Foreign Hi I'm Dustin Abbott and I'm here today To give you my my definitive video Review of the viltrox pro AF 27 Millimeter F 1.2 now this is for Fuji X-mount at this point but as we have Seen already with this new Pro Series From viltrox I would expect to see it For other aps-c mounts as well in the Future including Sony e-mount and at Least Nikon z-mount very likely When the 75 millimeter F 1.2 was debuted Towards the end of 2022 I was really Excited about the notion of it being the First of a new series of lenses it was Such a fantastic lens and such a huge Step up in terms of lens development on A lot of levels for Phil trox and I was Hoping that we would see more lenses in The series follow When I heard that the next would be a 27 Millimeter F 1.2 I was really excited That is essentially a 40.5 millimeter Equivalent uh full frame equivalent on Fuji's 1.5 times uh aps-c crop factor so A lens around 40 millimeters is one That's actually a personal favorite from Me it's really really versatile just Slightly tighter than what 35 Millimeters is but of course a little Bit wider than 50 millimeters falling Right in between those and I find that It just is very very versatile and as We're going to see it's a lens I really
Really enjoy it's something I often Reach for at 40 or 45 millimeter lens I Frequently will reach for that when it's Time for family occasions or just Capturing life's moments because there's Something about the images that are just Really engaging Now as we're going to see in this review This lens of course is a little bit Large and heavy as this Series has Proven to be but in many ways I'm going To show how I think it's pretty much a Perfect compromise between Fuji's own 23 Millimeter F 1.4 LM lens and also their 33 millimeter F 1.4 LM lenses it's over 300 cheaper than either one of them and We're going to see how that it combines Some of the best qualities of both of Those lenses though in a larger and Heavier package with an F 1.2 maximum Aperture that makes it a really Intriguing lens and we'll explore why Right after a word from our sponsor Today's episode is brought to you by Phantom wallet the minimalist modern Wallet that is now even better with the New Phantom X that is crafted from Aluminum right here in Canada it is 22 Percent smaller and 35 percent lighter While still making it easy to access Your cards and money when you need them Thanks to their unique Fanning mechanism You could even customize your wallet due To its modular design with accessories
Like a money clip cash holder ID display And even chipolo and air tag tracking Integration visit Store.phantomwallet.com to check out Their unique sizes Styles and finishes That span from aluminum to Wood to Carbon fiber and use code Dustin 15 for 15 off when you're ready to check out So when it comes to the build and the Handling this lens is smaller than its Predecessor in the 75 millimeter but It's slightly smaller it's not a you Know it's by no means a compact lens it Is 82 millimeters in diameter that's 3.22 inches and that makes it about five Millimeters uh narrower than what the 75 Millimeter was it is 92 millimeters in Overall length here or 3.62 inches which Is about nine millimeters less than what The 75 millimeter was and it weighs in At 560 grams that's right under 20 Ounces and that is about 110 grams less Than what the 75 millimeter was now to Flip that around though from the other Perspective if you're looking at lenses Like the aforementioned Fuji 23 Millimeter or 33 millimeter this is About 14 millimeters you know wider and Longer and about 200 grams heavier than Those lenses and so as a byproduct I Would say that if you're shooting with One of food these larger bodies for Example I've did this review on the xh2 This lens is a beautiful fit on the xh2
Because it's essentially a full frame Size lens and the xh2 is pretty much a Full fry full full frame sized body and So if you're shooting with the XT series You know it's probably going to be okay But if you're shooting with one of the Very compact cameras you're probably Going to find this a little bit front Heavy and so I would say the fit is Going to really depend on a couple of Things the size of the camera that You're using and also your tolerance for Slightly heavier and larger lenses Personally I didn't really notice the Size all that much but then again I'm Shooting on a bigger body and I'm also Comfortable with larger lenses your Mileage may vary Now this mostly follows the pattern Established for the 75 millimeter lens With one exception and that is that I Did note with the 75 millimeter and X Mount it kind of changed the typical Convention on Fuji where we never see a Lens based afmf switch typically that's Reserved for the lever or button that's On the camera to switch between those Things but there was an afmf switch on The 75 millimeter that's now absent and Frankly I wish that it wasn't because I Still prefer these lens based switch for Afmf as I just find it to be the most Logical place to control that function And of course you know a muscle memory
