TTArtisans 11mm f/2.8: New Fisheye Artisan. Great lens.

As stated in a previous post I really liked the APS-C E mount 7Artisans 7.5mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens.

What did I like about it. Welp:

• One of the least expensive fisheye lenses at $139.
• Somehow one of the smallest lenses also.
• One of the brightest aperture fisheye lenses at f/2.8.
• One of the widest non-circular fisheye lenses available.
  • Even besting a full-frame option at an 11.25mm equivalent focal length for more than $200 less.
  • The widest one at B&H.
• Very well built.
• It comes with a nifty metal cap like the other 7Artisans lenses.

So why did I sell it? Good question. I traded it and other lenses with the cameras (a6000/a6100) it was attached to in order to fund an A7c.

Why not use the 7.5mm f/2.8 in crop mode on the A7c? Loss in MP in general but especially when defisheying…

…, but more on that later.

First a walk down memory lane. I fully admit that fisheye lenses have a limited use case, but I like them any way.

First came the micro four thirds Rokinon/Samyang/Bower 7.5mm f/3.5 Fisheye (15mm equivalent).

Next was the freebie from Samsung for review last ditch marketing effort before the fall AF Samsung 10mm (15mm equivalent) f/3.5 fisheye.

Test drove with a Takumar 17mm f/4.5 Fisheye (Courtesy SE Camera) that I really liked, but at 17mm it was a longer than I like for a fisheye.

So I like fisheye lenses. I really like 7Artisans, but they do not make a full frame fisheye lens. But another Artisan does.

TTArtisans 11mm f/2.8 Fisheye

And even though it is a different company the lens shares many traits with the APS-C 7Artisans lens.

• At $215 it is not that much more than the 7Artisans APS-C lens.
• Currently the only full frame mirrorless fisheye lens regardless of mount.
• That is quite the impressive front element there.

• A bright aperture for a fisheye lens (even compared to SLR options) at f/2.8.

• Like the 7Artisans it is a very sharp lens.
• A wide non-circular fisheye lens. Functionally besting the 7Artisans full-frame equivalent 11.25mm focal length.
• Very well built and a good looking lens.

• It comes with a nifty metal cap.
• Great colors.
• Small enough to pair well with the small A7c.

This is where I might usually post a comparison, but as mentioned above there are no mirrorless lenses to compare it to.

Now for the bonus round mentioned earlier.

Defisheye.

Just like the 7.5mm 7Artisans courtesy Lightroom this lens does a fair impression of a rectilinear wide-angle lens using the Rokinon/Samyang 7.5mm f/3.5 lens profile.

No crop loss of MP. The reason I stated above that I did not want to shoot in APS-C crop with the 7.5mm lens I had was that I occasionally crop fisheye images because in order to frame like I like I will capture more than I want. That will happen with an 11mm fisheye lens. For the shot below I wanted the car on the XY axis to minimize distortion. This left me with a lot I did not want to capture in the lower third of the frame. By using the entire sensor here I am left with enough detail in the remaining frame so the image does not fall apart. I actually could use the original image since I kept what mattered on the XY plane, but I included the defisheyed sample to show the difference.

All this for $215. A definite win for TTArtisans and consumers.

I am looking forward to getting out and about with this lens. Here is an ongoing gallery and here some additional samples below