Up next in 10
Viltrox AIR 14mm F4 Review | Tiny, Cheap, and Awesome!
Sep 2, 2025
Photographer Dustin Abbott takes a deep dive look at the Viltrox AIR 14mm F4 for Sony FE and Nikon Z. Can you get an great wide angle prime for under $200? | Read the Text Review: | Purchase the Viltrox AF 14mm F4 AIR @ Viltrox (use code DUSTINABBOTT for 5% off) | B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Pergear Check out the DA Merch here: https://bit.ly/TWIMerch | Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/dustinabbott | On the Web: http://dustinabbott.net/ | Sign up for my Newsletter: http://bit.ly/1RHvUNp | Instagram: http://bit.ly/DLAinsta | Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1nuUUeH | Flickr: http://bit.ly/1UcnC0B | 500px: http://bit.ly/1Sy2Ngu Follow Craig @ https://www.instagram.com/craigstoffersen/ Want to support this channel? Use these affiliate links to shop at: B&H Photo: http://bhpho.to/1TA0Xge Adorama: https://howl.link/nt4zdz1goa7ql Camera Canada: http://bit.ly/DLACameraCan Sony Canada: https://www.thesonyshop.ca/?ref=abbott Amazon: https://amzn.to/3HrY64d Amazon Canada: https://amzn.to/3qG1p18 Ebay: http://bit.ly/DustineBay Into the AM Clothing: https://bit.ly/intotheAMda and use code DUSTIN10 for 10% off Fioboc Clothing: https://tinyurl.com/FiobocDA20 and us code DUSTIN20 for 20% off Make a donation via Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/dustinTWI ============================= Table of Contents: ============================= 0:00 - Intro
View Video Transcript
0:10
Don't get me wrong, I love Viltrox's Lab
0:13
series and Pro Series lenses, but in
0:16
many ways, it is their Air series that
0:18
is perhaps the most intriguing for a lot
0:22
of people. They're small, they're light,
0:24
and maybe most importantly, they're very
0:26
affordable despite being very high
0:28
performing optically. Yes, these are
0:30
very simple lenses, but they make up for
0:34
that by having a tough build, good
0:36
autofocus, and very, very good optics.
0:40
Now, to this point, most of the lenses
0:42
in the series have fallen into the
0:44
fairly conventional 35 to 85 mm range or
0:48
the APS-C equivalents. But now that they
0:50
have covered those more conventional
0:52
focal lengths pretty well, they are
0:53
finally starting to venture outside of
0:55
that paradigm. And today's release of
0:58
both a full-frame and an APS-C truly
1:01
wide angle lens is very, very
1:03
interesting. Now, I'm going to start
1:04
with the full-frame. That is my prefer
1:07
preferred platform. And so, I'm going to
1:09
look at the 14mm f4 first and follow
1:11
that up in a week with the 9mm f/2.8.
1:15
These lenses are identical in size and
1:18
appearance. However, one is designed for
1:20
full frame and the other, the 9
1:22
millimeter, is designed for APS-C. And
1:24
so, you take that 9 millimeter, multiply
1:26
it by the 1.5 times crop factor of the
1:29
various camera systems, and you end up
1:31
with a 13 1.5 mm lens or essentially
1:34
that 14 mm lens. Now, the APS-C lens is
1:38
a little bit wider than the 14 mm.
1:40
However, this is an extremely wide focal
1:43
length in such a compact form like I've
1:46
never seen before. And yes, the maximum
1:48
aperture is only f4. But don't let that
1:50
put you off because this lens is
1:51
intensely sharp even from f4 on. It's a
1:55
really impressive accomplishment to have
1:57
such high performance and such a wide
1:59
angle of view in such a compact form
2:02
factor. And being able to get all of
2:03
that for under $200
2:06
is really pretty intriguing. And that is
2:08
what makes the Viltrox Air series work.
2:10
We're going to dive into the whole
2:13
performance of the 14 millimeter f4 uh
2:16
lens today and detail whether or not
2:18
this is a lens that should get onto your
2:20
short list if you're wanting a wide
2:22
angle prime that you can take anywhere.
2:24
Let's dive in. Let's take a look. So,
2:26
all of the outdoor segments that you'll
2:27
see in this video have been filmed on my
2:30
Sony A7R Mark I using the 14mm F4
2:33
shooting wide open at f4. Now, in full
2:36
disclosure, this lens was sent to me by
2:38
Viltrox for evaluation. As always, they
2:41
have had no input in this review or my
2:43
findings, and they will not see this
2:45
video before you do. This is a
2:47
completely independent review. So, this
2:49
lens will be available in both Sony FE,
2:52
which I'm reviewing here, but then also
2:54
on Nikon Zmount at this point.
2:57
Hopefully, future platforms,
3:00
Canon RF would be fantastic in the
3:02
future. As you can see, this lens is
3:05
identical in size, same dimensions to
3:07
the 9mm f/2.8. And in many ways, it's
3:10
kind of a unique approach here,
3:11
engineering lenses and probably sharing
3:13
some of that engineering process. And
3:16
so, you produce both a full-frame and
3:17
then an APS-C equivalent outcome. Now,
3:20
as you can see, the APS-C lens at 9 mm
3:23
is a little bit wider than what the 14
3:25
mm is in terms of the angle of view.
3:28
That's to be expected because that does
3:29
come out to about 13 1.5 mm, but also at
3:33
112° angle of view for the 14 mm. That
3:37
is a little bit narrower than some other
3:39
14 mm lenses that I've reviewed in the
3:41
past. And so it is wide, but not quite
3:43
as wide as what some of those lenses
3:45
are. The dimensions of the lens are 65
3:48
mm in diameter or 2.55 in by 56.4 mm in
3:54
length or 2.22
3:56
in. This makes that a fantastic pairing.
3:59
If you happen to own one of the A7C
4:01
series of cameras, this is a beautiful
4:04
wide-angle option for that, allowing you
4:06
to travel really small and light,
4:08
particularly if you got the A7 or A7CR.
4:11
To be able to compare that, you know,
4:12
that 61 megapixel sensor with this lens
4:14
in such a compact package, pretty
4:16
fantastic. It takes 58 millm filter
4:19
threads up front that is shared with the
4:21
9mm and a lot of other lenses as well,
4:23
including a number of other from the Air
4:25
series. The weight here is 170 g or 6
4:29
oz. Now in Nikon Zmount because of that
4:31
wider diameter mount, that weight goes
4:34
up to 185 g. Still extremely
4:37
lightweight. Interestingly, the APS-C
4:39
lens is 5 g heavier than what the 14 mm
4:43
is. That's not enough to actually really
4:45
feel the difference. Uh I can't discern
4:47
it with, you know, just in terms of
4:48
holding it, but it is just ever so
4:50
slightly heavier. This does, as all
4:52
Viltrox lenses, has the USBC port for
4:56
doing quick and easy firmware updates on
4:58
the mount, but really that's about it
5:00
for any kind of features. There is no
5:03
weather sealing outside of an
5:04
anti-ouling coat that's resistant to
5:06
fingerprints and water on that front
5:09
element, but there is no gasket here at
5:13
the lens mount, which is true for all of
5:14
the Air series lenses. Neither are there
5:16
any switches or buttons on it. We just
5:19
have a focus ring here. Fortunately, the
5:21
focus ring is nicely damped. You can
5:24
focus with precision. And the autofocus
5:26
motor is reactive enough that you are
5:28
able to focus without any kind of lag
5:30
there as well. It does come with the
5:33
included lens hood and then also a
5:36
pouch. The lens hood does bayonet on
5:38
with nice precision and will lock into
5:41
place. I didn't have any issues with the
5:43
lens hood moving around, but it stayed
5:45
in place once it was mounted. Inside we
5:48
do have seven aperture blades. I like
5:50
that better than the nine blades that
5:51
they put on some lenses. Uh for for a
5:54
wide angle lens, I prefer a lower blade
5:56
count. And in this case, that allows you
5:58
to get 14b bladed sun stars that look
6:00
pretty decent. Really, all things
6:02
considered, not the best that I've seen,
6:03
but certainly nice enough to add to
6:05
images in the right kind of situation.
