Viltrox’s $99 AF 28mm f/4.5 L-Mount Lens Seems Made for the S9 and BF

Viltrox has introduced that its super-slim, ultra-lightweight AF 28mm f/4.5 Chip lens for full-frame mirrorless cameras is coming to L-Mount.

Viltrox debuted the AF 28mm f/4.5 lens again in October 2024 for Sony E-mount, after which introduced it to Nikon Z mount simply over six months later. Despite the fact that a full-frame lens, additionally it is to be had natively for Fujifilm X-mount, handing over a 42mm similar focal period on X Collection cameras.

Every time the lens has arrived on a brand new mount, it has include its identical competitive $99 (£90, €109) ticket. That continues to be true on L-Mount as properly. It has additionally remained distinctly tiny and light-weight throughout all suitable cameras. That’s true right here, too, in fact. The Viltrox AF 28mm f/4.5 Chip L weighs simply 60 grams (2.1 oz) and is simply 13.2 millimeters (0.5 inches) lengthy. A value of its ultra-compact design is that the lens does no longer settle for screw-in filters.

There are different tradeoffs Viltrox has made in pursuit of a pancake design. The lens has a hard and fast aperture, that means it may handiest be used at f/4.5 — no slowing down right here. The VCM-equipped autofocus lens additionally can’t be manually centered, which is very ordinary and does take some probably significant keep watch over clear of the photographer. The lens can concentration as shut as 0.32 meters (simply over a foot), so it’s no longer a macro lens.

The ultra-thin lens has an built-in slide lever to keep watch over a integrated lens cap, which is a handy characteristic.

Optically, the lens one way or the other squeezes six parts within, organized throughout six separate teams. It has two ED parts and a couple of aspherical parts. To the surprise of no person, those parts are accordingly small. Whilst maximum lenses purpose for a round aperture, Viltrox is all-in on unique starbursts and has opted for a polygonal aperture as a substitute.

The Viltrox AF 28mm f/4.5 lens has been a captivating better half to many cameras since its arrival on E-mount in 2024. It was once a compelling, inexpensive selection for a light-weight shuttle lens at the a7C collection, for instance. On Nikon, it sort of feels well-suited to one thing just like the Zf. Now on L-Mount, the Viltrox AF 28mm f/4.5 Chip has in all probability discovered its easiest companions so far, the Panasonic Lumix S9 and the Sigma BF, a couple of very compact, full-frame L-Mount cameras.

When Panasonic unveiled the Lumix S9 in Might 2024, it additionally introduced the Lumix 26mm f/8, a $200 fixed-aperture, manual-focus pancake lens. The promise was once a light-weight, compact better half to the S9. The Viltrox AF 28mm f/4.5 Chip L makes all of the identical guarantees, however at part the associated fee, with autofocus and a quicker aperture. Oh, and it’s smaller, too. The Lumix 26mm f/8 earned its spot on PetaPixel‘s Absolute best and Worst Cameras and Lenses of 2024 listing of disgrace.

Whilst the Viltrox AF 28mm f/4.5 Chip L isn’t destined to set any image-quality data, the trade-offs are much more palatable at $99 and with autofocus.