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Photographer Dustin Abbott shares a look at the APS-C Bangers - Dustin's favorite APS-C (crop sensor) lenses. Reviews of each "banger":
Viltrox 9mm F2.8 | https://youtu.be/p2ZB7ZQhdv0 | Text https://tinyurl.com/AIR9mmDA
Tokina 11-18mm F2.8 | Video https://youtu.be/IEaiURzVk04 | Text https://tinyurl.com/Tokina11-18Xda
Sigma 12mm F1.4 | Video https://youtu.be/by3dEK8xfuk | Text https://tinyurl.com/Sigma12Creview
Sigma 17-40mm F1.8 | Video https://youtu.be/vjokJlsYHNE | Text https://tinyurl.com/17-40ARTreview
Fujinon 16-55mm F2.8 WR II | Video https://youtu.be/lm5a5hKYVIE | Text https://tinyurl.com/16-55IIda
Viltrox Pro 27mm F1.2 | Video https://youtu.be/SLbNIesJ7SY | Text http://tinyurl.com/ProAF27eReview
Viltrox AIR 35mm F1.7 | Video https://youtu.be/y_J7Qtf4pII | Text https://tinyurl.com/Vil35AIRda
Viltrox PRO 56mm F1.2 | Video https://youtu.be/2gHcs1NovwI | Text https://tinyurl.com/PRO56xreview
Sony 70-350mm G OSS | Video https://youtu.be/LpmonOfXrnE | Text https://bit.ly/70_350Gda
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0:10
Hi, I'm Dustin Abbott and I'm back for
0:13
another episode in my banger series. A
0:16
lot of you asked that I would take a
0:18
look at APS-C bangers and so that's what
0:20
I'm doing here today. A quick caveat,
0:23
however, I actually only own one APS-C
0:26
body and that's a Fujifilm XH2. I tend
0:29
to do my reviews on Nikon and then on
0:33
Sony on the APS-C mode of one of their
0:36
highresolution full-frame cameras. And
0:38
so, as a byproduct, I don't actually
0:40
have the same kind of investment in
0:42
APS-C. And so, a lot of the lenses I'm
0:44
going to mention, I don't actually own.
0:46
However, in going back through my
0:48
reviews and callulling what has been the
0:49
absolute best, the standouts in my mind
0:52
at a variety of different price points.
0:54
We're going to go all the way from well
0:56
under $200 all the way up to $6,000
0:58
today. And so I won't be able to show
1:01
you all these. However, I will share
1:03
images from all of them that I've taken
1:04
in using them in my reviews or having
1:07
owned them at some point in the past.
1:09
Also, this is going to be APS-C in
1:12
general, and so I'm going to be looking
1:14
at lenses for Fuji, Sony, third party
1:17
lenses, and so there'll be a variety of
1:19
brands that are represented here today
1:21
as well. The final note is that the
1:23
price I'm giving is a snapshot of the
1:25
price today on B&H Photo. There's a lot
1:28
of play in prices, sales up and down,
1:31
and then obviously variance from market
1:32
to market. And so I'm just giving you a
1:34
snapshot in one market at this moment
1:37
here today. So all of those caveats
1:39
aside, let's jump in and let's take a
1:41
look at the bangers here today. Starting
1:44
with an inexpensive one, the Viltrox 9mm
1:48
f2.8 from their air series. I started
1:51
off the full-frame bangers with the 14mm
1:53
f4. And in many ways, the 9mm f2.8 is
1:57
even better. It goes wider. It's even
2:00
sharper. It's an incredibly good lens.
2:03
And what really stood out to me is how
2:05
amazing this lens was on Fuji's very
2:08
demanding 40 megapixel uh APS-C sensor.
2:12
That APS-C sensor has a pixel density
2:14
equivalent to over 90 megapixels on
2:17
full-frame, which means if lenses are
2:19
not really, really good, they look
2:22
really, really bad on that platform.
