Viltrox is a Chinese manufacturer that has really impressed me with many of its autofocus lenses for full-frame and crop-sensor mirrorless cameras, over the last three years. Indeed, I’ve enjoyed reviewing some of them so much that I’ve bought several of them for my permanent collection. They tend to be really nicely made, excellent performers and standout value for money. My current Viltrox stash includes the fast, metal-bodied Viltrox AF 23mm F1.4 Z, Viltrox AF 33mm F1.4 Z, and Viltrox AF 56mm F1.4 Z primes, plus the slightly larger Viltrox AF 13mm F1.4 Z which I use on my Nikon Z fc camera.
The 28mm pancake ‘FE’ lens that I’m reviewing here is a different kind of lens, with the emphasis on being incredibly small and lightweight. Even so, it’s full-frame compatible and the original version aimed to be one of the most affordable lenses for Sony E-mount cameras (and still does). It’s equally viable for use on Sony APS-C format mirrorless cameras, where it gives an ‘effective’ focal length of 42mm, and thus a very natural perspective rather than a wide viewing angle. Since originally being launched, the lens has also become available in Fujifilm X and Nikon Z versions, those two subsequently being followed by an L-mount edition, as the second non-cine Viltrox lens to be launched in L-mount, following the comparatively large and high-tech Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8.
