@@ArthurR absolutely! There are rumors of a 35, 50 and 85mm all at f1.2, can’t wait! I wish they made zoom lenses too, I’m sure they’d kill it if they made a 24-70 or a 35-150.
Reminds me of the Olympus bodycap lenses. Cheap, tiny, limited features (including a lever-operated manual shade), quality sacrifices, but fun and quirky enough to leave on the camera.
I'm surprised by how positive you are about this lens, especially considering how critical you were of the TTArtisan 25mm F2, which I personally think is a great lens! Anyway, thank you for this review. Hopefully "The Chip" will also come to Fujifilm X-mount, and others.
The size and the autofocus are the two main things. The TTartisan 25mm F2 is similar to a lot of other manual lenses out there, and optically is just ok, not particularly unique. But it is a value.
After testing last week I feel it it a better crop camera lens than for Full Frame. I love shooting street at 40mm on FF. Focuses faster on my a6700 than my a7rIV.
@@shutyoahhupbruh Unfortunately Viltrox confirmed that the lens will not be compatible with any Sony NEX camera! Please, keep this in mind. Therefore I stay with another combination. A smaler camera is more valuable for me, than a tiny lens on a larger camera. Sorry Viltrox this is the first E-Mount AF lens which doesn't work on NEX models.
@@aeskellion they usually release their lenses on a single mount and later give them other mounts. Most of them eventually come out for Sony, Nikon and Fuji.
This Viltrox lens is really a slap in the face for those who bought Lumix S9 bundled with Panasonic 26mm F8 MANUAL lens. And that lens costs $200 USD !!
Very nice review, thanks Arthur! For me the Viltrox 27mm F1.2 is wonderful on an a6700, but after buying two of these bodies my ZV-E10 is a bit useless. Normally it carries the NISI 9mm, but this near-perfect pancake can be the smallest option for the ZV-E10 when I go wildlife shooting with one of my a6700 and the awesome Sigma 60-600 DG DN OS. Then I have a very small 28mm option in my bag! Edit: bought on indiegogo. Currently ~80€ including shipping to Germany. Thank you again!
i just got mine, gonna take it out for a spin on my a7rIV. with the huge crop factor, its going to be a very versatile lens. i didnt even know it could be fW updated!
0:43 Unanswered? Its called chip because they are drawing comparisons to a potato chip due to it's thinness, further evidenced by a literal photo of a woman putting it to her mouth as if she would when eating a potato chip. Id say the writing is on the wall, dude.
This would be perfect on something like an APSC body for a tiny (cheap) street camera I suppose... or if you wanted that vintage look that you got with some of the old film point and shoots that likely had a similar focal length lens.
This lens looks perfekt on the A7C and would also be a perfect match with the Panasonic S9. The sharpness is not the level of a G oder GM lens, but definitely it has character and what you can say for this price.
Many reactors on RUclips for this lens. I say below that I find it tempting. But, I do not do that any more. It might be fun at first but it has three totally unnecessary flaws. 1. You cannot stop it down increasing the DOF - makes it unusable as a street photo lens. 2. You cannot focus it manually and e.g. use hyperfocal or just estimated distance - makes it hard to use for street photography. 3. You cannot open it upp entirely, avoiding the night image stars. Apart from those rather serious caveats, this seems like a fun lens.
I still prefere my TTArtisan 28mm f2.8 because I looooove the character it has wide open. But this lens looks so fun as well! Pancake lenses are just the best to enjoy fotography :)
Hmmm... maybe use as a 42mm on APSC, maybe minimising the downsides. It would interest me as it would be an incredible pancake on my 6400 at a`nice eyesight-like focal length.
Good comparison with the Sony 20mm! I chanced across that secondhand and love it on my ZV-E10. Fixed aperture would, at this point, be one step too far for me, though.
I saw a review that was also done on a full frame Sony A7C. Then they mounted it on an APSC A5100, changing the focal length to 42mm. With the APSC sensor, the results were even sharper, with the same flare and sun star performance.
