Viltrox AF 50mm f/2 Air Evaluation

Typically I really feel haunted by 50mm lenses! My first prime lens was a Pentax 50mm f/1.7, and later my first Nikon lens was the 50mm f/1.8G. Though I feel 50mm is a little bit on the extensive aspect for my fashion, my first Nikon Z lens was additionally a 50mm. So, when Viltrox supplied to ship me their new Viltrox 50mm f/2 Air lens for a evaluate, I assumed, why not? On this evaluate, I’ll be placing this little 50mm to the check on the Nikon Z6.

Options

The Viltrox 50mm f/2 Air gives an attention-grabbing and cheap different to first-party 50mm lenses. Sure, the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 S and Nikon 50mm f/1.4 are fairly superior lenses, however they each weigh a contact over 400 grams. Not the heaviest lenses round, however I missed the times of my older 50mm f/1.8g at 185 grams. Though this F-mount basic was a bit softer than the Nikon Z glass, it was a small lens that was sharp stopped down.

May the Viltrox 50mm f/2 Air fill that very same area of interest? I used to be to search out out. Listed here are its fundamental specs:

• Focal size: 50mm
• Aperture Vary: f/2-f/16
• Minimal Focus Distance: 51cm (20.1″)
• Most Magnification: 0.11x
• Design: 13 parts, 9 teams
• Aperture Blades: 9
• Autofocus: Sure
• Stabilization: No
• Filter Thread: 58mm
• Size: 56.5mm (2.2″)
• Weight: 205g (7.2oz)

The brand new Viltrox 50mm f/2 jogs my memory plenty of my previous Nikon. It’s simply 205g and 56.5mm in size. It’s bought a type of minimalist design with solely a spotlight ring, and it comes with a twist-to-snap little hood.

On a Nikon Z6 physique, it’s a really mild and likable lens. It’s additionally fairly decently priced at $199, and for that it even has a metallic mount – though it’s not climate sealed. At this value level, that will not be a shock. Nonetheless, it’s price mentioning that the Nikon Z 40mm f/2 does have climate sealing and is, for a short time longer, on sale additionally for $200.

Not like another third-party lenses at this value level, the Viltrox lens does have autofocus. It’s really fairly respectable. It’s not silent as a result of you possibly can hear a tender clicking right here and there, however not terribly loud both. It’s positively quieter than the Nikon 50mm f/1.8G, and about the identical quantity because the Nikon 50mm f/1.4 Z however with extra distinct clicks. It additionally focuses quick sufficient, nevertheless it’s barely slower than the Nikon 50mm f/1.4 Z (which additionally focuses in decrease mild due to its quicker aperture). For its supposed function, the 50mm f/2 Air’s focus system definitely works properly sufficient.

Optics

I used to be desperate to see how good this Viltrox was optically, provided that many lenses at this value will compromise on the optics. However after taking pictures with the Viltrox, I bought some nice surprises.

The primary shock? The bokeh is definitely fairly good. It’s not good, however not bothersome both. There’s not an excessive amount of colour fringing within the bokeh, and its circles of confusion are nonetheless fairly round throughout the body.

And a double shock: the bokeh nonetheless remainds comparatively round stopped down, as a result of lens’s nine-blade aperture.

Here’s a tight crop of the above picture so you possibly can see how the bokeh seems at f/4.5:

I additionally in contrast the bokeh of this lens with the Nikon 50mm f/1.4 Z at f/2 and at f/4. And, I used a background that makes just about all lenses look unhealthy: out of focus grass. Listed here are some crops as an example the variations:

One should in fact watch out evaluating these pictures, as though I used the identical tripod place, the dimensions of the lenses considerably impacts the subject-lens distance. That stated, my impression is that the primary picture favors the Nikon’s bokeh, however the second makes it clear that the Nikon has extra longitudinal chromatic aberration than the Viltrox. The third picture, stopped right down to f/4, really appears to favor the Viltrox a little bit in bokeh.

Total, I feel the Viltrox has fairly good bokeh, considerably surprisingly for the worth. Given the f/1.4 most aperture of the Nikon Z 50mm f/1.4, that might nonetheless be my alternative if you need most background blur. However in pure high quality of the bokeh at a given aperture, I really favor the Viltrox barely.

One other shock is the sharpness. I used to be not anticipating this lens to be sharp extensive open, however I used to be incorrect. It’s fairly sharp extensive open, on about the identical degree of the Nikon 50mm f/1.4 Z when each are shot on the identical aperture of f/2.

Much more shocking, the sharpness is comparatively constant throughout the body. The corners of the Viltrox look nice extensive open, and in reality, they’re higher than the Nikon 50mm f/1.4 Z:

Chromatic aberrations are well-controlled too. In actual fact, the design of this lens is just not precisely easy, with 13 parts in 9 teams, together with ED, high-refractive, and an aspherical factor.

You’re most likely questioning, the place’s the compromise? Doesn’t this lens sound too good to be true?

Properly, there are two potential compromises, however I feel they’re comparatively small. The primary is flaring. The lens has a excessive quantity of flare in sure conditions when the solar is simply out of the sting of the body. It not often appeared, however it will possibly present up in sure sorts of backlit landscapes. Even so, I took fairly just a few backlit pictures the place flaring didn’t seem, so it’s not an inevitability. You can too get a greenish flare with level mild sources immediately within the body, as with most lenses.

The opposite compromise is that it’s doable to achieve a better most sharpness with different lenses. Bear in mind how I stated that the Viltrox f/2 Air and the Nikon 50mm f/1.4Z had been related at f/2, and that the Viltrox was a bit higher within the corners? Properly, that’s true, however as soon as the lenses are stopped right down to f/4, the Nikon Z 50mm f/1.4 begins to point out some tooth:

So if you happen to’re taking pictures landscapes stopped right down to f/4 or f/5.6, different glass could be a bit extra acceptable, although in observe I felt that the distinction was not giant. Talking virtually, the sharpness of the Viltrox seems nice, even when pixel peeping at 100%. At f/4 or f/5.6, some lenses will get a bit sharper, however I doubt it is going to make a distinction in real-world images.

Lastly, this lens has some vignetting. The vignette by no means actually goes away even when stopped down, nevertheless it does clear up a little bit by f/4. It’s principally correctable, and will not should be absolutely corrected for portraits. Right here is the way it performs on a comparatively uniform mild supply at headshot distances:

To place the sharpness and vignetting in perspective, here’s a fully uncorrected picture:

And right here’s an extremely close-up, cropped to about 300mm discipline of view to point out how sharp it’s:

Total, Viltrox made a fantastic little compact 50mm that works very properly for its supposed function: at or close to wide-open taking pictures, with optical efficiency at f/2 competing with lenses that value thrice as a lot. In observe, I see the Viltrox as a competitor to the Nikon Z 50mm f/1.4 with an identical degree of efficiency, a narrower most aperture, however lighter and cheaper.

Conclusion

Once I noticed this lens at $199, I used to be hesitant. However the hesitation is gone – this lens punches above its value level with shocking bokeh and sharpness extensive open. If somebody had been to ask me for a advice for an inexpensive 50mm “nifty fifty” for the Z-mount, the Viltrox 50mm f/2 Air will surely be on the high of the record.

In the event you’re thinking about getting this lens, take into account shopping for it on B&H by the next hyperlinks to assist impartial opinions akin to this one: