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Photographer Dustin Abbott shares a deep dive comparison of the two mid-priced 50mm F1.4 AF options for Nikon Z - the Viltrox Pro AF 50mm F1.4 Z and the Nikkor Z 50mm F1.4. Which is worth your money?
Viltrox Reviews - Video https://youtu.be/yV5whbhASF8 | Text Review: https://tinyurl.com/Pro50Zda
Nikkor Reviews - Video https://youtu.be/QUlS2RyLAfc | Text Review: https://tinyurl.com/Z50mmreview
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Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
[music and bell]
0:10
Hi, I'm Dustin Abbott and I'm here today
0:12
for another one of my head-to-head
0:14
comparison videos. [music]
0:15
Filtrox's most recent lens for Nikon is
0:18
from their Pro Series. It's their 50mm
0:20
f1.4.
0:22
That gives us a unique opportunity to go
0:24
head-to-head with Nickar's own 50mm
0:27
f1.4. Both of these lenses cost within
0:30
the same ballpark of each other. But as
0:33
you can see here, even as they hold
0:35
them, they are radically different
0:36
lenses. Radically different in terms of
0:39
their size, but also radically different
0:40
in terms of their performance. It would
0:43
seem on one hand that when it comes to
0:45
the pure performance aspect that
0:47
Viltrox's newer, more modern design is
0:49
going to just wipe the floor with the
0:51
nicor lens. But as always, there's a
0:53
little bit of nuance to be found in
0:55
these comparisons. And as I put them in
0:57
a variety of scenarios, I hope that what
1:00
comes after this will show you how that
1:02
each one has strengths and weaknesses
1:05
relative to the other. And that can help
1:07
you to make a more informed buying
1:09
decision by the end of this video. And
1:11
so without further ado, we're going to
1:13
dive in and look at how they compare in
1:15
various categories, including their
1:18
build, their features, their autofocus,
1:21
their video production, and of course,
1:23
their optical performance. Let's dive in
1:26
and let's take a look. So, in our first
1:27
round, we're going to be taking a look
1:29
at the build. And there is some radical
1:31
divergence between these two lenses
1:33
here. However, that divergence really
1:35
doesn't come down to price. MSRP for the
1:38
Nicor lens is $596,
1:42
$549
1:44
for the Viltrox lens. Though, with both
1:46
of these lenses, there's going to be
1:48
play as far as sales discount codes like
1:51
one available in the description below
1:53
for the Viltrox lens. variation from
1:55
market to market. Bottom line is is that
1:57
in your market, one might be slightly
2:00
more expensive than the other, but
2:01
they're going to be within the same
2:02
basic ballpark. After that, however,
2:05
these paths really diverge. Our first
2:07
win here comes for the Nicor lens where
2:10
it weighs in at just 422 g versus a
2:14
whopping 830 g for the Viltrox lens. The
2:18
Viltrox is literally just about twice as
2:21
heavy as what the Nicor lens is. And so
2:23
if your priority is to travel light at
2:25
all, it's a huge win for Nicor. It is
2:27
also the clearly the smaller lens of the
2:30
two. 76.2 mm in diameter versus 84.5 mm
2:35
for the Viltrox. And when it comes to
2:37
the length, it is right under 89 mm in
2:40
overall length while the Viltrox is a
2:42
whopping 113 mm. So a full 24 millime
2:47
longer in length. And so it is just a
2:48
radically different lens in terms of
2:51
size. So, couple of wins there for the
2:53
Nicor lens. Now, when it goes to the
2:56
feature set, it definitely flips over in
2:58
the favor of the Viltrox lens. The Nicor
3:00
lens, it's got the customizable control
3:02
ring and it's got the manual focus ring.
3:04
And that's it. The Viltrox lens, it has
3:07
the ability to has a traditional
3:10
aperture ring that you have the ability
3:11
to use either with clicks or a switch
3:14
here to click it into a DW decl. It has
3:18
an AFMF switch. It has a custom or
3:20
function button along with the manual
3:22
focus ring. And so it has a plethora of
3:26
controls making it more competitive with
3:28
higherend S-line lenses. And so a
3:30
definite win for Viltrox on that front.