I do wanna see someone do a more through examination of this vs the sony 20mm. I think there's a fair amount of pros & cons between the two and used at least you can get the 20mm for around $200. even for full frame. honestly that flexable aperture and focus ring do make a difference but the corner quality is noticeably better for the viltrox
How would this lens work on APSC cameras? New to photography, but trying to understand; The lens would be "bigger" than the sensor, so there would be wasted edges, but that would be better than using a apsc lens on a full frame, which has a smaller lens than sensors that would produce dark spots? Is this correct? If used on an apsc camera, would the focal length still be 28mm with a 1.5 crop factor (so 42mm)?
On the indigogo page they said that you have to open the lens cover before switching on the camera. Would the front element touch the lens cover? Is there anything about this issue in the packaging?
no way... the image quality is no where near as good with this lens. It's not really anything more than fun. The fuji could be used professionally, albeit not anyone's first choice.
4:33 If there's no blades to adjust the aperture, then. I. wonder why they'd make it an octagon instead of a circle for nicely round bokeh? Is it because people prefer the sun star flares it makes?
I'm a little confused what value the 28mm translates to on APSC cameras - it seemed wide enough for selfies in your video - how does it compare to the Sony 16mm pancake?
To get an equivalent of 28mm on Full frame, you need about a 20mm APSC lens. If you use a 28mm lens on an APSC camera, it will give you a 42mm equivalent full frame field of view.
What an interesting lens. Really cool how the lens cap is integrated into it's tiny body and that small size could make it the perfect lens for the Days where you don't feel like bringing your camera but don't wanna miss a beautiful moment. It's just that at 28mm F4.5 it's get's dangerously close to a Smartphone's Camera. And while i'm sure it's still sharper and a camera comes with lots of other advantages, that get's me thinking. But then there's the price and it doesn't even need to be incredible at around 100$. I think if they could've made it APS-C 23mm at f2,5 and maybe add just a little bulk, that would've been great for me.
I would recommend the TTArtisans 27(?)mm pancake lens It's 1.5-2x the size of this lens, but it can go down to f2.8 (with slight vignetting) and can go up to f16. Plus it has autofocus!
does it have a warranty? I've never purchased from indiegogo and I'm from Singapore. Where should I go or contact if something happens with the lens?I wanted to buy one as they ship to singapore but I am a bit worried about warranty. please give me some suggestions.
This vs the new Samyang lenses with the exchangeable lens element gonna be exciting. Called remaster slim series but they seem to be 3 times the price.. Edit: price seems to be for the whole kit, 21 f3.5, 28 f3.5 and 32 f.28
Link to this lens on AMAZON(affiliate): geni.us/58joMju
👏👏👏
Already out of stock. Sony only???
😮Don’t ever rest a lens on its glass. FYI: glass is easily screatched.
Viltrox really have been killing it the past year or so. They’re the manufacturer whose new lenses I look forward to the most right now!
This is true! They are becoming a new Sigma....
@@ArthurR absolutely! There are rumors of a 35, 50 and 85mm all at f1.2, can’t wait! I wish they made zoom lenses too, I’m sure they’d kill it if they made a 24-70 or a 35-150.
Thank you for supporting！
@@viltroxofficialconsidering adding L mount?
The pro series lenses on Fuji are indeed supreme
EDC lens … no need for body cap! Street photogs dream
And it's also fullframe! You missed that in the title. Most other pancakes for E-mount are APS-C only.
1:45 That spin on the rear element
Couldn't have said it better...
I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR A PANCAKE LIKE THIS FOR YEARS
Reminds me of the Olympus bodycap lenses. Cheap, tiny, limited features (including a lever-operated manual shade), quality sacrifices, but fun and quirky enough to leave on the camera.
This lens is MUCH better than those bodycap lenses. I would go out with this lens and not have any regrets with the shots I got.
I’m down with this! Glad to see more cheap and cheerful options 👍
I'm surprised by how positive you are about this lens, especially considering how critical you were of the TTArtisan 25mm F2, which I personally think is a great lens! Anyway, thank you for this review. Hopefully "The Chip" will also come to Fujifilm X-mount, and others.
