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Viltrox AF 40mm F2.5 Z Review | A Quality Lens for $160?
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May 21, 2024
Photographer Dustin Abbott shares a deep dive review of the new Nikon Z-mount version of the Viltrox AF 40mm F2.5 Z. | Read the Text Review: | Visit the Image Gallery: | Purchase the Viltrox AF 40mm F2.5 Z @ Viltrox https://tinyurl.com/BuyVil40Z | B&H https://bhpho.to/3wEkIPp | Nuzira https://tinyurl.com/Vil40Znz | Adorama https://howl.me/cmfHUPLCl9n | Amazon https://amzn.to/3QKBAe8 | Amazon Canada https://amzn.to/3K2TvZN | Amazon UK https://amzn.to/3K20G4n | Amazon Germany https://amzn.to/3ymVcic 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.me/cjU0LKdp3LN 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 Make a donation via Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/dustinTWI ============================= Table of Contents: ============================= 0:00 - Intro and Concept 0:52 - Build and Design
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0:00
Hi, I'm Dustin Abbott
0:12
Viltrox is back with another inexpensive full-frame prime lens for those who want to travel light
0:18
The 40mm f2.5 is a full-frame normal prime lens that is initially coming to Nikon Z mount
0:26
and it costs just $158 US dollars. Now for that money, you're getting a lens with sharp optics, decent build, good autofocus
0:34
accurate autofocus, and a very useful angle of view. But of course, there's also the Nikkor 40mm f2 that's available for just about $100 or more
0:43
So is the Viltrox AF 40mm f2.5 Z worth buying? Well, we're going to find that out in today's review
0:52
So let's start by taking a look at this focal length itself. I love 40mm myself
0:57
It is within that what's called normal range, which very closely approximates what the human eye recreates
1:03
As a byproduct, images taken with a focal length like this tend to be very relatable
1:07
They look very kind of natural and appealing in the sense that they remind us of things that our own eyes would see
1:15
And so in that sense, it is a very useful... To me, it's actually a little bit more useful than what 50mm is
1:21
It's a little bit wider, so it's more useful, I think, in a typical room
1:25
I use something like 40mm very often when I'm recording family events, birthdays, things like that
1:31
Because again, the images have a little bit of a sparkle to them that people like
1:36
But also, it seems to be a just right focal length in a typical sized room
1:41
And so for that, I find it useful as a walk-around focal length. Also very useful
1:45
Now, as far as the build and the design here, this lens, as you can see from these photos
1:49
is basically almost identical to the 20mm f2.8 that I reviewed last year
1:55
And so like that lens, it is very similar in terms of the build quality, the overall exterior dimensions
2:02
It feels about the same. And so in this case, it is a plastic lens, but it isn't a cheap-feeling lens at all
2:08
There's something about the plastics that feel fairly robust. And so far, the 20mm has held up really well for me. I suspect this lens will as well
2:17
So the overall dimensions are 68mm in diameter or 2.7 inches. It's just a little bit wider because of that flare to the larger Z mount
2:26
And so that's actually the widest point on the lens. So 68mm or 2.7 inches in diameter
2:32
The length is right under 60mm or 2.2 inches. The lens weighs in at 180g. A bit heavier than the 20mm, but 40mm means you're going to have larger glass elements
2:45
So that is 6.3 ounces. So that makes it a little bit heavier actually than the Nikkor 40mm f2
2:52
But the difference here being is that the build quality is actually better on the Viltrox
2:56
We have a metal lens mount, just a little bit more robust-feeling lens overall
3:02
So I mean, obviously, neither one of them are going to break any kind of records. But if you're holding them side by side, it is actually the Viltrox that feels like the better-made lens
3:12
Now we have a 52mm front filter thread up front. Very common. Also again shared with that 20mm f2.8
3:18
It does include the lens hood and the pouch. I have one complaint about the lens hood and that is that it doesn't bayonet into place very precisely
3:28
It's not hard at all to move it. And when you're mounting a lens on Nikon, it happens to be the same direction that you're rotating the lens barrel to actually mount the lens
3:37
And as a byproduct, it's really easy to move that lens hood at the same time
3:41
Because everything you're needing to rotate is moving in that same direction. They could definitely use an improvement to the locking aspect of the lens hood itself
3:49
