Lens manufacturer Viltrox began a new chapter back in September of last year, becoming the 10th member of the L-Mount Alliance. It thus joined elite image industry movers and shakers, including Leica, Sigma, Panasonic, and DJI, in the process.
As a leader in the welcoming committee, Leica Camera AG released a statement saying, “By welcoming Viltrox as a new member, we are strengthening our network with a highly regarded partner that shares our vision of a forward-looking and versatile system. Viltrox contributes valuable expertise in high-quality lens development and brings fresh momentum to our ecosystem.”
As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating and while there’s an AF 28mm f/4.5 L waiting in the wings, the first Viltrox L-mount lens out of the blocks is the AF 16mm f/1.8 L. The lens has actually been around for a while, the Sony E-mount edition being launched back in May 2023, and the Nikon Z-mount version following in May 2024 (see our full review).
A high-tech feast of a lens, it was Viltrox’s first to feature a color LCD display panel, along with dual customizable function buttons and an aperture control ring complete with a click/de-click switch. Autofocus is courtesy of a fast and virtually silent linear stepping motor, and the dual-function buttons enable you to set up two ‘A and B’ focus distance settings, so that you can automatically transition between the two.
The high-end optical path comprises 15 elements in 12 groups, including three aspherical elements and four ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements, plus HD Nano multilayer coatings. The front element also has a fluorine coating, and the lens is extensively weather-sealed.
Expect to pay around $580 / £533 / AU$999 for the L-mount version of the lens, with prices closely following the Nikon and Sony versions of the lens.
For more, you can check out our review of the Sony E-mount version of the Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8.