Of going back for you know a long time As a photographer now I'm used to having An afmf switch and so that's one of the Things on Fuji that I do miss it's not Here at this point however there are Other features that continue this kind Of pro series grade of build and it Actually is a beautifully built lens it Does include the lens Hood as you can See here and it doesn't include a lens Pouch as well that is pretty much just Like Canon's old L Series pouches but The one thing I will say about the lens Hood itself it does bayonet into place It does click when it arrives there but The kind of the whatever spring action That holds it tight there it could be Tighter because it doesn't take a lot of Effort to dislodge it in fact sometimes And putting it down into the camera bag I have had it kind of start to pop loose So I would prefer just a little bit Tighter tolerance there but the lens Hood itself gets the job done no issues There this lens does come with the Aperture ring that we've come to expect Here you can do one third stop to tenths And you can go into the automatic mode There at the end if you prefer to not Use an aperture ring there is no Anything nothing like an aperture lock Nor is there the ability to de-click the Aperture something that seems to be a Fuji specific specific thing again it's
A feature that I just haven't seen on Any Fuji lenses and when we saw the Sony E-mount version of the 75 millimeter Lens it did have the ability to de-click The aperture it had that afmf switch and It even had a Sony style Focus hold Button so unfortunately uh here on Fuji I think we're going to get the stripped Down version of the lens and a little Bit more feature Rich on some of the Other platforms and I think that that Really you know maybe there needs to be A shifting standard I think on Fuji Particularly when it comes to de-cooking Aperture as they position more and more Of their bodies to be able to do great Video capture the ability to do aperture Racking is you know kind of a thing that Some people would like to do so I'd like To see the that change that's not really On build trucks they're just following What what is the Fuji standard form Lenses at this point it does have a Thorough weather ceiling I haven't seen The cutout yet I've been reviewing a Pre-release copy but what I did see with The 75 millimeter is there was about Nine seal points throughout along with Course the gasket at the end and what They call a nano HD coating on the front Which functions similarly to flooring And then it makes it easy to clean and Avoiding fouling So I suspect that we'll probably see
When that diagram comes I wouldn't be Surprised if there are seven or eight Seal points at least one less because There's no afmf switch on this but uh I'm it seems to be a thorough thoroughly Weather sealed design and and so that's Great one Improvement that I did see Relative to the 75 millimeter is that Everything here is you know as before Everything is in metal including that Manual focus ring so the focus ring Itself felt great on the 75 millimeter But I did notice some visible stepping As I uh did the input focus by wire as All mirrorless lenses are Um you know our Auto focusing mirrorless Lenses I should say but what I noticed Is that there were some visible steps as You tried to manually focus the focus Action is much better here and that we Don't have any of that visible stepping And the damping is actually really nice This is actually quite a good manual Focus experience for focus by wire and I Didn't have any kind of objections to it At that point they continue to include a USBC port at the lens mount which is Very welcome allows you to do direct Firmware updates and we did see with the 75 millimeter that autofocus Dramatically improved through a few Subsequent firmware updates I don't Think those are going to be as needed Here because they've refined the
Autofocus performance a little bit more There's less to correct at this point But at the same time I certainly welcome That because it makes the lens more Future proof and that they can always Release a firmware update to assure Compatibility or to make improvements as Necessary Inside we have 11 aperture blades which Is very nice because it helps to keep a Very circular shape here to the aperture Iris as you stop it down as you can see Here and one other really really welcome Improvement is something that I've been Harping on with viltrox lenses from day One and that is they've never had a very Good minimum Focus distance and maximum Magnification figure they've always Seemed to be stuck at 0.10 times which Frankly is not a lot of magnification we Have a pretty dramatic Improvement here Where the minimum Focus distance is 28 Centimeters but the maximum Magnification jumps to 0.15 Times now That's nothing exceptional obviously but For viltrox it's a huge step forward and As you can see here if we compare the 75 Millimeter and the 27 millimeter the Amount of magnification that is there is Dramatically different so that's very Welcome to me because it just opens up Different photography Styles and Different ways of approaching the scene Or a subject and I really enjoy close
Focus ability is also great obviously For video as well and so all of that is Very welcome so in conclusion of the Build and the handling it is a very Nicely executed package it is very Consistent with Fuji standard I just Wish that Fuji standard included a few More of the features that I'm seeing More commonly on other platforms and I Suspect that when we see the Sony E-mount version of this lens it will Have those features that I'm referring To Autofocus once again comes from a ledge Crew type STM motor now lead screw type Are the more robust STM Motors and Fortunately here I don't really see a Whole lot of stepping and so that's Great I would love to see them move on To something like linear Motors just a Little bit more sophisticated Focus but Overall this Focus system actually seems To work really quite well here as noted The at least initial autofocus Performance of the 27 millimeter is Definitely better than it was on the 75 Millimeter which kind of stood out as Being a bit of a a weak Link in that While autofocus was good and consistent For portrait type work I didn't find it As good in other settings and certainly Not in video settings this is a less Demanding focal length obviously but I Think also the autofocus system it
