NIKON Z f (20mm, f/5.6, 1/15 sec, ISO900)
Or the rather difficult review.
Regular readers of this blog know that my favorite camera lens combo of all times is the Fuji X-Pro2 with the Fuji XF 14/2.8 R. This is the combo where I shoot thousands of images every year in between March 2013 and June 2024. When I got my Nikon Z8 I also bought the Nikon Z 20/1.8 S because I wanted that focal length in a prime. I meanwhile sold the lens because I could not stand the fact how big and especially long this lens is. I will use my Z 14-28/2.8 S now instead which is hardly any bigger but I also wanted a small 20mm lens for my Nikon Zf. I think that foreword was necessary that new readers know where I’m coming from. Now the review.
What it is: This is a super compact, all plastic 2.8/20mm AF lens made from Viltrox for Nikon Z. This lens is about the size of the Nikon Z 40/2 and even lighter than that lens despite the fact that it has a lens mount made of metal. And it least where I live it is even cheaper than the 40/2. So where is the catch? What’s not to like?
Mechanical quality: Yes it is all plastic but today most lenses are and there is nothing wrong with that. It helps to safe weight and that’s a very good thing. I love the metal lens mount but I hate the lens shade. The size of the shade is perfect but it doesn’t lock in position. Like a broken lens shadow only that I think this is its original state. I consider to glue it on before my next vacation to avoid issues. I’m not worried to loose it, I’m worried about dark corners in case it doesn’t sit perfectly straight. Beside that no complaints especially for the price.
AF performance: The lens focus quiet and rather fast but like with the 40/2 (that I really like a lot) AF can feel a little slow in challenging conditions. I’m talking about low contrast, backlit situations. It still focus faster (and a lot quieter) than my Fuji XF 14/2.8 R but I experienced miss focused shots. Something that almost never happened with my Fuji. In short: AF is good but not fool proof like on my better Nikon lenses.
Optical quality: Here it gets really difficult. Yes the lens is dirt cheap but you can easily see why. Of course there is massive vignetting as you would expect of such a small lens. And shot wide open or at f4 the corners don’t look good at all. But that’s not even the worst thing for me. My main problem with this lens is distortion. There is lightroom profile for the lens but it mainly deals with the vignetting and does little to reduce the distortion. I could live with the vignetting and with the corners as both improves if you stop it down to F5.6 or f8 but the distortion means that my search for a small 20mm lens for the Nikon Z is not over yet. Maybe there will be a Z-Version of the Voigtländer Color Skopar 21/3.5 some day but what I really hope is that Nikon finally give Nikon Zf lovers some high quality prime lenses with aperture rings.
I just compared what I wrote here with what I wrote in my Nikon Z 20/1.8 S review. In that review this section was very short because this lens is optically excellent. But it is also a lens that is too big and heavy and its handling is just awkward. I meanwhile sold the Nikon and I’m going to keep the Viltrox just based on the fact that I wanted a small and light lens that fits my Zf but I’m not perfectly happy with it.
My wish list: Viltrox if you would ever update this lens please just make it better. As simple as that. Fix distortion and the lens hood and you could easily charge 2-3 times what you charge today. Ideally just make an Evo-version. I recently got the Viltrox AF 85mm F2.8 EVO and I’m loving it.
Summary: Yes the lens is cheap but that doesn’t automatically make it a good lens. It is still good value though and if you purchase this lens mainly for landscape photography you can completely ignore everything negative I wrote about this lens.