But again, lens hood is included with this where it isn't with the Nikkor. So some value there. Though as you can see, it's a very shallow lens hood
3:56
There's some debate as to how much actual shading it's going to accomplish
4:00
It comes with a little pouch as well. Again, not a huge amount of protection value
4:05
But again, at least there's a little bit more in the box. Now, like the 20mm, there's basically no features on the barrel
4:12
There's no switches, no aperture ring, nothing like that. Basically, it's just the manual focus ring
4:17
Now, the manual focus ring is just fine. It has good damping, has good precision
4:22
I have no qualms with that. Inside, there are seven aperture blades
4:27
They are not rounded aperture blades. So unfortunately, you will see that aperture shape in some situations
4:33
when the lens is stopped down a little bit. And so you might see that in your specular highlights
4:37
So just something to be aware of. Like all of the Viltrox autofocusing lenses, it does have a USB port
4:44
in this case USB-C, on the lens mount to allow you to do firmware updates
4:48
It's a really smart move by Viltrox. And it is something that I've seen kind of spread out across
4:53
almost all quality third-party lenses at this point. Now, minimum focus distance is 34 centimeters
5:00
And so the maximum magnification is a ho-hum 0.14 times. Enough to be useful, but not as good as the 0.17 times on the Nikkor lens
5:11
Obviously, no weather sealing on a lens that's inexpensive, though we do have a HD Nano multi-layer coating on the front element
5:18
to help with fingerprints and oil, things like that. So this is a lens with no bells and whistles, but it does feel nicely made
5:25
has a good manual focus ring. There's really not a whole lot to complain about
5:29
particularly when you're talking about this amount of money. So let's talk autofocus
5:33
We have an SDM focus motor in here. While I found that the 20mm focused quickly, it's a little bit slower
5:40
Probably the same focus motor, but driving, again, a little bit heavier glass elements
5:44
So autofocus is a bit slower here. I find it only medium fast, and so you'll see that the transitions
5:51
you can see the movement rather than it being kind of instantaneous back and forth
5:56
But at the same time, in ordinary shots where I'm not doing a big pull from one to the other
6:02
probably 80% to 90% of the time, autofocus feels nice and snappy
6:06
It's only when you happen to go from something close to far away or vice versa
6:10
that you actually sense that a little bit slower movement. I did find very good focus accuracy here, however, whether I was shooting family events
6:20
whether I was shooting some portraits, it locked onto the eye very well
6:24
I took a few shots of Ferrari as he was walking along toward me
6:28
and I was very pleasantly pleased to see autofocus locked accurately, even on that moving subject, moving towards the camera, and it was accurately focused
6:37
which you might think that's not a big deal. But in my experience, having reviewed hundreds of lenses
6:42
it's just not always the case that autofocus is able to nail that particular type of situation
6:50
Now, on the video side of things, I found that autofocus pulls, they are smooth
6:55
but they're not particularly fast. And what I found maybe more importantly as I begin to do things like my hand test
7:02
the hand test did not go particularly well because I found that there's a tendency for focus
7:07
to kind of hang on the subject it's already got acquired, and there's a bit of a lag before it starts to focus on something new when that is removed
7:16
And so for my hand test, it didn't really go well. I tried speeding up the autofocus speed for video in camera
7:23
but what I found happens is that it still hangs some when, for example
7:28
in this shot where I'm transitioning from one subject to another, it kind of hangs on one subject, and then it actually focuses fairly quickly
7:35
to the next subject once it actually begins to acquire focus. But it's not necessarily a smooth and cinematic experience
7:44
So overall, as far as not stepping, not having kind of settling or pulsing
7:51
there's good focus confidence, which is the case with this lens in general
7:55
but it's not as good in the transitions as what I would like
7:59
And so I would say that video tracking works well, but video focus transitions are not fantastic
8:08
There's a bit of focus breathing, but that's not bad, fairly well controlled here
8:12
That's not really the main issue. It's more just I would like it to be just a little bit more reactive
8:17
in those types of situations. So finally, I'll give you a breakdown of the optical performance
8:23
and then if you want the detailed deep dive, that will come at the end of the review
8:27
We have 10 elements in six groups here, half of those being exotic elements
8:31
This is a little bit of a higher end optical design than what, say, the Nikkor 40mm F2 is
8:39
And so as a byproduct, the MTF looks fairly good. It's not exceptional in the center of the frame
8:45
but it's a fairly flat plane of focus, and what I found is that in the real world
8:49
it actually feels like one of those lenses that is maybe better than what the MTF suggests
8:55
One thing that has definitely stood out to me in the last about two years is that the optical glass on Viltrox lenses has really improved
9:02
That was one of my least favorite things about Viltrox optics in the early years
9:07
but I feel like their optical glass has improved to where now colors look really good
9:11
Colors have a very nice feel to them, and here on Nikon, I feel like they have a really good match there
9:17
There's good contrast in the images. Now, as far as some of the detail
9:21
there is very minor amounts of longitudinal chromatic aberrations before and after the plane of focus
9:27
It's not bad, but it is noticeable. Also, you'll see some lateral chromatic aberrations near the edges of the frame
9:33
Again, nothing extreme, but it is there. As far as the distortion in vignette, there's almost no distortion
9:40
You're not going to have to worry about correcting anything there. There is, however, a moderately heavy amount of vignette
9:47
somewhere between two and three stops, and so just be aware that that is going to be a factor
9:52
that vignette, in at least some situations, is going to need to be corrected
9:56
As the MTF suggests, the center performance is good, but not exceptional
10:01
It's good enough that in real-world work, it looks great. In my more demanding chart test, it looks just kind of average
10:08
But I am more impressed even in the chart testing of what I see in the midframe
10:12
and then also in the corners. This is a lens that works really well in the rule of thirds
10:17
The typical places where you're actually composing, it's really, really sharp in those zones
10:21
and so I do actually like that sharpness profile because it puts the sharpness where you're most likely to use it
10:28
when shooting at wider apertures. There is only a minor improvement to contrast at f2.8
10:35
which is only a one-third stop down. So just to give you an idea, f2 is in the Nikkor 40mm f2
10:43
That f2 lens is two-thirds stop brighter than what this lens is
10:47
This lens is one-third stop brighter than an f2.8 lens. So that little bit of stop down doesn't really make a major difference
10:53
At f4, however, there is a significant improvement to contrast and detail
10:59
It's very strong across the frame. Even the corners are now very, very sharp at that point
11:04
You'll see that really strong performance remain across f5.6, f8. At f11, you'll start to see some softening due to the effects of diffraction
11:13
I'm testing on a 45-megapixel body, so higher-resolution bodies, you see diffraction earlier
11:18
By f16, it's much more obvious, the softening due to diffraction. When it comes to the bokeh quality, it is a little bit of a mixed bag
11:28
There is somewhat of a bubble bokeh effect, and you can see in this shot of the dew in the morning
11:34
The outline looks kind of cool there. Again, bokeh is subjective, so some people love it, some people won't love it
11:42
What I find for me is that I like that image fine, but in some other shots
11:46
I felt like there's a little bit more outlining than what I prefer, which makes backgrounds a little bit busier than what I would like
11:52
It's better when you're very close to your subject, and the background is more blurred out
11:56
The bokeh looks softer there, and I like that better. There's also a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to flare
12:02
It's really not bad when you're within the frame itself, some very mining, ghosting artifacts, not a lot of loss of contrast
12:09
but you will see some flashing effect when the sun or the light source is right out of frame
12:14
That can be used artistically, but again, just be aware that it's there, it is an optical defect
12:20
If you want a deeper dive at all the optics itself, just stay tuned right after our conclusion here
12:25
My conclusion is this, this is another great bang for the buck lens
12:30
I really love that we are getting some really quality lenses in and around the $150 range
12:37
which means that if you've spent a lot of money on a new camera, you can at least put some glass on it relatively cheaply, and so I really appreciate that
12:46
Autofocus is not blazingly fast, but it is quiet and it is accurate
