ZF and Viltrox 20mm/ 2.8 in Rome

I just came back from a short trip to Italy. Like most first timers, we spent most time in Rome, and had a couple quick side trips to Pompeii, Positano and Sorrento.

We were constantly on the move as there were so many things to see... . I am glad that I didn't have photography as my priority for this trip. I was not too productive in term of getting the photos I typically like given that everywhere was so packed with people.

Before the trip, I was debating on what camera and lenses to bring. Thanks to the suggestions and advice from some of you guys, I finally settled with ZF, Viltrox 20/2.8, Nikkor 26/2.8 and X100VI. With going light and low profile in mind, I believe I made the right decision. The only thing that I might do differently is that I would probably skip the 26mm/2.8 next time. I almost never used it.

There a few moments I thought of my Voiglander 15mm wide--heliar but the Vitrox 20mm/2.8 was capable to handle most of the situations. AF was fast and accurate, The distortion didn't bother me. I believe for travel pictures, the distortion impact was quite minimal in real world. As much as I like the Viltrox 20mm/2.8, I encountered an annoying problem which was that the camera switched from AF to MF by itself every time when it woke up from sleep. I tuned it off and on, and the problem was fixed. I blamed myself that I did not used the lens enough after the ZF's recent firmware updates ( I primarily use MF lenses on ZF) and I did not check the firmware updates for the lens before the trip. It was quite annoying indeed but not unbearable.

As I promised in the other thread, here are some pictures I would like to share. I will have more to show later but I just don't have time to process them all yet...



Colosseum 2nd Level



Colosseum Arena level



Colosseum Moon Rise



Colosseum at Night



Roman Forum Street photo



Roman Forum



An alley in Rome



Looking at Vatican from Castel Sant'Angelo



The Bramante Staircase in Vatican Museum



Castel Sant'Angelo



Spanish Steps



Spanish Steps



Trinità dei Monti



Vatican Museum



Sala Rotonda in the Vatican Museum



Pompeii



The Bramante Staircase in Vatican Museum

https://www.flickr.com/photos/183079213@N06/

Man I know I can not shoot such a wide lens well but those shots surely make me want a 20!

Gorgeous work!

When I went in 2004 I had the old Nikon 20 2.8, a (then new) Nikon D70, an FM2 and a Voigtlander body for the 15mm and 12mm. There are times when both utrawides came in handy but the 20mm (especially in film) was a workhorse too.

Really great photos! The Zf and the Viltrox 20mm do go together very well. Thanks for sharing!

Verry well done, and nice editing!

Very nice images.

Check if the lens firmware is up to date, i remember that going into MF was an issue that was fixed with lens firmware.

nonicks said:

...

Spanish Steps



Spanish Steps

....

Click to expand...

I was looking for that lens to make another gift to my Zf for night shots.

A GREAT THANKS
for telling your experience and for your photos!!!!

But I know you'll not be able to change this in your post:

Everybody knows the "Trinità dei Monti Stairs" from Piazza Navona
Or the "Piazza di Spagna Stair" if looking down. "scalinata" in Italian

Where did you picked out "Spanish Steps"? I was scratching my head
- tried 15 minutes to figure that out !!!

(AI answered me: "It's a bad habit from ingliss speekers" )

--
___.............................!............................ ___
-------- Mid of French/Italian Alps --------- I Love my Carnivores. >https://eu.zonerama.com/AlainCH2/1191151
.
Photography ... It is about how that thing looks when photographed..
( Avoid boring shots )

nonicks said:

I just came back from a short trip to Italy. Like most first timers, we spent most time in Rome, and had a couple quick side trips to Pompeii, Positano and Sorrento.

We were constantly on the move as there were so many things to see... . I am glad that I didn't have photography as my priority for this trip. I was not too productive in term of getting the photos I typically like given that everywhere was so packed with people.

Before the trip, I was debating on what camera and lenses to bring. Thanks to the suggestions and advice from some of you guys, I finally settled with ZF, Viltrox 20/2.8, Nikkor 26/2.8 and X100VI. With going light and low profile in mind, I believe I made the right decision. The only thing that I might do differently is that I would probably skip the 26mm/2.8 next time. I almost never used it.

There a few moments I thought of my Voiglander 15mm wide--heliar but the Vitrox 20mm/2.8 was capable to handle most of the situations. AF was fast and accurate, The distortion didn't bother me. I believe for travel pictures, the distortion impact was quite minimal in real world. As much as I like the Viltrox 20mm/2.8, I encountered an annoying problem which was that the camera switched from AF to MF by itself every time when it woke up from sleep. I tuned it off and on, and the problem was fixed. I blamed myself that I did not used the lens enough after the ZF's recent firmware updates ( I primarily use MF lenses on ZF) and I did not check the firmware updates for the lens before the trip. It was quite annoying indeed but not unbearable.