3:32
Both of these lenses do have weather
3:34
sealing. However, in the case of the
3:36
Nicor lens, we have around seven seals,
3:39
whereas the Viltrox lens has around 10
3:41
seals. Now, to be fair, it also has more
3:43
things that need to be sealed. You know,
3:44
buttons and switches that are lacking on
3:47
the Nicor lens. And so, you know, in
3:50
that case, I would call it more of a
3:52
draw. They both have weather sealing.
3:53
That's what matters. However, when it
3:55
comes to the build quality, there's no
3:57
question that the Nicor lens is the
3:59
cheaper feeling lens. It is, you know,
4:02
engineered plastics. Nothing wrong with
4:04
that. But the Viltrox lens is quite a
4:07
gorgeous lens. It is has this kind of
4:10
brushed anodized look to the actual
4:13
metals. And it is made out of a uh
4:15
aviation grade magnesium aluminum alloy.
4:19
It looks and feels very premium, very
4:22
beautiful. And yes, it is big and heavy,
4:24
but it is gorgeous in terms of the build
4:26
quality. So, at the conclusion of this
4:28
first round, there are two categories
4:30
that Nikon has won, whereas we have
4:33
three different categories that Viltrox
4:36
has won at this point, leaving our score
4:38
at 2 to three for the Viltrox lens. So
4:42
our next category is autofocus. Now on
4:44
paper, the Viltrox has the superior
4:47
autofocus system. It has a hyper VCM or
4:50
voice coil motor which is a more premium
4:52
technology that Nicor has started to
4:54
embrace on some of their highestend
4:56
lenses. Whereas the the Nicor 50mm f1.4Z
5:00
lens has a more pedestrian STM or
5:03
stepping focus motor. In this case,
5:06
however, it's not just what you have in
5:08
terms of the focus motor and its
5:10
technologies, but as we're going to see,
5:12
it's also the way that those are
5:14
employed. And there is some advantage
5:16
still that is to be had for being a
5:18
first-party lens with firstparty access
5:20
to focus algorithms as what we're going
5:22
to see. The one thing that I did observe
5:24
as far as stills photography is that
5:26
both of these are highly accurate. I
5:28
shot on a Nikon Z8 body and in whatever
5:32
condition I was shooting in, whether I
5:33
was shooting portraits, you know,
5:34
shooting out in just real world shots,
5:36
both of them are extremely accurate.
5:38
They deliver well focused results and so
5:40
I think that you're going to be happy
5:42
with either lens when it comes to that.
5:44
When it comes to the pure focus speed,
5:46
you can tell that the Viltrox has a
5:48
little bit more thrust. And you can see
5:50
here in this test that it rocks back and
5:52
forth with, you know, more thrust. Not
5:55
quite instant, but just a split second
5:57
off of that. Whereas when I look at the
5:59
same kind of test shot on the Nicor
6:02
lens, it just feels while it's still
6:04
very nice and fast and just a hair
6:06
slower, you can feel that there's a
6:08
little bit less inertia or thrust that's
6:10
available there. And so it's just not
6:12
quite as quick. It doesn't have quite as
6:14
much power or thrust available for
6:16
autofocus generally. So, we're going to
6:18
give a point in that category to the
6:20
Viltrox lens. And so, after the basic
6:23
autofocus category, we're going to see a
6:25
total of four points for the Viltrox and
6:28
two points for the Nicor lens. But as we
6:32
dive into video performance, some more
6:34
nuances begin to emerge. And that takes
6:36
me back to my intro to this section.
6:39
Because what I found is that when I
6:40
begin to put in put the lenses in some
6:42
of these other scenarios, particularly
6:44
when it comes to the video side of
6:45
things, there's just a little bit more
6:48
confidence and sophistication to the way
6:50
that the Nicor lens does things. For
6:52
example, here, while it just has the
6:53
customizable control ring, you can see
6:56
that it is a little bit smoother with
6:57
its aperture rack. And what I'm looking
6:59
for here is not just the ability to
7:01
slide through the various apertures
7:03
without visible stops, but also as we go
7:06
through that process to see a nice
7:08
smooth metering effect. And so if I'm
7:10
racking, it doesn't appear obvious. It's
7:12
just like depth of field grows. And
7:14
that's what happens with the nicor lens.
