It’s been a great couple of months for Fuji X-mount photographers, as we have two new excellent prime lenses from third parties, both of which retail for about $350 USD cheaper than the Fujinon XF 23mm F1.4 LM WR. The Fuji is a great lens, and you can see my findings in my review here, but both the Viltrox Pro AF 27mm F1.2 (my review here) and Sigma 23mm F1.4 DN (my review here) are also really intriguing alternatives at a much lower price point.
I’ve compared both in a variety of tests on a very demanding platform – the Fujifilm X-H2 and its 40MP of resolution. You can see all my findings in the video embedded here in this article as we put Sigma VS Viltrox – head to head!
Keywords: Viltrox, Viltrox AF, Viltrox 27mm, Viltrox 27mm, F1.2, f/1.2, STM, Viltrox AF 27mm F1.2, Viltrox Pro AF 27mm Review, Sigma 23mm F1.4 DN, Sigma 23mm, Sigma 23mm, Sigma 23mm review Viltrox AF 27mm F1.2 Review, X-mount, Fuji, Fujifilm, Fujinon, Review, Fujifilm X-T5, X-T5, X-H2, Bokeh, Dustin Abbott, Tracking, Hands On, Video Test, Sharpness, Autofocus, Build, Real World, 40 MP, Lens, Comparison, Test, Dustinabbott.net, APS-C, X-Trans, letthelightin, DA, #letthelightin, #fuji, Portrait, #Portrait, VS
DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
I was excited about the proof of concept of the Pocket 3 action camera from gimbal experts Feiyu for its ability to quickly mount anywhere magnetically, be remotely controlled, and having up to 4K60 video capture. I instantly saw a great opportunity for adding all kinds of unique B-roll footage to my various reviews…if the Pocket 3 lived up to its hype.
The good news? It mostly does! The unique magnetic mounting system means that you can put the camera pretty much anywhere metal, including:
The fridge…
The front door…
On a basketball hoop…
On a bike…
Or even mounted on a car or truck…
I’ve even attached it to the backstop at a softball game and dove into the Caribbean Sea with it…
The list goes on and on of potential places to put a camera like this and thus the kinds of footage you can grab. It gives you a lot of options for getting unique footage, and, for the right person, might be just what you’ve been looking for. For my full findings, check out the video review here:
Keywords: Feiyu, Pocket 3, Feiyu Pocket 3, Action Camera, 3 axis gimbal, magnetic mount, Feiyu Pocket 3 Review, Bluetooth, Underwater, Dustin Abbott, Tracking, Hands On, Video Test, Sharpness, Autofocus, Build, Real World, letthelightin, DA, #letthelightin, #action
DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Viltrox Pro AF 27mm F1.2 Portrait Session (on X-H2)
Dustin Abbott
September 10th, 2023
Because I had relatively brief review period in which I was on the road nearly continually, I didn’t initially have a chance to do a portrait session with the incredibly new Viltrox Pro AF 27mm F1.2 STM. I definitely wanted to rectify that, as it was clear from my time with the lens that it should prove a great option for portrait work. I put that to the test during a portrait session and collaboration with Craig from Let the Light In TV. He shot behind the scenes footage and interviewed me about portrait work in general, while I shot a portrait session exclusively with the Viltrox Pro AF 27mm F1.2 on a Fujifilm X-H2 (40MP). You can see Craig’s video by clicking this link.
The lens produced a lot of beautiful photos, and I break down my findings in the video below.
Follow Me @ YouTube | Patreon | Instagram | Facebook | DA Merchandise | Flickr | 500pxThanks to Viltrox for sending me a prerelease sample of the lens for evaluation. I’ll be doing this review on my X-H2, which I reviewed here. As always, this is a completely independent review and my conclusions are my own.
In short, the Viltrox Pro AF 27mm F1.2 proved to be a very effective portrait lens, delivering the rare combination of excellent sharpness along with soft bokeh. It’s now my favorite “normal” portrait option on Fujifilm. If you want my full thoughts on the Viltrox Pro AF 27mm F1.2, you can read my text review or watch my video review. You can see some of the photos from the session down below.
Keywords: Viltrox, Viltrox AF, Viltrox 27mm, Viltrox 27mm, F1.2, f/1.2, STM, Viltrox AF 27mm F1.2, Viltrox Pro AF 27mm Review, Viltrox AF 27mm F1.2 Review, X-mount, Fuji, Fujifilm, Fujinon, Review, Fujifilm X-T5, X-T5, X-H2, Bokeh, Dustin Abbott, Tracking, Hands On, Video Test, Sharpness, Autofocus, Build, Real World, 40 MP, Lens, Comparison, Test, Dustinabbott.net, APS-C, X-Trans, letthelightin, DA, #letthelightin, #fuji, Portrait, #Portrait
DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
I completely raved over Viltrox’s amazing Pro AF 75mm F1.2 lens for Fuji at the end of 2022. It delivered pro-grade build, good autofocus (that got better via firmware updates), and one of the finest optical performances I had seen from any X-mount lens. I expressed hope that it would be the first in a series of such lenses for Fuji X-mount and other platforms, and that is indeed the case. Next up is the Viltrox Pro AF 27mm F1.2 STM, and this is a lens that may excite even more people for the simple reason that 27mm translates to right over 40mm full frame equivalent – an extremely useful general purpose focal length and one that I find incredibly useful for many, many subjects.
There really isn’t any direct analog to this lens on the Fuji platform. Fuji (and other brands, including Viltrox), make both a 23mm and a 33mm F1.4 lens (essentially 35mm and 50mm full frame equivalent lenses), so the 27mm F1.2 falls right in between those two in terms of focal length. Fuji does have one F1.2 lens (the 56mm F1.2 WR), but Viltrox is pretty unique in making these high performing F1.2 options. Both the 27mm and the 75mm are wonderfully sharp even at F1.2, but also preserve really nice bokeh and overall rendering.
I’ve recently spent time with both the Fujifilm XF 23mm F1.4 WR and the Sigma 23mm F1.4. They are both very sharp lenses that rival the 27mm F1.2 for sharpness, but I feel like the Viltrox excels at combining both the excellent sharpness with a nicer general rendering.
The tradeoff is that the Viltrox is considerably larger and heavier than alternative lenses. That larger maximum aperture and high optical performance come at the cost of some bulk, which will obviously turn off some who want to travel light. So should you add one to your kit? We’ll try to answer that question in this review. If you would prefer to watch your reviews, you can choose watch my definitive video review below…or just keep reading.
Thanks to Viltrox for sending me a prerelease sample of the lens for evaluation. I’ll be doing this review on my X-H2, which I reviewed here. As always, this is a completely independent review and my conclusions are my own.
Viltrox Pro AF 27mm F1.2 Build and Handling
With the Pro AF 75mm F1.2, Viltrox started a trend where they have really begun to move up into the next level of lens design. They followed the 75mm F1.2 with a full frame 16mm F1.8 wide angle prime for Sony that is truly amazing, and the Sony E-mount version of the 75mm F1.2 was even more feature rich than the Fuji X-mount version. This 27mm F1.2 mostly follows the blueprint of the X-mount version of the 75mm and delivers a feature set consistent with the typical Fuji standard. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the E-mount version of this 27mm lens (when it comes) have a similar feature set to the E-mount version of the 75mm. They added “Pro” into the name for this new series, and it certainly can compete with the premium first party options from Fuji. This a premium looking and handling lens that looks like it belongs on my X-H2.
The lens is a great fit on a body like the X-H2, but the X-H2 is sized more like a full frame camera. This is a lens that, like the 75mm, is going to be a little front heavy on smaller bodies like the X-S10/20 or similar bodies. It is smaller than the 75mm F1.2, but not by much.
It is 82mm/3.22″ in diameter (with a very common 67mm front filter thread) and is 92mm/3.62″ in length. It weighs 560g or 19.75ozoz. That makes it 5mm narrower, 9mm shorter, and 110g lighter than the 75mm, but also means that it is 14mm longer/wider and nearly 200g heavier than the Fujinon XF 23mm F1.4 (which I reviewed here). Fuji has typically done a great job of keeping their lenses relatively light and compact, which is, for many, one of the primary draws of choosing the smaller APS-C sensor over a full frame system. These Viltrox Pro series lenses are much like the early Sigma ART lenses on Canon and Nikon; often larger and heavier, but compensating with very high optical performance. The appeal of these lenses is going to depend a lot on your personal priorities as a photographer.
The design language is consistent with the 75mm F1.2, with one caveat. The 75mm F1.2 featured an AF/MF switch on the side, which is typically an anomaly on Fuji. Fuji lenses seem to universally lack that switch, as Fuji has tasked that function to a lever or button on the camera body instead. I prefer having the AF/MF switch, myself, and so I celebrated its inclusion on the 75mm, but Viltrox has bowed to the Fuji convention with the 27mm F1.2 and that switch is now absent.
There is a Viltrox badge on the upper right side of the lens, and it feels like a nice balance to the Pro badge on the left side.
The included lens hood is plastic and petal shaped. I would prefer a more definite click into place, as I found the lens hood was fairly easy to bump loose.
The lens hood is plastic, but the rest of the lens is all high grade in terms of materials. It feels like metal in a similar way to Fuji’s premium lenses, and the semi-gloss finish is both attractive and functional.
The manual focus ring is made of metal with tight ribbing. It moves smoothly and with nice damping, and, while I found some stepping movement when manually focusing the X-mount version of the 75mm, I noticed no such behavior here. Manual focus is a simulation (this, like all autofocusing lenses on mirrorless, is focus-by-wire, meaning that input on the focus ring is actually routed through the focus motor which then moves the focusing group of elements). It’s very good manual focus simulation, though, so this is actually quite a nice lens to manually focus.
The aperture ring is pretty standard for recent Viltrox lenses, with a clicked aperture ring that features detents at each one third stop. There is an “A’ position past F16 (minimum aperture here) that will allow you to instead control aperture from within camera if you aren’t an aperture ring person. There is no declick option, but the aperture otherwise works well. You will see a little bit of “stepping” if you try to aperture rack due to not having the declick option.
As an aside, it is a shame that Fuji has not embraced some of the more video-specific features like declicking options for aperture. The fact that Viltrox has 2-3 additional features on the E-mount version of these lenses will certainly be a bit irritating to Fuji shooters.
Starting with the 75mm F1.2, Viltrox has embraced weather sealing on their lenses. There is a nice, thick gasket at the lens mount, and Viltrox calls the lens “dust-proof” and “moisture-proof”. While I haven’t seen the “cut-out” to show the seal points yet (I’m reviewing the lens before its public release), the 75mm F1.2 had 9 seal points at all the typical spots (around rings, switches, and the front and rear entry points into the lens). I would expect this lens to potentially have at least one fewer seals due to not having the AF/MF switch, but I suspect it will otherwise be similar.
This is an internally focusing lens, so there is nothing that moves where dust might intrude. There’s also an HD-Nano multilayer coating on the front element to help with water and fingerprint resistance, making the front element easier to clean. As always, however, “moisture-proof” does not mean “water-proof”, so don’t go crazy!
Viltrox continues with a trend that other lens makers are now imitating by including a USB-C port in the lens mount that allows you to do firmware updates right to the lens. I’m a fan of this approach, as it eliminates the need for a separate dock or lens station for firmware updates, and I find the process a little more intuitive than even doing firmware updates through the camera. This allows Viltrox to future proof their lenses and continue to improve them through firmware – they were able to dramatically improve the autofocus performance on the X-mount version of the 75mm F1.2 though firmware updates.
There is no image stabilization, so I relied on the IBIS from the Fuji X-H2, which worked very well. None of the lenses in this category have OS, however, so the Pro AF 27mm F1.2 isn’t at a disadvantage.
If you look in the front of the lens, you’ll find a LOT of glass, though obviously less than what you’ll see in the longer 75mm:
There are eleven rounded aperture blades inside, and the aperture does an excellent job of maintaining a circular shape. The specular bokeh highlights are still quite round even up to F2.8 (F1.2, F2, and F2.8 shown):
You can see that the wide open geometry has some obvious cat-eye effect along the edges of the frame, though in some settings that can create a slight “swirl” effect to the bokeh that many find visually interesting.
Viltrox lenses have traditionally been stuck at a very low 0.10x magnification figure (basically all of their lenses shared that magnification level), and this has been the one area where I’ve been consistently critical of their lenses. That’s mostly because I’ve been so impressed by their growth as a company that I believe them capable of more. And they are proving me right with the 27mm F1.2, as there is both an improved minimum focus distance (28cm) and maximum magnification figure (0.15x). That’s not high, per se, but it is competitive with the standard for 50mm(ish) lenses. The Fuji 23mm F1.4 is higher at 0.20x, but Viltrox’s figure is certainly useful. Here’s what that magnification looks like:
For perspective, here’s a look at the difference between the magnification of the 75mm (0.10x) and the 27mm (0.15x):
That’s a pretty radical difference, and allows much more flexibility in the kinds of images you can make with the lens. I personally love the versatility that decent close focus provides, so a step in that direction is very welcome.
Viltrox includes a lens pouched with a padded leatherette bottom that is very reminiscent of what comes with Canon L series lenses. I’m sorry to see the AF/MF switch missing, but the improved minimum focus distance and magnification is very welcome. Overall, this is a very well executed package that shows the maturity of lens design that somehow Viltrox has quickly acquired. This lens is on the larger size, but it’s a great fit on a larger body like my X-H2 and I love the images I can get with it.
Viltrox Pro AF 27mm F1.2 STM Autofocus Performance
The STM motor on the 75mm F1.2 was possibly the weak link there, at least initially. Like the 27mm, it was equipped with a Lead Screw-type STM (stepping motor), which is the better of the two different STM designs, but not quite as good as a linear style motor. I found focus accuracy to be good with the 75mm, but that things quickly declined if the subject was moving. Autofocus could sometimes be slightly slow. Firmware updates improved that performance, however, and I was actually quite impressed by the time that I did my X-H2 review (about 4 months later) at how well the updated lens did when tracking basketball action on the X-H2. Then last month I reviewed the E-mount version of the 75mm and was blown away by good the autofocus did there. I was able to easily nail bird in flight shots and quick action photos, though at least part of that is for the simple reason that Sony’s autofocus is just more sophisticated that Fuji’s.
The STM motor here in the 27mm F1.2 does not come with the early issues of the X-mount version of the 75mm. You can tell that there has been some refinement to autofocus during those 9 months since the release of the 75mm. Focus here is almost as good as the recent Fuji 23mm and 33mm F1.4 LM lenses. I found it able to keep up with tracking mild action like an indoor cricket demonstration at a recent men’s event that I attended.
Autofocus speed isn’t instantaneous (there is sometimes a split second pause while inertia builds), but overall focus changes occur quickly and smoothly. I love this particular focal length for “people shots”, or photos capturing ordinary life, and I found that the autofocus was always able to keep up and capture those unplanned moments.
In an event setting, I found that focus consistently grabbed the eyes of speakers or attendees even shooting from a distance at F1.2:
It’s the ability to trust a lens in those settings that make it far more likely to be a lens that you reach for. I think this lens would work just fine for someone who did weddings or events.
I also found that Eye AF could be trusted for narrow depth of field shots like this cute one of Nala sprawled in the summer grass.
As you’ve probably already picked up, this is a lens with beautiful optics, so accurate autofocus is huge for allowing those optics to shine even at F1.2.
I didn’t have an opportunity to shoot a portrait session with the lens due to traveling and being otherwise busy during my review period, but I did shoot photos at a golf tournament and saw expectedly good results when shooting a “portrait” like this:
This should work very well as a complimentary lens to the 75mm for someone who shoots portraits.
I got repeatable well focused results for general purpose shots. I shot at lot at F1.2, and this is a lens perfectly capable of taking advantage of that large maximum aperture in focus accuracy.
I expected good focus results for stills, but I was curious as to how the lens would hold up for video work. Focus pulls were relatively smooth and and fast, but there was almost always one pulse before a final lock on the subject was achieved. That’s not unusual for any lens on Fuji (again, that’s more due to Fuji’s focus system than anything else), but there is also some focus breathing (more than the Fuji 23mm F1.4 LM), which does draw your attention to focus changes.
Focus transitions from one subject to another when moving with the camera were relatively smooth, though if a larger focus change takes place the visible focus breathing makes it more obvious. My focus test where I face the camera and then block the camera’s view of my face with my hand went quite well. Focus was also quick and accurate back to my eye. I’ve found that Fuji’s most recent AF system/algorithm works best when there is an obvious trackable subject. There could be a tiny pause before focus returned to my hand when blocking the view of my face, but I attribute that more to the camera’s instinct to stay focused on the eye. I consider that test to have been very successful, with my only complaint being that the focus breathing makes that focus transition appear a little more abrupt than it actually is.
The next frontier for Viltrox will probably be to transition to linear focus motors or even multiple focus motors like some of the higher end Sony and Canon lenses employ to achieve snappier autofocus. Adding that power from dual motors is what enables that near-instant autofocus change that the best lenses are capable of. But other than a tiny pause while inertia builds during big focus changes, autofocus was pretty much the “bee’s knees”:
Viltrox Pro AF 27mm F1.2 Image Quality Breakdown
Viltrox has been able to dramatically improve their optical glass with recent releases. I noticed not only an improvement in sharpness and contrast, but also an improvement in the quality of the color rendering. Time has revealed at least part of the reason for that improvement: Viltrox has started to source some of their optical glass from Japanese company Hoya…and it shows. The lens has a fairly complex optical formula of 15 elements in 11 groups, and this includes 2 ED (extra-low dispersion), 5 high refractive, and 1 aspherical element. The MTF chart suggests a very sharp center, strong midframe (about as good as center), and a mild dip in the corners though with continued high performance at F1.2. The F8 chart is truly flawless.
