When the Viltrox 20mm f2.8 was first announced, I compared it heavily to the Tamron 20mm f2.8. It’s the only thing on the market even remotely like it. And in retrospect, I think it was a poor decision. The Viltrox 20mm f2.8 is so much smaller that you wouldn’t at all think that the two lenses were the same focal length. It’s also quite obviously lighter. But it sacrifces weather resistance. However, it shockingly can keep up with the autofocus speed of Tamron — which has partial ownership from Sony. It does this at around half the price of Tamron’s, too. In so many different ways, this is an incredible lens.
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Table of Contents
The Big Picture
The Viltrox 20mm f2.8 is a truly incredible lens. Somehow they managed to do what Tamron did, but make it smaller, focus just as fast, and even more affordable. Granted, it’s not as sharp as Tamron’s lens and lacks weather resistance. But it’s a lens that a photographer would easily want to carry with them everywhere. I truly just wish they added weather resistance to it. Otherwise, the image qualtiy is nice and saturated. Is it the sharpest lens of this type on the market? No. However, it’s insanely affordable and we can’t really complain.
The Viltrox 20mm f2.8 receives four out of five stars. Want one? Check them out on Amazon.
Pros
- Super, incredibly small
- Lightweight
- Just as fast to focus as Tamron and Sony’s own lenses
- Incredibly affordable
- Really nice colors
Cons
- I wish it had weather resistance.
Gear Used
We tested the Viltrox 20mm f2.8 with the Sony a7r III. The camera was ours, and Viltrox sent us this lens to keep.
Innovations
Where the Viltrox 20mm f2.8 is innovating in making a lens of this kind so incredibly small. There’s nothing else like it out there, and this is a lens also designed for full-frame cameras. It’s tough to beat it.
Ergonomics
Think of the Viltrox 20mm f2.8 as a small, lightweight, and simple lens. The only control is the rubber focusing ring around it and the body is otherwise made of plastic. There’s also a small lens hood for use. The front filter is size 52 — which means that this lens is very small overall. Did we mention that it’s small?
Build Quality
This lens doesn’t really feel cheap. But it surely does feel plasticky. It also lacks weather resistance. But for all that it is, it still feels balanced with the camera and almost like it isn’t even there. As Sony’s cameras get bigger and heavier, this is a welcome addition.
Ease of Use
It’s really simple. Put the lens on the camera, point, focus, and shoot. It’s just as easy as there. There are no controls on this lens other than the focusing ring. But because this is an autofocus lens, you won’t even need to bother. Anyone can put it on their camera and use it.
Focusing
Here’s where we became very fascinating with the Viltrox 20mm f2.8. The autofocus is fast. In fact, it’s just as fast as Tamron’s lenses. And therefore, it’s just as fast as Sony’s own glass. Crazy, right? Besides Tamron, no other lens brand was ever really able to get that. Yes, that means that it’s faster than Sigma’s lenses too.
Image Quality
With the right light, the Viltrox 20mm f2.8 exudes some of the most beautiful colors that we’ve seen and ties itself with lenses from Zeiss, Tamron, and others. It surely has a few distortion problems, but even those can be easily corrected. It’s also not the sharpest lens — but considering it’s less than $200, we kind of need to expect that.
Bokeh
Because this lens focuses so closely, it’s possible to get pretty nice bokeh. And also, because it’s an f2.8 lens, that becomes even more accessible. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen nicer bokeh. But for the price, this is pretty darned good. However, the Tamron lens focuses closer — and therefore can give you nicer looking bokeh due to depth of field effects and the laws of physics.
Color Rendition
The best colors from this lens come when the light hits just right. Take it out to photograph the fall leaves or at night with a haze filter. It’s easy for everything to look like a Todd Hido photo when you do that.
Lens Character
This lens clearly exhibits distortion, but it’s more than acceptable in most situations. We found no lens flare, however. And that kind of makes us sad. We wanted to see some of that for sure.
Sharpness
This isn’t the sharpest lens on the market at all. And I don’t really think that it’s designed to be. However, you can surely use it for a lot of fun times when you shoot. If anything, you’ll be too busy being in awe of the colors it can give you.
Extra Image Samples
From day one, The Phoblographer has been huge on transparency with our audience. Nothing from this review is sponsored. Further, lots of folks will post reviews and show lots of editing in the photos. The problem then becomes that anyone and everyone can do the same thing. They’re not showing what the lens can do. So we have a section in our Extra Image Samples area to show edited and unedited photos. From this, you can make a decision for yourself.
Edited
Unedited
Who Should Buy the Viltrox 20mm f2.8?
The Viltrox 20mm f2.8 is a great lens for anyone looking for a budget wide-angle lens that will shoot with it in situations where you’re not going to encounter rain or dirt. Then it will be incredibly enjoyable.