Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8 Full Frame Lens Review: The Best Wide-Angle Lens in the Market
The Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8 Full Frame lens is an ideal wide-angle prime lens for Sony E-mount cameras, released in May 2023. With its F1.8 super large aperture, it allows photographers to capture stunning photos in landscape, architecture, and portraits. According to Viltrox, the lens supports eye autofocus, features a quiet STM stepping motor, and has an intelligent digital display. In this review, I will provide a detailed analysis of the Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8 Full Frame lens and help you make an informed decision about whether it’s the right lens for your photography needs. So, let’s dive in and learn more!
Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8 Full Frame lens
Table of Contents
Price
At $549, the Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8 lens may seem expensive to some users. However, when compared to the Sony 14mm F1.8 lens, which is priced at $1,498.00, the Viltrox lens is a more affordable option. Additionally, the Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8 offers some features that the Sony lens does not. For example, the Viltrox lens has a large colour LCD screen located at the top of the lens.
This screen displays focus distance and aperture value, allowing users to quickly and easily access this information. One particularly useful feature of this screen is the dynamic depth of field scale, which helps users determine the depth of field that will be in focus based on their current aperture and focus distance settings. This is especially helpful when shooting at hyperfocal distances and when focusing is critical.
The Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8 offers excellent value for its price point and provides a range of features that make it a compelling choice for Sony E-mount camera users.
Autofocus and Build Quality
The Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8 is a full-electronic autofocus lens that works similarly to a first-party Sony lens when used on a Sony mirrorless camera. The lens has a solid metal construction with good build quality, and it is also waterproof with weather seals on the lens and lens mount. The manual focus ring is located near the front of the lens, and the aperture ring is near the lens mount.
One interesting and useful design feature is the switch button on the lens side, which allows users to switch the aperture ring between pre-set and normal mode. This is a convenient way to control and change the aperture easily.
There are also two functional buttons on this viltrox lens. Button one is an interesting one and you can use this button to set two different focus distances. Once you set the focus to a particular distance by long-pressing. Then the lens will remember your previous focus distance setting. After that, you can set short-press that button and you can use your preset focus distance.
The ability to preset focus distances is particularly useful for astrophotography, as it allows you to set a specific focus distance and avoid the need to manually focus each time you take a shot. This can save time and help ensure that your images are consistently sharp and in focus.
The two functional buttons on the Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8 lens make it an ideal choice for both photographers and videographers. By setting the AB port, you can easily perform controlled focus transitions, which can be particularly useful for creating smooth and professional-looking video footage.
Size and Weight
While the Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8 lens is not small, its size and weight are reasonable considering its 16mm f/1.8 maximum aperture and solid metal construction. The lens also features a USBC port on the lens mod, which allows for easy firmware updates. Viltrox has a reputation for releasing new firmware updates to address issues and improve lens performance, which can enhance the user experience.
Hands-On Impression
When it comes to ultra-wide-angle lenses like the Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8, autofocus performance is typically not a major concern, even with a fast maximum aperture like f/1.8. Having used this lens with a Sony a7r5 camera, I can say that the autofocus performance is impressive. The autofocus feels fast and completely silent, with no issues like hunting or pausing. While I haven’t used this lens for video shooting, my previous experience with Viltrox lenses leads me to believe that it would perform well in this regard as well.
Related Posts
- Viltrox 13mm f1.4 for Fujifilm X-T3 Review
- Viltrox AF 50mm f/1.8 FE vs Sony FE 50 1.8
- Viltrox 33mm F/1.4 Review for Fujifilm X
Image Quality
When shooting wide open at f/1.8, the centre sharpness of the Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8 is acceptable even on a high-resolution camera like the Sony a7r5, which has a 61-megapixel sensor. However, stopping down the lens can result in much sharper images. I found that photos shot at f/5.6 are particularly sharp with this lens. That being said, I did notice some vignetting when shooting at f/1.8, which was more noticeable when the in-camera vignetting compensation was disabled. While this vignetting issue is not severe, it is definitely noticeable.
Chromatic aberration
Chromatic aberration can be a concern when shooting at wide apertures like f/1.8, but I have found the chromatic operation controls on the Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8 to be decent. In fact, even when shooting photos with strong colour contrast, such as the example photo shot at f/1.8, I didn’t notice any significant colour fringing when zooming in on the image.
Lens Flare
Lens flare can be an issue when shooting into bright light sources, but the Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8 performs very well in this regard. Even when shooting directly into a bright light source, I found that the lens produced only a small amount of lens flare, and the contrast remained very good.
Lens bokeh
Bokeh is generally not a major concern when it comes to ultra-wide-angle lenses, as it can be challenging to achieve a significant background blur with such a wide field of view. However, when taking close-up photos at f/1.8 with the Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8 lens, it is possible to dissolve the background into bokeh balls.
Distortion
I found that the distortion on this lens is not too bad, even when shooting at the widest angle. In fact, even at the bottom of the frame, there was not too much distortion, especially with the distortion compensation enabled.
Sunstars
If you’re looking to capture sun stars, the Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8 lens can deliver impressive results. When stopped down to a minimum aperture of f/22, the lens can produce sun stars, as seen in the attached photo. The sun stars are well-defined and add an interesting element to the photo.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Viltrox 16mm F1.8 Autofocus Wide-Ange lens is an outstanding camera lens for the Sony E-Mount camera delivering the best image and videos for photographers and videographers. While it may be larger, heavier, and expensive, the lens is worth investment if you demand the highest quality. Whether you’re shooting street, landscapes, or portraits, the lens delivers stunning image quality, sharpness, and contrast, with excellent low-light performance.
Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8 Full Frame lens
