Viltrox has just released a new compact prime, the Viltrox 26mm f/2.8 EVO lens for full-frame Nikon Z and Sony E cameras. Nikon shooters are probably aware that this is a direct competitor to the Nikon Z 26mm f/2.8 lens that we’ve already tested. The closest Sony competitor is the FE 24mm f/2.8 G, another lens we’ve reviewed. How does the Viltrox perform? I shot with it for a week to bring you the news!
This new Viltrox 26mm f/2.8 is very similar to the Nikon 26mm f/2.8, down to the protruding inner barrel at certain focus distances. It’s even got a similar, compact lens hood that’s required to mount filters, albeit the Viltrox takes a 43mm filter instead of the Nikon’s 52mm.
Here are all the main specifications provided by Viltrox:
Aperture: f/2.8-16
Aperture Blades: 7
Focus Distance: 0.2m – Infinity
Weight: 130g
Length: 23.8mm
Focus Motor: Gear STM
Mount: Nikon Z and Sony E
Magnification: 0.2x
Filter: 43mm
Weather Sealed: Yes
Although this lens is similar to the Nikon Z 26mm f/2.8, it has a few differences. The main difference in construction is the focus-by-wire aperture ring. It’s also got a magnetic lens cap that’s neat. It snaps onto the lens either with or without the hood attached.
Overall, I liked the Viltrox 26mm f/2.8 EVO a lot, and the image quality is reasonably good. I thought it was already near its maximum sharpness wide open in the center. The corners seemed a bit softer at f/2.8 and sharpened up by f/4. Here are some tight shots taken on a tripod:
It seemed to be less pronounced than the Nikon 26mm f/2.8 because when I applied the Nikon corrections to it, the distortion was over-corrected.
One thing that you might expect with a lens with such a small hood is a bit of flaring. Here’s a sequence of images showing how the flare behaves as the sun moves increasingly off-axis up to about 30º:
Viltrox is marketing this lens as an all-purpose content-creation lens, and I think that’s the right way to think about it. It’s quite compact, and thus is convenient for a bit of traveling, landscapes, and even food photography with its 0.2x magnification.
I also found the 26mm focal length to be quite convenient. After doing some tests, I concluded 26mm is very near optimal for solo vlogging, because it’s wide enough to film yourself while still being able to operate the camera controls, but narrow enough not to have the weirder look of focal lengths like 20mm.
And even though there are higher-end lenses that can beat it in terms of sharpness, I thought it was more than sharp enough for me, even in the corners.