I’ve noted that Fuji’s 40MP APS-C sensors are the most demanding platform that I’ve tested on. A full frame sensor would need to be over 90MP to have similar pixel density. Not all lenses are capable of looking truly good on such a demanding sensor, but you can add the Viltrox Pro AF 27mm F1.2 to that short list. Even wide open the F1.2 lens produces beautifully sharp, contrasty images.
Stopped down to F2 for this shot and the amount of detail captured is impressive.
But before we get to sharpness and contrast, let’s take a look at other potential issues like vignette, distortion, and chromatic aberrations.
Distortion is essentially a non-issue. Adding correction in either direction just creates distortion; the 27mm F1.2 is essentially distortion free. Vignette is another story, however, requiring a +69 (nearly three stops) to correct the vignette. The vignette itself is quite linear, moving gradually into the frame rather than being concentrated in the corners, which actually makes for more visually compelling results when you choose to not correct the vignette. The result below is uncorrected, and you can see the vignette draws your eye towards the subject without appearing obvious.
The low distortion result sets this lens apart from the competition, and the vignette isn’t any more extreme than most competing lenses despite the larger maximum aperture. Nothing too troubling here.
How about chromatic aberrations? I could see the faintest amount of fringing in some extreme situations, but LoCA (Longitudinal Chromatic Aberrations) were mostly well controlled. You can see just a bit of green fringing here.
I saw extremely minimal amounts of LaCA (Lateral Chromatic Aberrations) along the edges of the frame at smaller aperture where they typically show up. No issue here.
As an aside, I pulled a JPEG of the shot of my test chart earlier and found that it looked pretty much identical to the RAW file shown above. I do not believe any in-camera correcting is taking place.
Here’s a look at my test chart that the crops came from (40MP images from the X-H2):
Here’s a look at F1.2 crops (about 175% magnification) from the center, mid-frame, and corner:
That’s a great performance, particularly for an F1.2 lens at F1.2. We have great sharpness across the frame, with the center and mid-frame being particularly strong. The Fujinon XF 23mm F1.4 R LM WR is one of the sharpest lenses that I’ve tested on the platform, and we can see that the Viltrox is about the same in the center (also in the midframe) even if I compare F1.2 to F1.4:
I do think the Fuji delivers slightly sharper corners, however.
The Viltrox is definitely delivering the sharpness, however, particularly in the areas of the frame where it will matter the most at large apertures. Contrast levels aren’t quite as intense as the 75mm, but there is plenty of resolution and contrast in real world images:
Stopping down to F1.4 produces two things: 1) more contrast and 2) a different shutter speed (1/300th vs 1/400th). The latter is important as it shows that the lens is legitimately F1.2. I’ve seen some lenses that claimed a larger aperture size but didn’t meter any differently when stopped down a bit. That’s not the case here.
That contrast advantage becomes even more obvious at F1.8, which looks intensely sharp everywhere but the extreme corners now.
The corners are starting to look excellent in this range (F1.8 to F2). They look noticeably brighter and crisper than they did at F1.2:
Expect real world results from F2 to F8 to look impressively good. Here’s a scene from the golf course at F4:
Diffraction sets in pretty early on my X-H2, so by F8 images are starting to soften slightly, and by F16 the effect is very pronounced. On the new higher resolution bodies with the 40MP sensor, I would try to stay at F8 or larger as much as possible, as you can see even at F8 that the center has started to lose a bit of the pop:
Minimum aperture is F16, but I wouldn’t recommend using it on the high resolution bodies. The massive maximum aperture is very useful on high resolution bodies, however, as you have a lot of aperture options long before you start to hit the diffraction level. That’s not true of lenses with smaller maximum apertures.
I noted that the weak link of the Fuji 23mm (and the Sigma 23mm F1.4) is that the bokeh rendering isn’t particularly nice. Both lenses are high resolution and high contrast, but the out of focus suffers somewhat. I prefer the rendering from the Fuji 33mm F1.4 LM even though that lens isn’t quite as sharp as the 23mm. I feel like the Viltrox Pro AF 27mm F1.2 splits the difference between those two lenses, achieving similar high contrast and detail to the 23mm but while retaining a more pleasing rendering of the defocused area. Even the foreground blur looks great in this shot:
This shot has a fair bit in the transition zone, but the quality of the blur is still very smooth.
This basic shot of a cup of tea shows how nice rendering can make the ordinary special.
I think a lot of photographers will enjoy the great blend of sharpness and rendering. It does nice things with Fuji’s film simulations, including the monochrome looks (Monochrome + G, here):
Flare resistance in lenses with extra large maximum apertures is often an area of weakness, but the Viltrox does hold up reasonably well here. The ghosting/veiling effect in this shot is one of the worst offenses I saw during my tests:
I purposefully moved around for this low angle shot to try to induce flaring against the sun, but this rather artistic prismatic effect was all I got.
Overall I think that flare resistance should be good enough for most people in most situations.
Color rendition has really improved along with the improvements to Viltrox’s optical glass. I generally found that the colors were about what I would expect from a similar Fuji lens.
Skin tones of people of varying ethnicities looked accurate and pleasing to me.
Here’s me with a few buddies (and my son), and I think that colors and skin tones look good.
This is a lens that has a lot going for it optically. It combines those great optics with a great focal length. I suspect this lens will be a favorite for those that don’t mind a slightly bigger lens. Check out the image gallery here to see more of those images for yourself and to draw your own conclusions from them.
Conclusion
As soon as I saw the proposed focal length for the second entry in Viltrox’s PRO series for APS-C I was excited. I love the 40mm focal range for its versatility and the very natural and approachable feel of the focal length, and adding a usable F1.2 aperture to that great focal length had the potential to be special…and I think the Viltrox Pro AF 27mm F1.2 is just that. It’s just the kind of lens that I wanted to pair with my great X-H2 body. It is fast, accurate, and renders beautifully.
This is a natural lens to grab for those moments of life that you want to capture. Not too wide. Not too narrow. This is a “Goldilocks” focal length: just right.
The price point of right under $550 USD makes this a great value (buying it from Viltrox and using the code DUSTINABBOTT will get you an additional 8% off starting September 5th, 2023). It’s more lens than the similarly priced Sigma 23mm F1.4 and undercuts either the Fuji 23mm or 33mm F1.4 alternatives by more than 300 dollars. That makes it a really compelling option, as it gives you the sharpness of the 23mm paired with the nicer rendering of the 33mm…plus a faster maximum aperture. It is larger lens that what some would like, and that is a perfectly legitimate reason to choose an alternate option (as there are some good ones). If you don’t mind a slightly larger lens, however, then the Viltrox Pro AF 27mm F1.2 is going to be a new favorite that you may have a hard time taking off your camera.
Pros:
Great build quality
Level of weather sealing compares to better Fuji lenses
STM focus motor provides accurate focus even at F1.2
Keywords: Viltrox, Viltrox AF, Viltrox 27mm, Viltrox 27mm, F1.2, f/1.2, STM, Viltrox AF 27mm F1.2, Viltrox Pro AF 27mm Review, Viltrox AF 27mm F1.2 Review, X-mount, Fuji, Fujifilm, Fujinon, Review, Fujifilm X-T5, X-T5, X-H2, Bokeh, Portrait, Dustin Abbott, Tracking, Hands On, Video Test, Sharpness, Autofocus, Build, Real World, 40 MP, Lens, Comparison, Test, Dustinabbott.net, APS-C, X-Trans, letthelightin, DA, #letthelightin, #fuji
DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
I completely raved over Viltrox’s amazing Pro AF 75mm F1.2 lens for Fuji at the end of 2022. It delivered pro-grade build, good autofocus (that got better via firmware updates), and one of the finest optical performances I had seen from any X-mount lens. I expressed hope that it would be the first in a series of such lenses for Fuji X-mount and other platforms, and that is indeed the case. Next up is the Viltrox Pro AF 27mm F1.2 STM, and this is a lens that may excite even more people for the simple reason that 27mm translates to right over 40mm full frame equivalent – an extremely useful general purpose focal length and one that I find incredibly useful for many, many subjects.
There really isn’t any direct analog to this lens on the Fuji platform. Fuji (and other brands, including Viltrox), make both a 23mm and a 33mm F1.4 lens (essentially 35mm and 50mm full frame equivalent lenses), so the 27mm F1.2 falls right in between those two in terms of focal length. Fuji does have one F1.2 lens (the 56mm F1.2 WR), but Viltrox is pretty unique in making these high performing F1.2 options. Both the 27mm and the 75mm are wonderfully sharp even at F1.2, but also preserve really nice bokeh and overall rendering.
I’ve recently spent time with both the Fujifilm XF 23mm F1.4 WR and the Sigma 23mm F1.4. They are both very sharp lenses that rival the 27mm F1.2 for sharpness, but I feel like the Viltrox excels at combining both the excellent sharpness with a nicer general rendering.
The tradeoff is that the Viltrox is considerably larger and heavier than alternative lenses. That larger maximum aperture and high optical performance come at the cost of some bulk, which will obviously turn off some who want to travel light. So should you add one to your kit? You can find my thoughts by reading my text review or watching the video review.