Reflects some of the lessons learned Over the last nine months and so it's a Little bit more sophisticated in Performance it was able to track at Least mild action just fine I could you Know snap to shots and get them for Example nice you know there's some Indoor a cricket taking place not a Great idea by the way and uh and so it Was able to snap to focus on the Subjects without any kind of issue and And so I could definitely tell that There was more speed for acquiring Subjects in this particular lens the Autofocus for you know slower type Pace Things was pretty much flawless I in an event type setting even if I was Shooting from a distance at F 1.2 I was Getting perfect lock on the this subject Be it a speaker or a musician and they Were just really really great autofocus In that setting which is great and so Allows you to actually shoot at that Large maximum aperture and thus keep Your shutter speed down get cleaner Looking images all of those things and So I really really appreciate that I Also thought it did a great job and Those aforementioned family type Settings or a group type settings where You're just taking photos of people Interacting and having fun together and It just you know it just locked on the Eye it did what I needed to do zero
Problems and I really really appreciate That now when it comes to the video side Of things it is mostly positive here With just a little bit of a mixed bag So when it comes to the focus pools Focus pools we're definitely better Looking than what I saw in the 75 Millimeter they are as you can see the Transitions are good and snappy but There is that little bit of a pulse Um right kind of a settling pulse right When you acquire focus and that's Particularly at the end where I have the Glass camera figurine because that is a Little more ambiguous a subject and so I Found that it wasn't quite as confident Locking on that so it's a little bit of A pulse there but you can also see that There is some pretty obvious Focus Breathing and so that does draw Attention to focused transitions in a Way that a lens with low Focus breathing Would not likewise when I was just doing Shots where I was just kind of moving Along and wanting Focus to move from one Subject to another you can see that it Did pretty good but if there was a Bigger Focus change that focused Breathing was kind of a jarring slightly Jarring look and that you could it's a Really obvious Focus change and so the Focus breathing would be the shortcoming Here the actual will focus moving from One sub to another was really quite good
It also did a good job in my hand test Though again you'll see it's the focus Breathing that kind of draws attention To the focus change and a way again that A lower Focus breathing lens would not Do but overall I would say that Autofocus is definitely better than what I saw on the 75 millimeter even before Any kind of firm we're updating And I think that the lens is I think Pretty pretty comparable to other uh X Mount lenses that I'm using these a lot Of these flaws are things that I pretty Commonly see on Fuji's platform and as I Saw with the 75 millimeter and e-mount Focus was just a lot more sophisticated Because the autofocus system in camera Was more sophisticated and that's an Area where Fuji is still playing a bit Of ketchup at this point but for a X-mount lens I thought autofocus Performance was really quite good So how about the image quality that was Really what set the 75 millimeter apart It was a special lens optically and was One that was able to keep up with the 40 Megapixel bodies like the xh2 here or The xt5 and I'm sure other bodies to Come It joined a very short list of lenses That I thought are really really capable Of resolving that huge pixel density This is the equivalent of a 90 plus Megapixel full frame sensor so it's a
Lot of Demands on the optical Performance of a lens so can this lens Keep up as well well the short answer as You're going to see is going to be yes I Will point out that I did note that I Thought there was some kind of change to The optical glass when the 75 millimeter Came out and it turns out that that is True that they are now starting to Source some of their Optical glass from The Japanese company Hoya and I think it Makes a difference not just in the Overall performance but also the color Rendition that is really a step up so There's the MTF chart for this lens Looks fantastic as it did for the 75 Millimeter lens and so we're going to Dive in and see if this lens can live up To what the MTF chart suggests let's Take a look together so we'll start by Taking a look at vignette and Distortion Now on the Distortion front there's Basically nothing to see you can see Here already right out of the box that There's basically no Distortion and in Fact if I tried to correct in either Direction I actually introduced more Than what was actually there and so not A problem there you can see some Definite vignette that starts in the Corners and then it heads towards the Middle of the frame I used a plus 69 in Correcting that F 1.2 and so that's just About three stops and as you start to
