Today, APS-C camera photographers have quite a large selection of third-party lenses on the market capable of delivering professional results, and this is becoming especially true in the ultra-wide field. wide.
I have an almost insatiable curiosity to try out a new lens when it is released. I also love good super wide-angle lenses, so for now, I have a pretty decent collection of ultra-wide lenses for my Fujifilm X Series cameras.
In this article, I will explain my views and experiences with each of the four third-party super wide-angle fixed focal length lenses for the X-Mount, although all of these lenses are available for the Sony E-Mount and some other APS-C camera systems. The four lenses are Viltrox 13mm f/1.4, Rokinon 12mm f/2, 7Artisans 12mm f/2.8 and Laowa 9mm f/2.8.
Spec lenses like these are a big part of my toolkit, and I use them frequently for architecture, real estate, print reportage, astrophotography, and so on. landscapes, videos and documents. Prefer a prime lens for zooming for these purposes, my requirement is that it be wider than 14mm and have an aperture of f/2.8 or brighter. I’ve owned each for about six months or more, and each is intended for my professional or personal use.
Don’t expect any pictures of brick walls in this article. While those types of reviews have their place in the industry, my approach to how glasses earn a place in my pocket is much more casual, based on real-world photography, and directly related. Next up is how the lens fits my needs and budget while still performing well enough for professional use. Also, I feel like manufacturing differences between copies make pixel peep pointless when comparing a lens to purchase online.
I specifically chose not to include native Fujifilm X Series lenses in this review, despite owning several. While I love the native Fuji glasses, this article is all about third-party content, which I believe some potential buyers may be more apprehensive about, given all the native lenses. are highly rated, although not meeting everyone’s potential needs. For example, Fuji’s largest ultra-wide-angle prime lens capable of low-light shooting is the XF 14mm f/2.8. It’s a great lens with excellent image quality, but 14mm isn’t enough for many people and some people are also used to brighter apertures.
Also, I will not discuss the Zeiss 12mm f/2.8, as I have no experience with it.
Viltrox 13mm f/1.4
First, I’d like to mention the elephant in the room, which in this case is the only lens out of these four with autofocus. The Viltrox 13mm is my most used UWA just for this reason. While autofocus is not required for really wide glasses due to the huge area of the focal plane in focus, autofocusing opens the door to moving subjects, such as children. , pets, vehicles, etc. It’s also helpful to take advantage of the very fast f/1.4 aperture on the Viltrox, effectively unlocking the ability to take ultra-wide-angle portraits with a little bit of subject separation. Additionally, it helps you use the close focus capabilities for some pseudo-macro hand-held work with little concern about shifting out of focus due to unintentional body movements. Focus is too fast and accurate enough for my needs on all my Fujis and works great for video work too.
The same fast aperture that opens up a bit of bokeh in the right shooting situation with Viltrox also makes this lens my top choice for night photography. It could be astrophotography in the Utah desert or it could be cityscapes at night, but the Viltrox is an absolute must when it comes to letting in more light and I appreciate that a lot. It became especially important to my nighttime city and streetscape workflow, as I enjoy working without a tripod when traveling in urban areas and the f/1.4 results Fuji’s relatively good IBIS gives me a lot of flexibility when moving in the city night.
Image quality on my copy of the Viltrox was excellent in the extended center, and stopping down to f/2 cleans up the corners beautifully. Contrast and color rendering are both at a high level, especially from f/2 onwards.
The real drawback of this lens, at least for me, is its size and weight compared to other lenses. It weighs 14.6 oz and is smaller than the others (especially Laowa, which is very small). It feels well balanced on my XH series cameras, but is a bit awkward and heavy on my X-S10 and X-T20. Another problem is that I don’t consider 13mm wide enough on a crop sensor to be my primary lens for professional real estate or architecture work, which I quite often do.
Also, out of these four lenses, the Viltrox is easily my favorite for video. While some people may prefer a mechanical manual focus lens for video work, my experience has been that the autofocus on this lens is so good that it falls between that and the ability to blur. your background with f/1.4, Viltrox is my go-to choice for video work.
Overall, at $429 at B&H Photo at the time of this writing, this lens offers a lot. It’s significantly more expensive than the Rokinon and almost three times more expensive than the 12mm 7Artisans, but for what it offers, it’s well worth it.
Rokinon 12mm f/2
The Rokinon 12mm f/2 was my first super wide-angle lens for my Fuji X Series camera. When it was released, it was extremely popular among astrophysicists due to its good price and fast f/2 aperture. At the time of its launch, the Zeiss 12mm f/2.8 was its main competitor, as Fuji’s widest fast prime lens at the time was the 14mm f/2.8, which made a Undesirable number of things for this type of work. However, the Zeiss costs more than twice as much as the Rokinon. Having been on the market for quite some time now, the Rokinon can now be found very cheaply on the used market and a new one can be had for as little as $249 at the time of writing.
