I flipped my Viltrox 85. I liked the build quality and the image quality, but in the end 85mm on aps-c was too long for what I shoot and I found it much too heavy on an X-Pro. 56/1.2 is my portrait/ short tele lens of choice now
When it comes to sharpening Fuji files, I find that if you set the detail slider to zero, you can sharpen the images in Lightroom without any problems (and it saves you the trouble of going to Photoshop). I've had both this and the 90 and I have to say that this is such a great value. The difference in sharpness is so small and it's still among the sharpest "Fuji" lenses. I wasn't that bothered with the weight, in fact I found that this, because of the weight was easier to get a bit slower shutter speed on the non ibis bodies. Great video as always :-)
Kjell Andersson thanks, another good LR tip. I don’t mind going into PS since I do my final tweaking in PS anyway, but for those who want to do everything inside LR, these are great tips.
Kjell Andersson also, did you have an issue with purple fringing? I could see it in other people’s reviews, but I was shooting directly into the sky photographing buildings and then looking along the lines of the buildings against the sky, and I just couldn’t see it in my copy. I wonder if they improved the coating(s) or if I haven’t tested the lens enough in various lighting situations. Either way, the trade off of having f/1.8 and fixing the aberration in post is worth it for a third party manufacturer I think. For Fujifilm, I’m sure they’d rather be cautious and take a hit on speed for the sake of IQ. Plus OEM lenses have the advantage of in-camera lens correction
@@bigheadtaco I mostly photograph the people I love (and of course when I'm travelling) but I haven't really seen any chromatic aberration - but honestly this is seldom a deal breaker for me.
Although a couple of weeks ago I did go over to "the dark side" and switched to Sony a7riii. This wasn't because I didn't feel like Fuji couldn't do what I needed because I have been very happy with it for the last 4 years but I realized that I had a serious problems with the amount of Fuji gear that I had acquired. This last December I when to Rome and the amount of thinking and planing for which lenses I should bring and if I should have both the X-T3 and X-H1 with me made me question my sanity. I ended up bringing the X-H1, the 16-55, the 16 f1.4 and the Viltrox 85 but after just one day I just brought the 16-55 with me when we went out because I didn't want to change lenses. When I came home I when to my local camera store with the 2 bodies and 8 lenses and said I wanted to "slim down". I didn't really want to leave Fuji but I wanted something as fast and accurate as the X-T3 with the ibis of the X-H1, 2 primes and a zoom. I do miss the handling of the Fuji and the colors but I guess that I'll get used to it. The sharpness and detail is of another level (I'm afraid that I'm going full pixel peeper). Sorry for long and out of place "rant"...
I've got a used one for 220usd only, it's tack sharp with pleasing bokeh. After the latest firmware upgrades its focusing speed is reasonably fast while manual focus is very easy because of its huge focusing ring. I enjoy using it with my xh1 because of the IBIS. The only downside is its heavyweight. Pairing it with the xh1 and the vertical grip is like using a DSLR, so I definitely won't take it to travel.
Viltrox released a statement saying to not use their lenses the 23mm, the 33mm or the 85mm with the Fuji xpro3 because they would scratch the lens release button due to the lens bayonet size. They issued an apology for any inconvenience that this might have caused. Hey BigHeadTaco have you had any problems yet. There is also a firmware floating around that some have tried, not Viltrox official that takes the aperture down to f1.6.
There is an article that this lens damages the XPro3. Is not a funciontal damage, is just that when you "screw" the lens into the mount, it rubs against the release button for the lens so it may damage the paint. But so you know.
This lens is a bargain new or used! I have the fuji 80mm which i use for macro,street and portraits and i bought the 80mm because it has ois which has its benefits. 80 mm fuji is heavier and bigger though but all depends what genre of photography is your priority. Good video thanks.
