A grab shot of a baby elephant drinking from a fountain at the Columbus Zoo, then deeply cropped. I just love the sharpness wide open and the overall look of the Viltrox 135/1.8.
ILCE-7RM6Viltrox AF 135/1.8 LAB FE lens135mmf/1.81/1000s100 ISO0.0 EV
Jack Flesher wrote:
Getting used to the Viltrox 26EVO. All from this morning.
Which version of the tree is preferred, full or pano crop?
Full works best to my eye. Thanks for being the first real photog on FM to shoot this intriguing lens. How do you find performance and handling? It seems so small that there must be at least one control ring too many. I already have the 24-28 FL range covered with small primes and zooms, but this one looks compelling for size alone.
rico wrote:
Full works best to my eye. Thanks for being the first real photog on FM to shoot this intriguing lens. How do you find performance and handling? It seems so small that there must be at least one control ring too many. I already have the 24-28 FL range covered with small primes and zooms, but this one looks compelling for size alone.
Thank you for your feedback.
As re this lens’ rings, back when camera bodies first got command wheels and decent AF, I essentially stopped using rings on lenses. So I tend to control everything from the camera and am not a good resource for that information, sorry.
As for this lens and its usefulness, I’m actually considering dedicating it to its own body! In my case it’s currently on an A7Cii and that combo makes for a really nice “keep it with me all the time” cam. I have a short getaway over to the coast planned with my wife next week, and I may leave the doitall zoom at home and just take this —and the 50 air just in case— and call it good.
Simply stated, I find its optical performance and handling on the camera stellar for its size. The only real nit is AF speed being a tad slower than what we’re used to, but still adequately fast for low light street use, so I am fine with it. F2 would have been nice, but this lens is so good wide open, I wouldn’t want to jeopardize size or performance for the extra stop.
Re the crops. I see preferences for both formats, but like you I think I’m leaning toward the full size as the clouds are so interesting. But there is something to the pano crop too, perhaps making the tree a bit more prominent?
The pano shape makes the landscape feel wider, the tree better counterbalances with the swirl in the sky, and you don't need the white stuff on top. If any trouble with color cast from vignette, that gets minimized too.
Gerald Brooks wrote:
The pano shape makes the landscape feel wider, the tree better counterbalances with the swirl in the sky, and you don't need the white stuff on top. If any trouble with color cast from vignette, that gets minimized too.
Better would be better somewhere in between.
Maybe 16:9? FWIW, the shading on the clouds to the left is not vignette, it was natural lighting on the scene at the time in fairly early morning light, like 8:15 or so.
Here's a slightly re-edited version at 16x9 crop, you may be correct with that suggestion.
I already have the 24-28 FL range covered with small primes and zooms, but this one looks compelling for size alone.