6:08
Now, interestingly, this lens does
6:10
better than a lot of Vtrox lenses in
6:12
terms of minimum focus distance. You can
6:14
focus as closely as 13 cm, which means
6:18
that you can get very close to your
6:19
subject. That ends up being only about
6:21
3.5 cm beyond the lens hood, which means
6:25
you might want to remove the lens hood
6:26
sometimes, not to so you don't shade
6:28
your subject, but you can get a 0.23
6:30
times level of magnification. That's
6:32
nice and high and allows you to get some
6:34
creative shots and to use that to good
6:37
effect. And so overall, as with all of
6:39
the Air series lenses, the lens feels
6:41
tough, but it's simple. Um, there's
6:43
nothing going on here in terms of bells
6:45
and whistles. This is really all about
6:48
the optics and the autofocus performance
6:50
inside. So, let's move on to those
6:52
things. So, let's talk autofocus. As
6:54
always in the Air series, they are using
6:56
a lead screw type STM focus motor or
6:59
stepping motor. In this case, with a
7:02
wide angle uh angle of view and then
7:04
also a relatively small maximum
7:06
aperture, focus doesn't have to do a
7:08
whole lot of heavy lifting here. So
7:10
there isn't typically a big diff
7:12
difference between focus changes unless
7:15
you're going all the way from the
7:16
closest focus towards infinity. So most
7:19
of the time focus adjustments are very
7:21
small which means that in my formal test
7:23
autofocus is pretty much instantaneous.
7:25
There's really hardly any perceptible
7:27
change between focusing on a closer
7:30
subject in this case about a meter away
7:32
to a subject that is about five or 6
7:35
meters away. And then if I go outside
7:37
and the background is even further away,
7:39
it really doesn't make any difference.
7:41
Focus is basically instantaneous. The
7:43
only time I saw focus slow down really
7:45
is when I tried to test this in very low
7:48
light conditions because obviously that
7:50
is the biggest challenge for a lens like
7:52
this, a maximum aperture of f4. And the
7:54
inability to open up any wider means
7:56
that that is the maximum amount of light
7:58
that the camera can use for focus. And
8:00
so in very dim conditions, it just
8:02
doesn't have as much light to work with
8:04
as a lens with an f2.8. 8 or brighter
8:07
aperture. And so what I found is that
8:09
while focus did slow down and maybe took
8:12
a little bit before it locked, it always
8:14
locked accurately even in extremely dim
8:17
conditions. So I don't really have any
8:19
kind of reservation, that's kind of part
8:20
for the course. You can't defeat physics
8:22
in this instance. But the fact that the
8:24
focus motor still got the job done was
8:26
impressive. Focus because of those those
8:29
little changes. This is going to work
8:30
fine for sports and things like that
8:32
because frankly there's enough speed
8:34
there and also the lens doesn't or the
8:37
focus system doesn't have to be
8:38
incredibly reactive cuz it's not having
8:40
to make major focus changes and depth of
8:42
field is always going to be pretty big.
8:44
However, I found even in this situation
8:46
where I was trying to lock on to blowing
8:49
grass and you can see in the video how
8:51
wildly it is blowing, but I was able to
8:53
lock on and snap this photo. And so I
8:55
think autofocus is reactive enough to
8:57
keep up even when you're at close focus
8:59
distances where there actually is focus
9:01
variances. It was keeping up and all of
9:03
that. And so really at the end of the
9:05
day, autofocus works great for all the
9:08
applications that I use the lens for. So
9:10
let's talk video AF. Once again, in this
9:13
situation, as with conventional
9:14
autofocus, focus doesn't have to work
9:16
particularly hard. And so actually when
9:18
I was doing my focus pull test, as you
9:20
can see here on camera, I wasn't even
9:23
sure that focus was actually changing
9:25
because it took viewing it on a larger
9:27
monitor to actually see that focus
9:29
variation. I could see when I did that
9:31
there is a little bit of focus
9:32
breathing, but the focal length and
9:34
maximum aperture being both wide on the
9:37
former and small on the ladder meant
9:40
that while there is a little bit of
9:41
focus breathing, it's hardly detectable
9:43
and so it's not really going to be a
9:44
significant issue in any kind of
9:46
situation. my hand test likewise the
9:49
adjustment between going from my hand to
9:50
my face and back forth it was so subtle
9:53
that you really couldn't pick up on it
9:55
much but you know when I tried to look
9:57
critically at the appropriate times
9:59
either my hand or my face was in focus
10:01
and so focus didn't have to change much
10:03
to achieve that really I can't ask for
10:06
it to do something that's unnecessary
10:08
and so in those situations I felt that
10:09
autofocus was fine now more importantly
10:12
for a lens like this this is going to be
10:14
an excellent vlogging type lens So,
10:17
let's take a look how it performs in
10:18
that kind of setting. So, vlogging is a
10:21
pretty obvious application for a focal
10:23
length like this. And as you can see,
10:25
this is a lens that's going to have no
10:27
problem keeping focus on your face. And
10:30
it is a great focal length for this kind
10:33
of work. Nice and wide, but not so wide
10:35
that it's distorting your features and
10:37
making you look weird. And so, I think
10:39
that vlogging is going to be a great
10:41
application and probably gumball work in
10:43
general. the lens being so lightweight,
10:45
this is a great video lens. So,
10:47
obviously works well for the vlogging
10:49
type scenario and even when I used it in
10:50
more of an action situation footage, as
10:53
you can see, it looks good. And also,
10:56
you know, focus wasn't hunting or moving
10:57
around. So, this is going to be a really
10:59
excellent lens, not only for vlogging,
11:00
but just gimbal work in general. The
11:02
fact that you can get this lens and it
11:05
is so compact in length and weighs only
11:07
170 gram means that it can fit onto, you
11:11
know, maybe allow you to use smaller and
11:13
cheaper motorized gimbals. But either
11:15
way, it's going to not obstruct the
11:17
gimbal and so, you know, you can do the
11:19
full inception mode rotations and things
11:21
like that that you might not be able to
11:23
do with a bigger, heavier lens. So, I
11:25
think it's going to have a lot of
11:26
interesting applications for that. And
11:28
that's certainly an application that I
11:30
might consider using it for in the
11:31
future to get that wonderfully wide
11:33
angle of view. But then also to get a
11:35
nice stable platform where a lot is
11:37
going to be in focus should be pretty
11:40
sweet. So video AF no problems on that
11:42
front either. And we've got an optical
11:44
design of 12 elements in nine groups.
11:46
And the majority of those are exotic
11:49
elements including four extra low
11:51
dispersion elements, two high refractive
11:53
index elements and two aspherical
11:55
elements. You can see from the MTF that
11:58
it's really solid, very sharp in the
11:59
center over that 90% threshold. And
12:02
there is a steady decline off towards
12:03
the corners. But one of the thing that
12:05
stands out is that both the sagittal and
12:07
meridial lines, they stay very close
12:09
together as it goes, which means you
12:11
have lowest stigmatism and your contrast
12:13
is going to look better. And that's
12:15
something that really stands out to me.
12:16
Optically, this lens reminds me probably
12:19
most of the Sigma 17 millimeter F4, a
12:22
similar lens that's compact and has a
12:24
small maximum aperture, but it's
12:27
intensely sharp and high contrast from
12:29
right from that maximum aperture. And
12:31
that's true here. In fact, this lens
12:32
across most of the frame is actually
12:35
sharper at f4 than what it is at f8.
12:37
It's it's designed to deliver peak
12:40
performance right from the beginning.
12:41
And the only thing really that's going
12:42
to improve, which bore out in my test at
12:45
f8, is that the corners may look a hair
12:47
sharper stopped down to f8. Bottom line
12:51
is that this lens is extremely sharp and
12:53
high contrast even on a 61 megapixel
12:55
sensor, which is the highest currently
12:57
available on full-frame platforms. So
13:00
that's fantastic for such a small and
13:02
inexpensive lens, particularly when
13:04
you're talking wide angle, which is so
13:06
incredibly complex to engineer. So I'm
13:08
not quite sure how they pulled it off.
13:10
What I found when it comes to some of
13:12
the other factors, distortion, for
13:13
example, is very low. There's not a lot
13:16
of native distortion, but it is a bit
13:18
complex. So, if I corrected for the
13:19
barrel distortion in the center of the
13:21
frame, that's about a plus seven.
13:22
Dialing that in, I create some ping
13:24
cushion distortion on the edges. So,
13:26
manual correction doesn't work
13:28
fantastic. Using the correction profile
13:30
when it becomes available is going to be
13:32
a better option. But again, to give you
13:34
a little bit of perspective, a plus
13:35
seven to correct this lens. the recent
13:38
uh Schneider LK Samyang lens that I
13:41
reviewed at 14 millimeters, the 14 to 24
13:43
millimeter f2.8, at 14 millimeters, it
13:46
required a plus 29 to correct. And then
13:49
lenses like the Sony 16mm f1.8 for
13:52
example, they require that and more to
13:54
correct for. And so this is actually a
13:56
really low distortion figure. And what
13:58
it means is that even uncorrected, this
14:00
lens actually works for quite a a lot of
14:03
subjects. I found when shooting
14:04
architecture, for example, as you can
14:06
see in this shot of my son's university,
14:09
everything looks good. Likewise, when I
14:11
shot of this bridge, instead of it
14:13
getting warped at some place by
14:15
distortion, it looks nice and straight
14:17
all the way across. And so, uh, really
14:19
quite impressive in terms of those
14:21
metrics. Vignette is a plus 48, so
14:24
that's less than two stops. And again,
14:26
not bad at all for a wide angle lens,
14:28
and certainly not for one this small.
14:30
It's not unusual for me to see twice as
14:32
much vignette as that on many other type
14:35
lenses. And so really, really good. And
14:37
that's one area where it definitely is
14:39
better than that Sigma 17mm F4. I saw no
14:43
longitudinal style chromatic
14:44
aberrations, very clean before and after
14:46
the plane of focus. I saw minimal
14:48
lateral style chromatic aberrations in
14:50
the corners of the frame. So no real
14:52
problem there. When looking at
14:55
resolution, here is a look at the chart
14:57
that I use for that. And I'm going to
14:59
show you 61 megapixel crops at 200%
15:02
magnification. So even at that very high
15:04
level of scrutiny, the center looks
15:06
fantastic. Mid-frame looks fantastic.
15:08
And really the corners look very good
15:10
until maybe the last percentage two
15:12
points. It looks really, really
15:14
fantastic. And to give you again a quick
15:16
comparison, that Schneider Samyang lens
15:19
in the center of the frame, I would say
15:20
that the Viltrox, both of them at f4,
15:23
Viltrox is probably a hair sharper and
15:25
higher contrast. And in the corners,
15:26
they're close. I would maybe give a tiny
15:28
edge to the Schneider lens, but they are
15:31
just incredibly close there. And so, I
15:33
mean, it's a great optical performance
15:35
for this kind of price point. So, you'll
15:38
find that you don't get really any
15:39
further center improvement when you stop
15:41
down, but you will see a just a little
15:43
bit more even profile to where the
15:45
corners get a little bit sharper while
15:47
the center remains really fantastically
15:48
sharp. So, if you shoot at landscape
15:50
apertures of f5.6, f6.3, f8, you'll find
15:54
that it just looks great. And so I'm
15:57
really really impressed with the images
15:58
you can get from this lens. It's a great
16:01
landscape lens. Great contrast, great
16:03
detail, and great color. It's very, very
16:05
impressive on that. As is usual, you
16:08
will see defraction show up at about f11
16:11
because that has to do with the
16:12
resolution of the camera, not so much
16:14
the performance of the lens, but it's
16:16
not bad in this case. Of course, I'm
16:17
looking at 200% magnification. Even at
16:19
f-16, probably if you're just looking at
16:21
100% magnification, you'd still be happy
16:23
with the end results. And so don't
16:25
hesitate to shoot there. In this
16:27
situation, this is not a lens designed
16:29
to produce bokeh, but because it can
16:31
focus so closely, you can blur out
16:33
backgrounds somewhat somewhat. And the
16:35
quality of that blur is really not too
16:38
bad. There's a little bit of outlining,
16:40
but not bad. I actually prefer the bokeh
16:42
from the 14mm full-frame, the one I did
16:45
from the 9 mm APS-C lens, despite that
16:47
lens having a larger maximum aperture.