Stop The Lens down the vignette does Diminish although it doesn't entirely go Away I will say however this is about Average and as far as the Distortion Goes it's a lot less than competing Lenses now I didn't feel like the lens Was completely free of longitudinal Chromatic aberrations there is a little Tiny bit of fringing as you can see in This shot here you can see it also is Not affecting contrast that it looks Quite good here on the plane of focus And so overall uh no major issue there With fringing but it's not like Apochromatic levels of zero fringing Either I saw very little of the lateral Chromatic aberration near the edge of The frame you can see at this very high Magnification there's the tiniest bit There along some of these lines this is Without any kind of Correction but There's not enough there that you'll Ever see it and typically this kind of Correction is going to be enabled by Default and and so whatever might be There you won't see anyway So as noted previously we are doing These tests on what is the most Demanding platform I currently test on Which is the 40 megapixel aps-c sensor Of the xh2 and so here at 200 Magnification so a true torture test you Can see that in the middle of the frame The results are fantastic crisp detailed
Good contrast moving off to the mid Frame similarly looks excellent as you Pan down this way everything is looking Really crisp great detail and as we move Off into the corner you can see that There is some drop off here but nothing Significant now for some perspective the Sharpest lens that I have used in this Class near this is Fuji Zone 23 Millimeter F 1.4 very very sharp lens You can see even though we are comparing F 1.2 to F 1.4 I do think that the Fuji Lens has a little bit of a contrast Advantage and is rendering similar Amounts of detail but with just a little Bit more contrast there In the mid frame the lenses are a little Bit more evenly matched but I do Slightly favor the Fuji results we pan Down this way and in this Zone here Actually favor the viltrox coming down Here on this side of the bill I would Favor the build trucks moving down into The corner I think that the Fuji is a Little bit better and if we pan on Towards the corner here the edge I would Say that as far as contrast and a slight Edge in detail I give to the Fuji lens And so the viltrox even at F 1.2 is very Very close to the very best in class at F 1.2 you're going to be on the left Side and stopped all the way down to F 5.6 a typical landscape aperture on the Right side so we can see looking in the
Middle of the frame that there is an Uptick in contrast and obviously depth Of field is going to change where things Are focused you can see that even at F 1.2 it already looks great and of course It gets greater still when stopped down To F 5.6 and so you can quick you know Particularly see that as we get towards The edge of the frame where although It's it's good it's much better when Stopped down but already this is a very Credible landscape type result at F 1.2 On the left side here already and so Very very impressive real world results Where I love this was in an event type Setting where I'm trying to keep the iso Down you can see because I can shoot at F 1.2 and get reliable autofocus and Also crisp results there's just no Reason to not use it at that which makes This a very tempting lens for wedding Ceremonies or other event settings where You need a wider focal length I also Loved it in this kind of setting like For family type shots again shooting at F 1.2 because you can get detailed Results well Focus results and the Overall look of images is nice now if we Stop down just very mildly to F 1.4 you Can see that there is an uptick in Contrast that is there just a little bit More detail which again would close the Gap with the Fuji a bit more likewise in The mid frame in this Zone here just a
Little bit more contrast but what we'll See is that as we start to move down Here we start to see just a little bit Of a boost in terms of our contrast Level and the detail that's rendered off Towards the edge of the frame if we move On to F2 here on the right side you can See that there's a significant Improvement there in the corner and Again for some real world perspective Here at f2 if we punch into a hundred Percent of magnification level in this Shot you can see that the detail is just Beautiful very crisp very high contrast You know depth of field is still going To be limited here but where depth of Field is you know we have plenty of Focus everything just looked really Fantastic all the way up to the very top Of the frame By landscape apertures like F4 you can See that the corner looks fantastic the Mid frame looks fantastic we can pop up Here it looks fantastic you know Basically anywhere that we look detail Is just looking really really fantastic And so I mean this is a lens that is Just really high performing and is able To produce all the detail that you would Look for now on very high resolution Bodies like the xh2 diffraction comes Early so even if we compare between F 5.6 and then at f8 you can see already The diffraction is starting to soften
The image a bit and by F 16 which is Minimum aperture here you can see Diffraction has really basically robbed Away all of the contrast so you're going To want to stay at F 8 and larger if at All possible and avoid f11 and F16 if You're shooting on a high resolution Body now we've already noted the Improved close Focus abilities and as You can see here that at close Focus Distances now I have stopped down to F2 To give me a little more depth of field You can see that we were able to get Some really nice looking results there Likewise here this is that F 1.2 and you Can see that there's detail along the Very edges of this tiny little blossom Here another shot here at F 1.2 you can See great detail and contrast there and Then as you look towards the defocused Area it's very nice and soft on the Bokeh note I noticed that even with a Shot like this which has a lot of things In the mid frame this is where this lens Sets apart from some of the other Competition I mean the detail there is Beautiful as you can see you couldn't Ask for better than that but as you Transition towards defocus it's not Doing anything you know particularly Ugly or serious outlining there's a Little bit of a swirl effect you can see There is some of that cat eye effect but It gives it a little bit of that kind of