Follow Me @ YouTube | Patreon | Instagram | Facebook | DA Merchandise | Flickr | 500pxThanks to Viltrox for sending me a prerelease sample of the lens for evaluation. I’ll be doing this review on my X-H2, which I reviewed here. As always, this is a completely independent review and my conclusions are my own.
Keywords: Viltrox, Viltrox AF, Viltrox 27mm, Viltrox 27mm, F1.2, f/1.2, STM, Viltrox AF 27mm F1.2, Viltrox Pro AF 27mm Review, Viltrox AF 27mm F1.2 Review, X-mount, Fuji, Fujifilm, Fujinon, Review, Fujifilm X-T5, X-T5, X-H2, Bokeh, Portrait, Dustin Abbott, Tracking, Hands On, Video Test, Sharpness, Autofocus, Build, Real World, 40 MP, Lens, Comparison, Test, Dustinabbott.net, APS-C, X-Trans, letthelightin, DA, #letthelightin, #fuji
I completely raved over Viltrox’s amazing Pro AF 75mm F1.2 lens for Fuji at the end of 2022. It delivered pro-grade build, good autofocus (that got better via firmware updates), and one of the finest optical performances I had seen from any X-mount lens. I expressed hope that it would be the first in a series of such lenses for Fuji X-mount and other platforms, and that is indeed the case. Next up is the Viltrox Pro AF 27mm F1.2 STM, and this is a lens that may excite even more people for the simple reason that 27mm translates to right over 40mm full frame equivalent – an extremely useful general purpose focal length and one that I find incredibly useful for many, many subjects.
There really isn’t any direct analog to this lens on the Fuji platform. Fuji (and other brands, including Viltrox), make both a 23mm and a 33mm F1.4 lens (essentially 35mm and 50mm full frame equivalent lenses), so the 27mm F1.2 falls right in between those two in terms of focal length. Fuji does have one F1.2 lens (the 56mm F1.2 WR), but Viltrox is pretty unique in making these high performing F1.2 options. Both the 27mm and the 75mm are wonderfully sharp even at F1.2, but also preserve really nice bokeh and overall rendering.
I’ve recently spent time with both the Fujifilm XF 23mm F1.4 WR and the Sigma 23mm F1.4. They are both very sharp lenses that rival the 27mm F1.2 for sharpness, but I feel like the Viltrox excels at combining both the excellent sharpness with a nicer general rendering.
The tradeoff is that the Viltrox is considerably larger and heavier than alternative lenses. That larger maximum aperture and high optical performance come at the cost of some bulk, which will obviously turn off some who want to travel light. So should you add one to your kit? You can find my thoughts by reading my text review or watching the video review.
Follow Me @ YouTube | Patreon | Instagram | Facebook | DA Merchandise | Flickr | 500pxThanks to Viltrox for sending me a prerelease sample of the lens for evaluation. I’ll be doing this review on my X-H2, which I reviewed here. As always, this is a completely independent review and my conclusions are my own.
Keywords: Viltrox, Viltrox AF, Viltrox 27mm, Viltrox 27mm, F1.2, f/1.2, STM, Viltrox AF 27mm F1.2, Viltrox Pro AF 27mm Review, Viltrox AF 27mm F1.2 Review, X-mount, Fuji, Fujifilm, Fujinon, Review, Fujifilm X-T5, X-T5, X-H2, Bokeh, Portrait, Dustin Abbott, Tracking, Hands On, Video Test, Sharpness, Autofocus, Build, Real World, 40 MP, Lens, Comparison, Test, Dustinabbott.net, APS-C, X-Trans, letthelightin, DA, #letthelightin, #fuji
DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
8 months ago I gave a glowing review of the Fuji X-mount version of the Viltrox Pro AF 75mm F1.2. It was a stunningly good lens that managed to deliver next level improvements to the build and optics. I knew then that a Sony E-mount version of the lens was inevitable, and it has finally arrived. In what has become typical Viltrox fashion, it’s not the same lens ported over, however, but Viltrox has managed to deliver some key improvements that makes the Sony E-mount version even better than the Fuji version was. This includes some new features like the ability to declick the aperture, a focus hold button, and their stylish new orange/red weather sealing gasket that they debuted on the amazing Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 full frame lens (my review here).
The Viltrox Pro AF 75mm F1.2 (hereafter referred to as the Pro 75E to distinguish the Sony version) is the first in their new series of “Pro” lenses, with a rumored 27mm F1.2 soon to follow. The Pro series has a more upscale build and feature set along with truly premium options. The Pro 75E is an APS-C lens, so the crop factor of the camera it is mounted on will affect its apparent aperture. Sony’s E-mount has a crop factor of 1.5 which will make the lens behave something like 115mm on a full frame camera – a very, very intriguing focal length for portrait work, particularly with that extremely wide maximum aperture. There isn’t really any true competition for this lens on Sony, as dedicated portrait telephoto lenses with fast maximum apertures for APS-C just haven’t existed. You will love the Pro 75E; it has the ability to just crush backgrounds.
The only thing that held the Fuji version of the lens back was that the autofocus was only so-so (it has since been improved via firmware), but this new Sony version has the advantages of A) having had that additional development time to perfect the AF and B) the fact that Sony’s autofocus is better than Fuji’s at this point, particularly since my “APS-C” camera on Sony is the APS-C crop mode of the amazing Sony a7RV. It’s 26MP in APS-C mode matches that of the new Sony a6700 but with the superior ergonomics and autofocus of Sony’s bigger full frame bodies. I was blown away with how much better autofocus was on the new Sony version, particularly with action sequences. I could easily pick out a bird in flight at F1.2…and look at how amazing the results are!
Viltrox claims near APO levels of correction for chromatic aberrations, which I’ve definitely verified to be true. That’s extremely impressive in a lens with this wide of an aperture. This Pro 75E has a tremendous amount of “bite” even at F1.2, and at its best the lens produces images that look much, much more expensive than the price tag suggests.
It seems absurd to say, but the last few lenses from Viltrox have left me with as much anticipation for their new releases as any brand out there, and part of that is that they continue to deliver incredible value. The MSRP of the Pro 75E as it comes to market is $549USD (though if you buy it from the Viltrox store and use code DUSTINABBOTT you can get 10% any Viltrox product, including this lens), which makes this lens an absolute bargain relative to the performance. The Viltrox Pro AF 75mm F1.2 in Sony E-mount isn’t quite perfect, but it is as about as close as it gets. If you prefer to watch your reviews, you can check out my definitive video review…or just keep reading.
Thanks to Viltrox for sending me an evaluation copy of the 75mm F1.2. As always, this is a completely independent review.
Viltrox Pro AF 75mm F1.2 Build and Handling
As noted in the intro, Viltrox is trying to move up into the next level of lens design, and that shows up here in the design and features of the AF 75mm F1.2. The Fuji version of the lens was already a huge step up from previous Viltrox lenses, but the new Sony version is better still. From one angle, the lenses look fairly similar, distinguished only by the slightly different badging and the fact that the lens mount alignment point is in a different place.
Rotate the lens to either side, however, and you’ll see the additional features of the Sony E-mount version:
That carries on to the bottom of the lens, where Viltrox has moved to their new eye-catching orange-red weather sealing gasket.
I like this move just like I liked when Zeiss did the same in Zeiss blue. It feels stylish and unique, as if Viltrox is starting to develop their own identity. That weather sealing isn’t just external, by the way; this is a thorough weather sealing, with nine seal points showing in the cutout diagram here:
This is an internally focusing lens, so there is nothing that moves where dust might intrude. There’s also an HD-Nano multilayer coating on the front element to help with water and fingerprint resistance, making the front element easier to clean. As always, however, “moisture-proof” does not mean “water-proof”, so don’t go crazy!
The focus hold button behaves in the same fashion as Sony lenses and is a welcome control point. This puts the Pro 75E on equal footing with Sony’s more premium recent offerings on APS-C like the 15mm F1.4 G lens (my review here). The declick option for the aperture ring is very welcome, as it does allow for smooth aperture racks, though, as usual, there’s a slight lag as the aperture iris motor reacts to feedback from the ring.
The lens has a beautiful 11 bladed aperture that keeps a wonderfully circular shape as you close it down. You can see that even at F2.8 (2 1/3rds stop closed down) the aperture shape is nicely round.
There’s no getting around the fact that this is a very large lens that is, frankly, a better fit on my a7RV than it would be on the much smaller a6400 that I sold to help fund buying the a7RV!
It is 87mm/3.42″ in diameter (leaving a large but common 77mm front filter thread) and is 101mm/3.98″ in length – just like the Fuji version. It weighs 675g or 23.8oz – just slightly heavier than the Fuji version, which makes sense, as the Sony mount is a bit larger than Fuji’s X-mount. This is definitely a fairly large lens for APS-C. I don’t find the lens particularly heavy, but my wife complained about the weight. Your feelings on the weight of the lens will obviously have a lot to do with your tolerance for weight in lenses. You can see that the Pro 75mm’s dwarf the Viltrox 56mm F1.4 in between them:
For me, personally, the performance of the lens makes the weight well worth it.
The design language is consistent with what I’ve seen from Viltrox recently, though now we have a “PRO” badge on the side rather than the “C” or “DF-RBW” that’s been on the side of some of their lenses. Also new here is the AF/MF switch along with the focus hold button on the left side. I always prefer having an AF/MF switch on the lens as the most direct and logical way to control that function.
There is a “Viltrox” badge on the upper right side of the lens, and it feels like a nice balance to the Pro badge on the opposite side. The Click/Declick switch on the Sony version is now beneath that badge.
If you use the clicked version of the aperture you will find detents at each one third stop. There is an “A’ position past F22 that will allow you to instead control aperture from within camera if you aren’t an aperture ring person. Always lovely to see “F1.2” as an option on an aperture ring.
The manual focus ring is made of metal with tight ribbing. It moves smoothly and with nice damping, though I felt like there was the slightly bit of “drag” from the focus motor. I noticed a bit of stepping with the Fuji version, but that’s not the case here. Focus is smooth and the image will automatically magnify to help visually confirm focus.
Viltrox continues with a trend that other lens makers are now imitating by including a USB-C port in the lens mount that allows you to do firmware updates right to the lens. I’m a fan of this approach, as it eliminates the need for a separate dock or lens station for firmware updates, and I find the process a little more intuitive than even doing firmware updates through the camera. This allows Viltrox to future proof their lenses and continue to improve them through firmware.
There is no image stabilization, so you’ll have to rely on the stabilization from your camera body if it is so equipped. The a7RV that I used for my review has great IBIS, so I had nice stable results in my tests.
If you look in the front of the lens, you’ll find a LOT of glass!
One lingering Viltrox weakness remains, and that is in minimum focus and maximum magnification performance. MFD is 88cm (nearly 35″) and the resulting magnification is only 0.10x (is this the required magnification level for Viltrox lenses?)
On the plus side the up close performance is very strong even at F1.2, so there are still opportunities to get beautifully blurred out backgrounds, though it never seems you can get quite as close as what you would like.
The lens hood is petal shaped and made of plastic. Also included is a lens pouch with a padded leatherette bottom.
The only thing that anyone might object to in the build and handling department is the size of the Pro 75E. It is otherwise pretty exceptional.
Viltrox Pro 75E Autofocus Performance
The Viltrox Pro 75mm is equipped with a Lead Screw-type STM (stepping motor), which is the better of the two different STM designs. The challenge with a lens with such large elements is that they are heavier and thus require more torque to move. I think the focus motor is the same on the Sony E-mount version, but it just performs better in general on Sony. I was thoroughly impressed with the lens’ ability to quickly nail focus on birds on the wing, and the fast aperture options makes it easy to get high shutter speeds to freeze that action in place.
The Pro 75E seemed to work very nicely with the a7RV’s AI subject tracking, as I got amazingly well focused results on birds even when there was no visible eye available.
I was a little less successful with a lunging dog in the water because the splashes of water would sometimes confuse focus, but I certainly got some well focused results in my sequences despite that. Here’s one at F1.2:
As you might imagine, taking photos of slower moving subjects was incredibly easy. This cat was walking towards me, and I had no problem getting perfect focus on his eyes…and look at that background!
I purposely put some branches in the foreground when taking a “portrait” of this rooster, but as you can see that proved zero problem:
Here’s another from a little further
Depth of field was absolutely tiny when shooting across the table at my subject, but look at how well focused this shot is:
Likewise when further away focus was flawless at F1.2 (as was contrast…and color…and bokeh, but I get ahead of myself…)
This should work very well as a portrait lens (which should be the main reason to purchase one), and focus is now pretty much flawless for that application. My wife took this shot at F1.2 of me on my birthday, and even with my eyes faced down, focus is flawless.
For stills, the autofocus on the Viltrox Pro AF 75mm F1.2 is, well, rather pro.
Video AF isn’t quite as good, though obviously improved from what I saw on Fuji. Focus pulls were fairly good and smooth, but there was sometimes a little “bounce” where focus went a little too far on the initial focus rack and had to come back a fraction to lock. I found focus transitions in video footage where I moved from one subject to another to be a little better…even at F1.2, where depth of field is very shallow.
My “hand test” where I test the transitions from my face to my hand was better. There was more confidence with these more definite subjects, and I didn’t see any hunting. Focus went confidently from my hand to my eyes and vice versa. The focus pulls were smooth, but there is some obvious focus breathing that makes the transitions a little more jarring.
In a static shot where focus just needed to stick with the action (like flowers or grasses blowing in the wind), I had perfect results. I’ve also used the lens a few times for my YouTube video segments, and it tracked my eye perfectly with zero hunting during the extended clips.
I’ve saved one of my most amazing anecdotes until last. The photo above probably doesn’t blow your mind, right? But here’s what is amazing about it. I saw some dragonflies buzzing around and wanted to take a photo of them, but the one that remained immediately flew up into a cedar. I thought, “Now here is a real test!”. I set the camera on “Insect Detection”, had the Viltrox at F1.2, and aimed it at the cedar and let the AF find the dragonfly. Here’s a crop of that image above:
Is that not amazing? Kudos to both Viltrox and Sony here. I’m impressed!
Viltrox Pro 75mm F1.2 Image Quality
Viltrox has pulled out all the stops with this lens and has included a number of exotic elements in the optical construction (4 high-refractive elements and 3 Extra-low dispersion elements), leaving an MTF results that looks quite good at F1.2 and great when stopped down to F8 (this is the X-mount MTF chart, but the E-mount looks the same):
The Viltrox Pro AF 75mm F1.2 was one of the first lenses that I reviewed on the ultra-high resolution of the new Fuji 40MP APS-C sensors, and frankly it spoiled me a bit. It gave me the false impression that lenses were going to be able to handle that tremendous pixel density (the equivalent of a full frame 90MP camera!) without issue. I’ve reviewed 7 or 8 X-mount lenses on either the X-T5 or X-H2 since, and discovered that this is not at all the case. Most lenses struggle to show good resolution at that high of a pixel count. So I already knew that the Pro 75E would be exceptional, particularly considering that Sony doesn’t have any APS-C sensors with nearly as high of resolution. The 26MP that I’m reviewing on here is as high as it gets. The Viltrox Pro AF 75mm F1.2 handles this level of resolution with ease…even shooting landscapes at F1.2:
A big part of what makes this lens so exceptional is that it provides effortless levels of contrast at any focus distance; it isn’t just “optimized” for a certain distance. Some lenses practically demand that you shoot them in their “sweet spot” in order to get reasonable performance, but the Pro 75E can handle the infinity distance above as easily as it does extremely close results like this:
I chose the image above as it is a perfect opportunity for some chromatic aberrations. High contrast edges with a fade towards edges that should be white. Many previous Viltrox lenses struggled with chromatic aberrations (particularly longitudinal chromatic aberrations), but the Viltrox Pro 75mm showed almost no fringing to be found in either my formal tests or real world results. Here’s a gull flying against a bright sky, shot at F1.2. Note the crop and the complete absence of fringing.
Viltrox claims Apochromatic levels of chromatic aberrations, but without suggesting that this is an APO design. I’m not quite sure how they are accomplishing it, but there’s something special going on here.
I’m also satisfied with the control of LaCA (lateral chromatic aberrations) that typically show up along the edges of the frame with high contrast transition points. Here we can see that even at F8 there is essentially a perfect transition from black to white near the edge of my test chart.
I also found no fringing in real world images along the edges of the frame – nothing here but sharp, precise transitions in contrast. You can see from this landscape image and its crop that there is no lateral fringing near the edges of the frame.
For those interested, the move to Sony has allowed us to evaluate how much of the full frame circle that the lens covers as E-mount is shared across both full frame and APS-C cameras. For those hoping that this secretly a full frame lens, I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed. Here’s how the full frame image circle looks like:
If I manually crop, I can get very slightly wider than the standard APS-C crop (bottom left), but not much wider:
If we move on to vignette and distortion we find mostly good news. There is next to no distortion at all (I did no correction) and (in an emerging trend as I test more third party lenses on both Fuji and Sony), I see less vignette than I did on Fuji. I needed a +55 to correct for the vignette.
In some images I definitely wanted the vignette corrected, but in others I found that a bit of vignette helped draw the eye to the subject and was part of the “look” of an image.
While there appeared to be some vignette correction on Fuji, I don’t think the same is true here. I looked at JPEGs and the vignette appeared as uncorrected as it was in the RAW files.
Other than the vignette, the Viltrox AF Pro 75mm F1.2 STM has passed our early tests with flying colors.
We’ll move on to inspecting our test chart. My formal tests were done on the APS-C mode of the Sony a7RV, which results in 26MP of resolution. I use a high end tripod and two second camera delay to ensure vibration doesn’t affect images. Here’s a look at the test chart that we will examine at high magnification:
If we take a look at crops (at about 170%) at F1.2 from the center, mid-frame, and lower right corner, we find that center and mid-frame performance is fantastic with the corners only lagging a little behind.
