Viltrox AF 13mm F1.4 STM Fuji X-Mount Review | DA

[@parasecglenkwyst4835]

Really happy to see the recent return of Fuji content :)

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Glad to help out, though unfortunately it doesn't do as well as my Canon or Sony content.

[@szank]

@@DustinAbbottTWI that's unfortunate. I am another Internet rando really appreciating your content, and the fuji reviews especially.

[@eliaspap8708]

My thoughts are exactly same as yours. I have had this lens for the past month and I’m loving it. I would even go to say I prefer it to my 16 f1.4, it definitely focuses better. And for my weddings especially for the reception dancing it provides a great option without any distortion.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Great real world feedback.

[@jorgemiranda323]

Hey man in also a wedding photographer and im thinking in buying this lens can i ask you how did you incorporate this lens in your work?

[@eliaspap8708]

@Jorge Miranda I use it intermittently through the day for establishing shots, especially the church or ceremony also a lot at the reception getting in close capturing the dancing, room shots and occasionally at the location if there is some nice architecture or similar, it’s not a lens that’s glued on my camera the whole day that’s for sure as it is very wide, sometimes I get big weddings and trying to do the traditional group shot with all the guests after the church or ceremony can be a bit tight with your standard 16mm or 18mm, the 13mm really helps in theses situations, I think for the price it’s a really good option and it’s great in low light which is often the case in the environments I am confronted in and why I love using it.

[@photoreviewed-com]

I thought about getting Fuji's 16/1.4 but this one is worth to be checked - focal length difference between them is tempting.

[@malfunkt]

The XF 16 1.4 is awesome. The focal length just sits on that line before things start getting too distorted. The close focus distance is great and the lens has a sublime quality to it. The manual focus is great as well - one of the better fly by wire designs though not as fast and accurate as a real quality manual lens pull. Balances well even on small bodies (using mine on an x-e3 w/ grip)

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

There's a pretty significant price difference, too.

[@photoreviewed-com]

@@DustinAbbottTWI Indeed!

[@lionheart4424]

Great review Dustin. I am targeting this lens as a potential wide angle lens for astrography (to get results like the starry sky pic you showcased). Do you think there might be a better lens than this one for that purpose?

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Hmmm, there probably is a better lens somewhere, but for the money this remains a really solid value.

[@malfunkt]

Another great and practical review. I had this lens in my sights, but ended up with an older XF16 1.4 which I adore, not just for its image quality, but overall handling. Looks like I would have been equally happy with the Viltrox (though I'd miss the XF16 1.4 great close focusing performance!). Glad to see they created a lens that fills a unique slot in the Fuji lens lineup. Btw - enjoyed your well produced ad for the Fantom!

[@sclogse1]

Never sell your 16.

[@malfunkt]

@@sclogse1 oh I won’t. Have taken many of my favourite shots with it. If I was forced to keep one lens this would probably be it.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Thanks for the feedback.

[@frankmaoro4287]

Kindly, which camera and lens did you use to shoot this video?

[@LaurentFabry]

great review, thank you, i would have loved to know how much you had to stop down the aperture in oder to elmiminate sun flare... ?

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

The zone between F2 and F5.6 is good.

[@georgs5870]

A good review, thanks! Good to see that you have mentioned the flare (many other reviewers don't care). I think I'll keep the old Fuji 14/2.8.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Glad to help out.

[@PhotoGearFun]

Thanks so much for another excellent review. I am curious if you tested this for handheld vide / vlogging on an IBIS body. Does it suffer from corner warping like the 10-24 or 16mm fuji lens?

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

That didn't seem bad to me.

[@PhotoGearFun]

@@DustinAbbottTWI thanks!

[@donaldbradley278]

At 3:00 min you say the lens is 74 mm in diameter, but it is only 67 mm. You scared me for a minute since I recently ordered some filters for it!

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Hi Donald, I think you misunderstood. The diameter of the lens IS 74mm, but the filter size is always smaller than the diameter of the lens. The filter threads are 67mm.

[@osricvale]

Hi Dustin! Great review as always. I asked this question to you couple days ago: One question tho. I have sony fx30 and i dont have any lens right now. I am in between to get sigma 1.4 16mm plus tamron 28-75 g2 or i can get only this lens and call the day! I am looking for video shooting mostly(like ancient ruins, zoo, jungle, hiking, church, streets animals) and some photos here and there. I am also going to shoot talking head videos in door. Do you think this lens is good enough for all of these or i should go for 2 lens combo? (Or if you have better suggestions) I am also planning to use 4k 120fps option in Fx30 which has 1.5 more crop on top of apsc crop! I decided to follow your suggestion and i check both viltrox 13mm and sony 11mm. They both have some advantages. I need to know 3 important aspects about these lenses! 1- f1.8 vs f.1.4 How big of the difference especially for low light in door recordings with my fx30! I am bit worried about sensor being apsc and underperforms in low light. So should i really prioritize 1.4 over 1.8? I have done some research and find out 1.4 lets almost 2 times amount light than 1.8! 2- I am really worried about distortion that sony 11mm has. I know we can use in camera corrections on fx30 body! But for me while shooting talking head i dont want my face to look weird because of extreme wide angle and distortion! Is it a problem with sony lens? Also while shooting some historical places i would not want to see curved lines! 3- I am a bit worried about viltrox 13mm image quality! Sony looks way better, much punchier, much sharper and it is also a native lens for fx30! Also both lenses are same price in my country! Should i value that sony is native, have better focusing performance and same price with viltrox or should i go for viltrox and give up from that 2 mm but get brighter aperture and less distorted but less punchy and less sharp image quality with viltrox! Thanks for reply in advance! I watched almost all of your lens reviews for sony e mount! Great job! Really helpful for buyers!

