p.2 #3 · Viltrox 14mm f/4 - $169 at B&H - SALE ENDED
pete478888 wrote:
Great lens, not just for the price. Sharp into the corners on a 45 mp Nikon Z7, and small/lightweight.
It's pretty good in the corners and definitely usable, but not exactly what I would call sharp in the corners like it is in the center or even midframe. We just measured it in the lab at PL and the drop in the corners is pretty substantial, which can also be seen just taking controlled shots.... for typical landscapes it still looks great of course but you can definitely see it.
p.2 #4 · Viltrox 14mm f/4 - $169 at B&H - SALE ENDED
'Viltrox has wisely engineered this lens to deliver peak performance at the wide open aperture. That just means that you don’t have to stop the lens down further to get reasonable performance. The MTF shows an extremely sharp center and a *fairly steady but mild slide to the corners*. Astigmatism is low (the sagittal and meridional planes stay closely aligned), suggesting strong contrast even in to the corners.'
Leaving aside the obvious impressive pictorial qualities of the V14, it's important to understand that all lenses are strongest on-axis, and that the best ones exhibit a gentle fade across the frame to a performance level around 60-80% of central IQ (a few exceptions exist, achieved at great cost). This fade characteristic of the V14 is something we see in almost all the better Chinese lenses. It accords with both human vision and long-established cine lens design. Gentle gradations guarantee visual excellence.
Never one to ask others to believe my technical commentary, here is the MTF to illustrate the above points. Note the gradualness of the fade from centre to corner, and the percentage of central IQ observed in corner IQ. You can also view the lack of astigmatism in the charcoal line pairs, which also indicate that the lens has been optimised for f4, with smaller apertures retaining IQ at a very high level.
Their recent lenses are amazingly specified in terms of glass selection and design nous.
p.2 #5 · Viltrox 14mm f/4 - $169 at B&H - SALE ENDED
The Viltrox 14mm may not be the hands-down best ultrawide lens ever made, but it may well be the best sub-$200 ultrawide ever made. And even then, it holds it own against other ultrawide lenses far larger and more expensive. Can you find better performing ultrawides? Of course, but none are as compact or as inexpensive. Besides, no matter how high performing any lens may be, there's still something better out there if you have deep enough pockets.
The worst things I can say about the Viltrox 14mm is that there's some distortion that Lightroom doesn't correct for and seems extremely difficult to remove manually. At its size and price point, I don't ding it for lack of weather resistance, high vignetting, or moderate flare resistance... I have seen worse on much higher priced lenses.
p.2 #8 · Viltrox 14mm f/4 - $169 at B&H - SALE ENDED
The ZR is a completely different camera than the rest of the lineup with a different feature set and, I'm assuming, essentially a different base firmware. It doesn't take much creativity to understand it might not fall in line with the rest of the lineup.
p.2 #9 · Viltrox 14mm f/4 - $169 at B&H - SALE ENDED
It’s still worth asking. I just wanted to let everyone know what I found out for the benefit of whoever had the ZR. I don’t have one
I did check some of the newer releases from Viltrox and they are compatible with ZR
p.2 #10 · Viltrox 14mm f/4 - $169 at B&H - SALE ENDED
It's a very reasonably-priced lens to have in the bag (at least for me). I don't use ultra-wide that often but when needed, this lens delivers. Plus, I bought mine directly from Viltrox with additional discount and no tax.
p.2 #11 · Viltrox 14mm f/4 - $169 at B&H - SALE ENDED
JasonTheBirder wrote:
It's pretty good in the corners and definitely usable, but not exactly what I would call sharp in the corners like it is in the center or even midframe. We just measured it in the lab at PL and the drop in the corners is pretty substantial, which can also be seen just taking controlled shots.... for typical landscapes it still looks great of course but you can definitely see it.
Jason
I did read Spencer's remarks regarding the shooting distance.
'We use the largest test chart available from Imatest, and in my experience, the results describe infinity performance more accurately than close-focus performance. In real-world terms, it’s a good match for shooting a distant overlook with no foreground objects. We refocus at each aperture, but not for each portion of the frame – our numbers all come from what’s possible to achieve in a single photo.'
Isn't infinity the biggest stress test for a lens when the rear lens element is the closest to the sensor?
I did some interior shots, where the lens corners where not bad. But I just look at them at 100% or 200%, nothing scientific.
Thanks for your review. I used PL reviews for many of my lens purchases.
p.2 #13 · Viltrox 14mm f/4 - $169 at B&H - SALE ENDED
My copy from the sale arrived and it is smeared on the bottom side of the image, same when stopping down to f/5.6. The upper 2/3rd of the frame is surprisingly sharp for such a budget lens and the size/weight would be wonderful in my landscape pack. I will exchange for a 2nd try.
p.2 #14 · Viltrox 14mm f/4 - $169 at B&H - SALE ENDED
I bought this a while back....took me 2 tries as well.
Ross Martin wrote:
My copy from the sale arrived and it is smeared on the bottom side of the image, same when stopping down to f/5.6. The upper 2/3rd of the frame is surprisingly sharp for such a budget lens and the size/weight would be wonderful in my landscape pack. I will exchange for a 2nd try.
p.2 #15 · Viltrox 14mm f/4 - $169 at B&H - SALE ENDED
The largest Imatest target is still a rough cut estimation of performance, it's like choosing your life partner from a newspaper photograph. We can discern patterns of resolution but the shortcomings are well known. Enter 'drawbacks of imatest for lens testing' into any AI.
Yet, there are people that rely heavily on Ima in their very confident assessments of lenses they 'test' for those evil aberrations. It's a flat target, not much of a guide to an artform that represents three dimensional space. For the shrinking number of people still interested in actual images as the main measure of a lens's performance, you can visit the established 14/4 image thread here:
I watch as many YT videos and read review articles as most enthusiasts and almost all I see is an artistic wasteland of pseudo-scientific reviews passing 'expert' judgement on the basis of a sheet of paper placed a couple of metres away. They should work in surveillance.
I think they can do better by backing their photographic knowledge/experience to produce a more balanced and user-oriented set of criteria, including the actual images the lens takes. What a revolutionary thought.
Many of these guys seem to live in a dark cave and issue their solemn conclusions from there, as they twiddle the lens rings. And don't forget there is always another free lens waiting for its place on the lens test assembly line, so it has to be done fast. Hence the reductionist approach.
(Lenses are easiest to design for optical infinity, so we don't see FLE mechanisms for that part of the focus range. It's also why it was only recently we started seeing much closer MFDs in many lenses.)
p.2 #20 · Viltrox 14mm f/4 - $169 at B&H - SALE ENDED
As mentioned previously, my first copy was too obviously misaligned to keep. Happily, my 2nd copy I just got at the $159 sale price tested today well-centered and sharp into all corners even wide open at f/4. I need to get it out in the field to become confident about it’s overall quality, but it has the potential to be a fantastic addition to the backpack because it’s so small and light and I only occasionally need this focal length.
Looks like the Viltrox 20% off sale is still active.