Desirable swirl effect it looks good Then images like this just even in the Foreground bokeh and then the background The blurish just really really beautiful And it allows some really nice pop to The subject And even when it comes to flare Resistance now a large aperture lens Like this I mean there is some mixed Bags so in this case you can see there Is a bit of a ghosting artifact that's Going to take place it's also very nice And soft and somewhat artistic likewise In this shot which I really love there's A little bit of a veiling effect and if We look at the video you can see that That kind of Ebbs and flows a little bit But overall it's a nice stylistic look Likewise here where the sun is mostly Blocked and you're just seeing the sun Star which has 22 blades from the 11 Aperture blades it looks quite good very Little there but if we allow more sun And put it right in the corner you can See a little bit more of that kind of Veiling effect across here and stop down To f11 some of those uh you know the Sunburst blades get kind of long and Intrusive now if we go back and forth in Video capture you can see again there Are Ebbs and flows to that and so mostly It is a if you compose properly you can Avoid it all together any kind of flare Artifacts and what's there is Artistic
And it mostly shows up at something like F11 which is not a big deal if I shoot At F 5.6 here there's very very little Flare artifacts that are there where This lens really stands out to me is the Ability to blend the high resolution Detail here for example at F 1.2 but Then a very nice defocused area and you Can see it just again and again that It's that nice blend of sharpness and Softness that makes for some of the most Special results and this kind of stands Out to me here that you've got beautiful Detail on null on that narrow plane of Focus but then you've got a really Beautiful black background blur you've Got very beautiful color rendition it Just produces really pleasing images So as I said in the introduction this is A lens that I think takes some of the Best qualities of the Fuji 23 millimeter Namely that great sharpness and contrast And the ability to you know really just Perform on such a pixel Dent sensor but Then it also takes the nicer rendering Quality of the 33 millimeter F 1.4 from Fuji that I really thought stood out as Having really really nice bokeh and Overall look of images I think that this 27 millimeter lens manages to take kind Of both of those things and draw them Together into one lens and it really Really produces images that I like I Like the performance of being able to
Capture those images and rely on the Autofocus in terms of its consistency And you know the the and thus it allows That sharpness to shine because images Are properly focused and so it really is A it's a a lens that I'm really quickly Learning to love because it's a focal Length that I really really enjoy but Then it produces these beautiful results In those shots and in those settings and Thus it's highly attractive lens it's Also a really great value it comes to Market MSRP at right under 550 US Dollars starting on September 5th by the Way if you use at viltrox V their Viltrock store if you use the code Dustin Abbott you can get eight percent Off and so to bring that cost down even Further But I I just I feel like when you're Talking about at least 300 if not more Less than those Fuji lenses it does Present as a really really great value When you consider you're not losing Anything relative to those it's just as Nicely built as the aperture ring it has The you know good autofocus it has the Weather ceiling it has all of those kind Of more premium attributes at a much Lower price point and that makes it Really really attractive now the people That won't be attracted to this lens are Those that really really value as Compact and lightweight a system as
Possible and the reason why you're in Fuji for example is you want the Advantage of the smaller sensor in this Case you're really kind of going back to More of a full frame sized lens and Maybe that's not for you and if so I Completely understand but if you're more Comfortable with a slightly larger lens This is a lens that produces beautiful Results and it's the kind of focal Length that I suspect you'll find very Very useful I'm Dustin Abbott and if you Look in the description down below you Can find linkage to my full text review I'm going and also take a look at the Image gallery to see more beautiful Photos from this lens there are buying Links there though as the lens is just Being announced take a little bit to Populate those and as I noted viltrox Puts a moratorium of two weeks before Any coupon codes work so you may want to Wait until that point if you want to Save a bit of money you can also follow Me there on social media get channel Merchandise become a patron please like And subscribe if you haven't already Thanks for watching have a great day and Let the light in Foreign
