One of the many reasons I came back to shooting Fujifilm from Sony Full Frame was that the excellent first party lenses were that much more affordable. But then more affordable still, are the Viltrox Pro Lenses which really close the gap to Full frame with equal build and image quality. This is my review of the best Viltrox Lenses on Fujifilm X-Mount.
On Sony I'm not sure I could ever see myself parting with G-Master levels of cash for prime lenses, instead I was buying third-party zooms from Tamron, along with Sony's midrange 'G' primes.
There are benefits to first party top-end glass. You get the best optics available, the best image quality, the best autofocus, and the best build quality and weather sealing. Nowadays it means they are super sharp wide open too, the days of having to stop down a lens for sharpness are gone.
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| Viltrox 75, 27 and 13mm for Fujifilm XF |
To compare 3 popular Pro lenses between the brands (in $NZD)
- Fujifilm 16-55 II LM WR - $2,680 // Sony 24-70 GMII - $3,296
- Fujifilm 56mm 1.2 LM WR - $1,980 // Sony 85mm 1.4 GMII - $3,115
- Fujifilm 23mm 1.4 LM WR - $1,745 // Sony 35mm 1.4 GM - $2,450
Focusing on the lenses themselves (rather than Sony vs Fuji Cameras), they are all just about flawless. But you will see a significant cost saving on Fuji - nearly 30% if you were buying all 3 of those, which you might just do because those are standard workhorse lenses.
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| Fujifilm Prime lenses as listed above |
Fuji Primes
When I bought an X-T5 earlier this year I was absolutely set on buying only Fuji glass. When I upgraded to the X-H2 I was set on buying only the best Fuji glass. I had basically become a lens snob. I backordered the new 16-55 II f/2.8 (which still hasn't arrived since March, I'm going to cancel it), and also picked up the 50-140 f/2.8 and the 100-400 to complete my red badge zoom collection for my uses.
Get the zooms sorted then start looking into primes. That was the plan. So I started researching into the Fuji primes whilst also trying to decide on what focal lengths to start with as I haven't been much of a prime shooter. I wanted 2 or 3 focal lengths but I just could not decide. The contenders were:
- 18mm f/1.4 (28mm) $2,280 NZD
- 23mm f/1.4 (35mm) $1,745 NZD
- 33mm f/1.4 (50mm) $1,780 NZD
- 56mm f/1.2 (85mm) $1,980 NZD
- 90mm f/2 (135mm) $1,732 NZD
I personally dislike 35mm (23mm in Fuji speak) for creative use, I find it boring but ideal for documenting a scene. The 28mm is the most expensive of the lot and perhaps little too wide for regular use so I couldn't justify it. 90mm is quite limited in it's uses too and I would use the 50-140 at that range. I love shooting 50mm and 85mm, but they are very close in terms of usage and almost interchangeable. I would still need something wider as well. See my conundrum? It would be easy if I actually liked 35mm or the the 28mm was cheaper - I could live with a 28/50mm prime combo I reckon.
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| Viltrox 75mm f/1.2 PRO lens |
Enter Viltrox
During my research I often came across mention of the Viltrox Pro lenses on forums and Reddit. Initially I never gave them a second thought being a third party manufacturer, and a Chinese one at that. The Japanese third party guys such as Tamron and Sigma are held in high regard, but the Chinese manufacturers are not, mainly due to the likes of 7Artisans and TTArtisans making cheap lenses that range from not very good to downright terrible.
The Viltrox Pro lenses eventually grabbed my attention, thanks to many people commenting pretty bold statements such as 'the best lenses on the system'. How can you ignore such a claim from many people? So I read some more and watched some reviews from trusted guys like Dustin Abbot and Christopher Frost and concluded yes, they are worth looking at seriously.
There are 2 lenses in the Viltrox Pro range for Fujifilm (also available on other APS-C platforms).
- Viltrox Pro 27mm f/1.2 (40mm equivalent)
- Viltrox Pro 75mm f/1.2 (112mm equivalent)
This solved my prime focal length conundrum in one fell swoop! I wanted a bit wider than a 50mm, but not a 35, and I wanted a bit more of a field of view difference than what you get between 50 and 85, which is where the 75mm fits nicely. Perfect!
In terms of use, 40 and 112mm as a combo would be ideal for portrait and wedding shooters and an alternative to the classic 35/85mm combo. The 40mm focal length is perfect for a walkaround length if you gravitate towards a 50mm but find 35mm too wide.
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| Photo taken on the Viltrox 27mm f/1.2 PRO lens |
One of the local shops had them for $769 NZD each. That is incredible value for what you get, and what you get are flawless lenses:
- Build quality is outstanding. Full metal build and weather sealed. Oozes quality.
- Optically outstanding, Sharp. Insanely sharp, even wide open. Optically corrected too.
- Fast f/1.2 aperture, eats light whilst providing a full frame depth of field equivalent to f/1.8.
- Autofocus works perfectly fine on Fujifilm for stills and video.
It's almost like Viltrox just went out and built the best lenses they could with ZERO compromise. Bravo. My only knit pick is that they are let down by the quality of the lens hoods and caps, they feel cheap in comparison and scuff and scratch very easily.
They are neither small nor light though, being similar to Pro-Grade Full Frame primes and that is down to physics, due to the optical formula with a lot of quality glass and the fast aperture. Bear in mind if you are shooting on a smaller body or one without much of a grip it may feel unbalanced. It is best suited to the likes of the XH or XS bodies, but XT's with an aftermarket grip will work well too.
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| Viltrox 13mm f/1.4 |
There is another
I needed something wide still, and as mentioned earlier, I don't shoot wide often enough to justify a large expense. And when I want to go wide, I want to go wide, as you can get some amazing perspectives on things that people are not used to seeing with their eyes. 28mm isn't wide enough, 24mm is close to a lot of phone cameras. 20mm is a sweet spot. It is not obviously distorted and in fact can look perfectly natural when used correctly and is usable as a walk around lens whereas something even wider is not.
Fortunately, Viltrox have another outstanding lens in the form of the Viltrox 13mm f/1.4. I did not hesitate in buying this one, as once again it is often recommended as a wide prime on the Fujifilm system. It costs just $639 NZD.
It has a metal build and a fast aperture, sharp optics but no weather sealing. If the Pro lenses are a 10/10 for build quality, the 13mm is an 8/10. The same would apply to optical performance too.
I have been enjoying using this due to the perspective that the 20mm focal length provides. Lack of weather sealing aside I cannot fault it other than some flaring artifacts when shot directly at the sun. It is also renowned for being one of the best wide video lenses on Fuji including Vlogging, as well as the best option for Astrophotography, but I cannot comment on either use.
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| Image taken on Viltrox 13mm f/1.4 |
And just for fun
Seeing as though I am collecting Viltrox Primes now, the tiny Viltrox 28mm f/4.5 'chip' lens was a must buy at a mere $199 NZD.
At that price point the performance expectations are low. I can tell you it is worth double the listed price. It has a metal mount with a plastic build and unsurprisingly no weather sealing. It defies logic by somehow having autofocus that works fine, but no manual focus here.
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| The Tiny Viltrox 28mm f/4.5 |
This thing is so small and light (60g) you would not notice it in the bottom of your bag or pocket, it is basically a body cap. Speaking of caps, it does not utilize a front lens cap. Instead, it has a little lever activated shutter that covers the front element which I love for the convenience of not fumbling around with a cap.
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| The Viltrox 28mm is so small it's shorter than the grip! |
I had actually owned this lens before on Sony FE. Originally it was a 28mm full frame lens but I did not think much of it, the corners were very soft and with some heavy vignetting. Soft corners on a wide angle are a no for many, as when shooting wide it is because you want to have the scene in frame.
On a Fuji Crop sensor it is much better. Due to the smaller image circle the softest edges are not used, and the focal length becomes a much more versatile 42mm!
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Viltrox 28mm f/4.5 showing it's sun star effect as well as extreme loss of contrast that is difficult to edit around as seen in this image.
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It is a challenging lens to get good images out of. It is sharp in the centre and reasonable across the frame. No doubt it would fare better on Fuji 26MP models rather than the demanding 40MP ones. Any sunlight in or near the frame reduces contrast a lot which is where the lens becomes difficult to use. I have taken a lot of terrible photos with this lens and I'm still learning how to use it in terms of making use of its flaring character. From test shots of mundane things I can tell it is capable of a good image that is sharp in the centre. The casing around the front element is octagonally shaped and it provides an interesting sun star effect.
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| Photo taken on the Viltrox 28mm f/4.5 |
It is just so damn fun to use though and I feel It will make me a better photographer by trying to master it, because it is capable in the right conditions.
I think it is ironic that I'm spending more time talking about this el-cheapo lens than the outstanding ones, and that's largely down to the latter being excellent and working as expected whereas the former is flawed and interesting to use. They call that 'character' in a lens.
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| Photo taken on the Viltrox 28mm f/4.5 |
In closing
These 4 Viltrox lenses have made me reconsider third party lenses entirely. If you have read my photography blogs about gear you'll know I have bounced around between Fuji and Sony Full frame, because when shooting APS-C, I get Full Frame FOMO, but with the Viltrox Pro Lenses combined with the Fujifilm X-H2 I am left wanting for nothing.
If you shoot Fuji you simply need to look into the Viltrox Pro lenses.
Below are some sample images taken on the 13, 27 and 75mm. We haven't been anywhere nice lately and good weather has been scarce!
