![]() The first version of the Viltrox lens came out in 2019 and the Mark II became available from the beginning of 2021. When fitted to bodies with APSC sensors, like Fujifilm’s X-series, the Viltrox 85mm f1.8 becomes equivalent in angle-of-view and depth-of-field to a 128mm f2.5 lens. It is available in Sony E-mount, Nikon Z-mount, and Fujifilm’s X-mount. Keep in mind this lens arrived only about 30 minutes ago, and these were all quick grabs from a short stroll around my office, so are shared basically as they came SOOC except for web sizing and crops.įlower at f1.The AF 85mm f1.8 II from the Chinese manufacturer Viltrox is a short telephoto lens designed for mirrorless cameras and corrected for full-frame sensors. Comes with a nice petal hood that bayonet mounts like most newer Nikon hoods. ![]() One point worth mentioning is this lens is apparently not weather proof like Z S lenses, only wet resistant, so take that for whatever it's worth for your imaging requirements. Build quality is quite good and the lens has a great feel in the hand. In fact I think it's very nicely dampened, turns easily and smoothly and frankly is about as good as it gets with focus by wire. I've read other reviews that complained about it being stiff, but I do not experience this. Speaking of the focus ring, it's the only manual control on this lens. I suspect it occurs because the closer subject is often blurred to nothingness. On the upside, a quick re-point AF or manual ring twist takes care of it. I've heard other complaints about this and experienced it as well - with detailed background and thinner main subject, the lens tends to bias toward the larger detail area and resists coming back to the closer or simpler subject. AF is fast and accurate, at least as fast and accurate as the native 50 and possibly even a touch faster - except in one area: and that's when something of detail is in the background and the subject is small relative to the background. ![]() Balance is virtually identical to the 50/1.8S even though it weighs a bit more, so it's quite comfortable in the hand for extended shooting stints. Surprising to me as well is the fact that color seems virtually identical to Nikon's basic -which I find gorgeous out of the gate- and which is frankly a bit unusual with 3rd party glass. ![]() While I do not have the 85/1.8S to compare it with directly, it seems to render virtually identically to my 50/1.8S, but perhaps with even a bit nicer bokeh - though I suspect that's probably due mostly to the added focal length. If you want to save some reading time and skip down to the images, the simple bottom line is I like this lens A LOT! If you want a few more details, I've included another paragraph with some initial observations.įirst, this lens is sharp and surprisingly so. That's the main reason I chose this cheaper option over the native Z lens, but am quickly finding this lens is so enjoyable to use it may change that history. I don't know exactly why, I do like the way they render, but always seemed to grab my 105 instead. Note that historically I've not spent a lot of time with the 85 focal. So I pulled the trigger on a Viltrox 85 in Z mount based on the mostly positive initial reviews. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |