Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8 FE Lens (Sony E)

I can't say I have another wide angle to compare this to (because I don't) but I can say I am pretty pleased with the results. Interesting POV with this lens and pretty sharp. Vignetting seems to be gone by 2.8 so still pretty fast if that is a factor in your photography. When zooming you don't start to lose detail until you zoom to about 400%. Good purchase (still need to put it through its paces with astrophotography).

Lovely image quality. The aperture ring is very satisfying, you also can set the aperture to "A" and then the camera controls it like any other lens. This lens is surprisingly awesome. It's probably not possible to make it lighter than they did, but that's my only downside.

Excellent price to performance ratio.

Pros:-Excellent build quality.-No play in the focus or aperture ring.-Everything about this lens has a feeling of substance and quality.-The color rendering is very good and the sharpness outstanding, even wide open and by my perception, still very good in the far corners. This combined with the good controlled coma aberration makes it also a very good astrophotography lens (NOTE: I only know the good coma performance from reviews, not from personal experience).-Almost no geometric distortions!-Feels nicely balanced on the Sony camera body.-From the aesthetics view point, this lens looks very nice on the Sony camera body.-Less important but worth mentioning: Just touching and feeling the finish of the lens is a joy.- Lens firmware updates via USB3 ... MorePros:-Excellent build quality.-No play in the focus or aperture ring.-Everything about this lens has a feeling of substance and quality.-The color rendering is very good and the sharpness outstanding, even wide open and by my perception, still very good in the far corners. This combined with the good controlled coma aberration makes it also a very good astrophotography lens (NOTE: I only know the good coma performance from reviews, not from personal experience).-Almost no geometric distortions!-Feels nicely balanced on the Sony camera body.-From the aesthetics view point, this lens looks very nice on the Sony camera body.-Less important but worth mentioning: Just touching and feeling the finish of the lens is a joy.- Lens firmware updates via USB3 cable.-This copy of lens has well centered optics (lens center test) and hopefully the production tolerances spread over large volumes are as well controlled as Zeiss lenses are.Cons:The LCD display on the top has a variety of functions that could be very useful, but the the distance to object measurement alone is even further off than with the Zeiss Batis lens displays. As an example, focusing on a subject further away, the distance measurement states 1.98m when it is really close to 3m. An object that is closer than the object that was further away, it displays 2.38m when it is really about 1.5m away. So this part of the display function has no credence.Conclusion:This lens is a true bargain and if Viltrox continues on this path, it will give the native Sony lenses a run for the money. This lens is prove of it.

Fantastic Corner to Corner Sharpness

I purchased this lens as soon as stock was available. It arrived, but I waited for clear skies to test the lens for astrophotography. I captured an hour-long timelapse and combined the frames into a star trails image. Corner to corner sharpness is amazing, coma is almost non-existent when stopped down to 2.8. This lens is sharp. The overall quality for a $550 lens is outstanding.Highly recommend. The Function button when set to infinity is perfect and quick for fast accurate focusing at night.

Had to return due to minor technical issues

This lens is technically incredible.It's sharp, autofocus was great on my a7C, and it generally performs beautifully.However, there are two things that bothered me in terms of usability that convinced me to return it and opt for the smaller and slightly less wide 11mm Sony apsc:1. The aperture ring cannot be locked. This means that if you accidentally bump it with your fingers you can find yourself jumping from f1.8 to f22 out of nowhere. It happened to me at least once every day I was using it. Usually more. I couldn't find a way to turn it off.2. The screen on the lens is a gimmick. It can't be turned off so if you want to shoot stealthily that's out of the question, and the distance it shows from the subject is more miss than hit.To sum up, if they ditched ... MoreThis lens is technically incredible.It's sharp, autofocus was great on my a7C, and it generally performs beautifully.However, there are two things that bothered me in terms of usability that convinced me to return it and opt for the smaller and slightly less wide 11mm Sony apsc:1. The aperture ring cannot be locked. This means that if you accidentally bump it with your fingers you can find yourself jumping from f1.8 to f22 out of nowhere. It happened to me at least once every day I was using it. Usually more. I couldn't find a way to turn it off.2. The screen on the lens is a gimmick. It can't be turned off so if you want to shoot stealthily that's out of the question, and the distance it shows from the subject is more miss than hit.To sum up, if they ditched the screen and instead added a lock toggle for the aperture ring (or at least provided a way to disable the ring) I'd keep it. Maybe in the next iteration.

I'm convinced. Superb

This may be the most I have ever been surprised with a new lens purchase in a good way. I usually buy primary brand to my body, and occasionally dip my toe into third party offerings aside from vintage.This lens is built like a tank, solid, yet balanced in hand. This fits a gap between 14-20mm at F1.8 which is perfect for my use case/astro Aurora video. This is also my first lens with an electronic display in place of traditional focus markings. The function buttons are awesome! I can store focus settings and recall them anytime. This is perfect for me as I can one touch recall my best infinity setting for astro.Image quality is excellent, sharp, and not as soft in the corners as I expected. The lens mount weather sealing is snug and definitely feels right when ... MoreThis may be the most I have ever been surprised with a new lens purchase in a good way. I usually buy primary brand to my body, and occasionally dip my toe into third party offerings aside from vintage.This lens is built like a tank, solid, yet balanced in hand. This fits a gap between 14-20mm at F1.8 which is perfect for my use case/astro Aurora video. This is also my first lens with an electronic display in place of traditional focus markings. The function buttons are awesome! I can store focus settings and recall them anytime. This is perfect for me as I can one touch recall my best infinity setting for astro.Image quality is excellent, sharp, and not as soft in the corners as I expected. The lens mount weather sealing is snug and definitely feels right when installing to the body. I find the autofocus very good. As good as my Sony 24-105f4. It has a usb-c on the lens mount for firmware as well. I cannot find a downside to the unit especially priced at what it is. This is a tremendous value! I'm now interested in trying some of their other offerings. Would highly recommend.Using on Sony FX3

Outstanding

Outstanding ultra wide angle lens.If you have a use for this focal length then this is the one to get.Image quality is great.Sharpness and detail is excellent.Autofocus is silent and accurate.Distortion at the edges is present but reasonably handled.Size and weight isn't great but not bad either.Weather sealing has held up in two light rainstorms.I use it for landscapes in lowlight, so the wide aperture has been a godsend. I've started using it for vlogging, and it performs excellently.I intend to use it as a wide angle lens with my Sony A7IV in 4k60, where the 1.5x crop makes this lens and effective 24mm. I haven't used it too much for video, but autofocus has been consistent and accurate with the little I've done.Overall I'm enjoying this lens. ... MoreOutstanding ultra wide angle lens.If you have a use for this focal length then this is the one to get.Image quality is great.Sharpness and detail is excellent.Autofocus is silent and accurate.Distortion at the edges is present but reasonably handled.Size and weight isn't great but not bad either.Weather sealing has held up in two light rainstorms.I use it for landscapes in lowlight, so the wide aperture has been a godsend. I've started using it for vlogging, and it performs excellently.I intend to use it as a wide angle lens with my Sony A7IV in 4k60, where the 1.5x crop makes this lens and effective 24mm. I haven't used it too much for video, but autofocus has been consistent and accurate with the little I've done.Overall I'm enjoying this lens. It's a good compliment to the 24-70 I have. It isn't my workhorse lens, but it fills a role that others cannot, with performance, build, and features I'd expect of a lens that's double this cost.

Save an Arm, or a Leg, and Get This Viltrox

Not everyone needs a wide lens that costs $1K - $3K. I don't make that many photographs at such wide angles, so something satisfactory at a more modest price was needed. I finally landed on this Viltrox 16mm 1.8. The Milky Way was my first subject and, even though my exposure was a little too long, I'm very pleased.A full-featured lens, it has a quality build, an AF/MF switch, 2 custom buttons, and a digital range readout right on the barrel. Unlike some other wide lenses, I can screw on a 77mm CPL for daytime use.Easy to recommend to other budget conscious photographers.

Value, Quality, and Performance

The new Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8 FE lens is a phenomenal performer for the money. It is tack sharp edge-to-edge, even wide open. The quality is apparent, as it feels as good if not better than many lenses costing 2-3X as much.As Dustin Abbott's and Christopher Frost's in-depth reviews suggest, this lens checks all the boxes and represents a new standard others will have to match.

Viltrox has arrived

I have used several FE mount Viltrox lenses over the years. They were all OK, doing the job, decently sharp, but nothing impressive. I sold them all and replaced with either Sony or Sigma. This one is different. In your hands, it feels several classes above. Build quality is excellent. It reminds me of Fujinon lenses, rather than clinical Sony lenses. Sharp enough, great color, contrast, well controlled distortion. At its price point, it's a market disruptor. I am hoping that Viltrox continues to release this class of products for other focal lengths. This one is definitely a keeper.