A 100mm f/2.8 full-frame lens that produces bokeh that looks like soap bubbles? Sign us up! But does the bokeh really look like suds?

Overview & First Impressions
The TTArtisan 100mm f/2.8 Bubble Bokeh lens for full-frame and APS-C cameras has both grace and heft, tipping the scales at a comfortable 10.8 ounces (307g) and feeling good in the hand. The clicked aperture ring is located near the front of the lens so it’s easy to adjust without fumbling. The focusing helicoid is smooth and certain, with no drag or rough spots.

To make clear, this is a manual-manual lens, meaning that the focus is manual and the exposure setting requires either Manual Mode or Aperture Priority. Unless you drive a screw-mount Pentax 35mm films camera, you need an adapter to attach it to a modern mirrorless. But that’s not a problem; mirrorless cameras are the ideal platform for lenses of this type. To use it on my Fujifilm X-T5, I bought a M42-to-FX adapter from Amazon for less than $15. Note that when used in this configuration on an APS-C Fujifilm camera, the equivalent focal length is 150mm. The aperture stays true at f/2.8.

About the bubble bokeh—yes, the TTArtisan 100mm f/2.8 performs as advertised. Keep in mind that the bubbles appear from point sources of light, not from merely out-of-focus backgrounds. To be 100% technically correct, it does not produce bubble bokeh, but it does create sharp, magically creative bubble-like patterns from point sources. In this regard it’s somewhat like using a star effect filter. It took me a few shots to realize this; after that, I had a blast.

It’s also a sharp lens in most situations, sharper than I expected, considering that it’s billed as a special effects optic. As shown by some of the images in this story, the TTArtisan 100mm f/2.8 is quite capable of clean sharp, contrasty images.

Other unique TTArtisan lenses we evaluated recently: Shutterbug review of the TTArtisan 10mm f/2 and our review of the TTArtisan 50mm f/1.2 for APS-C cameras.

Specifications & Features
Full-frame and APS-C camera compatibility
Manual focus
“Soap bubble bokeh”
Clicked aperture detents
Focuses to 35.4 inches (0.9m)
Minimum aperture f/22
Angle of view 24°
13 diaphragm blades
Full metal body
Metal lens mount
49mm filter size
M42 (Pentax Thread) mount
Use it on modern cameras with an adapter

External Construction
In a nutshell, the TTArtisan 100mm f/2.8 Bubble Bokeh is very well made. The all-metal construction conveys an authoritative presence. Engraving is clean and easy to read. Focusing from 3-feet to infinity requires a rotation of about 180° so it’s fairly easy to zero in on a subject, especially when used on a camera with Focus Peaking.

Optical Construction
The TTArtisan 100mm f/2.8 has a very simple 3×3 optical design (3 elements in 3 groups).

Performance Summary
It’s fun to track down and capture bokeh that’s shaped more-or-less like soap bubbles. As mentioned above, to be squeaky clean with the nomenclature, the suds-shapes it makes are based on point sources of light.

As a 150mm f/2.8 (equivalent) it’s a very capable entry in the fast telephoto category. The relatively close (35.4 inch) minimum focus enables some dramatic, frame-filling shots. On a full-frame camera, the 100mm focal length is ideal for portraits.

I found the TTArtisan 100mm f/2.8 to be sharp and satisfying despite its simple 3-element design.

Conclusion
No matter what brand of mirrorless camera you drive, the TTArtisan 100mm f/2.8 Bubble Bokeh lens should be on your short list. Because it attaches via a low-cost adapter you can use it on your full-frame Sony (for example), APS-C Nikon—or any similar contraption—with little additional investment.

Being a manual-manual lens, it’s not your first choice for video, for shooting sports, birds of prey or other instances where faster operation is a necessity—but for most other subjects it’s fast fun. I like it. The real joy, of course, is creating beautiful, bubble-like background highlights, and at the price, buying one should be a no-brainer.

Price & Availability
The TTArtisan 100mm f/2.8 Bubble Bokeh is available directly from TTArtisan for $155. Also available from Amazon.

Visit the official TTArtisan Store on amazon.com.

Become a Member of the Shutterbug Community
Register for a free account. Sign up for our newsletter. Spend five minutes (or less) uploading your best shots once every week or so. Potentially become a Shutterbug Photo of the Day winner. Enjoy viewing the fantastic work being done by thousands of photographers all over the world—and add your images to the enduring collection.

—Jon Sienkiewicz

(As an Amazon Associate, Shutterbug earns from qualifying purchases linked in this story.)

Sooner or later all photographers confront a frustrating disparity between how the colors of an image appeared through the viewfinder or on a camera’s rear LCD in the field, and what they look like on the computer screen. Unfortunately, when this happens it’s typically the computer representation that tends to be inferior.

This interesting tutorial from professional photographer Andre Morgan describes why this may occur, and then he reveals the power of an oft-ignored “secret” for rehabilitating images with disappointing colors; namely, Lightroom’s “hidden” Camera Color Profiles.

