[Music] Foreign Hi I'm Dustin Abbott and I'm here today To give you a comparison video of Another versus episode Between the new Viltrox proaf 27 millimeter F 1.2 and Then the sigma 23 millimeter F 1.4 now I Realize that they aren't the identical Focal length or even have an identical Maximum aperture but what is nearly Identical is their price both of them Will cost you right under 550 US Dollars Which means that these are legitimate Lenses that you could cross shop even More so than the equivalent say 23 Millimeter F 1.4 from Fuji which is Going to cost you about 350 dollars more Than either one of these lenses So today We're going to break down the different Areas of performance and what I'm going To do is I'm going to give you what I Consider to be the relative strengths of Each each lens why you should choose one Versus the other and then for those of You that are interested in a deeper dive I've got all the supporting evidence That I'll follow up with after the Conclusion so we'll do a deep dive into The image quality for those of you that Want to hang around and watch at that Point and so you can actually see what Goes on behind the conclusions that I Have drawn So we'll start however by taking a look
At the general autofocus performance Because a lot of you have asked me about That and what I have found that really There is more similarities than Differences and the auto Focus Performance between these two lenses now Obviously if you're looking for the Optimum autofocus performance probably The original Fuji 23 millimeter with its Linear Motors is going to give you the Best autofocus performance but in terms Of these as you can see here both of Them Focus relatively similarly in terms Of just basic speed though I will note That the sigma has a little bit of a Quirk where there's almost a lag before You can start to make another autofocus Change and it's almost like it hangs There for a moment and then you can Start moving once again but in terms of The actual speed going back and forth They are roughly similar likewise when It came to video Focus pools I found That both of them had Fairly similar Performance in terms of back and forth The sigma might show a few more steps Than what the viltrox does but every now And then the viltrox will do an extra Back pulse and so they're roughly equal When it comes to video pools and I would Say they are roughly similar when it Comes to the amount of focused breathing That is present between the two lenses There's very low Focus breathing on the
Fuji XF 23 millimeter F 1.4 LM lens so Let's talk about some reasons that the Sigma is the superior of the two lenses Or areas that might Advantage it the First is a quite obvious one and that is That it is considerably smaller than What the viltrox lens is it is 65.8 Millimeters in diameter versus 82 Millimeters in diameter for the viltrox The overall length is 77 millimeters Versus 92 millimeters for the viltrox The sigma is very close in size to the Actual Fuji lens whereas the viltrox is Obviously considerably larger the sigma Is also much lighter it weighs in at 340 Grams versus 5 160 grams for the viltrox So they're not even really quite in the Same class of lens in terms of size and Weight we'll also note that something That Sigma does really well is lens Hoods and of the three lenses including The Fuji I would take the sigma's lens Hood above them all it has a greater Variety of textures it feels nicer in The hand it just feels better made in General Also I found that in my comparisons back And forth between the two lenses that I Would say the sigma is slightly sharper In the corner of the frame and uh Particularly at wide apertures the sigma Has a slight Advantage there I also Found that the sigma had a nicer looking Sun star it has nine aperture Blades
Versus 11 aperture blades in the viltrox And while those 11 blades do have a very Clear Advantage when it comes to keeping A circular shape when it comes to the Sun star the sigma has a better looking Star that has 18 Blades versus 22 blades And it's just cleaner and better defined However there are also a lot of reasons To choose the viltrox over the sigma First of all it comes to the basic build Here there's no question that the Viltrox is the better made lens not that There's a radical difference in the feel Of the materials between the two but Whereas the sigma has only a single Gasket at the lens mount the viltrox is Thoroughly weather sealed and as you can See from this diagram there's actually 10 different seal points throughout the Viltrox lens and so it is a more Professional grade build between the two The viltrox also has the advantage of Having an aperture ring something that Is pretty much standard on Fuji and Something that the sigma lacks at this Point I also found when it comes to autofocus That while the overall speed wasn't Radically different I did feel that in Just real world General use I had better Accuracy with the viltrox just more Consistently well-focused results with It One thing that is hugely different
Between the two lenses is that the Viltrox has much nicer bokeh there's it Has less of a nervous quality there's Much less outlining less fringing around It the bokeh is really really nice from This lens whereas the sigma while being A very sharp lens it just doesn't have Fantastic bokeh in my opinion the Viltrox also has a lower chromatic Aberrations not that either one of these Lenses suffers badly from chromatic Aberrations but the viltrox is more Neutral with less fringing than what the Sigma has it obviously also has a faster Maximum aperture F 1.2 is about a third Stop faster than what F 1.4 is and while That's not a radical difference it means That in low light situations you have That much more light that is coming into The sensor of the lens it also has what I would claim to be a nicer overall Rendering of images it has very nice Real world contrast as we'll see on our Breakdown and there's just a little bit More Nuance to the optical performance That I personally strongly prefer versus The Sigma lens Now I will just remember after my Conclusion here we will do an in-depth Breakdown and so you can see these two Lenses side by side in a wide variety of Situations so if you're interested stay Tuned for that but my conclusion is is That both lenses fortunately are
