Viltrox AF 50mm F2 Air Review (Phillip Reeve)

[jtr27]

My understanding based on Nikon Rumors is that this lens has only just been officially announced, but there is already a review up on Phillip Reeve, accompanied by the usual assortment of beautiful sample images. For some reason the lens review sample provided by Viltrox was an E mount version, but was tested by Martin on a Z7ii and Zf via a Megadap ETZ21 PRO adapter.

It is currently on sale at the Viltrox Store for 8% off - $183.08.

 

[madecov]

There are several reviews up. Dustin Abbott and Christopher Frost plus I saw one on a Z7 with the lens in Z mount. Of the three reviews I saw, all were praising this lens.

 

[Horshack]

Thanks for sharing the review and order link. Looks very impressive. I pre-ordered on the link you provided.

 

[Samuraidog]

It's going to be a tough sell, as the Nikkor 50mm f1.8 S is an amazing lens for a reasonable price.

Although I've had a few fantastic Viltrox lenses and the price can't be beat.

 

[madecov]

It's going to be a tough sell, as the Nikkor 50mm f1.8 S is an amazing lens for a reasonable price.

Although I've had a few fantastic Viltrox lenses and the price can't be beat.

It's half the price, smaller and lighter. It won't be that hard a sell

 

[Dan_168]

It's going to be a tough sell, as the Nikkor 50mm f1.8 S is an amazing lens for a reasonable price

I don't think it's that hard to sell a lens with such optic quality for USD $199 vs the $625 Nikon 50 F1.8.

I think the biggest challenge for Viltrox ( and any other 3rd party lens manufactures) is how to get their name out there, I bet other than those people hang out in the forum, or follow these gear release really closely, most people won't even know what the hell is VIltrox, Sirui, Yonguo, 7Artissans, TTartisan, Meike.... it's just to many of those and it can get pretty confusing. i still run into people feel "shock" to see I mount a no name " junk" in front of a $5000 Z9, just few weeks ago I was shooting with the new Tilt Shift Laowa on my GFX100s, few photographers noticed the GFX and started a conversation, but none of thwm know what the hack is this Laowa thing is .....

With that said, any new 3rd party manufacture will face some tough time and have to sell things at much much lower price to get people's attention, look how long it took Sigma to get their image up, for the longest time, Sigma is just some crap for those can't afford a good OEM lens,

 

[AWG_Pics]

It's going to be a tough sell, as the Nikkor 50mm f1.8 S is an amazing lens for a reasonable price

I don't think it's that hard to sell a lens with such optic quality for USD $199 vs the $625 Nikon 50 F1.8.

I think the biggest challenge for Viltrox ( and any other 3rd party lens manufactures) is how to get their name out there, I bet other than those people hang out in the forum, or follow these gear release really closely, most people won't even know what the hell is VIltrox, Sirui, Yonguo, 7Artissans, TTartisan, Meike.... it's just to many of those and it can get pretty confusing. i still run into people feel "shock" to see I mount a no name " junk" in front of a $5000 Z9, just few weeks ago I was shooting with the new Tilt Shift Laowa on my GFX100s, few photographers noticed the GFX and started a conversation, but none of thwm know what the hack is this Laowa thing is .....

With that said, any new 3rd party manufacture will face some tough time and have to sell things at much much lower price to get people's attention, look how long it took Sigma to get their image up, for the longest time, Sigma is just some crap for those can't afford a good OEM lens,

There is a lot of truth to what you say. However, in the interim we that do know of these excellent and inexpensive lenses benefit by the loss-leading prices while the manufacturer develops a reputation. I have the Viltrox 20mm and the 16mm for Z-mount and find both excellent for my purposes.

 

[Dan_168]

It's going to be a tough sell, as the Nikkor 50mm f1.8 S is an amazing lens for a reasonable price

I don't think it's that hard to sell a lens with such optic quality for USD $199 vs the $625 Nikon 50 F1.8.

I think the biggest challenge for Viltrox ( and any other 3rd party lens manufactures) is how to get their name out there, I bet other than those people hang out in the forum, or follow these gear release really closely, most people won't even know what the hell is VIltrox, Sirui, Yonguo, 7Artissans, TTartisan, Meike.... it's just to many of those and it can get pretty confusing. i still run into people feel "shock" to see I mount a no name " junk" in front of a $5000 Z9, just few weeks ago I was shooting with the new Tilt Shift Laowa on my GFX100s, few photographers noticed the GFX and started a conversation, but none of thwm know what the hack is this Laowa thing is .....

With that said, any new 3rd party manufacture will face some tough time and have to sell things at much much lower price to get people's attention, look how long it took Sigma to get their image up, for the longest time, Sigma is just some crap for those can't afford a good OEM lens,

There is a lot of truth to what you say. However, in the interim we that do know of these excellent and inexpensive lenses benefit by the loss-leading prices while the manufacturer develops a reputation. I have the Viltrox 20mm and the 16mm for Z-mount and find both excellent for my purposes.

Absolutely, I shot with the Viltrox 16 many times and like it a lot, have the 135 F1.8 myself now, it's so good I don't even crave for the Plena any more even I can easily afford one, the Viltrox is just so good, not just "cheap". same with the other off brand Sirui 85 1.4, i replaced my Nikon 85 1.8 with that, sounds crazy but I am voting with my own money.

 

[FuhTeng]

I have this lens on order. I don't like 50 mm, or I didn't when I had the APS-C 35 mm blech for my a6000 years ago. I like 35 mm-e and 85 mm-e. This is perfect. Half the price of a used 50 S and even smaller.