As I promised in the other thread, here are some pictures I would like to share. I will have more to show later but I just don't have time to process them all yet...



Colosseum 2nd Level



Colosseum Arena level



Colosseum Moon Rise



Colosseum at Night



Roman Forum Street photo



Roman Forum



An alley in Rome



Looking at Vatican from Castel Sant'Angelo



The Bramante Staircase in Vatican Museum



Castel Sant'Angelo



Spanish Steps



Spanish Steps



Trinità dei Monti



Vatican Museum



Sala Rotonda in the Vatican Museum



Pompeii



The Bramante Staircase in Vatican Museum

https://www.flickr.com/photos/183079213@N06/

Click to expand...

I am starting to think of getting a 20mm lens and your great photos are inspiring.

Thanks for posting these photos! Looks like a great trip!

I read your post before you went as I’m debating an upcoming trip with perhaps a similar need for something wider than 20mm while also trying to travel light.



it is very helpful to see your nice travel photos!

Very nice shots! Viltrox 20mm f2.8 is a great lens, I like it. I had the same AF/MF problem while vacationing in Mexico. It would switch to MF while in a sleep mode. I temporary solved it there by eliminating the sleep mode and keeping the camera on while on location. I solved the problem permanently by updating the firmware when I returned home. It was an easy fix.

Nice images. I got the new Tamron 16-30 f/2.8 with the Zf, it's a nice WA zoom, not too large e covers most of the WA primes below 35mm, very versatile. Do you prefer primes?

--
Renato.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhlpedrosa/
OnExposure member
http://www.onexposure.net/
Good shooting and good luck
(after Ed Murrow)

What a great series of photos! The Zf and Viltox seem to work very well together. Thanks for sharing.

Scott

quattro88 said:

Very nice shots! Viltrox 20mm f2.8 is a great lens, I like it. I had the same AF/MF problem while vacationing in Mexico. It would switch to MF while in a sleep mode. I temporary solved it there by eliminating the sleep mode and keeping the camera on while on location. I solved the problem permanently by updating the firmware when I returned home. It was an easy fix.

Click to expand...

Thank you.

Yes. I prefer prime lenses. I pretty much use primes exclusively since 5 years ago except when I was in Banff last year. Almost all my lenses are primes and more than half are manual focus prime. The only zoom I have is The 24-120/4 S. I am okay with using zoom when I believe I absolutely need it for versatility like in Banff.

--
https://www.flickr.com/photos/183079213@N06/

Well done! I have the 14-30 f/4, but take it out much too rarely. Your images inspire me to do that more often.

I returned the Viltrox because I could not remove the waviness in horizontal lines in Lightroom. Is that fixed, or don't I just see it in these images?

nonicks said:

I just came back from a short trip to Italy. Like most first timers, we spent most time in Rome, and had a couple quick side trips to Pompeii, Positano and Sorrento.

We were constantly on the move as there were so many things to see... . I am glad that I didn't have photography as my priority for this trip. I was not too productive in term of getting the photos I typically like given that everywhere was so packed with people.

Before the trip, I was debating on what camera and lenses to bring. Thanks to the suggestions and advice from some of you guys, I finally settled with ZF, Viltrox 20/2.8, Nikkor 26/2.8 and X100VI. With going light and low profile in mind, I believe I made the right decision. The only thing that I might do differently is that I would probably skip the 26mm/2.8 next time. I almost never used it.

There a few moments I thought of my Voiglander 15mm wide--heliar but the Vitrox 20mm/2.8 was capable to handle most of the situations. AF was fast and accurate, The distortion didn't bother me. I believe for travel pictures, the distortion impact was quite minimal in real world. As much as I like the Viltrox 20mm/2.8, I encountered an annoying problem which was that the camera switched from AF to MF by itself every time when it woke up from sleep. I tuned it off and on, and the problem was fixed. I blamed myself that I did not used the lens enough after the ZF's recent firmware updates ( I primarily use MF lenses on ZF) and I did not check the firmware updates for the lens before the trip. It was quite annoying indeed but not unbearable.

As I promised in the other thread, here are some pictures I would like to share. I will have more to show later but I just don't have time to process them all yet...



Colosseum 2nd Level



Colosseum Arena level



Colosseum Moon Rise



Colosseum at Night



Roman Forum Street photo



Roman Forum



An alley in Rome



Looking at Vatican from Castel Sant'Angelo



The Bramante Staircase in Vatican Museum



Castel Sant'Angelo



Spanish Steps



Spanish Steps



Trinità dei Monti



Vatican Museum



Sala Rotonda in the Vatican Museum



Pompeii



The Bramante Staircase in Vatican Museum

https://www.flickr.com/photos/183079213@N06/

Click to expand...