Even a very mild stop down to F1.4 starts to improve vignette and allow for even more contrast in the corners, which now look pretty excellent:
In real world results, detail looks pretty much perfect even at F1.2:
This shot of a rooster at F1.6 shows unbelievably good detail and contrast:
Obviously smaller apertures like F4-F8 will be pretty much perfect across the frame.
But what makes the Viltrox Pro AF 75mm F1.2 exceedingly rare is that it isn’t just very sharp; it also has lovely rendering. The bokeh remains quite soft and attractive despite the very high level of detail and contrast. At closer focus distances the F1.2 aperture and longer focal length has the ability to just completely melt away the background, making for beautiful images:
Move a little further away and more of the background is visible, but you’ve got a very 3D look to your subject that, frankly, looks a little Zeiss-like:
But even at further distances where the background is more obvious, it still melts away in such a way that the subject is allowed to pop:
Perhaps the only thing you could complain about is that the geometry has a fair bit of “cat-eye” look towards the edges of the frame, but it also gives a bit of a “swirl” effect that has been highly prized by a lot of photographers for its artistic look.
I guess the solution to the “cat-eye” bokeh is to just shoot images with “cat bokeh”:
In the past I haven’t found Viltrox color rendition to be top tier, but I think we’ve got an upgrade in the optical glass being used in this Pro series, as color rendition has been very pleasing to me.
Skin tones also looked nice and natural. Here’s another birthday shot of me with my birthday/Father’s Day gift – a new Milwaukee battery powered lawnmower (I’ll have a bit of content about it on my channel if you’re interested).
I found flare resistance to be fairly good for a lens with such a large maximum aperture. In this F1.2 shot you can see that contrast has held up pretty well, that there is no light-induced fringing, and the only negative is a bit of a ghosting blob in the lower middle of the image.
If I just shoot at the midday sun at F11, I got a bit more of a ghosting pattern, but nothing extreme.
All told, the optical performance of the Viltrox Pro 75mm F1.2 is just fantastic. I’ve seen very few lenses designed for APS-C that are competing at this level, and none with this large of a maximum aperture. Typically with F1.2 lenses you are dealing with a soft, dreamy look at F1.2 that only becomes crisp when stopped down a fair way, but Viltrox has managed to deliver beautiful optics from wide open. Yes, the lens is big and heavy, but not so overwhelmingly so that it is unusable. The image quality easily justifies the size, however. This lens is incredible! You can check out more photos by visiting the image gallery here.
Conclusion
The Viltrox AF Pro 75mm F1.2 STM is as welcome on Sony E-mount as it was on Fuji X-mount. I really like this particular focal length, as it gives you more compression to backgrounds than the 56mm does but is short enough to be more flexible than either an 85mm or 90mm lens. I’ve often wondered why more lens makers don’t make portrait oriented primes in the 100-110mm range, as I think this is a really great spot for portrait work. There are very few lenses for Sony E-mount in this particular space, and fewer still that are purpose designed for APS-C. Sony doesn’t make an APS-C prime longer than 50mm, and thus only covers this focal length with zooms that have a MUCH smaller maximum aperture. There just aren’t any Sony-branded APS-C lenses that can make images like this:
That obviously makes this lens very valuable, and the fact that the autofocus on Sony is good enough to keep up with birds in flight (even at F1.2!) only adds to the value:
And finally, there is that value proposition. At at price tag of $549 USD, this is a LOT of lens for the money. It is priced extremely competitively relative to its performance, which, to me, makes this perhaps THE portrait lens of choice for Sony APS-C shooters. It is also great for street, art prints, landscapes, and general subjects. It’s pretty much good at everything. So yes, I wholeheartedly recommend this lens. I think the Viltrox Pro 75E is simply amazing.
Pros:
Next level build quality
Inclusion of weather sealing
Aperture can be declicked
AF/MF switch plus focus hold button
STM focus motor provides accurate focus even at F1.2
Keywords: Viltrox, Viltrox AF, Viltrox 75mm, Viltrox 75mm, F1.2, f/1.2, STM, Viltrox AF 75mm F1.2, Viltrox 75mm Review, Viltrox AF 75mm F1.2 Review, E-mount, Sony, Review, Sony a6700, Sony a6600, Sony a6400, Sony a7RV, Bokeh, Portrait, Dustin Abbott, Tracking, Hands On, Video Test, Sharpness, Autofocus, Build, Real World, Letthelightin, DA, #letthelightin, #DA, #Photography
DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
8 months ago I gave a glowing review of the Fuji X-mount version of the Viltrox Pro AF 75mm F1.2. It was a stunningly good lens that managed to deliver next level improvements to the build and optics. I knew then that a Sony E-mount version of the lens was inevitable, and it has finally arrived. In what has become typical Viltrox fashion, it’s not the same lens ported over, however, but Viltrox has managed to deliver some key improvements that makes the Sony E-mount version even better than the Fuji version was. This includes some new features like the ability to declick the aperture, a focus hold button, and their stylish new orange/red weather sealing gasket that they debuted on the amazing Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 full frame lens (my review here).
The Viltrox Pro AF 75mm F1.2 is the first in their new series of “Pro” lenses, with a rumored 27mm F1.2 soon to follow. The Pro series has a more upscale build and feature set along with truly premium options. The Pro 75E is an APS-C lens, so the crop factor of the camera it is mounted on will affect its apparent aperture. Sony’s E-mount has a crop factor of 1.5 which will make the lens behave something like 115mm on a full frame camera – a very, very intriguing focal length for portrait work, particularly with that extremely wide maximum aperture. There isn’t really any true competition for this lens on Sony, as dedicated portrait telephoto lenses with fast maximum apertures for APS-C just haven’t existed. You will love the Pro AF 75mm F1.2; it has the ability to just crush backgrounds.
The only thing that held the Fuji version of the lens back was that the autofocus was only so-so (it has since been improved via firmware), but this new Sony version has the advantages of A) having had that additional development time to perfect the AF and B) the fact that Sony’s autofocus is better than Fuji’s at this point, particularly since my “APS-C” camera on Sony is the APS-C crop mode of the amazing Sony a7RV. It’s 26MP in APS-C mode matches that of the new Sony a6700 but with the superior ergonomics and autofocus of Sony’s bigger full frame bodies. I was blown away with how much better autofocus was on the new Sony version, particularly with action sequences. I could easily pick out a bird in flight at F1.2…and look at how amazing the results are!
Viltrox claims near APO levels of correction for chromatic aberrations, which I’ve definitely verified to be true. That’s extremely impressive in a lens with this wide of an aperture. This Pro AF 75mm has a tremendous amount of “bite” even at F1.2, and at its best the lens produces images that look much, much more expensive than the price tag suggests.
It seems absurd to say, but the last few lenses from Viltrox have left me with as much anticipation for their new releases as any brand out there, and part of that is that they continue to deliver incredible value. The MSRP of the Pro AF 75mm as it comes to market is $549USD (though if you buy it from the Viltrox store and use code DUSTINABBOTT you can get 10% any Viltrox product, including this lens), which makes this lens an absolute bargain relative to the performance. The Viltrox Pro AF 75mm F1.2 in Sony E-mount isn’t quite perfect, but it is as about as close as it gets. If you want more information, you can watch my definitive video review, read my text review, or just enjoy the photos below.
Keywords: Viltrox, Viltrox AF, Viltrox 75mm, Viltrox 75mm, F1.2, f/1.2, STM, Viltrox AF 75mm F1.2, Viltrox 75mm Review, Viltrox AF 75mm F1.2 Review, E-mount, Sony, Review, Sony a6700, Sony a6600, Sony a6400, Sony a7RV, Bokeh, Portrait, Dustin Abbott, Tracking, Hands On, Video Test, Sharpness, Autofocus, Build, Real World, Letthelightin, DA, #letthelightin, #DA, #Photography
DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Viltrox has been crushing it. The last two lenses from them that I reviewed were designed for APS-C, including the Viltrox AF 13mm F1.4 STM, a lens I considered perhaps their best yet in my review. That was, until the next lens, the Viltrox AF 75mm F1.2 STM for Fuji X-mount, which took Viltrox to a whole other level. The 13mm largely followed the previous Viltrox formula, but with improved performance and better optical glass. The 75mm added all kinds of features, including weather sealing and improved physical controls while also delivering perhaps the finest optical performance I’ve seen from a short telephoto lens designed for APS-C. My excitement for Viltrox lenses has definitely increased…and their latest has only fueled that enthusiasm. They have returned to the full frame space, and their newest lens is a premium wide angle prime that delivers in every way. The Sony E-mount Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 delivers features and performance that feels much like a Sony G Master lens.
Viltrox has added a host of features to the new 16mm, including weather sealing, the option to declick the aperture, two custom function buttons (more on that later), and, in a feature not seen since the Zeiss Batis series, an LCD screen on the lens that serves a variety of purposes.
