Up next in 10
Sony vs Viltrox 16mm F1.8 Showdown | Which One Should You Buy?
0 views
Mar 31, 2025
Photographer Dustin Abbott shares a comparison between the two excellent 16mm F1.8 primes for Sony - the Sony FE 16mm F1.8 G and the Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8. Which is the better buy? Watch to find out! Sony Reviews: Text: https://tinyurl.com/Sony16Greview or Video: https://tinyurl.com/Sony16Gvid Viltrox Reviews: Text: https://bit.ly/Viltrox16DA or Video https://bit.ly/Viltrox16vid Purchase the Sony FE 16mm F1.6 G @ B&H Photo https://bhpho.to/4iF340O | Adorama https://howl.link/ahkesohpr4pb9 | Amazon https://amzn.to/4iF3PHc | Sony Canada https://tinyurl.com/Buy16G | Camera Canada https://shrsl.com/4v7nc | Amazon Canada https://amzn.to/4iWondT | Amazon UK https://amzn.to/4iBz3il | Amazon Germany https://amzn.to/4iVmZrZ Purchase the Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 @ Viltrox https://bit.ly/buyViltrox16 (use code DUSTINABBOTT for 8% off) | B&H Photo https://bhpho.to/3OqFZCu | Adorama https://howl.me/cjO6CBvHfiI | Amazon https://amzn.to/436xgtH | Amazon Canada https://amzn.to/435DCcQ | Amazon UK https://amzn.to/45uGL7N Check out the DA Merch here: https://bit.ly/TWIMerch | Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/dustinabbott | On the Web: http://dustinabbott.net/ | Sign up for my Newsletter: http://bit.ly/1RHvUNp | Instagram: http://bit.ly/DLAinsta | Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1nuUUeH | Flickr: http://bit.ly/1UcnC0B | 500px: http://bit.ly/1Sy2Ngu Follow Craig @ https://www.instagram.com/craigstoffersen/ Want to support this channel? Use these affiliate links to shop at: B&H Photo: http://bhpho.to/1TA0Xge Adorama: https://howl.link/nt4zdz1goa7ql Camera Canada: http://bit.ly/DLACameraCan Sony Canada: https://www.thesonyshop.ca/?ref=abbott Amazon: https://amzn.to/3HrY64d Amazon Canada: https://amzn.to/3qG1p18 Ebay: http://bit.ly/DustineBay Into the AM Clothing: https://bit.ly/intotheAMda and use code DUSTIN10 for 10% off
View Video Transcript
0:00
[Music]
0:10
hi I'm Dustin Abbott and I'm here for
0:12
another one of my comparison videos this
0:14
time between the vro AF 16mm f1.8 versus
0:18
the new Sony Fe 16mm
0:21
f1.8g I loved the VR when it was
0:24
released now in May of
0:27
2023 it was I really felt like
0:30
breakthrough for the company vttr it was
0:32
the first of their full-frame lenses
0:33
that felt kind of Next Level more like
0:35
premium and in fact a lot of the design
0:38
elements that we first saw in this lens
0:40
have made it into their newer premium
0:42
lineup of lab series lenses and so it
0:45
was all of those things more featur more
0:48
high- performing optically and I really
0:50
gave it a glowing review at that point
0:52
because at at that stage there really
0:54
was nothing quite like it even though
0:56
there's many many lenses on Sony there
0:58
really wasn't anything with that
1:00
combination of Maximum aperture focal
1:02
length and certainly not price Sony has
1:06
now released their own 16mm f1.8 in the
1:09
form of the Fe 16mm f1.8 G lens and
1:13
obviously they've had a couple of extra
1:15
years of engineering and it comes with a
1:18
lot of advantages relative to the vro at
1:21
the same time the MSRP of the vro is
1:24
580 uh USD though it can often be had
1:27
for as little as $500 whereas the Sony
1:30
is $798 or roughly $800 so that begs the
1:34
question is the new Sony worth $300 more
1:37
well that's what we're here to explore
1:39
in today's comparison now before I jump
1:42
into what's different between these
1:44
lenses let's talk about a few of the
1:45
things that maybe you can set aside as
1:48
being criteria for choosing between them
1:50
obviously they have the same focal
1:52
length and they have the same maximum
1:54
aperture and so both 16 mm both maximum
1:57
aperture of f 1.8 and for that both have
2:00
the same minimum apture of F22 they also
2:03
have a very similar feature set they
2:06
have the ability to use the a manual
2:08
aperture ring either clicked or D
2:10
clicked they have the option of having a
2:13
custom function button that you can
2:15
program to whatever different function
2:17
you want an AF MF switch all of those
2:20
kind of basic yet premium features that
2:23
we've come to expect from lenses in 2025
2:26
and so all of those boxes are checked
2:29
but both of them if you go into the
2:31
declick mode of the aperture can
2:32
actually achieve a fairly smooth
2:35
aperture rack I find with some lenses
2:37
even if you can declip the click the
2:39
aperture there's still very visible
2:41
steps in the aperture racking that's not
2:43
true of either one of these lenses and
2:45
so you really can as you can see uh pull
2:48
aperture with either one of them and
2:50
rack through the various aperture uh
2:52
modes particularly if you move slowly
2:53
and carefully in doing so they both have
2:57
thorough weather ceiling starting from
2:59
Co coings on the front Element rear
3:01
gaskets and then internal seals all
