisons that the TT Artisan Had a little bit better flare resistance Than what did the vro that was with both Of them with their lens hoods attached But I found that the end results were Just a little bit better from the TT Artisan and so there you have it it's a Bit of a mixed bag and so if you would Like my recommendations I would say that Bu the TT Artisan if her photography Includes closeup work uh say even if You're doing portraits but you want to Maybe catch some of the close-up details You're going to be able to do that more Effectively with the TTR Artis you are With the vtrs it also feels nicer in its Build and it focuses a little bit better On Fuji and so if you have a Fuji body And you're looking for the little bit Better autof focus experience I would go
With the TT Artisan I would go with the V TR if you want the most consistent Image quality performance you definitely Want sharp Corners as a part of your Package for example and you want a Little bit more detail and cont in your Portraits it's also a little bit lighter And a little bit cheaper and so if Either one of those things matters to You that is certainly a reason to Consider the the vro as Well in a perfect world if you could Blend the strengths of both of these Lenses you would have maybe the best Under $200 telephoto lens ever made Before there's so much good going on in Both of these lenses it's just that both Of them have a few areas of strength That really do offset something in the Other lens and so at the end of the day It's really hard for me to declare an Absolute winner and so hopefully the Information that I have given you helps You to make a decision as to which lens Is actually better for you now if you Want more information on either one of These lenses I have linked to my Individual reviews of them both text and Video in the description down below and If you want a head-to-head comparison Optically stay tuned with me as we dive Into that together so we'll start out This comparison by pointing out a pretty Fundamental difference between these two
Lenses they're both stated to be 56 mm As you can see but here set up at an Equal distance you can see that the Framing is pretty radically different so Here we're taking a look to see how they Compare for longitudinal chromatic Aberration so we're looking for evidence Of fringing as we go out of the plane of Focus now in this case I'm looking at a 200% magnification because I'm really Trying to find if there is something There to be seen and as we can see Frankly there isn't a whole lot on Either one now taking a quick look at Vignette and Distortion you can see that Even with an uncorrected raw from either Of these lenses we're not going to have Any kind of issue when it comes to Distortion it's basically just a Non-factor with either one both of them Exhibit some levels of vignette we'll See how that compares so the TT Artis Which for some reason identifies in Lightroom as MJ 56 mm f1.8 x d a DSM uh Obviously not correct but that's just The way it shows up no kind of Distortion correction needed a zero There and a plus 68 a little over two Stops to correct for the vignette now The V TR is a minus three to correct for A very minor minor amount of distortion And you can see that the vignette is Just a little bit heavier a plus 75 so There we're going to give a win to TT
Artis now one area where the TT Artis is Unquestionably superior is when it comes To minimum focus and maximum Magnification and also performance at Close Focus distances we can see not Only is it capable of higher degree of Magnification it is much better contrast And just better in performing up close As we compare the two lenses now this is True with a three-dimensional object as Well so taking a look here at this tpox Lens we can see that with both of them At f2 the amount of magnification is Certainly higher for the TT Artis and we Can also see if we zoom in that the up Close contrast is vast Superior for Again for the TTR Artis versus the fil Rocks now to give these lenses their Best shots I have for this uh test chart SE segment I've used the enhanced uh NR Method through a Lightroom it is right Now amongst all the options I found the Best uh sharpening results that I can Get for a Fuji camera and so taking a Look in the center of the frame you can See that comparing one at f1.8 the other At f1.7 you can see that they are very Very close in the center of the frame Both High performing there in the Mid-frame you can see a clear Advantage Starting to emerge for the vro however Which is much sharper in the mid-frame And as we come down here you can see That's consistently true there when you
Get get to the corners it's not even Close there is so much more detail and Contrast for the vrs than what there is For the TT Artisan so for the fun of it I went back and did a secondary Comparison where I focused in the corner For the TT Artis I did the same for the Vro but I got very consistent results no Matter where I focused here you can see That clearly I can get a better result In the corner if I focus there it's Still not great and so you can see that It's a combination of not a completely Flat plane of focus but then also the Fact that it's just not as sharp in the Corners if we pop back to the center However you can see that focusing in the Corner has really negatively impacted The center of the frame so obviously That negative on the center is for the Most part not going to be worth it and So I would only focus in the corner if You have an object that is going to be a Shallow depth the field that you want to Be focused on there so if we continue on In this at f2 where now our apertures Are you know completely consistent you Can see that again the mid-frame looks Roughly the same so stopping down to F2 So now we have more of an Apples to Apples comparison is terms of aperture You can see that in the center of the Frame the two lenses remain largely the Same in the mid-frame the vro advantage
Continues as it does down in the corner Finally at f5.6 to see them both stop Down a ways you can see that here the Vrox is definitely crisper in the center Of the frame uh better there the vrox is Also better in the mid-frame and it Remains better in the corners and that's True here we can see even if we look Over on the left side as well so when Stop down the V TR is just more Consistently sharp across the frame so How about for portrait work here both of Them at f2 and you can see that shutter Speed is just there's a minor variance There but mostly similar here Apples to Apples so we can see taking a look here That there's definitely a little bit More pop in the contrast and so for Portrait work I find there's just a Little bit more Sparkle around the eyes Around the mouth for the vrox lens Just A Little Bit Stronger there as far as The color and the skin tone you can see That they look really quite similar and As far as the you know like the colors On the dress they look very very similar Now as far as the bouquet quality here Again I see far more similar than I do Different neither one of them looks Particularly softer the Boke stands out In some way compared to the other and so I would say it's mostly a draw now when It comes to wide open flare resistance In this position here I would say that I
Prefer what I see from the TT Artisan You can see that the sun effect is a Little bit softer and there is just a Little bit of a Halo here you can see Far more Prismatic effects coming from The vrox lens now when stopped down I Would say I continue to prefer the TT Artisan over the vro there's fewer flare Artifacts but you can also see that the Sunburst to to my eye is a little more Pleasing looking we can see with we if We put the sun right in the center you Can see that Sunburst effect a little Bit more to me the ttrs and is a little Bit more symmetrical looking and both of Them show a a similar kind of prism Pattern here it's just a little bit more Pronounced on the VR than it is on the TTR Artis now what I found when I Compared some real world results is that I found these these two lenses a little Hard to pin down so for in this shot for Example you can see that clearly the VR Looks better it's got better contrast it Has a less of a this kind of nervous Look the TT Artis has here as we look Towards the defocused area I would say That the TT Artis is very slightly Softer but that is in large part because It is a longer focal length and so the Background is more defocused stopping Down to F2 and the same kind of pattern Remains the vrox is definitely sharper And just a more stable looking result
Looking towards the defocused area again It's about the same mix but then with This shot if we take a look at a pixel Level you can see that I would Definitely favor the TT Artisan here I Don't find that the contrast is quite as Good on the VR and uh and so it looks Just a little bit better to me on the TT Artis looking towards the background I Would say in this shot I would probably Still very slightly favor the TT Artis And both of them show a little bit more Edging than what I would like but There's a little bit more contrast in The v TR result that produces a little Harsher shadows in the defocused area And so I would slightly favor the TT Artis here now in one final shot here we Can see taking a look in we look towards Our subject in this case I favor the TT Artisan which is kind of funny because It's a similar distance in what we saw On the lock but I just like the result Here better and looking towards the Background the background in many cases Looks more similar than different Between the two and so there really is Some interesting kind of give and take With these two lenses so You' stuck Around to the very end hopefully this Comparison has shed a little bit of Light for you and help you to make a More informed decision thanks for Watching have a great day and let the
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