Viltrox Air 15mm f/1.7 – a new lens for APS-C

I recently had the opportunity to test a new prime APS-C lens from Viltrox; the 15mm 1.7 Air in a Nikon Z mount.  In full frame terms, that means you have something between a 20 and 24mm perspective.   A 20mm lens is one I use a lot on my full frame cameras, and I was excited to give this APS-C version a test drive.

This Viltrox Air 15mm will be my fourth from the set, which I’m using on the Nikon Zfc.  I previously wrote a review of the 35mm 1.7 which you can find on 35mmc here, and the 25mmm which you can find here.

For personal context, I’m normally a full frame shooter using everything from the Z6 to the Z9. But when I’m traveling or just shooting casually for fun, I wanted something smaller, lighter and frankly, cheaper.  I now have 4 of the Viltrox Air series, giving me the approximate focal lengths of 20 35, 50 and 85mm.  That’s a solid prime lens set and yes, I can still fit all four lenses and the camera in a child’s lunch box.

The APS-C Air series comes in a Fuji X, Sony E and Nikon Z mount.  Unlike Fuji and Sony, Nikon doesn’t make a lot of prime DX lenses in the Z mount, and this is a gap that Viltrox and other third parties have been filling. While you can always shoot Nikon’s full frame lenses on their crop framed cameras, the size and expense aren’t always a good match for cameras like the Zfc. And of course when you effectively multiply the focal length by 1.5, getting a fast wide angle prime for a DX camera becomes impossible in a native Z mount.  Nikon doesn’t make one.

With that context, let’s open up the box and go take some pictures.

Viltrox lenses arrive beautifully boxed, and include a plastic, bayonet style lens hood, a “real” back cap, and a small cloth pouch.  Externally, there isn’t much to describe.  On the barrel is the lens description and a textured focus ring. Taking off the back lens cap reveals a metal bayonet mount and a USB port for software update.  Like all of the Air series, this lens is lightweight and small without being tiny or pancake sized.  An interesting side note is that the Nikon Z version of the lens is slightly larger and 15 grams heavier than both the Sony E and Fuji XF versions.  Mounted on the Zfc, it makes a tidy and attractive package.

On my first day with the Viltrox Air 15mm, I was scheduled to shoot a soccer game in the evening, so I left a little early to take some shots on the way.  It was a typical July afternoon in Texas, with temperatures bumping the 100-degree mark and a bright sky devoid of even a single cloud.  The MTF charts supplied by Viltrox show both contrast and sharpness to be consistently excellent for all but the extreme edges of the frame at f8.  When shot wide open the center is still excellent, with a gradual decline towards very good as you move to the edges.  That afternoon was no time to test the lens wide open, as the overly bright day quickly overwhelmed the Zfc’s fastest shutter speed.

I did get a chance to test the Viltrox Air 15mm at smaller apertures, normally at distance.  As predicted, sharpness was not an issue.  Against a bright sky, you can detect some vignetting, but it is minimal and easily dealt with in post.   Another nice surprise is that Lightroom identified the lens on import and was there to help make software corrections.   The late afternoon sun gave me a chance to generate some sun-stars. The Viltrox has 12 elements aligned in 10 groups with 3 extra low dispersion lenses and 3 high refractive index lenses, so it seemed like the design would lend itself to decent results.  There is some personal preference here and I’m no expert at this technique, so you can judge the results for yourself.  I can say that there was some lens flare, but it could be easily avoided.

Moving on to the soccer game, the sun began to sink, and I had a chance to use the lens at larger apertures.  The sky began to darken, and a few clouds appeared to add a little interest. The 15mm did a good job of capturing those delicate colors.  In overall views of the stadium details held in the crowd shots, the grass is the right color, and the wide angle gave a feeling of being right in the action during the last player warmups.   I was hoping to grab a celebration shot after a goal, and kind of got it but the players never got close enough for that in-your-face look.

I would have one more chance to use the Viltrox Air 15mm before sending this review off to Hamish, at a concert in a fairly large venue.  For most of the shots so far, a faster 1.7 aperture wasn’t really a necessity, but for shooting a concert it would allow me to shoot at reasonable ISOs.  Some results:

When testing a lens, results are also dependent on the camera.  For the shots I’m getting paid for, I’m using a Z8 and Z9 paired with exotic lenses that sell for thousands of dollars.  Am I getting the same results with my humble Zfc and Viltrox Air lenses?  Frankly no, but that misses the point.  My buying decisions for this camera revolved around cost, portability and quality.   At just over $200 US, and a svelte 195 grams, the new Viltrox 15mm obviously checks the fist two boxes, and after 2 days of testing I’m more than happy with the picture quality.  Like the other Viltrox lenses, these little gems punch way above their price.  If you own a Zfc, Z30 or a Z50, they are highly recommended.

If you have any comments or questions, leave them in the comments below and I’ll try and be as helpful as possible.

If you are interested, Viltrox is offering a five percent discount for 5 days past the July 30^th release date.  The Amazon links are included below.

Amazon US/Amazon EU

The author is a passionate photographer living in North Texas.  You can see more of his work at his website here

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