Definitely sharp enough to handle the 40 Megapixel sensor that Fuji has moved to In some of its top cameras there aren't A lot of lenses that can do that at this Point and so that means that we're Getting very good bang for the buck with Either one of these lenses if sharpness Is the absolute priority obviously if Your priority is to go a smaller lens as Possible at this price point while still Retaining High Optical performance the Sigma is a great choice it is Considerably smaller and lighter than What the viltrox is and so that could be A very strong reason to consider it There's also of course the difference in Focal length in general and that some of You will prefer the basically 35 Millimeter equivalent to write over 40 Millimeter equivalent of the viltrox and So there are some reason to consider it If absolute image quality is your Priority the viltrox I feel is in Another class not that it's sharper it You know there's some give and take as We're going to see in our breakdown but It is in a class above and that it has a More Pro build it has softer bokeh it Has a richer overall rendering in my Opinion that makes images just more Special coming out of it and so if Absolute image quality is your priority Go with the viltrox it really is a very Special lens
So for those of you that are still here Let's dive in deeper and let's take a Look at the image quality and break it Down together so throughout this Comparison we'll keep the sigma on the Left and the viltrox on the right and so As you can see by looking at our test Chart here for Distortion and vignette The viltrox has a noticeably lower Distortion just a very mild amount of Barrel Distortion there whereas it's More pronounced on the sigma you can Also see that there is not only less Vignette but the vignette doesn't Encroach as far into the frame whereas Here on the sigma you can see more Vignette in the fact that it encroaches Further into the frame probably the Advantage of having a larger lens for The viltrox now in terms of sharpness This is a 200 magnification on the 40 Megapixel xh2 so if we look in the Center of the frame both of these lenses Of are of course intensely sharp I would Say very slightly more contrast for the Sigma in the middle of the frame but Very likely a little bit more detail That's being rendered on the viltrox in Just a little bit finer resolution of The the lines here you can see are just A little bit better pronounced here on The viltrox and the mid frame both of Them looking good lighting is not Identical here down in this Zone we can
See that they look quite similar maybe a Little bit better for the sigma and down Into the corner I would say the sigma Has again a slight Advantage if we look Over on this side it's more noticeable Advantage for the sigma now if we move The viltrox onto F 1.4 and we take a Look again we can see that now contrast Has boosted a little bit on the viltrox Also its ability to render the fine Details is a little bit better so a Little bit stronger performance in the Middle of the frame for the viltrox Though the sigma does have a lot of Contrast punched to it if we look in This Zone here the sigma is a little bit Darker but you can see there's more Detail there on the viltrox where it Tends to be a little bit blockier here On the Sig in the mid frame here we can See a similar type result and then down Into the bottom we can see that the Corners are more close here with the Sigma or excuse me with the viltrox to The sigma but we can also see at the Same time that I would say that there is Maybe a slight Advantage for the sigma That Still Remains Now if we stop the lenses down to F2 and We look at the center of the frame both Of them are intensely sharp at this Point but again the viltrox has the Ability to just give us a little bit Finer detail a contrast is really strong
On the sigma but the fine detail is a Little bit better on the viltrox going Back over here again you can really see That here where the viltrox really shows All of those details here in a way that The sigma doesn't down in the corners The performance is close but I Definitely favor the sigmas rendering Close to the bottom if we look here in This Zone the same is true and if I pop Up to the top here I would say the Viltrox looks a little bit better at That end so you know what there's some Give and take obviously across the frame It's in the real world scenarios however Where the viltrox's advantage grows Somewhat so we see here looking at Sharpness and contrast once again we can See that the two look fairly similar on Our area of focus however if we move Over into this Zone we can see that There's just a little bit more richness To the rendering on the build trox and You can just see the textures on the Beans Coffee Bean just look a little bit More intense and then if we kind of pan Up this way we can see that all the Background even though we've you know Equalized the framing here and we're Shooting at the same aperture of f 1.4 That the background is still bigger and Softer on the viltrox lens looking Towards the defocus area it is just Smoother some outlining here that isn't
