Why writing an article about the Biotar-inspired TTArtisan 75mm f/1.5 lens?
I assume that you are familiar with the legendary Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 75 mm f/1.5 lens, which was produced in three different versions between 1939 and 1968. If not, please read Chayenne Morrison’s excellent article: Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 75mm f/1.5 – The Legendary “King of Bokeh”
If you want a deeper understanding of why the optical Biotar design was such a groundbreaking achievement and success, please read my article on the subject: Lens Design Evolution: Gauss, Double Gauss,Planar, Biotar and Biometar.
Depending on its quality status, you can easily pay between EUR 2,000 and EUR 3,000 or more for a used original Carl Zeiss Biotar 75mm f/1.5 lens on eBay or elsewhere.
Fortunately, Mr Qing Li, the founder of TTArtisan in Shenzhen, China, is a passionate camera and lens collector. As a sensation for many vintage lens afficionados, he initiated the development and production of the affordable “Biotar-inspired” TTArtisan 75 mm f/1.5 lens, which went on sale at the end of 2024 for less than $300 in USA.
The TTArtisan 75mm f/1.5 lens is a new lens production with a warranty and does not suffer from the common issues with vintage lenses, such as lens fungus, scratched glass, damaged coatings, balsam separation, oily aperture blades or resinified lens fluids.
Why comparing the TTArtisan 75mm f/1.5 lens with the Fujinon XF 50mm f/1 lens?
With a crop factor of approx. 1.5 between Sony full-frame and Fujifilm APS-C cameras, the Fujinon XF 50mm f/1.0 R WR APS-C lens delivers a similar angle of view and depth of field as the TTartisan 75mm f/1.5 full-frame lens, which is inspired by the legendary Carl Zeiss Biotar lens design. This makes a direct bokeh comparison between these two lenses especially compelling – contrasting an affordable Biotar-style lens with Fujifilm’s high-end lens flagship.
What are the main specs of the TTArtisan 75mm f/1.5 and Fujinon XF 50mm f/1 lenses?
We’ll explore the advantages and disadvantages of both lenses in a real-world test. The photos were shot with the Biotar-inspired TTArtisan 75mm f/1.5 lens on a Sony a7cii camera and the Fujinon XF 50mm f/1 lens on a Fujifilm XT-3 camera.
Biotar-inspired TTArtisan 75mm f/1.5 vs. Fujinon 50mm f/1.0 photo comparison
The following lens comparison photos were taken in May 2025 at the largest vintage car event in southern Germany, which took place in Maxlrain near Rosenheim.
When you click on an image in the galleries, following buttons will allow you to select some features. Use Original-size to watch the photo in full resolution:
Slideshow | Fullscreen | Image-Info | Original-size
Biotar-inspired TTArtisan vs. Fujinon Bokeh Comparison
The Fujinon lens bokeh photos are still missing and will be added within the next weeks.
In my opinion, the Biotar-inspired TTArtisan 75mm f/1.5 lens produces an almost perfect bokeh in this bokeh test! There are no onion rings or vintage lens dirt visible in the bokeh balls, and the bokeh balls are perfectly evenly colored and round even at higher aperture values thanks to the 13 rounded aperture blades.
Rundown
Both lenses turned out to be good candidates for comparison because they have the same basic specifications for field of view and depth of field. Nevertheless, here are the key differences between these two adorable lenses.
Pro Fujinon XF 50mm f/1.0 lens
- Overall image quality: The comparison photos above should speak for itself. Especially the Edge sharpness at open aperture is impressive. The Biotar-inspired TTArtisan lens only gets gradually acceptable sharp at the edges until aperture f/ 5.6, while the Fujinon lens starts with an “ok-sharpness” in the edges already at the impressive open aperture of f/1.0.
- Auto-focus: Quick moving objects can be shot reliably even at open aperture. Look at the nice photo of the green Porsche in motion below, shot with auto-focus and aperture f/1.1.
- Nice bokeh: Beautiful lens bokeh, well done. No “strange extravaganza” or nervousness here. Chapeau, Fujifilm!
- Modern lens: Full electronic program and monitoring control with exif data in the phots due to electronic lens contacts.
Contra Fujinon XF 50mm f/1.0 lens
- Electronic coupling of focus and aperture: doing fast changes of focus or aperture during continuous shooting seems to overwhelm the electronic coupling
Pro Biotar-inspired TTArtisan 75mm f/1.54 lens
- Lens character: The Biotar-inspired TTArtisan lens can create three different types of bokeh, so it can be considered a ‘special effects lens’. See my description of the bokeh types below.
- Pure mechanical focus and aperture control: To quickly shoot multiple photos with different focus and aperture settings, I tried shooting a sequence of photos while changing the focus or aperture of the Fujinon lens during continuous shooting. I got the impression, that the electronic control of the lens focus distance and aperture was stuttering.
- Price: At the time of writing this article, the street price of the Fujinon seemed to be about 3-4 times more expensive as the TTArtisan lens.
- Using a legendary lens brings joy: because its stunning silver finish and Biotar-look often sparks conversation at photography events with interesting people.
Contra Biotar-inspired TTArtisan 75mm f/1.54 lens
- No auto-focus: because the lack of auto focus you will not be able to easily shoot sharp pictures of moving objects like the green Porsche below
- No electronic contacts: you will not see lens type or aperture setting in the EXIF data
- No edge sharpness at low aperture values: choose your motifs carefully depending ot the aperture value
The three different types of bokehs of the Biotar-inspired TTArtisan 75mm f/1.5 lens
- Close distance: blurry beyond believe bokeh at minimum focus distance.
- Medium distance and only when the aperture is between f/1.5 and f/2: A swirly bokeh effect is easiest to achieve when the object in focus is approximately 2–3 metres away and the background is approximately 7–12 metres away. However, this bokeh only works well if the background has highlights (!), such as the leaves of a tree with light behind them.
- Far distance: bubble bokeh with nice artifacts of very unique and artistic rendered details in the background.
Same housing design as the “small brother” Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 58mm f/2 lens
In a previous article, I compared the original Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 58 mm f/2 lens with the Russian Biotar copy, the Helios-44M-4 58 mm f/2 lens. In my view, the two lenses are visually indistinguishable: Classic cars shots with Zeiss Biotar and Helios-44 58mm f2 lenses on Sony a7ii and a6100 cameras
Use the Biotar on M42 or Contax/Yashica analog film cameras
You can use the TTArtisan lens on old film cameras with M42 mount and multiple mounts of mirrorless camera systems by using inexpensive adapters.
Mighty Fujinon XF 50mm f/1.0 R WR lens with “hot Weenies”
Responsive Auto-Focus of the Fujinon XF 50mm f/1.0 R WR lens
More Bokeh Photos of the Biotar-inspired TTartisan 75mm f/1.5 lens
When you click on an image in the galleries, following buttons will allow you to select some features. Use Original-size to watch the photo in full resolution:
Slideshow | Fullscreen | Image-Info | Original-size
More Information on the Carl Zeiss Biotar-inspired TTArtisan 75mm f/1.5 lens by Steven Tanno from Tokyo, Japan
More Information on the Fujinon XF 50mm f/1.0 R WR lens by Christopher Frost from Wales, UK
Interesting Interview with Qing Li, who is the TTArtisan Founder and a vintage camera and lens collector by Richard Wong from Auckland, New Zealand
Take a look at the beloved camera and lens collector’s items that Mr Li is storing in the wooden drawer behind his desk!