I have the 18-135 & 70-350 G for my A6300. Thinking about getting a prime for travel and every day that is lower profile than the 18-135. I'm imagining something that makes it more compact for grabbing when I go on walks, hikes, and a small travel lens.
Was looking at the Viltrox Air lineup as well as Sigma 30mm or one of the pancake options. What are the favorites?
Voigtlander 21mm f3.5. Samyang 24 f2.8 will give you comparable to the 18-135. Sony 28 is a good choice. The Sigma 30 is better than those but in a 45mm equivalent, and it is heavy.
I'm very happy with both the Viltrox 25mm and 35mm f/1.7 lenses on the a6700. They're sharper and have less chromatic aberration than my Sigma 18-50. Very light and inexpensive. No weather sealing, aperture ring, or extra buttons or switches.
Edit: the new Viltrox 26mm EVO might be a good choice for travel too
I tend to stick to the 18-135. I tried my Samyang 24/1.8 over a weekend, 24mm part of the time on an ff and "36mm" on the A6700. I've got the Sigma 30/1.4, too. It's a little bit lighter than the Samyang but not a significant difference in size or weight. I'd probably choose the 24mm in a general use situation, the 30mm longer than I'd prefer. I don't have any experience with smaller/lighter, like f2.8 lenses. I guess I prefer the faster f1.4 or f1.8 .
Thanks. I think the 25 would likely be better for general use and a good test prime too.
TimCC wrote:
I'm very happy with both the Viltrox 25mm and 35mm f/1.7 lenses on the a6700. They're sharper and have less chromatic aberration than my Sigma 18-50. Very light and inexpensive. No weather sealing, aperture ring, or extra buttons or switches.
Edit: the new Viltrox 26mm EVO might be a good choice for travel too
Never thought about the Samyang 24. Will look into it. Thanks!
Gerald Brooks wrote:
Voigtlander 21mm f3.5. Samyang 24 f2.8 will give you comparable to the 18-135. Sony 28 is a good choice. The Sigma 30 is better than those but in a 45mm equivalent, and it is heavy.
The Sony 35/1.8 OSS is a sweet little guy that gets ignored quite a bit, but a decently fast, stabilized lens with a solid draw could be just the thing for a solo/travel prime on your 6300.
I just got myself the A6700. Currently, testing setup with Sigma 10-18mm f/2.8 and Sony 18-135mm lenses. Will be purchasing the Viltrox 15/25/35mm f/1.7 Air lenses soon. Based on ExposurePlot analysis of my travel shots, I expect the Viltrox 25mm f/1.7 Air to stay on my camera 80% of the time.
The Sigma f/1.4 DC series looks appealing. But the prices and combined weight are beyond my budget.
Sigma 12mm f/1.4 DC 225g L6.9cm
Sigma 15mm f/1.4 DC 220g L6.5cm
Sigma 23mm f/1.4 DC 330g L7.9cm
Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC 265g L7.3cm
Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DC 280g L6cm
In comparison, the Viltrox Air series for E-mount:
Viltrox 9mm f/2.8 Air 175g L5.6cm
Viltrox 15mm f/1.7 Air 180g L5.5cm
Viltrox 25mm f/1.7 Air 170g L5.5cm
Viltrox 35mm f/1.7 Air 170g L5.5cm
Viltrox 56mm f/1.7 Air 170g L5.5cm
I've gone through a slew of lenses and this is the current setup which is working optimally for my me:
Sigma E 12mm f1.4 (great all-rounder, vlog/selfie photos, low light)
Viltrox 26mm f2.8 EVO (compact, discreet option)
Samyang AF 45mm f1.8 (details, portraits)
Viltrox 85mm f2 EVO (compact light telephoto)
This is a compact and light kit easy for travel and made my last trip a breeze, I also carry a a7cII so I have the Sigma 12mm on the A6700 usually and the Samyang 45mm on the A7cII, they can both fit inside a 10L bag and cover focal lengths between 18mm - 127mm(18mm, 26mm, 39mm, 45mm, 67mm, 85mm, 127mm). I also bring a Tamron 70-300mm just in case which is only 545g.
I love the little Samyang 35mm f/2.8 on APS-C. I hate it on FF, it feels very unspectacular, but for some reason the remaining image circle with the APS-C crop is pretty magical. Likely there are way better options, but used versions of the Samyang/Rokinon can be found SUUUUUPER cheap. I took several images with it here: https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1255248/5202#17065017
thw02 wrote:
I just got myself the A6700. Currently, testing setup with Sigma 10-18mm f/2.8 and Sony 18-135mm lenses. Will be purchasing the Viltrox 15/25/35mm f/1.7 Air lenses soon. Based on ExposurePlot analysis of my travel shots, I expect the Viltrox 25mm f/1.7 Air to stay on my camera 80% of the time.
The Sigma f/1.4 DC series looks appealing. But the prices and combined weight are beyond my budget.
Sigma 12mm f/1.4 DC 225g L6.9cm
Sigma 15mm f/1.4 DC 220g L6.5cm
Sigma 23mm f/1.4 DC 330g L7.9cm
Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC 265g L7.3cm
Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DC 280g L6cm
In comparison, the Viltrox Air series for E-mount:
Viltrox 9mm f/2.8 Air 175g L5.6cm
Viltrox 15mm f/1.7 Air 180g L5.5cm
Viltrox 25mm f/1.7 Air 170g L5.5cm
Viltrox 35mm f/1.7 Air 170g L5.5cm
Viltrox 56mm f/1.7 Air 170g L5.5cm ...Show more →
I have the Viltrox 15mm and I LOVE it for video (but I am just filming my head while I teach for online classes), but I don't think it does much for me for photography. I don't have a ton of experience with it for that purpose (photos) but what I've done so far is uninspiring (ymmv). OTOH I think the Viltrox 14mm f/4 is much better. I bet the Sigma is a lot better, or a used Sony 15mm G.
I've always like the rendering of the Sony/Zeiss 24mm f/1.8, too, and it seems pretty accessible used, now.
I use a A6700 as my main travel camera, with 18-135 and 70-350. As an additional prime I tried the Sigma 56/1,4 and Viltrox 15/1,7. For my very compact setup I use an A5100 with SG Image 25/1,8 or Sony 16-50 OSS.
For landscapes and city I used the Viltrox 15 quite a bit. It is wider, brighter and optically better than the 18-135 at 18mm. It is not really small but very light.
The Viltrox 25 Air seems to be a bit weaker than the 15 and 35 from reviews I read, but it will be better than the SG Image 25. But the SG Image ist about half the size and optically quite ok.
I recently bouth the Viltrox 35/1.7 Air. A quit test showed very good image quality, much likely better than the Sony 35 OSS, but of cause without OSS.
The Sony 16-50 OSS varies a lot in quality and the better examples are quite ok stopped down a bit, especially from 18-45mm.
On thing I keep in mind with Viltrox is that they really start to put deadly pressure on the Japanese companies and it is not unlikely that these will react. So an investment in a cupboard full of Viltox glass may one day be incompatible with new camera models.
Just to round out some of the options. You could go with the Samyang 75 1.8 and completely leave the 18-135 at home, superseded by better IQ. It is only 230 grams. Then a small mid-range prime and you are good to go. Complete that with the Sony 11 1.8 which is awesome and so sharp that it can be cropped way in.
