TTArtisan’s New AF 85mm f/1.8 Neo Lens

TTArtisan has announced the new AF 85mm f/1.8 Neo, a compact full-frame portrait prime for Sony E and Nikon Z-mount mirrorless cameras.

The idea behind the lens is pretty simple. TTArtisan has stripped things back and focused mainly on the optics, autofocus, and keeping the overall design (and price) slim. The company sums up the approach as “Pure image. Nothing extra.”

That becomes pretty obvious when looking at the design. Rather than using a traditional metal exterior, the body is made from reinforced fibreglass. The Sony E-mount version weighs 332 grams, measures 90.5mm long, and accepts standard 62mm filters.

There is also an unusual detail on the barrel. What initially looks like a large manual focus ring is actually just a grip. Like the AF 50mm f/1.8 Neo TTArtisan released last month, the new 85mm uses a 3D-printed construction that does not include a manual focusing mechanism, meaning that this is an autofocus-only lens.

Speaking of autofocus, the lens uses a STM stepping motor, and can focus down to 0.8 meters. That range is pretty typical for an 85mm portrait lens, although photographers who often use manual focus will obviously want to keep the lack of a focus ring in mind.

Optically, the AF 85mm f/1.8 Neo uses 12 elements arranged in eight groups, including two ED elements and two high-index elements. TTArtisan says the design is intended to maintain good detail and natural colours while keeping sharpness consistent from the centre toward the edges.

There is also an 11-blade aperture diaphragm. Combined with the 85mm focal length and f/1.8 maximum aperture, that should provide good background separation for portraits. TTArtisan’s early sample photos (see down below) show relatively smooth background blur with a slight cat’s-eye shape toward the edges, although proper hands-on testing will give us a better idea of how the lens actually performs.

In terms of competition, there are already quite a few autofocus 85mm primes available for both systems. The AstrHori 85mm f/1.8 II AF and Meike 85mm f/1.8 SE Mark II (both $199), for example, are other third-party alternatives, while Sony and Nikon both have their own native 85mm f/1.8 lenses (in the $600-$800 range). The TTArtisan AF 85mm f/1.8 Neo is available to preorder for Sony E and Nikon Z-mount cameras for $99.