But the lens does not just impress on a feature level. This is a very wide angle lens (105.6° angle of view) that also happens to have a larger than average maximum aperture of F1.8 – that’s 1 1/3rd stop faster than the typical F2.8 zoom that covers this focal length. It manages to do this while retaining a moderate size (103mm in length) and weight (550g) while delivering an exceptional optical performance.
The Viltrox 16mm does not carry their new “Pro” badge, but frankly it feels like it should. This is a professional grade lens in both features and performance and will easily be perceived as being a very strong value. The MSRP as it comes to market is $549 USD (though if you buy it from the Viltrox store and use code DUSTINABBOTT you can get 8% any Viltrox product, including this lens), which makes this lens an absolute bargain. We’ll break down the strengths and weaknesses in this review, though I’ll warn you that there are far more of the former than the latter. If you prefer to watch your reviews, you can check out my definitive video review…or just keep reading.
Thanks to Viltrox for sending me an evaluation copy of the 16mm F1.8. As always, this is a completely independent review. *The tests and most of the photos that I share as a part of my review cycle have been done with the Sony a7IV along with the Sony Alpha 1 which will serve as my benchmark camera for the foreseeable future (my review here).
Viltrox 16mm F1.8 Build and Handling
It is almost scary how quickly Viltrox has progressed as a lens maker. As noted in the intro, Viltrox is really leveling up in terms of lens design, and that shows up here in the design and features of the AF 16mm F1.8. Viltrox lenses have always felt a little more premium than their price points suggests, but this is the first of their full frame lenses that really checks all of the boxes of what we expect from a premium lens. In many ways the Viltrox 16mm looks a lot like a G Master lens, with similar features and red badging.
It is 85.2mm/3.35″ in diameter and is 101mm/4.05″ in length. It weighs 550g or 19.4oz. What is very welcome is that the front element is flat, not bulbous, so one can use common 77mm filters on the front threads. This isn’t a small lens, but the size and weight are reasonable for the focal length and aperture combination. It is slightly larger and heavier than the Sony FE 14mm F1.8 GM (my review here), though that lens stood out as being exceptionally small. It is definitely smaller and the lighter than the Sony 16-35mm F2.8 GM zoom. I found that the size and weight balanced just fine on either of my full frame Sony bodies. The lens is slightly larger than the Tamron 17-28mm F2.8 zoom that I own, but the lenses are roughly the same size.
For me, personally, the performance of the lens makes the weight well worth it.
As noted in the intro, there are some fundamental design changes to the Viltrox 16mm even if the basic design language is similar to recent Viltrox releases. While other full frame Viltrox lenses have come with aperture rings, this is the first to have the option to declick the aperture. That switch is located on the right side of the lens underneath a stylish new Viltrox badge. In “clicked” mode the aperture has predefined detents in one-third aperture progressions with an “A’ position past F22 that will allow you to instead control aperture from within camera if you aren’t an aperture ring person, but when you turn the clicks off you can smoothly move through the whole aperture range without defined slots. This allows for smooth video aperture racking and has become an expected pro-grade feature on modern lenses.
On the left side of the lens we have an AF/MF switch for the first time on a full frame Viltrox lens, a feature that I always personally welcome as I think it is most the logical way to control that function.
Beneath that is a brand new feature for Viltrox – dual FN (function) buttons. The top one functions like the typical “Focus Hold” button on Sony cameras, which will perform whatever function you have that button programmed to in camera (my current default is to switch between the different Eye AF options). The second button is going to be used more commonly for video functions, however, as when in manual focus mode it allows you to preset two focus positions and automatically switch between the two at the press of the button. This works in conjunction with the LCD screen on the top of the lens (more on that in a moment). You can preset the focus position by long pressing the FN 2 button, and then access the focus changes by short pressing it. I love having these two buttons, though I will add one minor criticism – the feel of the buttons isn’t great. They are a little vague and rubbery, and I find myself pushing them harder than what I would prefer. It’s a minor critique, however, as they work fine and add a lot of functionality to the lens.
Now to that LCD screen. The LCD functions in many ways like those found on the Zeiss Batis lenses, though with some improvements. The screen itself is nice and bright, allowing for good visibility even in bright conditions. It solves the problem of a distance scale (something missing on most mirrorless lenses), as it gives you a large font telling you the precise focus distance along with a distance scale above that. The bottom part of the screen gives you a readout of the current aperture, which is more useful if you are electing to not use the manual aperture ring and are controlling aperture from within the camera. It also gives you some information related to the function buttons however, with the Fn icon lighting up when the first Function Button is depressed, and then the A function lights up when you are presetting focus distances. There is a small green arrow that shows the current focus distance, and then you can preset the two desired focus distances which will be marked with a small orange arrow over the top of the both of them. There’s actually a lot of useful information on the LCD screen once you get familiar with how it is all being displayed.
The manual focus ring is made of metal with tight ribbing. It moves smoothly and with nice damping with roughly 210° of rotation. It does quite a good job of imitating true manual focus for a “focus-by-wire” lens.
We also have weather sealing on this lens that starts with a unique maroon-colored gasket at the lens mount along with other seal points through the lens.
This is an internally focusing lens, so there is nothing that moves where dust might intrude. There’s also an HD-Nano multilayer coating on the front element to help with water and fingerprint resistance, making the front element easier to clean. As always, however, “moisture-proof” does not mean “water-proof”, so don’t go crazy!
Viltrox continues with a trend that other lens makers are now imitating by including a USB-C port in the lens mount that allows you to do firmware updates right to the lens. I’m a fan of this approach, as it eliminates the need for a separate dock or lens station for firmware updates, and I find the process a little more intuitive than even doing firmware updates through the camera. This allows Viltrox to future proof their lenses and continue to improve them through firmware.
There is no image stabilization, so I relied on the IBIS in my Sony bodies. This worked just fine on a wide angle lens like this either for stills or video work.
There are nine rounded aperture blades inside, and the aperture iris stays reasonably round as the lens is stopped down, though this is hard to test on a lens with a very wide angle of view and a fairly big minimum focus distance.
One lingering Viltrox weakness remains, and that is in minimum focus and maximum magnification performance. MFD is 27cm (10.6″) and the resulting magnification is only 0.10x (is this the required magnification level for Viltrox lenses?)
On the plus side the up close performance is very strong even at F1.8 with good detail and contrast in the area of focus, though the plane of focus isn’t completely flat up close like that. You can still blur out backgrounds in some situations, but not really through getting particularly close to your subject.
The materials in the barrel design are very nice, with everything made of metal and nicely executed…with one exception. The lens hood is petal shaped and made of lightweight plastic, and frankly feels a little cheap compared to the rest of the lens (somewhat like many Fuji lenses). You can never quite know whether a Viltrox lens will have a metal or a plastic lens hood; they seem to switch between the two standards without much rhyme or reason. This lens is good enough to deserve the better lens hood! Also included is a pouch to store the lens is, though it doesn’t offer much protection.
Beyond those few weaknesses, however, this is a very nicely executed package. The lens feels high quality in the hands, and it handles nicely as well. I’ve genuinely enjoyed using it and love to see all of the progress from Viltrox in the lens design area.
Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 STM Autofocus Performance
The Viltrox 16mm is equipped with a Lead Screw-type STM (stepping motor), which is the better of the two different STM designs. I prefer Linear over STM, but this is a well executed STM motor, delivering fast, silent, and accurate autofocus results. Focus changes were not quite as instant as some of the Sony configurations with multiple Linear motors, but focus speed here is within a fraction of a second of that. All focus is internal, so the overall length of the lens remains consistent during use. Accuracy with still subjects was consistently good – accurate focus shows off the strong optics here.
Eye AF results were good with animal subjects, even if they were in the process of moving.
My focus accuracy on this strongly backlit leaf was very good as well.
I did use the lens in a portrait setting, and focus worked quite well, though with one caveat: wide angle lenses don’t really work with Eye AF unless you are fairly close. It has nothing to do with this Viltrox lens, per se, but is just the reality of a very wide angle of view where the eye doesn’t occupy a large enough area of the frame to be detected. In fact, move out beyond 7 or 8 meters and a face isn’t even large enough. I wanted to see the Eye AF box more during my portrait session (I’m used to seeing it!), but the actual results were well focused.
Video AF was also good. My focus pulls were smooth and accurate, and I heard no audible focus sounds. A standout to me was the extremely low focus breathing, with size of objects staying consistent. This helps focus changes be very smooth and the only indication of focus changes being what happens to be in focus at the time.
My “hand test” where I put my hand out to block my face and then remove it to allow focus snap back to the eye went very well. Focus quickly transitioned to my hand and was nearly instantly back to my eye without anything abrupt. I saw no focus hunting or pulsing in any of my video tests.
You can add these strong video AF performances to the video-specific features this lens already has. This is not a bad option at all for someone wanting a very wide angle lens to do video with. It also has relatively low distortion, making this a tempting option for someone who wants to shoot interiors or real estate photography/videography. Real world distortion, even without correction, is not bad at all.
I walked away impressed following my focus tests. Viltrox has really refined their autofocus motors and that helps this lens feel very competitive with what I would expect from, say, a current Sigma lens. That’s impressive from a company that just started doing autofocus four years ago.