The size and the autofocus are the two main things. The TTartisan 25mm F2 is similar to a lot of other manual lenses out there, and optically is just ok, not particularly unique. But it is a value.
Clearly an excellent lens, and some lovely images !! Thks
Great shots of Georgetown TX. My hometown!
I was not expecting this lens to be so good!
you are one hell of a photographer, Arthur!
Great video! Pairing this lens with a Sony a5100, you get a pocketable setup, better than GR3!
I feel like I want to buy a NEX7 with this lens !
GR3 is amazing.
After testing last week I feel it it a better crop camera lens than for Full Frame. I love shooting street at 40mm on FF. Focuses faster on my a6700 than my a7rIV.
That's what I wanted to know. I'll get one for my A6700.
it's basically auto-focusing body cap lens
the only problem: fixed aperture
Hopefully for Fuji soon
LOL the 5 balloons bit
I wanted to see it on the a6000 or similar. The real af pocketable camera.
I would say this lens is more fun on an FF camera. But sure, on an APS-C you will avoid the lower resolution in the corners.
You mean Sony Nex 5R oder Nex 5T 😉 These are game changers with this lens.
@@masterflai I miss my new 5t, I always carried it in my pocket cuz it was so small
Warning, Partly compatible with A6000 in video mode...I'm experiencing a focusing issue with it on my a6300.
@@shutyoahhupbruh Unfortunately Viltrox confirmed that the lens will not be compatible with any Sony NEX camera! Please, keep this in mind. Therefore I stay with another combination. A smaler camera is more valuable for me, than a tiny lens on a larger camera. Sorry Viltrox this is the first E-Mount AF lens which doesn't work on NEX models.
They need to make a FX mount version of this.
Strongly agree. I still have an xt-10 I like as a walk around and this would be perfect.
@@aeskellion they usually release their lenses on a single mount and later give them other mounts. Most of them eventually come out for Sony, Nikon and Fuji.
Would buy it for sure
I actually quite liked this lens' character especially facing it directly on some light source
I've been loving my samyang 35mm pancake lens but this takes it to another level. Already ordered it now and can’t wait to try it on my A7iii
Can you test it on APSC camera?
It will be sharper at the edges.
Reminds me a bit of when I used to play with plastic lensed medium format film cameras. I like the vignetting and flares.
This Viltrox lens is really a slap in the face for those who bought Lumix S9 bundled with Panasonic 26mm F8 MANUAL lens. And that lens costs $200 USD !!
hope they slap Panasonic again by making an L-mount version of it
Very nice review, thanks Arthur! For me the Viltrox 27mm F1.2 is wonderful on an a6700, but after buying two of these bodies my ZV-E10 is a bit useless. Normally it carries the NISI 9mm, but this near-perfect pancake can be the smallest option for the ZV-E10 when I go wildlife shooting with one of my a6700 and the awesome Sigma 60-600 DG DN OS. Then I have a very small 28mm option in my bag!
Edit: bought on indiegogo. Currently ~80€ including shipping to Germany. Thank you again!
i just got mine, gonna take it out for a spin on my a7rIV. with the huge crop factor, its going to be a very versatile lens. i didnt even know it could be fW updated!
0:43 Unanswered? Its called chip because they are drawing comparisons to a potato chip due to it's thinness, further evidenced by a literal photo of a woman putting it to her mouth as if she would when eating a potato chip. Id say the writing is on the wall, dude.
Georgetown!!! LOVE IT!!! 🇨🇱
That looks like fun!
Wobbling it on rear element….NOOO!😱
@@alfo6085 I test it, so you don’t have to!
@@ArthurR I seriously started sweating when I saw that.
Interesting lens. I think i'll add this to my wishlist 😎
I ordered mine seems like a nice lens for the price and ill put it on my crop sensor camera.
Other native mount options would help.
This would be perfect on something like an APSC body for a tiny (cheap) street camera I suppose... or if you wanted that vintage look that you got with some of the old film point and shoots that likely had a similar focal length lens.