 

[Krummj]

After watching a review I ordered it, even though I have the 50 1.8. I just like that it's a small, contrasty really sharp 50. Also ordered the 40 2.5, after seeing Abbot's comparison to the Z version (It's considerably sharper, but the Z 40 f2 has worse bokeh). Both Viltrox lenses are priced in used manual prime territory, so not a huge loss if I hate them.

 

[LennyLevino]

After watching a review I ordered it, even though I have the 50 1.8. I just like that it's a small, contrasty really sharp 50. Also ordered the 40 2.5, after seeing Abbot's comparison to the Z version (It's considerably sharper, but the Z 40 f2 has worse bokeh). Both Viltrox lenses are priced in used manual prime territory, so not a huge loss if I hate them.

Would be nice if you could post some comparison pictures later (the new Viltrox vs the Nikon f1.8).

 

[jimdelves]

I really hope they release a 35mm f2 in this series

 

[madecov]

I really hope they release a 35mm f2 in this series

The 50mm is the first and only FX air lens, so technically not a series. I would be surprised if there wasn't a 35mm and a 75-85mm

 

[LennyLevino]

I really hope they release a 35mm f2 in this series

The 50mm is the first and only FX air lens, so technically not a series. I would be surprised if there wasn't a 35mm and a 75-85mm

What about the 40mm f2.5 and the 20mm f2.8?

 

[madecov]

I really hope they release a 35mm f2 in this series

The 50mm is the first and only FX air lens, so technically not a series. I would be surprised if there wasn't a 35mm and a 75-85mm

What about the 40mm f2.5 and the 20mm f2.8?

I don't think those are considered AIR lenses. Based on the three DX air lenses all having the same maximum aperture, they don't fit the profile of being part of a series.

 

[Krummj]

Viltrox has now dubbed them, Air, the 40 and 20:

https://viltrox.com/products/viltro...SaF55R5Jw8dZdG82eKvx6r_f58h44oOSs5aN_f6xVH61p

--
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jkrumm/
https://juneauphotographs.org/

 

[Laqup]

I bought one because it is basically free. (paid 180€)

No impressions so far on optical quality as I haven't used it "in the field", just here sitting at my desk, but oh boy is this lens slow.

I thought the Tamron 35-150 is a slow lens, but it feels actually lightning fast after having used the Viltrox 50mm Air. It's quite slow in general, but sometimes AF kind of glitches out (typically in dim conditions) where it will slow down to a snail like pace and you can watch it step by step reaching it's target. It's accurate though. Very amazing. :-D

Everybody raves about the amazing affordable third party glas, especially for the Sony system, but until now I have not seen a single lens that didn't have at least one big drawback. Typically AF is one weak point, but on top there are other quirks like draining the battery (e.g. Viltrox 16mm) or being even heavier than OG Nikon glas (an achievement in itself) (e.g. Viltrox LAB 135mm). Being unreliable and not very durable being other drawbacks.. At this point in time I still can't recommend to buy those super affordable brands exclusively. They can be fun to use if you can live with the quirks but you better have some solid lenses in your arsenal as well if you want to have a glitch free experience when shooting something important.

The exception are of course some (if not most) of the Tamron and Sigma lenses, but those sell for a higher price as well. The 28-75 G2 for Z mount is amazing as an example.

Conclusion: You get what you pay for and it might still be a great lens optically, let's see. What's really worrisome is the whole youtuber review scene, not only the US/UK based reviewers but the german ones as well. I have seen quite a lot of reviews and a lot of that cheap glas gets a lot of praise, and even obvious flaws are not called out as what they are but instead it is being paraphrased around the issue like "AF is not the fastest but still great" (w/o providing any meaningful samples of course) or something like "I didn't think that the autofocus was too slow, I even got some good shots when shooting XYZ". And this is true not only for third party glas but for OEM glas as well. If you watch some of the Nikon Z 40mm 2.0 reviews out there you come to believe fast that the reviewers are working with some kind of "40mm Plena" in their hands, that is super affordable at the same time. Crazy times.

 

[jimdelves]

I bought one because it is basically free. (paid 180€)

No impressions so far on optical quality as I haven't used it "in the field", just here sitting at my desk, but oh boy is this lens slow.

Everybody raves about the amazing affordable third party glas, especially for the Sony system, but until now I have not seen a single lens that didn't have at least one big drawback. Typically AF is one weak point, but on top there are other quirks like draining the battery (e.g. Viltrox 16mm) or being even heavier than OG Nikon glas (an achievement in itself) (e.g. Viltrox LAB 135mm). Being unreliable and not very durable being other drawbacks.. At this point in time I still can't recommend to buy those super affordable brands exclusively. They can be fun to use if you can live with the quirks but you better have some solid lenses in your arsenal as well if you want to have a glitch free experience when shooting

I’ve had excellent experiences with the 20mm 2.8 which is a lovely little lens, and also with the Sirui Venus 50mm and 40mm anamorphics, all of which are very reasonably priced against their competitors and have no obvious flaws

 

[Horshack]

Shot at near infinity on my Z7 II, 100% Crops, Lightroom 45/0.7/35 sharpening. Both copies are well centered.

Composite Image: Viltrox Z 50mm f/2 vs Nikon Z 50mm f/1.8, 100% Crops

 

[Laqup]

Shot at near infinity on my Z7 II, 100% Crops, Lightroom 45/0.7/35 sharpening. Both copies are well centered.

Composite Image: Viltrox Z 50mm f/2 vs Nikon Z 50mm f/1.8, 100% Crops

Nice comparison, extreme corners seem to be lacking quite a bit behind, but otherwise it doesn't look too bad.

How is AF speed on your copy? I'm still very entertained by my copy in this regard. :-D