Introduction

TTArtisan previously released a full-frame 50mm tilt lens, designed to control focus to a thin slice of the scene, or extend it for deeper focus. It’s also fun to experiment with, especially for creating a playful miniature effect. In May 2025, they followed up with an APS-C equivalent: the 35mm f/1.4 tilt lens, offered at a budget-friendly price. Of course, it can also serve as a fast f/1.4 standard lens. Let’s take a closer look!

I tested this lens on a 22 Mp Nikon Zfc
You can see this review as a YouTube video here!
Sample images in high resolution here.

Sample Images

Most of the sample images in this review and many more can be found in higher resolution here.

Specifications

Disclosure

TTArtisan kindly provided this lens for test and review purposes.

Handling and Build Quality

The TTArtisan 35mm f/1.4 tilt is a fully manual lens built entirely of metal. so there is no autofocus, to aperture control from the camera, no image stabilization, and not even any electronic pins for any lens-camera communication. It seems and feels that is tightly constructed but there is no weather sealing gaskets are visible.

First out near the front element, there is a focusing ring, that turns smoothly about 150° and is marked with both meters and feet.

The aperture ring has variable spacing between its markings, with wider spacing near the maximum aperture and tighter spacing at smaller apertures. It’s marked at every half stop from f/1.4 to f/4, and in full stops beyond that. The ring has no click stops, which I don’t mind — as long as I can see the aperture value in the viewfinder. However, this lens has no electronic contacts, so the camera can’t display aperture information. That means you have to take your eye away from the viewfinder and check the lens barrel to see your aperture setting—a frustrating limitation.

On top of the lens there is a screw to loosen the tilt mechanism, allowing to adjust the tile level and direction.

There is a screw on the side of the lens that allows you to loosen it to rotate it 360°. Hence, you have full freedom to tilt the lens in any direction imaginable, although in 15° steps, where the rotation clicks.

There are standard front and rear caps included in the box, but no lens hood.

Here is an example of how the tilt function can help extend the focus or maximize the depth of field.

And here is an example of how to achieve a thin slice of focus or minimize the depth of field. All images taken at f/1.4.

And here is an example of the so-called miniature world.

Optical Features

Sharpness (Infinity)

For the infinity sharpness test, we look at three areas of the image, centre, mid-frame, and corner, see highlighted areas in the image below!

Vignetting has been corrected in images taken at f/1.4 and f/2.

Center sharpness is very good wide open, but the midframe and corners are just okay. Stopping down to f/2 improves the center and midframe a bit, but the corners don’t get much better.

At f/2.8, the centre becomes excellent and the midframe very good. The corners improve, but still aren’t great.

By f/5.6, the midframe sharpness is excellent, while the corners reach a good level around f/8 to f/11 — though they never quite match the rest of the frame.

Diffraction starts affecting sharpness everywhere by f/16.

Sharpness (Portrait)

Let’s look at the points of interest for portraits at the portrait distance: the very centre, the centre’s inner periphery  (1/3 rule intersection), and the centre’s outer periphery (1/4th intersection).

Centre sharpness is good right from f/1.4. The inner circle is okay, and the outer circle is just usable.

Stopping down improves sharpness across the frame, and by f/2.8 both the centre and inner circle are very good. The outer circle reaches a good level around f/4.

Sharpness (Close-up)

Centre sharpness is good, but it looks a bit hazy with some halation. Stopping down to f/2 clears the haze and improves sharpness, at f/2.8 it becomes to very good.

From f/4, sharpness becomes excellent and stays that way until f/16, where diffraction slightly reduces sharpness — though it remains very good.

Lens Distortion

Barrel distortion, to fix it in Lightroom or Photoshop, you’ll need to apply a +4 correction.

Vignetting

The lens has better-than-average vignetting control for a standard f/1.4 lens. Wide open, the vignetting is strong but no worse than others in this category, and it improves quickly—becoming negligible from f/2.8.

• F/1.4: 1.9 EV
• F/2.8: 1.0 EV
• F/2.8: 0.8 EV
• F/4.0: 0.4 EV

Focus Shift & Aberrations

The TTArtisan 35mm f/1.4 Tilt exhibits focus shift and spherical aberration. Most of the spherical aberration clears up by f/2, while the focus shift becomes noticeable in the final f/4 refocused image shown in the series below.

It also displays longitudinal chromatic aberration, visible as purple and green fringing. To eliminate it completely, you’ll need to stop down to at least f/5.6.

Additionally, there’s a small amount of lateral chromatic aberration, which can be ignored in most cases. However, in critical situations with very high-contrast backgrounds, it’s best to correct it.

Flare Resistance

 Both ghosting and veiling flares can appear when a strong light source is inside or just outside the frame. Ghosting is usually more noticeable at smaller apertures, while veiling flare can show up at any aperture. That said, veiling flare can sometimes be used creatively.

To minimise unwanted flare, try shading the lens with your hand or a lens hood, and avoid shooting directly into bright light sources. But if you want to get creative, embracing some flare can add atmosphere or mood to your shots.

Coma

The lens shows a relatively high level of coma in the extreme corners of the image. To eliminate it completely, you’ll need to stop down to f/8.

Sunstars

This appears to be one of the lens’s strengths, as it produces clean and distinctive 10-ray sunstars from f/5.6 onward.

Focus Breathing

This 35mm lens shows quite strong focus breathing, which isn’t ideal for videographers.

Bokeh

First, let’s look at the bokeh itself — the specular highlights in the out-of-focus areas of the background.

And now, let’s have a closer look at the background blur at different distances!

Short Distance

Bokeh at short distances is smooth and pleasant — but that’s something any large-aperture lens can achieve when focused very close.

Mid-Distance

At mid-distances, things get more interesting, as the bokeh starts to lose some of its softness.

Long Distance

Long-distance rendering is the most challenging for soft bokeh. If a lens struggles at mid-range, it’s unlikely to perform better at long distances. The bokeh is not bad, but it shows some outlining that makes the bokeh a little too busy at mid- and long distances.

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder — and that goes for bokeh, too. To my eye, the bokeh from this lens is a little too busy for my taste. Have a look at the sample images here and throughout the article to see how it looks to you.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a tilt lens for your APS-C camera, this one is very affordable and performs very well at f/2.8 and smaller apertures. It also produces attractive sun stars and decent bokeh. You’ll get plenty of creative potential and access to otherwise expensive tilt functionality without spending much.

That said, there are better standard lenses available — especially if you need strong performance at wider apertures. As a plain f/1.4 lens, this is average, but as a tilt lens, it offers excellent value for money.

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Alternatives

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More Sample Images

Most of the sample images in this review and many more can be found in higher resolution here.

Further Reading

• Review: TTArtisan 100mm f/2.8 Macro 2x TS – A Jack of All Trades
• REVIEW/COMPARISON: Laowa FF II TS 55mm & 100mm f/2.8 Macro 1X
• What camera gear and accessories do I use most frequently?

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Martin

Martin M.H. lives outside Stockholm, Sweden. He is a M.Sc. in Computer Technology but he has been a passionate photographer for over 50 years. He started his photographic adventures when he was thirteen with an Agfamatic pocket camera, which he soon replaced with a Canon rangefinder camera that his mom gave him in his teenages. After that he has been using Canon SLR, Nikon SLR manual focus and Autofocus, Sony mirrorless crop sensor, Nikon DSLR and Nikon Mirrorless. He has photographed any genre he could throughout the years and you can see all kind of images in his portfolio. During the later years though it has been mostly landscape, nature, travel and some street/documentary photography.

Latest posts by Martin (see all)

• Analogue Photography: Part 3 – A Nostalgic Race and a Suburban Shopping Centre with Kodak Tri-X - September 3, 2025
• Understanding F-Numbers and Light Transmission - August 27, 2025
• REVIEW: TTArtisan 35mm F/1.4 Tilt (APS-C) - August 20, 2025