Viltrox AF 13 mm f/1.4 XF review - Introduction

Have you rated your lenses yet?

Viltrox AF 13 mm f/1.4 XF

3 November 2023

Maciej Latałło

1. Introduction

Even a dozen years ago typical fixed focal length ultra wide angle lenses were only as fast, aperture wise, as f/2.8. Lately, however, we've seen a real windfall of faster instruments and, as a result, nowadays you can find as unique modesl as 1.8/14 or 1.4/14 and they are dedicated for full frame.

In case of smaller sensors the construction of fast wide angle lenses is easier so in this category we are practically spoilt for choice. For example in case of the Fujifilm X system, equipped with the APS-C sensor, the story has started, quite traditionally, with f/2.8 lenses. Already in 2012 they released the Fujinon XF 14 mm f/2.8 R and less than one year later the Zeiss Touit 12 mm f/2.8.

Viltrox AF 13 mm f/1.4 XF - Introduction

In 2014 Samyang showed the first faster ultra wide-angle lens, the 12 mm f/2.0 NCS CS, and it was a very good instrument, upgraded after several years to an autofocus version.

Please Support Us

If you enjoy our reviews and articles, and you want us to continue our work please, support our website by donating through PayPal. The funds are going to be used for paying our editorial team, renting servers, and equipping our testing studio; only that way we will be able to continue providing you interesting content for free.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - advertisement - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Still lately Viltrox has outperformed everybody in this category: in January 2022 they launched an f/1.4 lens that is able to provide a field as wide as 94 degrees, a very original optical construction indeed. Such constructions always interest us a lot, small wonder we decided to test it thoroughly according to our usual procedure as soon as it was possible. The results of our test you can find in the following chapters – enjoy your lecture!

We would like to thank Fototechnika, the Polish distributor of Viltrox producs, for lending us one specimen of this lens for testing purposes.

You are also invited to get acquainted with our test procedure, described in the article "How do we test lenses?" If you feel it’s still not enough, please go to our FAQ section where you can find some further explanation.