12:51
I think that for most people in most situations, it's going to get the job done and they won't complain about it
12:56
Images look very good. Actually, images don't look like they come from a cheap lens
13:01
and as far as the bang for the buck optically, I think this lens is really quite strong
13:06
I think the biggest decision has to be made between this and the Nikkor 40mm f2
13:12
The Nikkor has a little bit cheaper of build and it is more expensive, but it also has a brighter maximum aperture
13:18
Autofocus is a little bit faster. I'm actually waiting for that lens to come in right now myself for me to review it
13:25
and I will do a head-to-head comparison between these two lenses in the future
13:29
and give you a little bit of a deeper dive there, but I do think that the decision between those two lenses is going to be probably the biggest deciding factor
13:37
At the same time, however, this is a very welcome addition to the catalog
13:41
and I love seeing these third-party lenses coming to full-frame Z mount at this point
13:46
That's fantastic. If you want more information, you can either check out my text review that is linked in the description down below
13:53
along with an image gallery and some buying links, or you can stay tuned right now and we'll dive into a deep dive of the optics together
14:09
All right, so we'll start by taking a look at vignette and distortion. You can see that as far as distortion goes, it is so negligible
14:16
that you probably aren't going to need to worry about that. Definitely some vignette in the corners, however
14:21
I dialed in a plus 72 to correct for the vignette. Now, one other thing I want to point out
14:26
and that is that there is a profile that's showing up here in Lightroom
14:30
but you can see that for some reason, it really, really overcorrects the distortion
14:35
and actually creates a fair bit of pincushion distortion that just isn't there natively
14:40
You can see that it's very neutral natively. You click that correction profile and it actually creates some pincushion distortion
14:48
So just watch out for that. Now, we can see that there is some longitudinal chromatic aberration
14:53
before and after planar focus. I mostly see it in the form of a little bit of blue-green fringing afterward
14:59
So if we take a look at this image, obviously very high contrast
15:03
you can see it's minimal, but you'll see some of that bluish fringing
15:08
that's taking place there right beyond the planar focus. Likewise, you can see here that there is some lateral chromatic aberrations
15:16
The lateral chromatic aberrations are actually a bit worse than the longitudinal style
15:20
Again, this is the one-click variety that's easy to correct, so probably not really a big deal
15:26
Now, I'll look at our overall test chart here, and this is on the 45 megapixels of my Nikon Z8 body
15:33
So taking a look at just 100% magnification, you can see that everything looks really crisp and detailed everywhere on the frame
15:40
Of course, we take a look at a higher resolution of 200%
15:44
So at 200% magnification, we can see that contrast looks good. Detail is not off the charts in the center of the frame
15:51
which is exactly what the MTF suggests. What I did find, though, is that this lens definitely looks better to me
15:57
in the rule of third zones, these mid-frame areas, than what the MTF suggests
16:03
And that's on both sides of the frame. I actually saw what I consider to be good centering here
16:09
So it looks really great throughout that zone. Popping over to the corner, the corner actually looks stronger
16:15
than what I would have expected either on a higher resolution body
16:19
And again, that's true as I look at the various corners. That's really quite a good corner performance right off the bat from f2.5
16:27
So what that means for real-world images is that detail and contrast
16:31
are really quite impressive. You can see in the various fibers of the rope here how good and crisp that looks
16:38
The shot of Ferrari on the move. And again, I talked about a couple of these shots earlier
16:44
when it comes to the autofocus. But you can see that even on the move, there's good detail on his fur
16:49
and obviously very accurate focus on his eyes. The shot of Nala, a still shot, so it allows the optics to pop a little bit more
16:57
You can see that while it's not up in the Zeiss Otis level
17:01
it is very nice, good contrast and detail. Now if we compare f2.5 to f2.8, we can see that you could argue
17:10
that there is a very mild contrast improvement there. It's really not enough to see all that much
17:17
I think I start to see a little bit of a moire pattern that shows a little bit higher contrast
17:23