As persistent on the viltrox now here we Have a pretty plain shot through a Window that obviously needs a little bit Of cleaning but here what we're looking For is fringing in the out of focus area So both lenses focused along here on on The window frame you can see that again Even though we've tried to equalize the Settings the viltrox just has a softer Background but more importantly in all Of these various white transition areas You can just see there's more fringing On the sigma whereas the viltrox is more Neutral it's also more pleasing because It just renders everything a little bit Softer and and so as a byproduct in These areas where fringing could occur The softer and slightly less amount of The fringing that you see on the sigma That's not there is present on the Viltrox makes for just a richer looking Image Now in the shot that where I shoot for Flare resistance there's really not a Lot of difference to be seen and neither The sun being just right up out of the Frame on both of these I don't see any Kind of a ghosting spots or anything Like that marring either one of the Images so a fairly similar performance There Now if we recompose with the sun Actually in the frame we can see that There's just a very slight difference
Between the two if we're shooting both At F 1.4 the viltrox gives a little bit More of a kind of glow effect where the Sun comes through whereas the sigma is Just more prone to start to create the Blades of a sun star but in either case Do we see any kind of ghosting artifact Causing a problem Now if we stop the lenses down to f11 I Prefer the sun star from the sigma it Has a nine aperture Iris and so that Gives us 18 pointed Stars whereas the 11 Aperture blades on the the viltrox make For softer bokeh and rounder bokeh Highlights but not quite as a convincing A sun star now there is a little bit of A ghosting artifact here maybe a little Bit there for the viltrox but I would Say that neither one of them are doing a Bad job in this instance Now it's in a shot like this where the Viltrox really starts to pull ahead and So again I've tried to equalize the Framing shooting both at F 1.4 both of Them are nice and sharp on the actual Subject where we're focused here but if You look at these two areas I like the Contrast and the plane of focus there's Just more detail in the textures on the Viltrox but more importantly as we start To look towards the defocused area the Sigma shows much more outlining it's Much less creamy and soft in this Zone Whereas if you look comparing down here
With the viltrox the viltrox just makes Everything softer without any of these Kind of distracting circling areas in This out of focus area it's just more of Just a consistent creaminess whereas There's just more nervousness in the Sigma rendering not to mention that the Bokeh highlights are all bigger and Softer on the viltrox lens And of course that's not to mention the Fact that with the viltrox you can open It up to F 1.2 which of course makes the Depth of field more shallow but we can See it still has nice contrast and if we Look towards the defocused area the Difference between the two lenses Becomes even more pronounced as the Viltrox is able to just render the Background really really soft compared To what the sigma is producing I really Noticed it on this particular shot Because there's more of a transition Zone here so first of all we'll pop and Look at the subject both of them do a Great job on the subject I mean really Good contrast and detail you can see Those fine little hairs that are Pronounced there on the viltrox Rendering all of that looks great but if We start panning to the left here the Viltrox stays much softer with this kind Of tangle of bare branches whereas the Sigma gets really quite distracting in The way that it renders everything again
Both of them at F 1.4 you can see the Framing here look at this nail they're Both framed about the same here and so It's just a matter of the difference Between the two lenses and how that They're able to render these areas so Much softer on the viltrox here on the Right with much more kind of circling And outlining on the sigma also you can See there's more green fringing around The bokeh highlights where on the Viltrox they're just more neutral now in This particular shot it just so happened That the sigma actually is framing Tighter than what the viltrox is and you Can see the sigma looks larger than what The viltrox does so here in the case It's actually got a higher magnification It's got an advantage here but again if You look at the bokeh circles Beyond They're just everything out here is just Much softer and nicer on the viltrox Lens now near their minimum Focus Distance the sigma is giving us very Slightly higher magnification as you can See here they're very quite close but The sigma I think is just a little bit Higher there but again the big Difference is that if we look towards The background here there's just again More outlining everything is just softer And creamier in the image so I just Naturally favor the image on the right Coming off of the viltrox now finally if
We take this inside one more time and so Here was our plane of focus you can see That both lenses are about equally sharp They're delivering really really great Detail here on the subject but as we Start again pan towards the background You can see the viltrox is just so much Softer as we get to this Zone there's Much more outlining more fringing from The sigma and whereas the viltrox is Just staying softer and it's for that Reason that I certainly favor it for its Overall rendering and of course that This difference becomes even more Pronounced if I switch over to the F 1.2 Rendition because you can see that even At F 1.2 it's delivering very similar Levels of sharpness to the sigma but as We look towards these background Elements it just is so much nicer so Much creamier in the way that it renders These backgrounds to where they're Softer and just generally more pleasing And so that means that as you look at The images as a whole the viltrox wins Overall in image quality Thanks for watching today in the Description down below you can find Linkage to the full review of either one Of these lenses or their image gallery And buying links for both thanks for Watching have a great day and let the Light in [Music]
