Shooting with the Viltrox 25mm f1.7 Air on Nikon Z

Viltrox is one of the up-and-coming third-party lens manufacturers in China that seems to be rising above some of the others in terms of their offerings.

For one thing, they seem to be prioritizing autofocus lenses. For another, they’ve been putting out new products at a steady clip. They’ve got me intrigued, and after shooting with this one, I’m eager to try out more of their lenses.

Like many of their competitors, these lenses are inexpensive when compared with those put out by the camera manufacturers themselves. This one, for example, is priced at $176. But as manufacturing has gotten so much better in recent decades, inexpensive doesn’t always mean the same as “cheap,” which often has more of a negative connotation involving quality.

In fact, in my experience, the quality on some of these third-party lenses that have been coming out is actually pretty good. Not all, by any means — there are clearly some that are better than others.

So what about this one? The only way to really find out, of course, is to try it out and go shooting with it. Which is precisely what I’ve been doing. And below you can see some of the results.

This page is the companion to my hands-on review of the Viltrox AF 25mm f/1.7, which answers the questions these photos can’t on their own: how sharp it is wide open, how the autofocus behaves, how much vignetting to expect and how well profile corrections clear it, and what the build feels like in the hand. Here I’ve put up a much larger selection of the images I shot with it.

First, the basics

This is a fast(ish) prime that’s designed for APS-C lenses. Its 25mm focal length as the equivalent perspective of a 37.5mm lens would have on a full-frame camera. So it falls in the area transitioning from a wide-angle to a “normal” perspective.

Typical uses would be for everyday general photography, travel photography, street photography, photojournalism, environmental portraiture, and so on. It’s less typically a focal length used for sports, wildlife, or traditional portraiture.

It’s small, compact, and light. So it’s an easy lens to have around.

Viltrox has priced this particular lens at $176, which is an attention-grabbing price point.

Sample images taken with the Viltrox AF 25mm f/1.7

This is an AFS-C sensor lens, and there are versions for Sony E-mount and Fujifilm X-mount. I’m using the version for Nikon Z-mount, which equates to Nikon’s DX camera range.

But I’m actually shooting with it on a Nikon full-frame (FX) camera, the Nikon Z8. Nikon’s FX cameras automatically detect DX lenses and crop the available sensor area accordingly. At full resolution, the images in this case are 5392 x 3592 pixels, or approximately 19.4 megapixels. That’s about in line with Nikon’s native DX camera bodies (the Nikon Z50 II, Z30, and Zfc are 20.9 megapixels.)

These were all shot in RAW and lightly processed in Lightroom. I have not applied any extra optical lens corrections when processing, but like many newer mirrorless lenses, this one embed profile corrections by default into the EXIF. I have left those enabled in Lightroom, which they are by default, on the basis of that being how most users are probably going to be using it in real-world shooting. I’ll go into more detail on this in the full review.

Many of these were shot wide open, or near to it. And that’s because if I’m using a fast prime like this, chances are good that I’m wanting to take advantage of having those wide apertures available. And a fast lens is, after all, a key thing that sets it apart from, say, a 25mm f/4 lens.

Still scrolling? Fair enough — there are plenty more below. If what you’re really after is whether this lens is worth buying, that’s what my hands-on review is for: sharpness, autofocus, vignetting, and how it holds up in the field.

Is it any good? The full review

Photos can show you the look of a lens, but they can’t tell you how it behaves. If you’re deciding whether this one is worth your money, my full hands-on review of the Viltrox AF 25mm f/1.7 covers the parts you can’t see here — sharpness wide open and stopped down, autofocus speed and accuracy, vignetting and how the lens profile handles it, weather sealing, and how it compares with the alternatives.

Tech specs

I’ll post a hands-on review separately shortly, but here are the key specs:¹

Viltrox AF 25mm f/1.7 Air Z Lens Specifications
Focal Length	25mm (APS-C)
35mm Equivalent	37.5mm
Maximum Aperture	f/1.7
Minimum Aperture	f/16
Lens Mount	Nikon Z
Format Compatibility	APS-C
Angle of View	60°
Minimum Focus Distance	0.3 m (11.8 in)
Maximum Magnification	0.11×
Optical Design	12 elements in 10 groups Includes 1 ED, 2 HR, and 2 Aspherical elements
Diaphragm Blades	9 (rounded)
Autofocus Motor	STM with leadscrew
Focus Type	Autofocus / Manual Focus
Image Stabilization	No
Filter Size	52 mm
Dimensions (Ø × L)	64 × 56.4 mm
Weight	≈180 g
Special Features	USB-C port for firmware updates, EXIF data transmission

Notes & References:

1. Data source. [↩︎]