Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 L (L-Mount)

Testers of this optical design found an excellent centre wide open, with borders good to very good and corners usable at f/1.8, reaching very good across the frame by f/4 to f/5.6. Distortion is negligible even in raw files, lateral CA stays around half a pixel, and the bokeh is cleaner than most ultra-wides manage. Build quality, with an all-metal barrel, dust seals and a full set of controls, was rated very high.

The drawbacks are heavy vignetting of about 3 EV wide open, traces of axial colour at f/1.8, and an STM motor that is quiet and adequate rather than fast. Backlight is handled reasonably well, though Sony's 14mm GM resists flare better. One tested sample's distance readout on the screen was inaccurate. Overall the lens was highly recommended for its price/performance.

Owners on Viltrox's own L-Mount product page are enthusiastic about the value for a roughly €600 lens. They mention sharp images, reliable focusing (one used it at a floodlit court before sunrise), and the usefulness of the focus memory button and manual focus mode.

The reviews there are short and few, and none yet covers long-term reliability or astrophotography results, so this is an early picture.