2:24
This lens looks amazingly good. And in
2:26
fact, it is a match of anything that I
2:29
have shot on the Fuji platform,
2:31
including their very expensive 8 to 16
2:34
millimeter f2.8. And so, it it really is
2:37
a fantastic value. My second APS-C
2:40
banger is actually a wide- angle zoom
2:42
lens that is a bit of an unknown. This
2:45
is what I would call an underrated gem.
2:47
It's Tokina's 11 to 18 mm f/2.8. Tokina
2:51
has spent some years in the wilderness
2:53
where they have been a relatively
2:55
unknown manufacturer that was making
2:58
lenses that often were not highly
3:00
competitive with the best in the class.
3:03
However, this is kind of a resurgence
3:05
for them. this zoom lens. It was
3:07
released in 2025. It runs for about $600
3:11
US. It obviously has an amazing zoom
3:14
range. It's 11 to 28 millimeters. It's
3:17
an internally zooming lens and so it
3:18
zooms very nicely. And while I wouldn't
3:21
say it is the sharpest wide angle u zoom
3:25
that I have used before, it is quite
3:28
sharp even on I'm testing it on the 40
3:30
megapixel Fuji sensor. But on top of
3:32
that, I find that the the colors and
3:34
just the general look of images. It has
3:37
a bit of a sparkle to it. The images are
3:39
really crisp looking. I actually really
3:41
really like the optical glass in this
3:43
lens. I like the overall build of it.
3:45
It's a you know, it's it's still
3:47
compact. It's lightweight and it has a
3:50
great focal length. And so actually
3:52
really really like that lens. It's not
3:54
pictured here in front of me, but we're
3:55
going to go into the wide angle fast
3:57
aperture category with Sigma's 12mm
4:00
f1.4. 4 from their contemporary series.
4:03
It currently runs about $580 US and
4:06
while that's not cheap, it is a
4:08
fantastically good lens. It has um has a
4:12
good set of little feature set on it. It
4:14
has weather sealing and what's more, it
4:16
is just really really sharp. It delivers
4:18
really great looking images and I
4:20
actually liked it better than I did
4:22
their 15mimeter f1.4 that's been
4:24
released more recently. That's also a
4:26
good lens, but the 12mm to me is the
4:29
standout. And so if you're looking for a
4:31
fast wide angle prime, you want to do
4:33
some astro work, some low light work, I
4:36
definitely recommend the Sigma 12
4:37
millimeter f1.4. It is fantastic. Also
4:41
not pictured, but a really great
4:43
consideration whether you're shooting on
4:45
Fuji or the Sony platform or even on
4:47
L-mount is the Sigma 17 to 40mm f1.8.
4:53
Back in the day, the 18 to 35mm f1.8 was
4:56
pretty much a cult classic. And while
4:59
that lens had some focus issues, it was
5:01
beloved by a lot of people because it
5:03
gave you that really fast maximum
5:05
aperture across a very useful zoom
5:07
range. Well, Sigma managed to expand the
5:10
formula, making it both wider on the
5:12
wide end and longer on the telephoto
5:15
end, maintaining that fast, bright
5:17
aperture of f1.8. Not to mention that
5:20
this lens is fantastic in autofocus.
5:23
It's extremely sharp. If you're looking
5:25
for a lens that can, you know, literally
5:27
be that bag of primes and replace a lot
5:29
of prime lenses, there's no question
5:31
that it is definitely one to consider.
5:33
It's not cheap, $920, but it's also a
5:36
unique zoom lens that is basically
5:38
unmatched by anyone else at this point.
