High-quality 10mm ultra-wideangle f/2.0 lens for way less than 200 bucks? Are you serious? We took a hard look at TTArtisan’s $159 all-metal 10mm f/2 ASPH manual-manual lens for APS-C format cameras. Here’s what we think.

Overview & First Impressions
The popularity of the TTArtisan brand continues to grow in the US, based on first-rate manual lenses that are affordable and often unique. The 10mm f/2 ASPH is a solid example of why they’re well-liked.

Understand upfront that this is a manual-manual lens; i.e., focus and aperture operations are both manual. Therefore it must be used in Aperture Mode or Manual Mode. Given the outstanding Focus Assist features of modern APS-C cameras, not to the mention the enormous depth-of-field this lens delivers, the manual focus isn’t much of a heartache, although it’s slower, of course, than AF. Remember that not so long ago, all lenses were manual focus, and we still managed to get sharp images. Well, most of the time, anyway.

The ASPH stands for Aspheric, signifying that the optical design incorporates at least one aspherical element, highly prized because of their superior ability to diminish aberrations. If you’re wondering why every lens doesn’t use this component, they’re more difficult to manufacture and therefore cost more. Most lens elements are rotated while ground and polished, a method that produces an unavoidable spherical shape. Aspherical lenses require a different, more costly approach.

The TTArtisan APS-C 10mm f/2 ASPH contains not one but two aspherical elements. This does not automatically make it better. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, as it’s been said. Everything depends on the quality and location(s) of the element(s) as well as the other components. The 10mm f/2 construction also includes two unspecified High Index elements.

Shutterbug took a look at the TTArtisan APS-C 50mm f/1.2 recently and we gave it high marks. You can read our Choosing Wisely condensed review here.

Features & Specifications
For APS-C format sensor cameras
Fast f/2.0 aperture comprises 13 elements in 10 groups
Contains 2 aspherical + 2 High Index elements
105° ultra-wide field-of-view
Focuses a bit closer than 10 inches
Fully metal barrel and lens mount
8-blade diaphragm turns point light sources into starbursts
Weighs about 12 ounces (≈340g)
Comes with a filter holder (72mm) and screw-in cap
Fits popular APS-C cameras
Price from manufacturer is $159 including shipping

Exterior Construction: Fit & Finish
Out of the box, in the hand, the TTArtisan APS-C 10mm f/2 ASPH feels hefty and sturdy. It appears to be all metal construction and is truly a good-looking piece of glass. The lens mount is metal (appears to be stainless steel) and the overall finish is excellent. The glass has mesmerizingly gorgeous layers of coating.

The focus ring is quite smooth and nicely knurled for easy, slip-free operation. The aperture ring is marked in stops and half-stops, all with clean detents. That said, the aperture ring is very narrow, and that could be problematic for those with ham-like hands. Additionally, unlike on the 50mm f/1.2 mentioned above, the aperture ring is smackdab above the lens mount, so it’s in a tight space to begin with. On the 50mm f/1.2 the aperture ring is close to the front element and easily accessible.

It ships with a metal screw-in combination lens hood / filter adapter (72mm) and a metal screw-in lens cap. There’s a shallow, petal-shaped lens hood (of sorts) built in. I recommend using the included accessory hood for efficacy and protection. I hate screw-in lens caps, but that’s just me. The built-in shade doesn’t shade much of anything; it looks cool, though.

Performance Summary
In a word, image quality from the TTArtisan APS-C 10mm f/2 ASPH is amazing, considering the price and the aggressive feature set it promises. I evaluated this ultra-wideangle in Fujifilm-X mount, so the equivalent focal length (in the old 35mm film world) is 15mm, still ultra-wide in my mind.

Colors were rendered clean and richly saturated with zero tint bias. Whites were clean and free of edge bleed. I found minimal distortion and an acceptably low level of vignetting. This lens performs quite well shooting closeups, too, and that pleasantly surprised me.

Overall, this is very fine lens. Priced at $159, it’s a steal. In fact, even if priced at $299 it would still be a bargain.