3:03
throughout both of them are equipped to
3:05
be used in adverse conditions
3:08
surprisingly because the Sony has a more
3:11
sophisticated Focus system and that it
3:13
has a dual of their XD linear Motors
3:16
whereas this has an STM Focus motor but
3:19
because of the maximum aperture and
3:21
focal lead combination the truth of the
3:23
matter is that autofocus performance is
3:25
about the same I saw similar amounts of
3:27
speed uh similar amounts of smooth this
3:30
they're both roughly equally quiet the
3:32
Sony does have an advantage that I'll
3:34
get to in a moment when it comes to the
3:36
autofocus but really I wouldn't even
3:38
consider that to be a strongly
3:40
differentiating factor between the two
3:43
now there is a difference between the
3:44
two that I'm going to call a neutral
3:46
difference not an advantage for either
3:48
one and that is that they both have
3:50
slightly different color signatures and
3:53
one thing I did notti is that the white
3:55
balance tends to come off a little bit
3:57
different between the two and so for
3:59
example in this comparison you can see
4:01
that the the color looks a little bit
4:02
different however if I equalize the
4:04
white balance between the two the color
4:06
looks less different but there is still
4:09
some subtle differences and so um I find
4:11
the St to be a little bit cooler I would
4:13
say the vrox is slightly warmer by
4:16
comparison maybe the vrox is ever so
4:18
slightly more saturated in its color uh
4:20
you're going to have to decide which of
4:22
those two um actually appeals to your
4:24
eye more so now let's talk about some
4:27
reasons to choose the vro
4:30
the vro the probably the most obvious
4:33
and a significant one is going to be the
4:35
price it is currently $500 you can get
4:37
it for at the moment and so that is $300
4:41
Less in other words the Sony cost about
4:43
46% more obviously if you're on a tight
4:45
budget and you're looking at something
4:47
saying I like a wide angle Prime but I
4:50
don't want to spend have a massive
4:51
investment into it well the vtrs might
4:54
be more appealing for that reason alone
4:57
we'll also note that the VTR is a little
5:00
bit more customizable between the two
5:02
both of them do have a custom button but
5:04
the vro actually has two function
5:06
buttons and it has this LCD screen and
5:09
one of the things that you can do with
5:11
that LCD screen is you can actually set
5:14
AB focus and so that you can set that up
5:16
to where you can go between those two
5:18
and you can have pull AB Focus back and
5:20
forth and so it's just one more layer of
5:23
customization and feature that isn't
5:25
present on the Sony so that might be one
5:28
reason to consider it another reason to
5:30
consider the V TRS is that it has
5:32
massively less Distortion than what the
5:34
Sony does the Sony has a ton of barrel
5:36
Distortion whereas while it's not
5:39
perfectly neutral it is pretty close to
5:42
being neutral in terms of I really can't
5:44
dial in um Distortion correction in
5:47
either direction without making things
5:49
worse and so it has very very little
5:51
Distortion whereas the Sony has a ton of
5:53
distortion it also has very slightly
5:56
less coma now that might be offset by
5:58
having more V yet but it does have less
6:01
coma and so if you're looking for a Lin
6:03
specifically for shooting the night sky
6:05
the vrs you know particularly at a
6:07
cheaper price might be more advantageous
6:09
for you because it does have a little
6:10
bit stigmatism in the corner and getting
6:13
that kind of uh growing wings on the
6:15
star points and the edges and so those
6:17
are some reasons to consider the vrs
6:19
over the Sony however there is a pretty
6:22
exhaustive list of reasons to choose the
6:24
Sony obviously the Sony is much much
6:27
smaller it is 73.8 mm in diameter by 75
6:32
millim in length which makes it makes it
6:34
12 mm narrower than what the vroo is and
6:38
a whopping 28 mm shorter it also uses 67
6:43
mm versus 77 M meter filters and so a
6:47
secondary consideration if you have no
6:48
filters and you're not it's not a matter
6:50
of sharing it's going to be cheaper to
6:52
buy filters for the Sony because of its
6:55
smaller size it is also much much
6:57
lighter it is only 3 4 G versus 550 g so
7:02
that's a difference of 246 G which is
7:05
obviously very very significant the Sony
7:08
does have one feature that the vro
7:10
doesn't have and that is that it does
7:12
have an iris lock and so you have the
7:14
option if you're not an aperture ring
7:16
fan you can lock out of the aperture
7:18
ring or if you want to make sure as
7:19
you're maybe doing aperture racking that
7:22
you don't ever get out of that manual
7:24
aperture ring and you can lock into it
7:27
to making sure that you're staying there
7:29
it also has much much higher
7:31
magnification it's designed with
7:33
floating elements that design allow it
7:35
to focus up closer so yes there will be
7:38