16:50
And it just it's really more about the
16:52
nature of the rendering of the
16:54
background blur, which I favor a little
16:55
bit more on the 14 millm. Don't buy it
16:57
for that obviously, but the fact that it
16:59
can produce reasonably compelling images
17:01
for that o up close is really nice. For
17:04
example, I could shoot this big picture
17:05
shot of a of wild flowers that were
17:09
growing beyond this little pond. And
17:10
then I could move in close and get more
17:12
of a detail shot of, you know, one of
17:14
the wild flowers. And that's kind of
17:16
cool just to be able to do that
17:17
storytelling like that. Flare
17:19
performance in most situations was also
17:21
quite good as well. And as you can see
17:22
here as I pan back and forth that
17:25
contrast holds up really really well.
17:27
That's never a problem. And there is a
17:30
little bit of ghosting but it doesn't
17:32
show up much. And when you stop down
17:34
you'll see that ghosting pattern a
17:36
little bit more. But I found that in
17:37
most situations flare resistance was
17:39
really quite good. Obviously very
17:40
important in such a wide angle lens.
17:42
Bottom line is that this lens actually
17:45
has quite few optical flaws and that is
17:48
really really impressive again in engine
17:50
in engineering such a small lens that
17:52
covers such a wide angle of view and at
17:54
such a low price hard to beat it. So at
17:56
the end of the day I think that this is
17:58
actually one of the most interesting
17:59
lenses that has come to the Air series
18:01
so far. Not just because it is so
18:04
optically sound, but I've never seen a
18:07
14 millimeter lens this compact before.
18:10
And the fact that it is competent even
18:12
out to the corners in such a compact
18:14
package is really, really intriguing to
18:17
me. I can really see this a lens that I
18:19
could personally use. Unfortunately, I
18:21
don't get to use my own gear very much
18:23
cuz I'm always reviewing something new.
18:24
But when I travel, that's kind of the
18:26
exception to the rule. And so typically
18:28
I may be taking some review things
18:30
along, but I'm wanting something to
18:31
augment that to get the kind of photos
18:33
that I just want to get when I'm
18:35
traveling. And being able to get such a
18:36
wide angle of view for video and stills
18:39
in such a compact package that I can
18:41
easily throw into a bag is really,
18:43
really interesting. And so for a price
18:46
of under $200, this is a lens I think
18:48
that could be the gateway for a lot of
18:50
people that have maybe considered the
18:52
idea of a ultra wide angle prime but
18:55
didn't want to spend the money to get
18:58
to, you know, a a competent lens. In
19:00
this case, I think that this has brought
19:02
this focal length down to a much more
19:04
affordable place, accessible place for a
19:07
lot of different photographers. And if
19:09
you've never experienced with the very
19:10
unique images you can get with something
19:12
that's ultra wide, this is a great place
19:14
to start exploring. At the end of the
19:16
day, Viltrox's Air series continues to
19:18
really impress me. And as they delve
19:21
into more unique focal lengths like
19:23
this, I think that the series could get
19:25
more interesting still. This stays very
19:27
true to the ethos of the series of being
19:30
able to, you know, carry less and
19:32
capture more. That definitely applies
19:35
here. And so kudos to Viltrox for
19:37
designing something I think that is
19:39
going to be really genuinely useful for
19:41
a whole lot of people and at a price tag
19:43
that they can afford. I'm Dustin Abbott
19:46
and if you want more information, check
19:47
out the full text review in the
19:49
description down below. The
19:51
dustinbott.net has a whole new redesign.
19:54
It's now much more accessible, easier to
19:56
read, and through the incredible search
19:59
capabilities, you can find articles on
20:01
whatever you're looking for. So check
20:03
that out today. There are buying links
20:05
there. And if you want a deeper dive
20:06
into the optical performance, as always,
20:08
this is the place to be and we're going
20:10
to dive into that right now together.
