TTArtisan 17mm f/1.4

This wide prime suits street photography, dim interiors and travel. Its 17mm focal length frames broad scenes, so it works well in tight rooms or crowded streets. It also suits architecture, where the whole facade needs to fit. The wide view keeps plenty of context around your subject.

TTArtisan offers six mount versions: Canon RF, Fujifilm X, Leica L, Micro Four Thirds, Nikon Z and Sony E. The Canon RF version covers an APS-C sensor, and other mount versions differ in their details.

The main trade-off is focusing. This lens focuses by hand only, so it rewards patient, deliberate shooting. Released in 2022, it is now discontinued, so treat it as an older design rather than a current model.

The lens weighs just 8.7 oz (248 g), so it suits a light travel kit for long walks. A screw-in filter attaches directly to the lens and must match its 40.5mm thread.

The 17mm focal length gives a wide view. That framing takes in a whole room or a building front without stepping back. Getting close to a foreground object exaggerates perspective, adding impact to street and interior shots.

The f/1.4 maximum aperture is fast for a wide lens. It passes far more light than a slower design, so shutter speeds stay usable in dim interiors and on evening streets. Working close, the same aperture can soften a distracting background behind your main subject.

Focusing is by hand, through a dedicated manual ring. Depth of field stays generous at 17mm, so slight focus errors matter less than on a long lens. Street shooters can also zone focus, presetting a distance and letting depth of field carry the shot.

Close focus reaches 0.7 ft (20 cm), so a foreground detail can anchor a wide composition. Faces still need care at 17mm, because the wide view stretches features when you fill the frame. Our optics rating for this lens is 75/100.

This lens has no image stabilization. Many mirrorless bodies stabilize the sensor themselves, and the wide 17mm view eases handheld shooting at moderate shutter speeds. In dim light, the fast f/1.4 aperture also keeps shutter speeds up, so the omission matters less here than on a long lens.

There is no weather sealing, so keep it dry in rain or coastal spray. In dusty conditions, change lenses somewhere sheltered rather than in the open.

It also has no fluorine coating on the front glass, so there is no water- and oil-repelling layer. Dust and fingerprints need gentle cleaning with a soft cloth.

Our construction rating for this lens is 31/100. The optical build is straightforward: nine elements in eight groups. One aspherical element uses specially shaped surfaces that help correct distortion and spherical aberration, faults that can curve straight edges in wide views. The Canon RF version also includes one low-dispersion element, glass that helps reduce chromatic aberration and its coloured fringes along high-contrast edges.