a little bit of a clunk in there if the
7:40
lens is off of the camera and it's
7:42
powered off but if you energize that
7:45
another words you connect it to a camera
7:46
and turn the camera on that clunking
7:48
goes away because those are floating
7:49
elements that's a purposeful design and
7:51
its purpose is to allow you to for the
7:53
lens to be able to focus up closely and
7:56
so basically it's allowing that focusing
7:58
group to move a little bit when it needs
8:00
to and so in this case it can focus much
8:03
more closely and it can achieve a much
8:05
higher level of magnification um even at
8:08
its autofocus level it can achieve as
8:10
high as 0.25 times but if you manually
8:13
focus you can go from a minimum Focus
8:15
distance of 15 cm down to 13 cm and you
8:18
can boost that magnification up to 0.30
8:22
times the VTR only has a 0.10 times so
8:25
not a strength for it and if you compare
8:27
them side by side you can see that the
8:29
amount of magnification you can achieve
8:31
is pretty radically different I will
8:33
also note that the Sony's 11 apture
8:36
blades they are rounder and they allow
8:39
you to keep a more circular shape to the
8:43
specular highlights when the lens is
8:44
stopped down so another Advantage there
8:47
now I will also note that the Sony lens
8:50
is wider now that's a little bit less
8:51
true once you correct for all that
8:53
Barrel Distortion because it does leave
8:55
some extra room for correction to
8:58
eliminate that and so that Advantage
8:59
kind of goes away a little bit if you
9:01
correct for the barrel Distortion but
9:03
you do have the potential where you
9:04
don't need to correct for it that it is
9:06
considerably wider and by the Numbers it
9:08
is wider it can go as as wide as 107
9:12
Dees versus I believe about
9:14
105.3 de and so it does have the ability
9:17
to get a little bit wider even though
9:19
they have the same stated focal length
9:22
you also get some Sony specific features
9:24
when using a first-party Sony lens and
9:26
so while autofocus I didn't feel like
9:28
radically f the Sony it does allow you
9:31
to achieve a much higher burst rate it
9:33
means that you're going to get you know
9:35
full-time autofocus all the way up to
9:37
120 frames per second on an A9 Mark III
9:40
even on my alpha 1 it will give you up
9:42
to 30 frames per second whereas you can
9:44
only achieve 15 frames per second on the
9:46
vild trucks it'll also benefit from
9:48
features camera specific features like
9:50
Focus breathing compensation which Sony
9:53
reserves only for first-party lenses and
9:55
not for third party lenses now whereas
9:58
the VTR has much lower Distortion the
10:01
Sony has much much lower vignette about
10:03
half the level of vignette that vrox
10:06
does and so that is one key advantage
10:08
that we have there the Sony is also the
10:10
sharper of the two now they are both
10:12
very sharp lenses they both have good
10:14
contrast but the Sony is just just that
10:16
extra edge better and as you can see in
10:18
this comparison even of the MTF chart
10:21
you can see that there's more of the
10:22
performance that is above the 80% level
10:25
than what the vro does and that bears
10:27
out in real world images as well where
10:29
where I just see a contrast and detail
10:31
Advantage pretty much across the frame
10:33
particularly in real world shots for the
10:36
Sony lens it's extremely sharp and it
10:38
has a little bit better contrast as well
10:40
and so overall I would say that the
10:42
optical performance does slightly favor
10:45
the Sony even though it does have a more
10:48
significant flaw in the form of the
10:50
barrel Distortion so in conclusion I
10:53
would think it would be fair to say that
10:54
the vrox really has two key advantages
10:57
it has a much lower price and a much
10:59
lower level of distortion but Sony
11:01
essentially wins pretty much all the
11:03
other categories it's smaller it's
11:05
lighter it's sharper and it has all of
11:08
the Sony home cooking advantages The vro
11:11
Remains an excellent lens and I think
11:13
that if you are budget constrained I
11:15
would say absolutely go for it it's an
11:17
awesome lens but if you're willing to
11:20
maybe wait a little bit longer and save
11:22
a little bit more my recommendation is
11:24
to save up and buy the Sony um it is I
11:27
believe the superior lens and
11:29
particularly the superior lens when you
11:31
consider the fact that it is so Compact
11:33
and small it's probably going to make it
11:35
into your bag more often and thus the
11:37
lens that gets used more often in many
11:39
ways is the lens with the better value
11:41
in my my opinion now if you want more
11:43
information on either lens you can check
11:45
out my full either text or video reviews
11:48
that are both Linked In the description
11:50
down below there are buying links for
11:51
both lenses I hope this has helped you
11:53
out today as always thanks for watching
11:55
have a great day and let the light in
11:59
for