I just got back from a week in Greece (so I went to Acrpololis among other places where WA were beneficial) and I should have bought my 20mm with me (but only had the 14-30 with me on the trip, and on that particular, day I was being lazy and not wanting to carry a camera bag, only bought the 24-120 with me on the Z8...) The 20mm I could have easily slipped into my sweatshirt pocket... I guess I'll make note for next time.

But the 20mm is a great travle wide angle. I actually want to try out Viltrox's 14mm Air lens on my Z8 and see how it compares (even though the two will give a different view--I do feel that 14mm might be more beneficial than the 20mm for travel in some cases, when I don't want to deal with the 14-30).

--
* PLEASE NOTE: I generally unsubscribe from forums/comments after a period of time has passed, so if I do not respond, that is likely the reason. *

Great photos. Certainly a bargain compared to the Nikon Z 20 2.8 I have.

Again, I would put it into my bag if there was a way to fix the waviness. I'd like to do architecture. See the photo below. Those lines ought to be straight.

Rene Gr said:

Again, I would put it into my bag if there was a way to fix the waviness. I'd like to do architecture. See the photo below. Those lines ought to be straight.

Click to expand...

I asked DXO to quickly make the PL module for all the "Air" lenses.

Please ask them as well ... adding the 20F2.8



(If we push solidly all together, we will obtain lenses corrections ! )

Amazing. I have the lens but I haven't used it this well yet!

sirhawkeye64 said:

nonicks said:

I just came back from a short trip to Italy. Like most first timers, we spent most time in Rome, and had a couple quick side trips to Pompeii, Positano and Sorrento.

We were constantly on the move as there were so many things to see... . I am glad that I didn't have photography as my priority for this trip. I was not too productive in term of getting the photos I typically like given that everywhere was so packed with people.

Before the trip, I was debating on what camera and lenses to bring. Thanks to the suggestions and advice from some of you guys, I finally settled with ZF, Viltrox 20/2.8, Nikkor 26/2.8 and X100VI. With going light and low profile in mind, I believe I made the right decision. The only thing that I might do differently is that I would probably skip the 26mm/2.8 next time. I almost never used it.

There a few moments I thought of my Voiglander 15mm wide--heliar but the Vitrox 20mm/2.8 was capable to handle most of the situations. AF was fast and accurate, The distortion didn't bother me. I believe for travel pictures, the distortion impact was quite minimal in real world. As much as I like the Viltrox 20mm/2.8, I encountered an annoying problem which was that the camera switched from AF to MF by itself every time when it woke up from sleep. I tuned it off and on, and the problem was fixed. I blamed myself that I did not used the lens enough after the ZF's recent firmware updates ( I primarily use MF lenses on ZF) and I did not check the firmware updates for the lens before the trip. It was quite annoying indeed but not unbearable.

As I promised in the other thread, here are some pictures I would like to share. I will have more to show later but I just don't have time to process them all yet...



Colosseum 2nd Level



Colosseum Arena level



Colosseum Moon Rise



Colosseum at Night



Roman Forum Street photo



Roman Forum



An alley in Rome



Looking at Vatican from Castel Sant'Angelo



The Bramante Staircase in Vatican Museum



Castel Sant'Angelo



Spanish Steps



Spanish Steps



Trinità dei Monti



Vatican Museum



Sala Rotonda in the Vatican Museum



Pompeii



The Bramante Staircase in Vatican Museum

https://www.flickr.com/photos/183079213@N06/

Click to expand...

I just got back from a week in Greece (so I went to Acrpololis among other places where WA were beneficial) and I should have bought my 20mm with me (but only had the 14-30 with me on the trip, and on that particular, day I was being lazy and not wanting to carry a camera bag, only bought the 24-120 with me on the Z8...) The 20mm I could have easily slipped into my sweatshirt pocket... I guess I'll make note for next time.

But the 20mm is a great travle wide angle. I actually want to try out Viltrox's 14mm Air lens on my Z8 and see how it compares (even though the two will give a different view--I do feel that 14mm might be more beneficial than the 20mm for travel in some cases, when I don't want to deal with the 14-30).

--
* PLEASE NOTE: I generally unsubscribe from forums/comments after a period of time has passed, so if I do not respond, that is likely the reason. *

Click to expand...

I think it depends on one’s FL preference and the location. 20mm is easier to use as one lens solution during travel to me. I found 20mm/21mm is easier to use for landscape, cityscape, street and even portraits as long as handling correctly. I can’t say the same for my 15mm voigtlander or the Viltrox 16mm. While they are essential and able to add more wow effect to landscape and tight spaces, they are less versatile for multiple purpose in travel, at least that’s my case.



If one don’t mind to carry a big zoom, I think the 14-30mm will be a great choice. Or even better 16-35mm/2.8 will be perfect.



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