Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8 Reviews
I'm convinced. Superb
By Doug
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2023-09-29
This may be the most I have ever been surprised with a new lens purchase in a good way. I usually buy primary brand to my body, and occasionally dip my toe into third party offerings aside from vintage.
This lens is built like a tank, solid, yet balanced in hand. This fits a gap between 14-20mm at F1.8 which is perfect for my use case/astro Aurora video. This is also my first lens with an electronic display in place of traditional focus markings. The function buttons are awesome! I can store focus settings and recall them anytime. This is perfect for me as I can one touch recall my best infinity setting for astro.
Image quality is excellent, sharp, and not as soft in the corners as I expected. The lens mount weather sealing is snug and definitely feels right when installing to the body. I find the autofocus very good. As good as my Sony 24-105f4. It has a usb-c on the lens mount for firmware as well. I cannot find a downside to the unit especially priced at what it is. This is a tremendous value! I'm now interested in trying some of their other offerings. Would highly recommend.
Using on Sony FX3
Better then expecting.
By Matt
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2023-09-15
I love this for astro and shooting landscapes. Its built better then some of my sony lenses. super sharp.
Nice Lense
By Andrew
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2023-09-05
Great lens for a good price. I needed a fast, wide-angle lens for astrophotography and this fits the bill perfectly. The display with focus ranges is a nice touch and I wish that all of my lenses had that feature.
Outstanding
By Jonathan
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2023-08-16
Outstanding ultra wide angle lens.
If you have a use for this focal length then this is the one to get.
Image quality is great.
Sharpness and detail is excellent.
Autofocus is silent and accurate.
Distortion at the edges is present but reasonably handled.
Size and weight isn't great but not bad either.
Weather sealing has held up in two light rainstorms.
I use it for landscapes in lowlight, so the wide aperture has been a godsend. I've started using it for vlogging, and it performs excellently.
I intend to use it as a wide angle lens with my Sony A7IV in 4k60, where the 1.5x crop makes this lens and effective 24mm. I haven't used it too much for video, but autofocus has been consistent and accurate with the little I've done.
Overall I'm enjoying this lens. It's a good compliment to the 24-70 I have. It isn't my workhorse lens, but it fills a role that others cannot, with performance, build, and features I'd expect of a lens that's double this cost.
My copy wasn't sharp throughout until F5.6
By John
Rated 3 out of 5
Date: 2023-08-15
I really wanted to like this lens as the construction, features and images are top notch but it wasn't sharp halfway to the corners unless I was shooting at F5.6. Maybe it was just my copy but I returned it as the main selling point of this lens is to shoot at F1.8 or even F2.8. I am debating whether I should take the chance on another copy as there are so many rave reviews.
Slow Focus
By Jorgy Mateo
Rated 3 out of 5
Date: 2023-08-12
I was shooting in an event with it I dont know but the focus is very slow
and there was good lighting but don't know why
Had to return due to minor technical issues
By pitzkale
Rated 3 out of 5
Date: 2023-09-27
This lens is technically incredible.
It's sharp, autofocus was great on my a7C, and it generally performs beautifully.
However, there are two things that bothered me in terms of usability that convinced me to return it and opt for the smaller and slightly less wide 11mm Sony apsc:
1. The aperture ring cannot be locked. This means that if you accidentally bump it with your fingers you can find yourself jumping from f1.8 to f22 out of nowhere. It happened to me at least once every day I was using it. Usually more. I couldn't find a way to turn it off.
2. The screen on the lens is a gimmick. It can't be turned off so if you want to shoot stealthily that's out of the question, and the distance it shows from the subject is more miss than hit.
To sum up, if they ditched the screen and instead added a lock toggle for the aperture ring (or at least provided a way to disable the ring) I'd keep it. Maybe in the next iteration.
Save an Arm, or a Leg, and Get This Viltrox
By Darrell
Rated 4 out of 5
Date: 2023-09-24
Not everyone needs a wide lens that costs $1K - $3K. I don't make that many photographs at such wide angles, so something satisfactory at a more modest price was needed. I finally landed on this Viltrox 16mm 1.8. The Milky Way was my first subject and, even though my exposure was a little too long, I'm very pleased.
A full-featured lens, it has a quality build, an AF/MF switch, 2 custom buttons, and a digital range readout right on the barrel. Unlike some other wide lenses, I can screw on a 77mm CPL for daytime use.
Easy to recommend to other budget conscious photographers.
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