20:12
Let's take a look. Okay, let's start by
20:14
taking a look at vignia and distortion.
20:16
So, if we look here on the left, an
20:17
uncorrected image, we can see that the
20:20
amount of distortion is really quite
20:22
low, but we can also see that it's not
20:24
consistent. That you see it bulges out
20:26
here in the center and then drops off
20:28
towards corners. So, if you do your best
20:30
to straighten out these internal lines,
20:32
as I've done here, you'll see that you
20:33
start to then cause the corners to creep
20:36
out in more of a pin cushion style
20:38
distortion. We call this a mustache
20:40
pattern. And the amount of distortion is
20:43
low enough that, you know, in many
20:44
cases, as we're going to see, you don't
20:46
have to worry about even correcting.
20:48
However, clearly when the correction
20:50
profile is available, it's going to do a
20:51
cleaner job of correcting this because I
20:54
can only correct in one direction. and
20:56
the correction profiles are able to
20:57
actually be tailored to the lens itself.
21:00
So, a very mild amount of distortion.
21:02
This is a plus seven to correct for
21:04
barrel distortion.
21:06
Vignette is dialed in at plus 48 to
21:09
eliminate the vignette in the corners.
21:11
So, here's a look at a real world shot
21:13
that has received zero correction. And
21:15
so, you can see even down here into this
21:17
leading line of these steps that there
21:19
is no obvious distortion. If we zoom
21:22
into the various brick surfaces and
21:24
lines in this image, you can see that
21:26
everything is really looking really it's
21:28
clean. There's no obvious issues with
21:31
barrel distortion. So, in most
21:32
situations, it really works well. This
21:34
is again uncorrected. We can see there's
21:37
no real obvious bulging anywhere of
21:39
lines. So, the truth of the matter is is
21:41
that this would be a really great like
21:44
budget real estate uh lens uh for
21:46
someone that's looking for a nice wide
21:48
angle of view, but one without a lot of
21:50
distortion. Likewise, in this shot
21:51
towards the of a bridge, you can see
21:53
that the bridge lines stay nice and
21:55
clean as we move across. So, again, I'm
21:58
not too concerned with any of those
22:00
fronts. And if we pop back here for a
22:02
moment, this is also uncorrected at f4
22:04
for vignette. You can see that in this
22:06
space it probably would clean up a bit
22:08
if you, you know, added in a little bit
22:09
of vignette correction, but we can also
22:11
see that it's in no way damaging to the
22:13
image itself. So, a surprisingly clean
22:16
performance here for vignette and
22:17
distortion. When it comes to lateral
22:19
style chromatic aberrations, they are
22:22
just basically non-existent. Uh, it's
22:24
only a maximum aperture of f4. So,
22:26
you're not going to have a whole lot of
22:27
situations like this where you have a
22:29
really shallow depth of field. But even
22:31
if you do, you can see that that's not a
22:33
problem. lateral style chromatic
22:35
aberration. I see a little bit on the
22:37
most dominant lines there, but little
22:40
otherwise, I don't see any kind any
22:42
actual areas of concern for me here. So,
22:45
moving on to resolution and contrast.
22:47
We're going to show you results at 200%
22:49
magnification, and this is shot on a 61
22:52
megapixel A7R Mark 5. Center of the
22:54
frame looks fantastic. High detail, high
22:57
contrast. Moving off to mid-frame, it
23:00
looks it looks really, really great.
23:02
This is fantastic. Very, you can see
23:04
very high contrast in detail. And so
23:07
that means that we have a really nice
23:08
consistency from here to here, for
23:10
example, holding up well. And as we pan
23:13
down even towards the corners, this side
23:15
of the corner looks great. It details
23:18
off a little bit here, but really right
23:20
off towards the edge of the frame.
