TTArtisan AF 27mm f2.8 Review & Sample Photos

The TTAritsan 27mm f2.8 AF lens is a compact autofocus lens designed for APS-C cameras. It offers an affordable alternative to higher-priced pancake lenses from leading brands while delivering impressive performance in both optics and autofocus.

TTArtisan 27mm f2.8 AF Lens Specs

Format: APS-C
Focal length: 27mm (40.5mm Full Frame Equiv)
Elements: 6 in 5 groups
Aperture: 8 blades
Autofocus: Yes
Weather Sealed: No
Updateable Firmware: Yes
Filter Size: 39mm
Minimum Focus: 13.8″ / 35cm
Weight: 3.1oz, 88g

Store Links: Pergear / Amazon / B&H

Initial Impressions

Pergear sent me another lens to try out: the limited edition TTArtisan 27mm f2.8 AF Polar White lens, which is very cool. It looks amazing, and I wish more companies did things like this because, frankly, having lenses that all look the same is getting boring.

Pancake lenses like this are unique. They are not great for portrait or landscape photography but are excellent for travel, lifestyle, or everyday street use. This TTArtisan 27mm f2.8 AF is definitely good enough for this, and it’s around half the price of the Fujinon equivalent.

While I don’t use pancake lenses too often these days, they are really nice as a “better than iPhone” setup, but after using this lens for a while, I’ve come back to appreciating the smaller system. I’ve been shooting on that Nikon Z8 for the last few years, and I’ve been finding myself just leaving it at home more often and going cameraless or just going with an X100V or something, but this little setup kind of brings back the joy of shooting every day again.

The Polar white design is also inspiring. I’ve realized that so much of the fun of photography for me is also having a camera that looks cool. It’s like when you play a guitar, you also want a guitar that visually speaks to you, and that’s important for photography and our cameras, too. You want a cool camera that begs to be picked up.

Is 27mm Worth It, Or Should I Buy 35mm or 23mm?

I get this question a lot, and here is my answer: This is not just a 27mm lens; it’s a pancake lens. If you want a pancake lens, this is very appealing, and this lens, on these small Fujifilm bodies, is a lot of fun.

To me, this super affordable 27mm tiny lens is really what APS-C is all about, and it makes the whole system fun and affordable.

I treat 27mm as feeling closer to 35mm than to 23mm (in full frame terms, this would be 35mm, 40mm, and 50mm for comparison).

The 27mm(40mm) feels more like a normal field of view, similar to a 35mm(50mm) lens, but it gives you a lot more room. Whereas a 23mm(35mm) is a completely different thing, and it feels different; that wider field of view of the 23mm(35mm) really puts it into a different category.

If you’re trying to decide between a 27mm and something else, remember that this is a fairly slow lens in terms of aperture, f2.8 on APS-C would render closer to an f4 on full frame. If you’re trying to decide between a 27mm or a 23mm and a 35mm, a faster 23mm or 35mm lens will usually be bigger and can usually be found at f1.8 or f1.4. It’s much harder to find fast 27mm lenses.

This makes 27mm less versatile than a 35mm f1.8 or a 23mm f1.8 since they could also make decent portrait lenses. But the size and weight of this TTArtisan lens make it a great lifestyle and travel lens where all that bleeding-edge top-of-the-line image quality isn’t as important. Although, this lens still has some impressive performance.

TTArtisan 27mm f2.8 AF vs Fujifilm 27mm f2.8

First, let’s look at the ideal performance measured by the MTF charts by the manufacturers themselves.

Here is a look at the MTF Charts of the TTArtisan 27mm f2.8 AF.

Here is the MTF chart of the Fujifilm 27mm f2.8 WR lens.

Based on the charts, it looks like the Fujifilm lens should be quite a bit sharper in the center compared to the TTArtisans but less sharp out towards the edges, and that’s exactly what I find to be the case when testing these two lenses.

