TTArtisan Simplifies 100mm f/2.8 2x Macro Lens By Removing Tilt and Shift

Two images side by side of a digital camera with a long lens. The left image shows the camera being held by a person wearing a white sweater, displaying the controls and lens details. The right image shows the camera with a zoom lens on a dark surface.

TTArtisan released a 100mm f/2.8 2x macro lens last year with tilt and shift functionality. The company has announced a new version of that same lens that ditches the tilt and shift controls — sticking to being just a typical, albeit affordable, 2:1 macro lens.

While the new version of the 100mm f/2.8 macro lens isn’t on TTArtisan’s English-language site, Chinese press materials state a retail price of 1,990 yuan, just under $275 at current exchange rates. If the eventual price in the U.S. is similar, it will be more than $100 cheaper than the tilt-shift version, which is currently on sale for $389. As Asobinet reports, the standard macro will be available in a wide range of lens mounts, including E, EF, F, GF, L, RF, X, and Z — basically every mount under the Sun.

A detailed advertisement for a camera system. Various features are highlighted: 2x magnification with an insect close-up, cold shoe holder, full frame, 2:1 high resolution with a spider image, 0.25 meter closest focus, F2.8 large aperture, high-precision optical design, and full metal lens body.
This graphic from TTArtisan has been machine translated from simplified Chinese.

Other specifications are, as expected, identical between the two lenses. The TTArtisan 100mm f/2.8 2x Macro features 14 lens elements in 10 groups, a 12-bladed aperture diaphragm, and can focus as close as 0.25 meters (0.8 feet). This enables 2:1 macro shooting on a full-frame camera. The 150mm-equivalent lens will deliver even better close-up performance if used on an APS-C camera.

This is the TTArtisan 100mm f/2.8 2x Macro Tilt-Shift lens. The new version ditches the controls and components needed to tilt the lens (up to eight degrees) and shift it (up to six millimeters).

TTArtisan hasn’t shared whether the length of the lens changes when the tilt/shift hardware is removed, but the company says the new version weighs between 700 and 748 grams (1.5 and 1.6 pounds), depending on the lens mount. The T/S lens weighs 836 to 854 grams (1.8 to 1.9 pounds).

A social media post from TTArtisan-Mingjiang Optics showcases the new Mingjiang 100mm F2.8 MACRO 2X lens. The post includes various images of the lens, its features, and sample macro shots taken with it. Hashtags #MingjiangLens and #MingjiangOptics are included.
TTArtisan’s post on Weibo announcing the new version of the 100mm f/2.8 2x Macro lens.

This new lens marks TTArtisan’s third “different” 100mm f/2.8 full-frame lens. Alongside the two macro lenses, there is also the 100mm f/2.8 “Soap Bubble” lens for M42 mount. That bizarre bubbly bokeh lens is available for $147, and easily adapts to many mirrorless cameras.

The TTArtisan 100mm f/2.8 2x Macro lens is popping up on Chinese photography websites and should be appearing on Pergear and Amazon in the United States soon. Per TTArtisan on Chinese social media website Weibo, the lens is already shipping.


Image credits: TTArtisan

Discussion