Morgan uses three environmental portraits to demonstrate the effectiveness of these simple tools, and the good news is this: By unlocking the power of Lightroom’s Color Camera Profiles you can significantly enhance the colors and balance of landscapes, macro photos, wildlife images, and just about any other photographs you capture.

Best yet, this image-saving technique is so ridiculously easy to use that it takes barely five minutes to explain. Morgan’s examples were shot with available light, and they’re all pretty dull and somewhat underexposed. But watch what happens when he selects the appropriate profile for the images at hand.

As you’ll see, Lightroom offers a choice of Profiles, like Adobe Standard, Adobe Color, Adobe , and others—each designed for specific purposes. When Morgan chooses Adobe Standard, the color in his images appear even more washed out than in the original photo.

However, when you click on the appropriate tab in the panel, the Camera Matching options immediately appear, as do a selection of thumbnails with different values. The magic occurs when Lightroom generates a unique profile corresponding to the specific brand of camera you used to capture the image. Then you can scroll through the aforementioned thumbnails and choose the option that best reflects your vision for the photo at hand.

Morgan provides a few more tips and refinements that are easy to achieve, and by the time you’re done watching you’ll want to add Camera Color Profiles to your Lightroom workflow.

There are a variety of helpful lessons like this one on Morgan’s instructional YouTube channel, so check there often and explore what’s available.

And don’t miss another tutorial we posted recently on a similar topic, explaining what another pro says is a “revolutionary” Lightroom tool for giving photographs professional quality color.

Last week we featured a beginners guide to boudoir photography from an acclaimed pro who demonstrated how to capture sensuous images without flash by using window light as the primary source of illumination. Today Yuliya Panchenko is back with another eye-opening tutorial that delivers extremely dramatic effects

Panchenko is a world-class boudoir photographer and popular instructor with over 150K enthusiastic subscribers (and dozens of how-to videos) on her instructional YouTube channel. In this episode she explains how to employ low-key lighting to create dramatic and mysterious images that really grab attention.

This unique style of sensuous portraiture relies upon enhanced shadows and contrast to add drama, mystery, and intensity to intimate boudoir photographs, while accentuating a subject’s best features. Panchenko explains how this low-key technique “will also enhance the emotional depth and sensual quality of your boudoir photographs.”

Panchenko provides guidance for setting up a simple home studio for low-key lighting and describes the equipment she recommends. There’s also some great advice on directing and collaborating with your subject. She’s working with beautiful Scarlet Begonias, which makes the task easier, and it’s up to you to find a willing model.

While watching the episode you’ll pick up some great tips on composition, along with several great poses for accentuating a subject’s most flattering attributes whatever they may be. The technique you’ll learn here is more involved than the earlier lesson in last week’s beginners guide because supplemental light is required. Your efforts will be rewarded with evocative, moody, and powerful results that will make you and your model proud.

Now that you’ve begun to experiment with more involved techniques, we’ll periodically feature more intriguing and artistic boudoir photography lessons that take advantage of Panchenko’s expert insights and hands-on demonstrations, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, pay a visit to Panchenko’s YouTube channel and explore the previous lessons she’s already shared.

And don’t forget to watch the beginners guide mentioned above. It includes a few tips and tricks that will prove helpful when experimenting with today’s low-key technique.

So let’s say you come upon a spectacular landscape scene, have great gear in your bag, and nail focus and exposure. You still may end up with disappointing results if your composition skills aren’t up to spec. That’s why we encourage you to pay close attention to this tutorial from an acclaimed landscape photography specialist.

Instructor Dale Gribble is an accomplished Australian pro who regularly shares instructional videos of his exploits in the field that reveal the secrets to his beautiful imagery. This episode is all about the power of his approach to composition, with practical suggestions that are easy for photographers of all skill levels to emulate.

Gribble says that like many of us, “when first starting out I knew composition was super important but I didn’t know what the hell it was.” As his skills evolved so did his framing techniques and the impact of his photographs grew by leaps and bound. And yours can too by following his advice.

Gribble illustrates his favorite techniques with four striking images, while explaining the framing approach he employed for each of the shots. The photos are all quite different so his methods varied from one to another.

Composition can be described in general terms as “the act of making up something by combining parts.” In the context of landscape photography, Gribble puts it like this: “There can be a whole lot of things to consider, from shapes, framing, and light, to color harmony and more.”

In short, the key to impactful composition is understanding which of these important elements to apply, depending on the specific scene at hand. Gribble provides several reasons why it’s preferable to get things right in the camera, rather than attempting to correct photos with weak composition during the image-editing process.

While watching Gribble demonstrate why and how he composed the demonstration photos, think about images you’ve shot in the past that could have been far more interesting had you used the methods described.  Then proceed accordingly when you discover a great opportunity the next time you’re out in the field.

There’s much more to learn about shooting in the great outdoors on Gribble’s informative YouTube channel, so be sure to take a look.

And don’t miss the tutorial we featured a while back, explaining how to capture breathtaking landscape photographs with your smartphone.