While it lacks the Viltrox’s autofocus, focusing is easy, as you can simply set it to infinity, and even when shooting at f/2, everything is from about 3 feet or more. are in focus when focusing. That being said, my copy doesn’t die with factory-written infinity (an issue I’ve read about others having as well). I simply used a metal permanent marker to mark the exact position for infinity focus and didn’t think much of it, but new buyers should keep this in mind if they decide to go for it. one pcs.
The Rokinon 12mm’s popularity for astrophotography is for good reason. My copy was pretty sharp when extended at f/2 and perfectly manageable in corners at f/2.8. At f/4 it’s razor sharp, but since my primary use for this lens at the time I bought it was astrophotography, I usually shoot at f/2.5 to keep the ISO low. as possible and got results that I’m very pleased with. .
Perhaps my biggest problem with the 12mm Rokinon are the “petal” six-pointed sun stars, which I find unattractive compared to the sun stars on the other three lenses in this article. This is a minor issue, but I find it particularly annoying in my nighttime cityscape work because the city lights are numerous and, in particular, resulting in awkward-looking six-pointed stars that are often often scattered across the image when shooting close-up through f/5.6.
Overall, the Rokinon is a great lens, especially since the price has dropped so much since launch. Excellent image quality, small size and weight, and a capable f/2 aperture make it a winner for anyone who doesn’t care about ugly sun stars and doesn’t mind working. with manual focus and aperture settings.
7Artisans 12mm f/2.8
The 7Artisans 12mm f/2.8 is the most recent addition to my family of super-wide-angle fixed prime lenses, and its area of expertise is clearly valued. At just $149, the starting point to own this fully manual lens is very low, while still delivering good image quality and a relatively fast f/2.8 aperture. This is the lens I recommend to anyone who needs a good super wide-angle fixed focal length but doesn’t have a lot of money to spend.
On my 12mm copy of the 7Artisans, the center exhibits very good sharpness, and stopping at f/4-5.6 turns it into a sharp performer.
Unlike my 12mm Rokinon, the precise infinity lines on my lens replica and perhaps even better are the brilliant 14-pointed sun stars the lens produces through its 7-blade diaphragm. it. For this reason, I would have easily opted for the 7Artisans over the 12mm Rokinon for cityscapes, but the Rokinon’s all-time brighter aperture gives it a slight edge for astronomical compositions.
The build quality of 7Artisans lenses has continued to improve since they came out, and their 12mm is a prime example of that. Made with lots of metal, good tolerances, and a cream-colored focus ring, my copy costs a lot more than its crappy cheap price. It has the same size and form factor as the Rokinon, but feels far better in terms of overall build quality and focusability. The lens is a real pleasure to use.
Your budget may need 7Artisans if you’re buying new from these four lenses, but you shouldn’t feel cheated by any means. Not long ago, a lens with this quality and features would cost a lot more, and listen to me when I say it’s more than just capable of producing professional-quality photos. It is the king of value. An improved version of the lens was recently released and the price remains the same.
Laowa 9mm f/2.8
With an extremely wide 9mm, Laowa 9mm f/2.8 Zero-D will give you a much wider field of view than any other lens. That combined with the design of the lens, which has virtually no distortion, makes this one of the best choices for architecture and real estate work. At the time of this writing, B&H sells it for $399 brand new, about $100 off the regular price.
For me, this lens is really for architecture, especially interior work, and it absolutely excels in that area. My copy doesn’t have as strong optical performance as the other three, but if you need the 13.5mm full-frame equivalent field of view it offers, you can work around some of its optical compromises.
Undoubtedly, the most obvious compromise on the Laowa 9mm is its terrible vignetting, which never really goes away no matter how far you stop it (however, it improves a lot at apertures f/8 and above). Fortunately, darkening is easily compensated in every popular photo-editing app, so I don’t see this as an irreparable problem.
Laowa is extremely small and compact. The Rokinon and 7Artisans’ 12mm lenses dwarf it just as Viltrox dwarfs the front two lenses. Its build quality and feel aren’t as good as the Viltrox and 7Artisans, but it doesn’t feel cheap at all.
Ultimately, the Laowa is a lens you buy for some very specific reason. You won’t find anything wider in this price range, and you won’t find anything smaller in its focal length and aperture range. It fills a very specific need for my professional workflow, works admirably when you ignore its shortcomings and takes up almost no space in my bag.