7:16
Whereas I did see a few steps at various
7:19
moments along the way with the Viltrox
7:21
with its aperture rack. And so that
7:23
communication is not quite as quick and
7:25
not quite as sophisticated in the
7:27
process. So, a point to the nicor lens
7:29
there when it comes to focus breathing.
7:32
And let's take a look at our uh just,
7:34
you know, touch to focus racks going
7:36
back and forth. Focusing first on the
7:39
focus breathing aspect. I went back and
7:41
forth and looked at my results again and
7:43
again and I just didn't see a noticeable
7:45
difference between the two. Both of them
7:47
have quite low amounts of focus
7:50
breathing and I would say about equally
7:52
low amounts of focus breathing. Not
7:54
really a big issue for either one of
7:55
them. So, I'm going to call that a draw.
7:57
But you probably have noticed already
7:59
that when it comes to the confidence of
8:01
focus moving back and forth that it is
8:05
more confident for the Nicor lens. It
8:07
goes back and forth smoothly without
8:09
visible steps. The Viltrox moves back
8:12
and forth with good thrust, but it does
8:15
some pulsing in there almost like it's
8:17
got all of this power, but it doesn't
8:18
quite know what to do with it. And so it
8:20
does little micro pulses before it
8:22
settles on subjects. I found the same
8:24
thing happened that when I did the
8:27
approach to camera that uh the nicor
8:30
lens, it's not quite as reactive. It
8:32
doesn't have as quite as much thrust and
8:33
so it's a little slower to pick me up as
8:35
I step out of frame, but it does so in a
8:38
smooth and more cinematic way. Whereas
8:40
the Viltrox, it might be able to snap
8:42
back a little bit faster, but again,
8:43
there's those little micro pulses. So,
8:45
it feels like it's a firmware update or
8:48
two away from actually nailing down
8:50
those focus algorithms where it's using
8:52
that additional thrust that the HyperVCM
8:55
focus motor gives it in a more smooth
8:57
and usable way. And so, there are three
9:01
different areas in this particular
9:02
category where Nicor wins in terms of
9:05
the confidence of focus, particularly
9:07
when it comes to the video side of
9:08
things. And so, coming out of this
9:10
round, we're now at a draw. Five points
9:12
for Viltrox, five points for the Nicor
9:15
lens. And that takes us into our final
9:17
category where we start to look at the
9:19
optical performance. Now, our first
9:22
category that we're going to explore
9:24
here is pretty much a draw. When it
9:26
comes to distortion, both of them have
9:28
such minuscule amounts of barrel
9:30
distortion that they're hardly necessary
9:33
to correct at all. Very low in both
9:35
cases. So, there'll be a draw there. But
9:37
surprisingly to me, the Nicor lens is
9:40
the one with the heavier vignette. And
9:41
maybe it's because it has that smaller
9:44
only 62 mm front filter thread, smaller
9:47
opening diameter, whereas we've got a
9:48
larger 77 mm filter thread and obviously
9:51
larger entrance diameter there. And so
9:54
the Viltrox actually has the lower level
9:56
of uh vignette. Both of them have
9:58
significant amounts, but the Nicor is
10:00
almost up to a plus 90 to correct. I
10:02
need a plus 88 to correct for it.
10:05
Whereas the Viltrox lens, I only needed
10:07
a plus 60. So, we're talking about a
10:09
stop difference in the corners and that
10:11
is significant. And so, there's
10:12
definitely a win for Viltrox there. Now,
10:15
when it comes to fringing, this is an
10:17
easy win for Viltrox. Viltrox has a more
10:20
modern, more corrected design. And so,
10:22
very low instances of longitudinal style
10:25
chromatic aberrations. They don't hardly
10:27
show up in any kind of real world
10:29
scenario at all. Whereas the nicor
10:31
they're quite prevalent and obvious and
10:33
you're going to see them in some real
10:34
world results and there is a radical
10:37
difference particularly with that green
10:38
fringing that shows up and so a definite
10:41
difference there. So Viltrox takes an
10:43
easy win in that category. It also takes
10:46
easy wins when it comes to overall
10:48
sharpness. And so we'll look in two
10:49
categories. Wide open where I expected
10:52
the Viltrox to win and it certainly did.
