Viltrox AF 23mm f/1.4 lens review with samples

I have the 33mm on Fuji X mount (not had time yet to use it properly, just briefly tested when it arrived). Took 12 weeks from ordering to arrive. I won't be buying from Viltrox again. Seems like the 23mm is not as good optically as the 33mm.

Hello, firstly i love your work, very informative, not too long, cound you review the laowa STF 105 f2 for sony? Thank you and keep up the good work

Isn’t that exactly the same as Tokina, which is releasing within this autumn.

Hi, great clean reviews, but I have a technical question, some people defend that apsc lenses when used in full flame maintain the physical characteristic so a 23 f1.4 will always be a 23 f1.4, only cropeed if you don"t want the strong vignetting and that gives you the FOV of the apsc but the "perspective" and amount of light passing through to the sensor is given by the lens physical characteristics so it is still a 23 f1.4 ! Could you do a meanful technical test with "equivalent" lenses ? A apsc 24 1.8 vs a ff 24 1.8 cropped and with vignetting to really show the differences between them and help demystify this question please. thank you in advance and keep up the good work.

I am glad that now they can final get these affordable lens to more photograph, other else will be out of reach.
Should be thankful for China who have been coming out some very good quality lens.

Love to

Viltrox 23mm or sigma 30mm?

nice, please do a review on the horrendously priced sony zeiss 24mm f1.8 too so we can compare

For fuji users, there's more option for 35 mm equivalent lenses out there, but for sony aps-c users, THIS is the only budget AF option so far (if we don't count on sony FF lenses). For any sony a6xxx users looking for walkaround lens, street photography, etc., I see it as the sensible option.
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And of course, great and thorough review as always!

I would like to know more about the focus breathing. when I see you changing focus, the grass in the fore ground changes in size quite a bit, to me that is focus breathing. can you tell me why you say there is no focus breathing?

I think this is another example of a Chinese brand lens that is better in the reviews than on the market. The copy you’ve been sent is better than the models people can expect to receive, I think.

While I’m reasonably happy with my viltrox 23mm, it’s clear that it’s nowhere near as sharp as your copy, and suffers from some field curvature.

Chinese quality control is clearly not that hot, and I think it’s something you should be mindful of when posting these videos, Chris.

I’d be happy to send you my version of the lens (I have a zonlai 22 that is very bad too) if you’re interested.

I like the IQ much better than the Fujinon 23mm f2, the rendering is just more pleasing.

Any comment on light transmission? Some commented that the 33mm gave slower shutter speeds than expected of f1.4

I use a6400 & sigma 16mm, its great but im so ready to let the lens go because its big n heavy 😁 i want to travel light, is it worth the change? Thx 😃🙏

Had no idea this was aps-c specific. i guess they learned their lesson with the 85mm 1.8 V1- 1.5 pounds of glass and metal, total waste of material on aps-c. i sold my V1 brick and got the V2, better in every way.

so basically this lens is trash.

incredible value, may get it someday

How Cristopher! Is Viltrox 56mm f/1.4 review coming anytime soon? I would be really interested, since i have heard that it might be even better (and cheaper) than Fujifilm 56mm f/1.2. But still would want to hear your opinion also if possible before buying. Appreciate your work, have a nice day! :)

Update your camera

Nice review！which sharper/better between viltrox and sigma 30mm f1.4？

This is a cinematic video lens in my opinion. That vignetting will look great when you are focused on a single subject.

can this do slow focus transition on your a5100 which i also have with a zhiyun crane M. the focus demonstration is using the shutter , we dont do that for videos

Now available for Canon M.

I'm going to go broke if I don't get you off my subscriptions.

Great review. Thanks. It'd be interesting to have a comparison of Viltrox AF 23mm f/1.4 vs Fuji XF 23mm f/2 — both are in a similar price range and one f stop could be not that big of a difference for a task.

Great review as always...im using sony a5100, now im confuse between pick viltrox 23 mm f1.4 or yongnuo YN 50 mm f1.8...which is better?

Does it fit well in fullframe?

I need a lens that can focus closely on product/food video.. But not macro level of course. Can this lend be use for my needs?

Is this lens Good enough for Video shooting in Low light ?

I don't think I'd ever buy this at MSRP but if I find it used then I might go for it.

picked up one one ebay for $150 for canon M mount! the canon 22mm f/2 used is aroudn the same price and smaller though!

How would you compare this viltrox series of primes for apsc cameras with fuji own line up? Is fuji optically that better? :)

Nice video..thanks. if you had to choose only one lens between this and the Tamron 24mm F2.8 which one would you choose?

Nice review as always, Christopher. Did not understand why you didn’t test this lens on a Fuji body.

Just love the pixel peeping analysis. It’s indeed good value for money. After watching quite some reviews the aperture ring for the Fuji version while shooting video it’s not smooth like on the Sony on AE unfortunately. Nevertheless workable and quite good value. I will be ordering one for holiday purposes.

Important question- has anyone tested how far that centre sharpness reach towards the midframe? I’ve seen some opinions that yes, It is sharp in the centre but that resolution doesn’t really reach far from the middle of the frame 🤔

I have a Viltrox 23mm 1.4 e-mount with updated firmware, on my Sony a6600 I have some problems with AF-C (even in AF-S actually) but only when I use the camera vertically. I state that I tested the problem even in perfect daylight conditions. But let's get to the point. If horizontally The focus is almost always perfect, a marvel! in portrait mode it is almost never right, it starts a focus breathing loop, constantly, with small and very fast movements, even having the square in the person's eye .. and when it finally confirms, the focus is wrong or slightly wrong and , only rarely, completely right. Has anyone else had this experience?

I have this lens and it's indeed sharp and lets in a lot of light. However it (at least my version) does make quite a racket in continuous AF in video... the built in microphones in my A6300 pick up the noise easily and for nature sound ambience it's basically unusable. I'd have to use an external mic with good separation from the camera or even an external recorder to capture the ambience without that clicking of the focus motor... ;)

I just bought the Nikkor 28mm F2.8 and am considering sending it back to go for Z version of this, but I am not sure yet. Any recommendations?

Do i get the 56mm or 23mm? as my first lens for overall because im planning to buy zve10 body's

In this lens with apsc e mount sony cameras can we face a vignetted issues in video shooting?

Excellent video 😊!

this lens opens to 1.4 but it's trash at f/4 or wider. PASS

This lens is a complete mess. I bought it for $200 off facebook marketplace.

How is the continous AF performance of this lens BTW?

FYI, 1.4 x 1.5 = 2.1

“That writing is supposed to be black, rather than every color of the rainbow…” 😂😂😂

What are your methods for getting extreme color fringing? I took pictures of black ink on white paper with this same lens, I didn't get nearly as bad as what is shown here, but it was still pretty bad.

I really like the size, price and what you get for it factor. In my opinion the right choice for an aps-c system. Offers a lot of photographic possibilities in a compact, affordable system. I tend to use the smaller lenses more often than my 27mm/1.2