Conclusion
If you shoot any of the popular, modern APS-C camera brands and want to stretch a landscape, building interior or some such, give this lens a close look. It doesn’t cost much but don’t let the low price mislead you—the image quality is very high.

The only drawback is that it’s 100% manual aperture and 100% manual focus. Then again, precise focusing with a 15mm (equivalent) lens is of minor importance because of the extreme depth of field. And if you shoot Aperture Priority primarily, as many of us do, the manual aperture issue is not an issue at all.

And don’t forget, this is a very fast f/2.0 lens. It’s right at home in dimly lit restaurants, candlelit birthday parties and virtually any indoor situation.

Availability & Price
The TTArtisan 10mm f/2 ASPH is available now in the following APS-C mounts: Sony E, Fujifilm X, Nikon Z, Canon RF plus Micro 4/3rds. Price is $159 when you order directly from TTArtisan. Price includes shipping to the US. Check website for occasional additional discounts. Also available from Amazon. Visit the TTArtisan Store at amazon.com for a close look at their lineup of lenses, light meters, accessory viewfinders and lens adapters.

A Bit About TTArtisan
TTArtisan specializes in the development, manufacturing and sales of mirrorless camera lenses. They are a member of the Micro Four Thirds System Standard Group. The owner is Shenzhen Mingjiang Optical Technology Co., Ltd. TTArtisan was established in 2019, so they’re a young company, but they’ve already established themselves as a reliable, innovative, high-quality brand.

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If you’ve ever tried light painting for Milky Way photography, you may have run into some frustrating issues. Maybe your light’s color temperature didn’t match the scene, or the shadows and highlights somehow looked artificial. Or, perhaps you got a spotlight effect that didn’t cover a wide enough area.

Recently, I was asked what piece of photography equipment I use the most. At first, I almost said “my camera”. But then I thought about it and reconsidered my answer. While it is true that I use my camera for 100% of my photographic work, there is another piece of equipment that I use even more often – including on those days that I never bring out my camera. The headline already gave it away, so you’ve probably guessed correctly that I’m talking about my backpack. For the last two years or so, I’ve been carrying everything I need in a Peak Design 45 Liter Travel Backpack. Today, I’ll share my thoughts on this backpack in an extensive review.

Many photographers avoid high ISO settings because of the realistic fear that ugly noise artifacts will pollute their images. But there are consequences to be paid for taking that approach, including the necessity of carrying a tripod to avoid blurry photos.

But there’s another option available for achieving clean images at higher ISO settings while lightening your load; namely Lightroom’s game-changing Denoise tool. In this nine-minute video with instructor Jord Hammond, you’ll learn when and how to use this revolutionary tool to banish noise once and for all.

Hammond is a full-time travel photographer based in picturesque Bali, Indonesia who often shoots under low-light conditions. In this episode you’ll discover why Lightroom’s Denoise tool is hailed as one of the most significant updates to the software in recent times, and “how it almost entirely eliminates the concern of shooting at high ISO levels.”

Your editing sequence is important when employing this tool, and Hammond recommends using Lightroom’s Denoise after you’ve made basic adjustments to an image and before making selective enhancements. His reason is this: “All of these edits and adjustments are going to transfer over to the file that’s been through the Denoise process.”

Hammond pulls up a high ISO photo captured at night—a situation under which noise typically rears its ugly head. He then applies a few basic adjustments that include dropping color temperature for a slightly cooler look, raising overall exposure while reducing highlights, and cutting contrast to reveal more detail in the shadows.

Other preliminary enhancements involve softening the intensity of both Whites and Blacks, increasing Texture and Vibrance, and reducing Clarity. The next step is simple color grading and Hammond quickly walks you through his step-by-step process.

The foregoing adjustments are actually far more time-consuming than the simple Denoise process that completes the effective transformation, and Hammond demonstrates exactly how its done. If you examine his before/after images, the significant improvement is easy to discern.

You can find many more straightforward lessons like this one by paying a visit to Hammond’s instructional YouTube channel.

Don’t miss the tutorial we posted earlier from another image-editing expert and learn why he says that “Stack and Subtract is Lightroom’s best masking technique” before explaining how to use it for beautiful landscape photographs with perfect tones.