23:21
Detail is holding up nicely. If I
23:24
compare real world results from f4 to
23:27
f8, we can see in the center of the
23:29
frame, it doesn't really look radically
23:31
different. there's a little bit more
23:32
contrast and so I think textures do pop
23:34
a little bit more but you know you'd be
23:37
hardressed without looking at them side
23:38
by side to tell a difference as you move
23:41
off towards the edge of the frame here
23:43
we can see that it's possible that
23:46
you're getting a little bit more you
23:48
know you can just tell that there's a
23:49
little bit more resolution here as you
23:51
get towards the edge of the frame but
23:53
again you can see even towards the edge
23:54
it is not radically different what you
23:57
will see however is depth of field
23:59
increase and so now this is more in
24:01
focus than what it was at f4. Likewise
24:04
over here, you're going to see that it's
24:06
holding up better into this corner. But
24:08
again, that's a lot about depth of field
24:10
and less about just overall resolution.
24:12
This lens gives you really strong
24:14
performance even at f4. Biggest
24:16
improvements that I see is at f5.6 and
24:18
f8, you do start to get a little bit
24:21
better performance in the corners. I
24:23
noticed it here as well that uh
24:25
particularly if you look at this zone
24:27
through here, you can see that this
24:28
insignia, even at f5.6 six is not quite
24:31
as clear as what it is at f8, but we can
24:34
also see that we've got a nice centering
24:37
consistency. Overall, this is a really
24:39
good optical performance. Again, just
24:42
for some real world perspective here at
24:43
f5.6. This is a big scene with lots of
24:47
textures. So, we can see that there is
24:49
good texture information right off
24:51
towards the edge of the frame. even at
24:53
high levels of magnification. Likewise
24:56
here, you can just see that that detail
24:58
carries on into the distance. There's a
25:00
lot of information on the actually on
25:03
frame here right now. And so it's really
25:05
impressive how well that this
25:06
inexpensive lens captures it all. So as
25:09
per usual, you can see the effects of
25:10
defraction showing up here at f11 and a
25:13
little bit more pronounced by f-16. So a
25:15
general kind of softening of the image.
25:17
But again, just to give perspective, if
25:20
we're just looking at 100%
25:22
magnification, even here at F-16, you
25:24
can see there's a little bit more bloom
25:26
on the textures, but you can also see
25:28
that the detail is still very, very
25:30
usable. And so, in real world results,
25:33
you you could still shoot at f16 if you
25:35
so desired. Now up close we can see not
25:37
only do we get a nice level of
25:39
magnification plane of focus is not
25:41
completely flat but in the area of focus
25:44
we can see that contrast and detail
25:46
really looks quite good and so I have no
25:48
major concerns about that and that just
25:50
does give you some really interesting
25:52
options. And so here for example you
25:54
know this is shooting at the you know
25:56
the big scale distance and this is what
25:58
was was catching my eye is that this
26:00
area has grown up with just natural wild
26:02
flowers growing really strong. So, I
26:04
wanted to catch that reflection and then
26:06
I got a little bit closer so I could
26:08
capture this, you know, whole like mound
26:10
of wild flowers, but then to be able to
26:12
pop in even closer at close focus
26:15
distances and just tell this story in,
26:18
you know, three different kinds of ways,
26:20
which is really unique opportunity
26:21
through this lens. And again, we can see
26:24
that as far as the bokeh quality of this
26:26
lens, you can get nice and close to the
26:28
subject. These little wild flowers are
26:30
tiny. And you can see that the quality
26:32
of the background is is not bad. It's
26:34
not like it's super creamy and soft, but
26:37
it actually looks reasonably good in
26:38
this zone without any kind of major
26:40
outlining. Likewise here, again, it's
26:42
it's not strongly defocused. And so, you
26:44
can still see all the background, but
26:47
you can also see it doesn't look bad
26:50
either. And we got great detail here on
26:53
the subject. This bumblebee jumping into
26:55
that wild flower. All of that's good.
26:57
Again, the sun star looks pretty decent.
26:59
And as we've seen previously when we go
27:01
back and forth across the sun that the
27:03
flare resistance is really quite strong.
27:06
It's a lens that's impressive on a lot
27:08
of levels. So hopefully the optical deep
27:10
dive has helped you to determine whether
27:12
or not this is the lens that you have
27:14
been looking for. As always, thanks for
27:17
watching. Have a great day and let the
27:19
light in.