5:40
So, well worthy of consideration if you
5:42
need something brighter, but also can
5:44
cover a lot of that standard zoom and a
5:46
little bit into the wide angle category
5:49
as well. My favorite standard zoom
5:51
across all brands at the moment actually
5:54
comes from Fujifilm and that is their XF
5:56
16 to 55mimeter f2.8 RLMWR
6:01
and it is the M2 lens. The MK2 lens is
6:04
smaller, lighter, sharper. It's just
6:07
better in every way. And it has not only
6:11
stands up to the 40 megapixel sensor,
6:13
which I didn't feel that the predecessor
6:15
did, but what's more, I believe it has
6:17
even nicer rendering. It has that extra
6:19
bit of sparkle when it comes to the
6:21
color and contrast that really stands
6:23
out. I don't think that all of Fuji
6:25
lenses are standouts. I think that some
6:27
of them are overpriced for what they
6:28
are, but when Fuji nails it, they really
6:31
nail it and their best lenses are very,
6:33
very special. And I think that the 16 to
6:35
28mm f/2.82
6:38
is definitely one that falls into that
6:40
category. Thus far, it has been hard to
6:42
go wrong with any of Viltrox's Pro Ser
6:45
Pro Pro Series lenses for uh be it Sony,
6:48
Fuji, or Nikon platforms. They have all
6:50
been uniformly fantastic. And while I'm
6:52
not going to cover it today, I do give
6:54
an honorable mention to the first of
6:56
that series, which was the 75mm f1.2. An
6:59
amazingly sharp lens. And I'm going to a
7:02
different one here just because I feel
7:04
like Phil Rocks has even improved the
7:06
metrics a little bit more. But the
7:08
second in that series was the 27
7:10
millimeter f1.2
7:12
and it is just a gorgeous bit of optical
7:15
glass. 27 millimeters is a bit of an
7:18
oddball focal length for some people but
7:20
it delivers such amazing image quality.
7:23
It has that beautiful combination of
7:25
great sharpness but then also
7:27
beautifully soft uh bokeh. The rendering
7:30
is gorgeous from it. I've used that lens
7:32
extensively and if I was to use one kind
7:35
of fast mid-range prime, that's
7:38
definitely the one that I would go to.
7:40
It'll set you back about $580, which
7:43
kind of is the standard price basically
7:45
for all of those Pro Series lenses, but
7:47
it remains a fantastic value for the
7:49
optical performance. It's got weather
7:51
sealing. It's got a robust feature set.
7:53
It's just a gorgeous bit of glass. Now,
7:56
if you're on a tighter budget and you're
7:58
looking for essentially a standard prime
8:00
lens, I recommend the Viltrox 35mm f1.7
8:06
from their Air series. It's only $180
8:09
and so it's the cheapest lens here that
8:11
of all the lens we're covering today,
8:12
but it has a really nice combination of
8:14
sharpness and bokeh. In many ways, I
8:17
think it is a good match for the much
8:20
more expensive Fujifilm 35mm f1.4 4 uh
8:24
WR, which that lens is a gorgeous lens.
8:26
I really, really like it, but it's going
8:29
to set you back like four times as much
8:31
as this lens. And so, it's a little bit
8:33
hard to justify that expense when this
8:36
lens does such such a great job and
8:38
holds up to the 40 megapixel sensor just
8:40
fine.
8:42
Also, from the Pro series, the newer 56
8:45
millimeter f1.2 is, in my opinion, a
8:48
really, really special lens. and they
8:50
upgraded the formula. And the reason why
8:51
I chose this over the uh 75mm, which I
8:55
think is also excellent, is the fact
8:56
that this was the first of their uh
8:59
their Pro Series APS-C lenses where they
9:01
put their hyper VCM focus motor into it.
9:04
And so now you have even better
9:05
autofocus along with just amazingly good
9:08
optics. And it is a lens that competes
9:10
very nicely. I do own the the Fujifilm
9:13
56mm F1.2 2WR which I would say I very
9:17
slightly prefer in a in a couple of
9:19
areas but this lens is um it's it's
9:23
every bit the match for that lens in
9:25
many ways and it's you know close to
9:27
half the price and so I think it's a
9:29
fantastic value and again you can get
9:30
this all across uh you know Sony Fuji um
9:34
and then into Nikon as well and so it it
9:36
provides a tremendous value. Let's talk
9:39
finally some telephoto lenses. My
9:41
favorite kind of standard telephoto
9:43
APS-C zoom is from Sony. It is their 70
9:46
to 350 millimeter f4.5 to 6.3 goss lens.