You can see over on this side that there's definitely a little bit more contrast
17:28
between the light and the dark. But again, this is not significant as of yet
17:32
You go from f2.8 to f4 and that transformation becomes a little bit more noticeable
17:38
particularly in the corners here where you can see now the corners are bright
17:42
and contrasty, very good detail. So, I mean, basically everywhere that we look
17:46
we're seeing very strong performance by f4. All across the frame, things looking very good
17:53
That trend continues from f4 to f5.6, which is just very slightly better, as you can see
18:00
I mean, it's good across the frame, though again, I'm impressed more elsewhere than the center
18:06
although the center in real-world results looks great, but this looks fantastic here
18:11
Now, you'll be able to see a drop-off starting to happen by f11 due to diffraction
18:16
You can see how much softer we are from the peak there at f5.6
18:20
And if we switch that to f16, we can see that the image looks rather dull
18:24
by comparison to f5.6, and that's all due to the effects of diffraction
18:28
Now, at our minimum focus distance, we can see that detail and contrast are just okay here
18:36
It looks not bad in this area. And as we get towards the edge here, again, it's not looking bad
18:41
but it's not off the charts good, but certainly usable at that point
18:45
That leads us to the discussion of the bokeh. And so, in this shot here, we can see that the detail on the subject looks really great
18:53
The bokeh looks good, though, with a little bit more outlining than what I would prefer
18:57
You get a little bit closer, and it becomes a little bit softer, and I think it looks better there
19:02
In this shot here, with a lot of kind of repeating patterns of the chain-link fence
19:07
that's just too much outlining, and so it creates kind of a bubble bokeh effect
19:12
that some people really like. I'm not necessarily a huge fan of it
19:16
I prefer to just get creamy and soft. This shot here, once again, you can see that, you know
19:21
there's definitely some real outlining of these specular highlights. And so, again, because bokeh is completely subjective
19:28
some people will really like that, others won't. Now, what I think everybody's going to like is the fact that we've got such nice detail and color
19:36
and such an inexpensive lens. I mean, look at just how crisp the textures look, and the colors are very, very nice
19:43
In this shot here, you can see that there's a wide variety of colors there
19:48
but you can see that it looks accurate. It's nicely saturated. It doesn't look garish or gauche anywhere
19:54
and so I'm impressed with the progress that they've made in their colors
19:58
Looking at this lens for portrait work, we can see that skin tones look nice
20:03
detail looks nice, you know, the bokeh, again, you're getting some of that kind of bubble bokeh look, but it doesn't look bad
20:10
You know, when we step back in this shot, I think this shot looks really, really nice
20:14
And, again, it's all the things working together. Good skin tones, good detail on the face, you know
20:20
decently blurred out background, not bad at all. And step back a little bit further, and that's a lovely looking portrait shot
20:27
So, on a very tight budget, you can definitely get some nice looking portrait work out of this lens
20:33
Finally, looking at flare resistance. So, here as we get near the edge of the frame
20:37
I've managed to catch a little bit of that flashing that starts to take place. As far as ghosting artifacts, it's pretty minimal
20:43
You can see here with the sun star here at the center of the frame, which is not bad looking, by the way
20:48
It's not amazing, but not bad looking. A little bit of some ghosting artifacts there, but nothing major
20:54
We get off near the edge of the frame, there's a little bit of a prismatic effect, and then this ghosting artifact here
20:59
It's nothing that's too severe, there's just a little bit of that flashing effect that will create a look like this, which, you know, this is probably a desirable look for many people
21:07
but you just have to compose in the right way to get the result that you want
21:12
And so, as you can see, this is a pretty good bang for the buck lens. It produces images that have nice punch, color, overall feel to them
21:19
It's sharper than what we'd expect for a lens at this price point
21:23
and I think that that focal length is extremely useful. I hope that the deep dive into the optics has helped you to make a more informed decision for yourself
21:31
As always, thanks for watching, have a great day, and let the light in
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