I think I really like the flare, because it translates well with my eyes (astigmatism)
So this is great for me ^^
Looks like a fun lens on my old nex5.
This lens looks perfekt on the A7C and would also be a perfect match with the Panasonic S9. The sharpness is not the level of a G oder GM lens, but definitely it has character and what you can say for this price.
I purchased it for my Sony A7 III, I don't know if I'll ever use it though
Many reactors on RUclips for this lens. I say below that I find it tempting. But, I do not do that any more. It might be fun at first but it has three totally unnecessary flaws.
1. You cannot stop it down increasing the DOF - makes it unusable as a street photo lens.
2. You cannot focus it manually and e.g. use hyperfocal or just estimated distance - makes it hard to use for street photography.
3. You cannot open it upp entirely, avoiding the night image stars.
Apart from those rather serious caveats, this seems like a fun lens.
I want this for fuji x mount!
Im sure its coming!
I still prefere my TTArtisan 28mm f2.8 because I looooove the character it has wide open. But this lens looks so fun as well!
Pancake lenses are just the best to enjoy fotography :)
Hmmm... maybe use as a 42mm on APSC, maybe minimising the downsides. It would interest me as it would be an incredible pancake on my 6400 at a`nice eyesight-like focal length.
No Cap? That's straight bussin'.
It has one built-in.
Hope the image quality isn't skibidi toilet
@diluteduk It's a bit Ohio but on point.
Cope harder
should have called it the puck
Even thinner than that is the 9.2mm thick Pentax XS 40mm f2.8 that is auto focus and sharp from wide open.
I have that lens. I wish Pentax made it with the slider lever at 1:54 because I lost my lens cap.
Grabbed one, thanks! Wish I hadn’t wasted my money on those disposable lens printed craps I saw on IG.
Kind of interesting! Sounds like a match for my a7cII 😀🥳
Will it work on my NEX-6 ?
Its tempting. Got an A7CR.
Good comparison with the Sony 20mm! I chanced across that secondhand and love it on my ZV-E10. Fixed aperture would, at this point, be one step too far for me, though.
Jeez, redefining the term “pancake lens” indeed. I need one :”)
I saw a review that was also done on a full frame Sony A7C. Then they mounted it on an APSC A5100, changing the focal length to 42mm. With the APSC sensor, the results were even sharper, with the same flare and sun star performance.
@@toomanyhobbies400 you’d be using the center part of the lens, which is sharper than the edges/corners, so this is all true.
I do wanna see someone do a more through examination of this vs the sony 20mm. I think there's a fair amount of pros & cons between the two and used at least you can get the 20mm for around $200. even for full frame. honestly that flexable aperture and focus ring do make a difference but the corner quality is noticeably better for the viltrox
good drone lens
It will fit my QX1 perfectly!
Really appreciate channels like yours that exposing us vast choice of affordable lenses.
Need oe for RF mount... would buy in a heartbeat!
Wow thats a good one
3:45 That seems outrageously sharp to me (who mostly shoots on weird old soviet lenses)
I'd like to see a standard zoom lens from Viltrox!
I love the 20mm 2.8 pancake
How would this lens work on APSC cameras? New to photography, but trying to understand; The lens would be "bigger" than the sensor, so there would be wasted edges, but that would be better than using a apsc lens on a full frame, which has a smaller lens than sensors that would produce dark spots? Is this correct?
If used on an apsc camera, would the focal length still be 28mm with a 1.5 crop factor (so 42mm)?
Correct, and you wont have the darker corners or softness. This is a great little lens on APSC, but the depth of field will be even less shallow.
Would love to see a comparison between the Viltrox and the Sony 20mm f2.8 on APSC. Can imagine some are doubting between these two!
only thing missing is the possibility to add filters tbh, a fun lens would be great to add some fun filters to spice up the image. thx for the video.
Very interesting test...I will still wait for the totally new concept by Samyang of three "modular remaster slim"
Z Mount?
Has anyone used the Viltrox AF FF 28mm f4.5 pancake lens on a Sony A6300? I'm experiencing a focusing issue with it.