10:54
It is sharper, higher contrast all
10:56
across the frame. I mean, I've owned
10:58
this lens for nearly two years. I'm
11:00
pretty familiar with his character. It's
11:02
got strengths, but wide openen sharpness
11:04
is not one of them. Where I thought it
11:07
might catch up is when it was stopped
11:09
down. But what I found is that stopped
11:11
down to f5.6 and f8, we're going to find
11:14
that the Viltrox retains an advantage.
11:16
It's not only sharper to begin with, but
11:18
it just sharpens up a little bit more
11:20
enough to keep it always ahead of the
11:23
nicor lens. Another area where I was
11:26
surprised is when it comes to the bokeh
11:29
performance. And so in this case, I'm
11:31
going to look at two categories to kind
11:32
of tell this tale here. I used a
11:35
portrait setting just with myself, but
11:38
to where I could set up on a tripod and
11:40
I could recreate shots with both lenses
11:42
again and again. So probably at this
11:45
point, it's not a surprise to find out
11:46
that when it comes to the overall pop of
11:49
the textures on the face, the Viltrox is
11:51
the easy winner. And the big place I
11:53
think that it shows the advantage is
11:55
that the eyes sparkle and pop whereas
11:57
they look a little bit dull with the
11:59
nicor lens because it doesn't have as
12:01
much contrast there. And so obviously if
12:03
that's a priority for you, the Viltrox
12:05
really gives you more nuance on the
12:08
face. And I actually felt that that
12:09
contrast extended to a little bit more
12:12
nuance in terms of the way that light
12:13
and shadow on the face and the way that
12:16
things were revealed. It just shows up a
12:18
little bit more there. But where I was
12:20
surprised in the portrait scenario is
12:22
that when it comes to looking at the out
12:24
of focus area where I thought the nicor
12:26
might take a whim, it's actually rougher
12:28
than what the Viltrox lens is. The
12:30
Viltrox is smoother. It's a little bit
12:32
creamier in those areas whereas the
12:33
Nicor lens is not. And if we look at
12:36
just things like specular highlights,
12:38
you can see a couple of things. First of
12:39
all, the Nicor suffers from having that
12:41
green fringing around them. Um, neither
12:43
one of them are particularly busy
12:45
inside, so that's not a problem. But I
12:47
also found that at equal distances, the
12:50
Viltrox has a slightly longer focal
12:52
length. And so I don't know, you know,
12:53
where they both fall out, whether this
12:55
is more like 49 mm and this is like 51
12:57
mm or if there's just one millimeter in
13:00
one direction or another. But the
13:02
Viltrox at equal distance is a little
13:04
bit longer a lens. And so that means it
13:06
does have a little bit of advantage of
13:08
having, you know, bigger and brighter
13:10
specular highlights. But I also found
13:12
even if I equalize things, they're a
13:13
little bit bigger from the Viltrox lens.
13:15
So, it definitely has a win when it
13:17
comes to the overall bokeh. Now, Nicor
13:20
takes a couple of wins in a couple of
13:22
other categories. And so, one of those
13:24
is when it comes to flare resistance.
13:26
Both of these lenses are quite good. And
13:28
I will say as a caveat to what I'm about
13:30
to say about the Viltrox, I actually
13:32
find the Viltrox, what Flare Artifacts
13:34
does have, I find them quite artistic, I
13:36
rather like them for portrait use. But
13:39
this is about flare resistance. And what
13:40
I found is that in this shot for example
13:42
where I set up with some bright window
13:44
light coming into the scene the the
13:46
nicor lens stays very neutral as you can
13:48
see whereas we can see this kind of
13:49
prismatic uh haze flare pattern that's
13:52
showing up from the Viltrox lens and so
13:55
it is flaring in instances where the
13:56
nicor is entirely neutral. So a win for
13:59
nicor there. Another area where nicor
14:01
wins is when it comes to its minimum
14:03
focus distance and its maximum
14:04
magnification. It gives us a 0.17 times
14:08
magnification while we only have a 0.145
14:12
times or 14 12 for the Viltrox lens. And
14:16
so that's an obviously higher level of
14:18
magnification.
