Fringer EF-FX Pro III (v2.50), EF-GFX Pro (v1.60), NF-FX (v1.90) & NF-GFX (v1.20) Firmware Updates Released I generally prefer Fujinon X (or GFX) mount lenses, and not because they are better in terms image quality (if a lens is more affordable, then I can accept to give up a bit of IQ), but if there is one thing that I love about the X/GFX system, then it’s the colors I get from it (with Astia being my favorite all-rounder film simulation). lens elements in 11 groups provide a sophisticated optical design. Two aspherical lens elements are optimized for distortion and off-axis optical aberration allowing the lens to maintain excellent resolution throughout the entire focusing range. While the fairly chunky 56mm f/1.4 weighs in at 260 grams, the 13mm ups that again to 420 grams. This, of course, is expected because of the wide field-of-view and larger (domed) front optic; the lens is 74x90mm as opposed to 65x72mm for the 56mm f/1.4. In short, this is a relatively big lens when put on a more modest camera — such as my X-E3 — so is perhaps better suited to the larger X-Series cameras. This lens responds very well to light sources in the frame and in most situations, the coatings do a very good job of preventing the image from losing contrast and washing out. There are occasions though, albeit rare when contrast does drop; light hitting the lens at certain very specific angles will cause a drop in contrast not across the whole shot, but at specific points in the image. Fortunately, there’s a hood included with the lens – it’s stored on the lens when not in use and can easily be clipped into position, and it does a good job of preventing contrast drop when the light’s in the wrong place.

In short: if you love film simulations, like I do, native Fujinon lenses will deliver better results, or let’s say results that more faithfully reproduce the vibe and tone Fujifilm intended to give us with the various film simulations. On the X-E3 the lens unsurprisingly feels a little front heavy, however not unduly so. It was still pleasant to use, but would be better balanced on a larger camera. I’ve shot many wide lenses in the past but most have been the manual focus – either vintage lenses from the days of film, or modern manual focus lenses. This one, of course, is an autofocus lens, and it’s been a real breath of fresh air. It’s wonderful to have the lens do the work of focusing, no need to use focusing aids like peaking or magnification, just frame the shot and shoot! The autofocus freed me from having to think about focussing and allowed me to focus only on the aesthetic aspects of the shot like line, form, shape, light and colour – as a photographer I found it liberating to let the camera and lens take care of the technical elements, leaving me free to concentrate on the visual components of the shot, and get on with making images! Image quality on my copy of the Viltrox is excellent in the center wide open, and stopping down to f/2 cleans up the corners beautifully. Contrast and color rendering are both top notch as well, especially from f/2 on. A lens with specs like these is an important part of my kit, and I use them regularly for architecture, real estate, print photojournalism, astrophotography, landscape, video, and documentary work. Preferring prime lenses to zooms for these purposes, my requirements are that it is wider than 14mm and has an aperture that is f/2.8 or brighter. I have owned each for approximately six months or more, and each one has found a use case in my professional or personal work.

Summary and Recommendation

The unpleasant six-pointed sunstars exhibited by the Rokinon 12mm are, in my opinion, subpar compared to the sunstars produced by the other three lenses, despite its otherwise excellent performance. Thanks to Viltrox for sending me an evaluation copy of the 13mm F1.4. As always, this is a completely independent review. Viltrox AF13 Build and Handling

Four ED (extra-low dispersion) lens elements greatly reduce color fringing and chromatic aberrations to produce greater clarity and color accuracy no matter which aperture you choose. I’ve really enjoyed my time with this lens. After shooting it for a week, and making hundreds of images with it, it’s left me with a really good impression. Sometimes you find a lens that you just get on with, a lens that’s so thoughtfully designed it fits a niche perfectly, a lens that suits you, your personal style and the kind of images you like to make, and I’ve found this lens to be one such. It’s a lens I just can’t help liking – partly because it’s very nicely made and finished, partly because of its optical qualities, which are first class, but mostly because of the fantastic images it can make across a range of situations, and photographic genres!The XF 14mm f/2.8 R also delivers slightly warmer results and I made white balance adjustments to match the images below. Bright f/1.4 maximum aperture suits working in difficult lighting conditions and helps to maintain a relatively compact form factor.