When testing the lenses, I found that the TTArtisans 27mm f2.8 is not as sharp as the Fujinon in the center until about f8. At f8, it’s close enough. So, if you’re an f8 street shooter, you can save a lot of money with this lens.

Fujifilm 27mm f2.8 vs TTArtisan 27mm f2.8 AF Real World Sharpness at f2.8

Remember that comparing sharpness with random lens samples does not give a full picture. No lens is perfect, and no two lenses are the same. However, these results are fairly in line with the MTF charts.

One quick note: I had to do this test twice. At first, I did everything with autofocus, so the Fujifilm results you see here are with autofocus. The TTArtisan results did not have accurate enough AF or consistency, so I had to go back and do it manually. It wasn’t terrible and is fine for normal shooting, but if you shoot landscape or detailed subjects locked off, you’ll want to do manual focus with the TTAritsan lens since it can be a millimeter or two off.

You can see the TTArtisans 27mm f2.8 AF is a little softer than the Fujifilm lens. The Fujifilm lens also has noticeably better contrast, likely from superior coatings. This is generally one of the biggest differences between Fujifilm lenses and third-party brands. Fujifilm is also a chemical company that produces amazing coatings.

Fujifilm 27mm f2.8 vs TTArtisan 27mm f2.8 AF Sharpness at f5.6

It’s the same situation here; even at f5.6, it’s a little softer with a little less contrast. Again the Fujifilm lens is a little more crisp from nicer contrast.

Fujifilm 27mm f2.8 vs TTArtisan 27mm f2.8 AF Sharpness at f8

Here, the TTArtisan looks a lot nicer and is a bit closer to the Fujifilm lens. This might just be something with the elements and coatings that are introducing a little haze.

Midframe Sharpness At F2.8

This sample is tricky. The Fujifilm looks crisper because of the better contrast, but there is better detail in the bush by the Joker’s tire on the TTArtisan lens.

Corner Sharpness at f2.8

When looking at the corners, I took samples of the best edges and corners, and here, the TTArtisan 27mm f2.8 performed better than the Fujinon.

Corner Sharpness at f8

The TTArtisan 27mm f2.8 still beats the Fujifilm here.

Fujifilm 27mm f2.8 vs TTArtisan 27mm f2.8 Conclusions

Where the Fujifilm 27mm f2.8 WR Excels

• Weather Resistance.
• Better coatings are needed for better contrast, clarity, and flare resistance.
• More Accurate AF.
• Better Center Sharpness
• Built-In Profile Correction for Automatic Vignetting Reduction and Distortion Correction.

Where the TTArtisans 27mm f2.8 Excels

• Better Sharpness consistency across the frame.
• More than half the price.
• Includes Lens Hood
• Sexy A.F.

I’m testing the older Fujifilm lens, but the new one is also weather-resistant. I believe both the new and old lenses had the same optical design; correct me if I’m wrong here.

With AF, the Fujifilm 27mm f2.8 always nailed perfect focus, whereas the TTArtisan lens would miss by millimeters or two.

You have to ask yourself, are the extra features of the Fujifilm 27mm worth double the price? That’s going to be a personal decision and I guess a lot of that would depend on how much it rains where you live.

Build Quality

The build quality is great, and the metal design is a fun color and design.

TTArtisan has been using very light, thin aluminum for their AF lenses, so they can feel a little light and cheap, but that doesn’t mean they are cheap; they are just light, and they seem like they are well-built. I have a lot of TTArtisan lenses now, and I have never had any issues with build quality.

The Aperture ring is really nice and feels solid. You can set it to auto or control it manually.

The rear uses a metal mount with full electronic contacts, so you get all the EXIF data in Lightroom.

Sharpness

As we already saw from the comparison with the Fujifilm lens and from the MTF charts, this lens has a nice, even sharpness profile across the frame. There are sharper lenses out there, but this is sharp enough for general use. Your AF might miss by a sliver every so often, so use MF for anything critical.

Center Sharpness at f2.8.