Viltrox 16mm F1.8 Image Quality
We have a fairly complex optical formula of 15 elements in 12 groups, and that includes 7 exotic elements (either aspherical or ED low dispersion elements). The MTF chart shows extremely strong center perofrmance, good mid-frame, and only a slight dip towards the corners. By F8 the results range from about 83% sharpness in the center to 77% in the extreme corners – a very, very flat (consistent) sharpness profile that is exceptionally good for a wide angle lens. Sigma’s recent 20mm F1.4 DN | ART lens is one the best large aperture wide angle lenses I’ve tested and the Viltrox 16mm is very close to being as sharp despite having a much wide focal length. In fact, the Viltrox 16mm is sharper all across the frame at F1.8 than the $3000 Zeiss 15mm F2.8 Distagon was at F2.8 – and the Zeiss was best wide angle prime you could get a decade ago. That’s serious progress!
I started reviewing Viltrox lenses right at the beginning, and at first I was less than impressed by the optical glass when it came to colors. I never felt colors were as natural as the better lenses, and as a result I felt like they quickly got garish when pushed at all. But about the time of the release of their 13mm F1.4 for APS-C I felt like Viltrox turned a corner, and that was furthered with the release of the 75mm F1.2. I see the same (positive) trend here, where colors feel natural and are easy to process without getting unpleasant results. I liked the look of images from this lens.
Another historical point of weakness for Viltrox lenses is that they often exhibited some noticeable LoCA (longitudinal chromatic aberrations), but again, the trend has been in the right direction. That trend continues here, with only the mildest amount of fringing visible even in demanding situations.
I’m also satisfied with the control of LaCA (lateral chromatic aberrations) that typically show up along the edges of the frame with high contrast transition points. Here we can see that even at F8 there is essentially a perfect transition from black to white near the edge of my test chart.
I also found no fringing in real world images along the edges of the frame – the transitions from branches or leaves to sky are clean here.
If we move on to vignette and distortion we find the biggest optical weaknesses, though they aren’t extreme. There is relatively little distortion though what is there isn’t very linear. My manual corrections did about as much harm as good, as correcting the bit of barrel distortion with a +2 produced a bit of pincushion distortion in the edges. For most real world images the amount of distortion is so mild that you are better off leaving it uncorrected. Vignette is heavier, requiring a +80 to correct (a good three stops in the corners).
The vignette is a little heavy enough that it will give a “look” to certain images if left uncorrected, so you’ll have to decide what you prefer. Here’s a look at an image where I’ve done some manual correction of the vignette on the right compared to the original on the left. Which do you prefer?
Nothing that is a deal breaker here. I’ve seen much worse vignette from a number of wide angle lenses, and that vignette is a small price to pay for being able to retain a flat front element and the ability to use traditional filters.
We’ll move on to inspecting our test chart. This test has been done on a 50MP Sony Alpha 1 sensor. I use a high end tripod and two second camera delay to ensure vibration doesn’t affect images. Here’s a look at the test chart that we will examine at high magnification:
If we take a look at crops (at about 170%) at F1.2 from the center, mid-frame, and lower right corner, we find that center and mid-frame performance is fantastic with the corners only lagging a little behind.
Real world results are impressive even wide open, with great sharpness and detail:
This is a lens that allows for landscape shots even at F1.8:
That adds up to a very useful lens for night photography in the city or low light situations. You can trust on getting sharp images even at large apertures, which is (to me), kind of the point of having a large aperture in a wide angle lens. I typically will stop down even a sharp lens for landscape purposes because I want a deeper depth of field, but in low light situations I prefer staying with large apertures to be able to keep the ISO down and get cleaner images. I went out after sunset and still could get clean results because the lens was sucking in a lot of light. That’s useful!
A large aperture also gives you the opportunity to play with depth of field a bit. In this series I framed the lighthouse with the budding tree and first focused on the lighthouse and then on the foreground tree. Two different points of focus tell two different stories.
Stopping down to F2 improves contrast a bit (particularly in the corners), and stopping on down to F2.8 makes those corners very sharp:
To give you an idea of how sharp that actually is, here’s a comparison with the high end Sony 14mm F1.8 G Master:
The Viltrox isn’t just sharper in the corners, but at F2.8 it is sharper everywhere else in the frame, too. I found a similar result at F1.8, too. This Viltrox is impressive!
By traditional landscape apertures the lens is razor sharp across the frame even on this high resolution body. Here’s a real world photo at F5.6 with a center and edge crop to show you detail.
It was one of those lenses that just repeatedly delighted me with the crisp detail in photos whether using my 33MP a7IV or 50MP Alpha 1. This is a landscape lens that works well with Sony’s high resolution bodies because it will give you deep cropping ability due to the detail holding up well. I could start with this shot:
…and then deeply crop to this and still have a very credible shot with a native resolution of right under 2500 pixels in both directions.
That does help a bit with the low maximum magnification, as having good detail even at F1.8 means that I can do a deep crop from a close-up shot and have a more compelling image out it, like here (still at slightly over 12MP of resolution):
A 16mm lens is hardly going to be a bokeh machine, but the quality of the bokeh as evidenced by the crop above isn’t bad. The wide aperture allows for reasonably shallow depth of field and some defocused area, even when shooting on a tree like the lovely plum blossoms here.
I could emphasize the “lily-of-the-valley” on the forest floor here:
Which makes for a nice companion shot to a “big picture” shot like this.
Here’s another “bokeh shot” that shows of the various depth of field layers beyond the lilac blossoms in focus here.
While the foreground does not get completely blurred away in this portrait shot at F1.8, the depth of field is shallow enough to allow the eye to be drawn to the subject rather than the environment.
I did this review in the latter part of May, which means we are only a month from the summer solstice. It stays light late here in Canada at this point of the year, so not the best time for astrophotography. I was able to get a decent night, however, and I found that coma performance was pretty good. Star points are nice and crisp in the center of the frame, and the final crop was the worst I could find near the corner where there is a bit of coma smear. My crop is near 200%, however, so you won’t see it even this badly under normal conditions.
The bright F1.8 aperture and wide angle of view will make this a very tempting option for doing astro or nighttime city work, and the low coma will certainly help.
In the past I haven’t found Viltrox color rendition to be top tier, but I’m convinced that Viltrox has improved their optical glass. Colors looked generally pleasing to me.
I shot the Viltrox alongside the Sony FE 50mm F1.4 G Master for this portrait session, and colors looked pretty consistent between the two lenses. The first and last shot in the series are from the Viltrox, with a Sony shot in between.
Flare resistance is fairly good but not perfect. At wide apertures (the ones without a defined sunburst effect), there is little flare artifacts. I saw a bit more ghosting at smaller apertures (like F11), though the sunburst effect from the 9 aperture blades.
Overall, I think the flare resistance is quite good for a wide angle lens. I’ve seen better, but most wide angle lenses are worse than this, particularly when you consider how wide the maximum aperture is. This is a lens that can produce a lot of great looking images…even if the sun is in the frame.
All told, the optical performance of the Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 is pretty special. I don’t think that I could point to wide angle prime lens that is offering better bang for the buck. A zoom lens like the Tamron 17-28mm or Sigma 16-28mm zoom lenses offer more versatility in terms of the focal length, but both have a much smaller maximum aperture, cost more (about $350!), and have more optical flaws. This is a lot of lens for $549, particularly when you consider its benefits for video as well. This is easily Viltrox’s best full frame lens too date, and the list of optical strengths in my opinion far outweigh the list of optical flaws. You can check out more photos by visiting the image gallery here.
Conclusion
I’ve told some people recently that Viltrox is almost scary in how good they are getting so quickly, and they manage to do while keeping the price down. A lens as good as the Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 at this kind of price point has the potential to be a serious market disrupter, and there is no glaring flaw that I’ve seen. Viltrox has continued to level up year by year, and the Viltrox AF 16mm is now very close to the standard that the best lenses on the platform aspire to.
Viltrox has added enough actual functionality into the LCD screen on the lens that it doesn’t feel gimmicky, and some of the new features make this a compelling option for video work. I also love the fact that they managed to keep traditional filter threads on the lens, making doing long exposure work easy. I used the NISI V7 filter system that I reviewed here for this shot because it allowed for some easy stacking, but using any 77mm filter would work as well.
It would actually be difficult for me to suggest an alternative to this lens that could compete with its performance and features at this price. The Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 is going to be a disruptor on whatever platform it comes to because it checks so many boxes and at such a compelling price point. Viltrox has leveled up once again, and it makes me excited to see what they’ll accomplish in the future.
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Keywords: Viltrox, Viltrox AF, Viltrox 16mm, Wide Angle, Full Frame, F1.8, f/1.8, STM, Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8, Viltrox 16mm Review, Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 Review, E-mount, LCD. Sony, Sony Alpha 1, Sony a7RV, Sony a7IV, Dustin Abbott, Tracking, Hands On, Video Test, Sharpness, Autofocus, Build, Real World, Letthelightin, DA
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