So why would you want a 20 mm equivalent? Intriguingly it’s a focal length I have never shot with and don’t have in my camera bag. My “gotos” have always been 24, 35, 50, and 85 mm, with a 14 mm for those more esoterically wide shots that aren’t fisheye. It’s not that 20mm is necessarily uncommon, but it’s one that has never appealed to me as 24mm is short enough, at which point I move down to the 14mm. So has Viltrox made the right decision? That’s a personal choice and, for some, 20mm may well be perfect. Yes, it’s more distorted than 24mm but not disastrously so and could therefore be a good match for landscapes or interior architectural shots, alongside the inevitable vlogging allowing you to get really close to the action. Build Quality and Design Focusing is critical in portraiture, especially when shooting at very wide apertures for a tight depth of field. We found that Eye AF worked very accurately and consistently with our Z-mount test sample mounted on a Nikon Z fc camera.One final point — and it’s a small thing — there is a red circle to mark lens orientation for attaching to the camera body. This is white on earlier lenses, but strangely I find it much easier to locate! Image Quality and Performance On my copy of the 7Artisans 12mm the center exhibits very good sharpness, and stopping down to f/4-5.6 transforms it into an edge-to-edge performer. The lens is constructed of 14 elements in 11 groups, which includes four ED and two aspheric elements and a multi-layer coated, waterproof, front optic. It has a nine-blade aperture, weighs 420 grams, and takes a larger 67mm filter. As it is a fly-by-wire design, it comes with a micro-USB port that allows firmware upgrades which Viltrox has be forthcoming with. Out of the box, there are front and rear lens caps, a cloth case, and a lens hood.

Thanks to Laowa for sending me a review loaner of this lens. As always, this is a completely independent review. *The tests and most of the photos that I share as a part of my review cycle have been done with the Sony a6400 along with the Sony Alpha 1 which will serve as my benchmark camera for the foreseeable future ( my review here ). Viltrox AF 13mm F1.4 Build and Handling I am generally quite pleased with the images from the Viltrox AF 23mm f/1.4 at this wedding but did notice two areas for improvement. Also, I will not be discussing the Zeiss 12mm f/2.8, since I have no experience with it. Viltrox 13mm f/1.4 And in my experience, whenever I use third party lenses on my Fujifilm cameras, the colors simply don’t come out the way I am used to (and love it) from the Fujinon lenses. In fact, this is one of the main reason why my Fujinon XF10-24mm has basically replaced my Samyang 12mm f/2 in my camera bag. Not because the Samyang is bad, not at all (look, I have taken some of my most loved images with it). But sometimes I can be terribly lazy with post processing my images, and I know the XF10-24mm will nail the colors the way I love it more than my Samyang 12mmF2 would, and hence spare me some time in post. More importantly for this type of lens, bokeh is beautifully soft and dreamy. The Viltrox also does well to keep axial chromatic aberration to a minimum, avoiding color fringes around high-contrast edges in a scene that are just in front of or behind the plane of focus. All in all, performance is excellent.I also found that the transitions from my face to my hand during my tests were smooth and confident, with focus immediately returning to my eyes when the obstruction was removed. Focus breathing is also minimal, making this a nice lens for video or vlogging (due to the excellent focal length for this task). Ok, I did the update to the most recent firmware and have noticed both an increase in AF speed and there is less hunting, so I recommend buyers of this lens update the firmware. The process in incredibly simple, it's easier to update the firmware on the Viltrox lens than it is to update firmware on native Fuji lenses. Second, there is a fair bit of vignetting noticeable in mid-tone corner areas. Again, this was noticeable in the rear screen preview. I generally add a bit of vignetting to most photos, so this was not too much of an issue in my experience, and in the situations where it was, I framed a little wide, so I could crop out the vignette-affected area in Lightroom.