This is pretty good. Best at f5.6 and f8. There is a nice improvement in contrast at f4.

The edges look great. A little darker because of the vignetting. You can actually see how the vignetting improves as I stop down but it is never totally eliminated.

The corners look amazing. Again, you can see the vignetting. It’s not terrible, but it is pretty strong at f2.8.

Vignetting

Some pretty heavy vignetting at f2.8 is almost completely gone by f8. This was taken by shooting the floor below me on a sunny day. Different situations and different focal distances will slightly change the results, but this is generally what you should expect.

Distortion

Nothing to worry about with distortion. It does get a little wavy out towards the edges, but you’ll never notice this in real-world shooting conditions.

Chromatic Aberrations

There are no issues with chromatic aberrations worth worrying about.

Flaring

Something about these pancake lenses causes them to flare a lot. The Fujifilm 27mm flares a bit more than their other lenses as well. I think it might just have something to do with having such a small front element. Even our iPhones and Android phones also have these issues with veil flaring and streaky flaring.

It does come with a grey lens hood, which matches the color of the aperture ring.

And here are some samples.

The flaring is pretty cool sometimes.

Sun Stars

Not so great of sunstars. This is a sample at f5.6

Autofocus

Autofocus doesn’t seem as snappy as the TTArtisan 23mm f1.4; there is a bit more delay until it acquires focus, but I never found it too slow to make it effective. My Nikon 26mm pancake is also slow but fine if you’re not shooting someone running towards you.

Just a quick note: on older Fujifilm cameras, there is focus lag if you use AWB and, I think, Auto ISO, similar to the Leica M11, so go manual on those settings to speed up your AF.

I was shooting kids, throwing snowballs, running around, etc. It was all fine, but it felt a little closer to the slowness of the X100V cameras.

If you need absolute precision, like you’re shooting a resolution chart for a lens review, you’ll want to shoot manual focus because the AF can be off by a sliver.

Art & Character

Bokeh

Bokeh has a bit of a swirl to it; it’s not too chatty and never gets too distracting. It’s only f2.8 on APS-C, so you won’t really get any extreme bokeh.

But there is shallow enough depth to give you some decent subject separation and falloff.

Contrast & Micro Contrast

This doesn’t seem to be a really high micro-contrast lens, and it is not low either. It doesn’t really pop with any magic like an older Zeiss lens would, but it doesn’t look bad, either.

TTArtisan 27mm f2.8 AF Review – Bottom Line

These little pancake lenses are a ton of fun, and this lens performs surprisingly well. It’s not as sharp in the center as the Fujifilm and lacks some punchy contrast and colors you get from the Fujifilm lenses, but TTArtisans has nailed it with this optical formula. I like the consistency of the sharpness across the frame.

This lens does come with a rear lens cover with a USB connection, so you can always update the firmware if it improves. I haven’t had any issues with AF when shooting out and about other than it is just a little on the slower side, but it wasn’t always perfect when shooting the charts.

This TTArtisan 27 mm f2.8 is an incredible value for less than half the price of the Fujifilm lens. I wish lenses like this existed when I was first starting out with photography.

I moved back to Full Frame these last few years because good Autofocus Fujifilm lenses for APS-C were too expensive, and the APS-C package was about the same price as the FF system. But these AF TTArtisan lenses are changing my opinion about APS-C again.

I never wanted APS-C cameras for bleeding-edge image quality perfection if I had to pay the price of a Full-Frame lens to get it; I just wanted Fujifilm cameras for shooting for fun, and these little TTArtisan AF lenses so far deliver. But don’t get me wrong—Fujifilm XF lenses are still absolutely incredible. So you could build out your Fujifilm kit with one or two dream lenses like the 90mm or 56mm, then get some more affordable third-party options, like this lens or the TTArtisans 23mm f1.8, for everyday shooting, and that could be a fun setup.

TTArtisan 27mm f2.8 AF Sample Images

Shot with the Fujifilm X-T3 colored with my film style presets. Core and Ono.