14:20
Now, our final category though tells us
14:22
a little bit more of that story. You
14:24
might be able to hear as I go back and
14:26
forth,
14:28
there's a little bit of a rocking,
14:29
clunking sound within the Viltrox lens.
14:31
And some people are really thrown off by
14:32
that, but you're probably going to have
14:34
to get used to it because it's
14:35
increasingly a part of modern lens
14:37
design. There are floating elements
14:38
inside there that if the lens is
14:41
inactive like this, it's not powered on,
14:43
not attached to the camera body, those,
14:45
you know, elements will float around a
14:46
little bit and then they'll lock in when
14:48
they're energized. The reason for this
14:49
design is it allows there to be a more
14:51
consistent performance at all focus
14:54
distances, including up close. And so
14:56
what we'll find is that the Viltrox is
14:58
obviously superior in its optical
15:00
performance up close versus the Nick
15:03
lens. So the Nicore lens gets you
15:04
closer, but it doesn't get you there
15:06
with good sharpness and clarity. The
15:08
Viltrox lens doesn't get you quite as
15:10
close, but gives you better performance
15:12
up close. And so coming out of that
15:14
particular round, we see that Viltrox
15:17
took a whopping seven categories while
15:20
the Nicor Lens only took two wins in
15:23
that cutter. And so that leaves us with
15:24
a final tally of Nicor with a total of
15:28
seven points whereas the Viltrox now has
15:32
12 points. And so there's a pretty
15:34
obvious separation between the two when
15:36
it comes to our final points analysis.
15:39
And so yes, at the end of the day, the
15:40
Viltrox is our points winner, but I
15:43
actually really like the fact that these
15:45
lenses are so different. This really
15:47
isn't a matter of it being, you know,
15:49
kind of a close squeeze between two
15:51
lenses that really are hardly different
15:52
from each other. You know, just with
15:54
subtle nuances here and there. These
15:56
really are very radically different
15:58
approaches, radically different designs.
16:00
And for that reason, I think you have an
16:02
actual more of a choice than what you
16:04
might have otherwise. If you want a lens
16:07
that is modern, well corrected, very
16:10
higherforming, well, obviously the
16:12
Viltrox gives you a lot of lens for the
16:15
money. It's also big and heavy, and in
16:17
some areas, I would say that its
16:19
autofocus isn't quite as settled as what
16:22
the Nicor's own lens is. If you're
16:25
looking for a lens that's more comp
16:27
compact, has more of that classic type
16:29
rendering and look to it, and has the
16:31
first party reliability, well, you've
16:33
got an a good choice here that happens
16:36
to be no more expensive than what the
16:37
third party lens is. And so, at the end
16:39
of the day, you've got really different
16:41
choices. And I don't know that there's a
16:43
bad choice. It's really comes down to
16:46
which choice is better for you yourself
16:48
in terms of what your shooting
16:50
priorities are. And that's the kind of
16:51
choices I like to have on platforms. I'm
16:54
really glad that Viltrox is continuing
16:56
to develop for Nikon Zmount platform.
16:59
And yes, there is an ongoing uh lawsuit
17:01
between these two companies, but it
17:02
seems like at least there is some
17:04
confidence from Viltrox that they're
17:05
going to be able to come to terms with
17:07
Nikon and that moving ahead into the
17:08
future, we're going to continue to see
17:10
some great options that in many ways to
17:12
me are complimentary to what Nikon is
17:15
offering rather than, you know,
17:16
obliterating or removing the validity of
17:19
them. Different strokes for different
17:21
folks, as they say. Hopefully this has
17:23
helped you in making your own buying
17:24
decision. But if you would like more
17:26
information, I have full text and video
17:28
reviews of both of these lenses that I
17:30
will have linked in the description down
17:31
below. There is some buying links there
17:33
as well. As always, thanks for watching.
17:35
Have a great day and let the light in.