9:51
It's not cheap at about $1,200, but it
9:54
is the best of the telephoto zooms that
9:57
I have used for APS-C brands. It just
10:00
really does a fantastic job. It's sharp.
10:03
It has great autofocus. It's got that
10:05
built-in image stabilization. I just
10:07
really, really like it for a lot of
10:09
reasons. And I liked it so much that in
10:11
my review I said it was a it was a
10:12
worthy pickup even for those that were
10:14
shooting on, you know, sometimes on both
10:16
full-frame and APS-C because putting
10:18
into APS-C mode, it still delivers a
10:21
nicely compact, great telephoto
10:24
performance for someone that's
10:25
traveling, for example. And so I think
10:27
it is a great lens. And finally, at the
10:30
most expensive end of the spectrum, we
10:32
have the Fujon XF 200mm F2 LM OISWR.
10:39
It's a really expensive lens at about
10:41
$6,000 that does come with a dedicated
10:43
1.4 times teleconverter which so it
10:45
gives you also the option of having that
10:47
280 millimeter f/2.8 focal length. The
10:51
reason why I wanted to include this is
10:53
that it is a uniquely amazing lens that
10:56
no one else has done for APS-C. It's got
10:59
that big long focal length, that bright
11:01
aperture. It had great autofocus,
11:04
amazing uh stabilization. The OIS in it
11:07
is fantastic. I found that it would
11:09
allowed me to track beautifully and
11:12
that's even on Fujifilm. I don't love f
11:14
autofocus on Fujifilm, but this lens is
11:16
so good that it makes up for some of the
11:18
deficiencies in some of the actual
11:20
focusing hardware. It's just an
11:22
amazingly good lens and it's something
11:24
that I, you know, I kind of wish was
11:25
available for other platforms, something
11:27
similar to that for those that are into
11:30
APS-C and would like to have something a
11:32
little bit more exotic. And so if you've
11:34
got deep budget and you love APS-C, that
11:36
is a really, really gorgeous lens that
11:39
allows you to take the kind of images
11:40
that are hard to replicate on APS-C with
11:43
basically any other lens. Now, a few
11:46
honorable mentions that I do want to
11:48
just quickly mention uh that I haven't
11:50
covered here is a couple of other
11:52
options for standard zooms. I've got one
11:55
of them here. I use it, you know, often.
11:57
It's Sigma's 18 to 50mm f2.8. This lens
12:00
is not new at this point, but it re
12:03
remains a great package for being
12:05
compact, nicely made, and you know,
12:07
obviously covering a really uh important
12:10
series of focal lengths with a nice
12:12
bright maximum aperture. If you want to
12:14
go a little bit bigger and expand that
12:16
zoom range a little bit more, Tamron 17
12:18
to 70 mm f/2.8. Um, it does have image
12:21
stabilization. It's about 600 bucks for
12:24
it, but it's it's also on the bigger
12:27
side for an APS-C lens, but it it's
12:30
covers an amazingly broad focal range
12:32
with that bright maximum aperture of
12:34
f2.8. And so I found it to be when it
12:37
first came out for Sony, I called it a
12:39
system seller and I think that remains
12:41
true even when it's expanded out into
12:42
some other platforms as well. And so
12:44
it's another lens that is certainly
12:46
worthy of your consideration. So there
12:47
you have 10 bangers with two bonuses
12:50
there. And hopefully amongst those
12:52
there's something that stands out to you
12:53
as being special to you, something that
12:55
is worthy of consideration for your
12:57
APS-C package. But if I was choosing a
13:01
set of lenses and I could choose of any
13:03
of the APS-C lenses that I've tested,
13:05
that's probably the kit that I would put
13:07
together. It's a lot of really, really
13:09
great glass. If you want more
13:11
information about any one of these
13:12
lenses that I've mentioned, look in the
13:13
description down below. I have links to
13:15
both text and video reviews for each one
13:18
of them so you can explore a little bit
13:20
more thoroughly. As always, thanks for
13:22
watching. Have a great day and let the
13:24
light in.