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

I would lean towards the Sony. You can always crop in further, but you can't go wider. The Sony is much smaller as well.

[@Geovane14]

Your reviews are very good! Thanks for sharing. If you were to choose a nice 13mm lens combo with another Viltrox, which one would you suggest? 13mm or 33mm? 13mm or 56mm?

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Interesting question, though hard to answer without knowing what other lenses you have and what kind of photography you do. The 33mm and 56mm have similar levels of performance, so choose which lens works best for your needs.

[@raywants2party]

Great review, do you have any idea why your viltrox code doesn’t work on this lens?

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Hmmm, it should work. I've had some people use it during this recent period.

[@markm83]

You always do a great job with lens reviews Dustin. I love the specific, objective, performance details presented. Your observations are well-balanced and are backed with so much experience. You are a "go-to guy" for lens evaluation. Thanks!

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

My pleasure!

[@rafeekwoods837]

How would you compare this to the Zeiss 12mm that you reviewed a few years back?

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Good question. Zeiss colors are better, but this lens has a larger maximum aperture, less distortion, and much better autofocus.

[@Uracas2012]

Does IBIS work well on the X-T5? I've heard of issues but there isnt a lot out there....

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

I haven’t tested that specific combination, so unfortunately I can’t help there

[@dimpap1370]

Nice review! Would you recommend the viltrox 13mm 1.4 or the fujinon 16mm 1.4 if you could buy only one?! 😀

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

I personally would probably go for the Viltrox due to the price difference.

[@dimpap1370]

@@DustinAbbottTWI Thank you!

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

I just listed this copy on eBay (I don't actually own a Fuji body), so you can find it at a discount there.

[@dimpap1370]

@@DustinAbbottTWI Thank you. Would you still consider the Viltrox 13 1.4 if you could find a second hand Fujinon 16 1.4 for the same price as the Viltrox? Just curious😀

[@GarretGrayCamera]

Does the vignetting get better as you stop down?

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Yes it does.

[@skills_hd]

AN I GET A LINK TO A ND FILTER FOR THIS

[@mixeddrinks8100]

what about this compared to 18mm f1.4?

[@sclogse1]

Go right ahead.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

I haven't tested that lens, though this is quite a different focal length and less than half the price.

[@tomapaunovic]

Great review? Seems to me that Samyang 12mm F2 might be better choice overall, compared to this lens. What are your thoughts on Viltrox 13mm 1.4 vs Samyang 12mm F2?

[@szank]

I'd love to know also. I have the Samyang, but I am not in love with it.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

I'd actually lean towards the Viltrox. That's a full stop of aperture, and the Viltrox has lower distortion.

[@Bob71650]

Nice review, but how about pounds & ounces instead of grams, when discussing the weight.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Hi Bob, I include both in my text reviews, but my videos are viewed in pretty much every country in the world, and unfortunately for the Imperial system, most of them use metric!

[@TheSoPhar]

Although viltrox lens has good sharpness and good contrast , they still has little problem with spherical aberration (you can see the edge of cantrasty area) . Overall this is still best lens for the price though.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Fair points

[@sclogse1]

I wonder if anyone made filters to compensate for older lenses with little or no coating. You know, coat the filter.

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

That's hard to do in that the flare resistance or lack thereof is kind of "baked into the cake" already.

[@PhilipDSouza]

Thanks for the video. Waiting to get this lens. Maybe Fujinon is better. But for the price... this is good and enough

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

I think that's a fair assessment - particularly if you are watching your budget.

[@shawn_hu]

this lens is way way sharper than the 10-24mm f4.0 at all f stops. but you can 10mm there

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

That's true.

[@ddolde]

I'd buy the 12mm Touit

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

Not me. The Touit lineup is overpriced and dated at this point.

[@bhaskarpatel7233]

nice

[@jimee998]

Sucks that MAC users can't update these lenses

[@DustinAbbottTWI]

I wasn't aware of that...and if that's true, that's very unfortunate.

[@jimee998]

@@DustinAbbottTWI yep! Viltrox asks me to find a PC. Frustrating