Nikon Z 26mm 2.8 is what I want to get as my next lens.
On the indigogo page they said that you have to open the lens cover before switching on the camera. Would the front element touch the lens cover? Is there anything about this issue in the packaging?
What do you think about this lens for everyday life and street photography on my alpha 6000/6700?
I guess it might be okay for Instagram photography judging by your examples. Does it come in a Nikon mount? Interesting but it's not for me.
It is like the Maitani's Olympus XA lens project, some kind of reverse position of the lens inside, but this is 28 instead the 35mm
compare it with the TTArtisan 27mm F2.8 Autofocus lens!
I'd really like to see the head-to-head comparison between these two lenses!
I gonna wait for the next version when they figure out how to put manual focus mechanism in
Kinda regret buying the 27 1.8 from TT now :)
With the way my bag is I have to take my lense off most of the time to store the camera. This is going to live on my camera from now on.
I did the indegogo... got the deal with the 40 2.5 too. lol
I have the 28mm pancake RF soldered to my eos r. If you hava sony is no brainer. Best combo.
For full frame this might be a fun lens to play with however for APSC I think you would be better off getting a renewed 16-50mm kit lens for $120
i'm looking for some similar lens for canon ef. any suggestions anyone?
It really looks like industar pancake lens!
Cant wait for a z mount counterpart
Is this a Full Frame lens???
Pairing this lens with A7CII, you beat X100VI
I plan to pair this lens with my Sony NEX-5 and that would be a perfect poor man's Ricoh GRIIIx !!
no way... the image quality is no where near as good with this lens. It's not really anything more than fun. The fuji could be used professionally, albeit not anyone's first choice.
So for anyone who was waiting, forever to know what cameras this works on. It’s E-mount
would be good if you also test this on an apsc. 😁
4:33 If there's no blades to adjust the aperture, then. I. wonder why they'd make it an octagon instead of a circle for nicely round bokeh?
Is it because people prefer the sun star flares it makes?
I'm a little confused what value the 28mm translates to on APSC cameras - it seemed wide enough for selfies in your video - how does it compare to the Sony 16mm pancake?
To get an equivalent of 28mm on Full frame, you need about a 20mm APSC lens. If you use a 28mm lens on an APSC camera, it will give you a 42mm equivalent full frame field of view.
is there an apsc version/alternative to this lens? I’m looking for around the same focal length after crop 🙏
too bad they don't make one for m4/3
What an interesting lens. Really cool how the lens cap is integrated into it's tiny body and that small size could make it the perfect lens for the Days where you don't feel like bringing your camera but don't wanna miss a beautiful moment.
It's just that at 28mm F4.5 it's get's dangerously close to a Smartphone's Camera. And while i'm sure it's still sharper and a camera comes with lots of other advantages, that get's me thinking. But then there's the price and it doesn't even need to be incredible at around 100$.
I think if they could've made it APS-C 23mm at f2,5 and maybe add just a little bulk, that would've been great for me.
I would recommend the TTArtisans 27(?)mm pancake lens
It's 1.5-2x the size of this lens, but it can go down to f2.8 (with slight vignetting) and can go up to f16. Plus it has autofocus!
This would be interesting on my m4/3 cameras but they don’t make it for that mount.
It's would love to get what are these if they ever come out in micro 4/3 mount.
What my Panasonic GM-1 needs
does it have a warranty? I've never purchased from indiegogo and I'm from Singapore. Where should I go or contact if something happens with the lens?I wanted to buy one as they ship to singapore but I am a bit worried about warranty. please give me some suggestions.
China. Viltrox is a Chinese company. Only 1 year warranty.
Close focus is a disaster tho, feature I love the most...
its what panasonic S9 needed 😄
This vs the new Samyang lenses with the exchangeable lens element gonna be exciting. Called remaster slim series but they seem to be 3 times the price..
Edit: price seems to be for the whole kit, 21 f3.5, 28 f3.5 and 32 f.28
It’s a…. dream for all day use on gimbal🙂
I wish it can do close macro focus