Viltrox 23mm f/1.4 First Look Review

Damian Brown got his hands on the Viltrox 23mm f/1.4 already. Here is what he thinks about the lens:

  • loose aperture ring. He moved it accidentally during shooting. Not really a dealbreaker, but he does not like it
  • click-free aperture ring (like the Viltrox 33mmf/1.4)
  • metal lens hood
  • STM focus motor. Nice option for video shooters
  • he used the lens on the Fujifilm X-T4
  • 52mm filter size
  • feels solid and well built
  • manual focus ring is well dampened, smooth
  • you can control the aperture with command dial if you want
  • vignetting is relatively strong. You better stop down a bit to get rid of it
  • lens is sharp
  • renders colors nicely
  • smooth and nice bokeh… can be swirly occasionally. Bokeh has character
  • autofocus is more than fast enough for him, and very accurate most of the time
  • video focus seems pretty smooth
  • occasionally he noticed focus breathing
  • very good build quality, sharp images, smooth video autofocus, and lives up to the standard set be the Viltrox 85mm f/1.8 AF

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Viltrox 23mm f/1.4 now Available for $329 only

Viltrox just officially released the Viltrox 23mm f/1.4 for Fujifilm X mount for $329 only.

As a comparison, the equivalent Fujinon XF 23mmm f/1.4 costs you $899. This means the Viltrox costs you 63% less than the Fujinon lens. Not a bad deal.

This is one of the four autofocus lenses Viltrox offers for the Fujifilm X system.

You can find the Viltrox 23mm f/1.4 at the Viltrox store here, but it should soon follow also on BHphoto, AmazonUS, Adorama and eBay.

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Viltrox 33mm f/1.4 Quick First Impressions and Comparison

Mattias Burling started its coverage about the Viltrox 33mm f/1.4.

He just shared his very first impression about the lens. Here they are:

  • all metal lens hood
  • pretty small but long. Would feel a bit long on something like an X-E camera
  • it can’t cover full frame, which is why size is contained (compared to the Viltrox 85mm f/1.8, which also fits on full frame cameras, hence the lens is bigger than it would be, if designed only for APS-C)
  • autofocus: it’s good. Single AF is quick and snappy. It’s much more quiet than the XF35mm f/1.4.
  • continuous AF seems to work well too. At least in bright conditions, which is where he tested it
  • aperture ring is step-less. He’d have preferred 1/3 stop clicks on aperture ring. It does not feel very smooth, unlike the focus ring, which is smooth like butter.
  • nice image quality. Fringing is under control but present. Vignetting behaves very well. Decently sharp at f/1.4 and of course much sharper when stopped down
  • it can easily catch haze when shooting strongly backlit subjects (also Viltrox 85mm f/1.8 behaves like that)

He then compares it to the Fujinon GF63mm f/2.8 mounted on the Fujifilm GFX 50R as well as to the cheap Canon 50mm. The Viltrox 33mm f/1.4 was the fastest focusing lens in the test.

The Viltrox 33mm f/1.4 AF is the second AF lens for Fujifilm X by Viltrox. Other two lenses, the Viltrox 23mm f/1.4 and Viltrox 56mm f/1.4 will follow later on.

We remind you that Tokina will also launch a 23mm/1.4, 33mm f/1.4 and 56mm f/1.4 lens in 2020, as we reported here. They look like re-branded Viltrox lenses. It will be interesting to see, though, if also the Tokina lenses will have a clickless aperture ring, too.

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