By-tor hey, do you had any problems with mounting it to your X Pro 3? I damaged the ring of the „lens release button“ on my X Pro3 because the mounting ring of the Viltrox is to big. In my opinion that’s what should happen on all X Pro 3 when mounting the lens because the diameter should the same :( maybe @bigheadtaco can leave a word about this? Stay safe..
@@mwales2112 mhh, that's mysterious. I got a serious scratch on the outer ring of the lens "release button" if you now what I mean. The lens mounting ring was too big and I have tested it on two Viltrox 85.. I can't imagine that same lenses have smaller mounting rings in diameter because of the overall "housing". Maybe a Fuji manufacturing tolerance? Now I'm painting the scratch with some permanent marker :D and have dismountiled the lens mounting ring and worked on it with my Dremel. No joke..no it fits fine. A little tight overall but no grinding anymore. I really wondering why ..
@@Schokahola That is very strange. I just looked at my mount and I see no scratching or gouging at all. It mounts very smooth and firm into place with no play...
I find it hard to take pictures with this lens becuase neither the lens nor my fuji xt30 has OIS/IIS. How do I get good pictures if I want to shoot a moving toddler?
I own the Viltrox 85mm f/1.8 lens and it is excellent. I also own the Fujifilm 90mm f/2.0 lens. It is a 72mm filter thread because it is designed as a full-frame lens. It has a bit more CA than the Fujifilm 90. But it is very sharp indeed. Use Capture One. It is like night and day. So much better than LR for Fujifilm X files. It is like a new camera when using Capture One. I almost dropped Fujifilm until I discovered Capture One. For the X-T3 in CO I sharpen at 180% at 0.8 pixels "0" threshold and "0" noise reduction. Get the FREE Fujifilm version.
@@bigheadtaco The Viltrox is very sharp, where the Fujifilm is "Brutally" sharp Fujifilm has no apparent CA, where the Viltrox has some purple fringing in high contrast situations, easily repairable however. Both are great and the Viltrox gets a tad more light fenestration.
how are people able to put the Fuji x mount version of this lens onto sony full frame cameras? A lot of the reviews make a comment about that but I don't know of an adapter that allows an xmount to fit onto an FE mount sony. Anyone know about this?
@@bigheadtaco according to my testing, the results are sometimes better than Capture One. Plus you don't have to leave Light room. That could be an interesting video!
@@bigheadtaco Check this video for proper sharpening and no worm in Lr : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-N_6alo4iZWA.html I made my own presets from that video advice for my X-pro 3 and don't have worms so far... 😉
If you mean extension tube, that's usually used to convert a standard lens into a macro lens. Depending on the lens, your infinity focus becomes shorter, making it more difficult to focus further away. If you're using an adapter to increase your focal length to focus on objects further away, you need a teleconverter, which has optical elements to correct for the extension in focal length to achieve infinity focus.
Great review. I do street photography with a Fuji XT30 and a 23mm f2. With the new situation we are in now and for a while, getting close is an issue. I am thinking about this 85mm sounds like what I need. Do you have any idea if and when the Viltrox 56 f1.8 will come to???
Because I shot at night, I really couldn't get it to flare, but from what I remember, it was nothing special. It typically looks good when you stop down, for any lens.
A lot of wasted weight and glass using a FF lens on crop. i mean it’ll work, just meh. i have the 90 F2 (in my avatar) and what a beast. you can get a 90f2 used pretty cheap.
true, but not half price. Plus this shouldn't be seen as a competition. the more third party manufacturers that build X mount lenses, the more options for Fujifilm X Series photographers. 38 OEM lenses by the end of the year, and imagine having another 38 lenses made by third party manufacturers. That's a win-win for everyone. I think it's a good attempt by Viltrox, and hopefully they can attempt different focal lengths, perhaps filling gaps where Fujifilm gone yet. 35mm f/1.0 perhaps?
Regarding processing Fuji X-Trans raw files in Lightroom/Photoshop - don't! It's a bad idea! Adobe is very poor in dealing with Fuji raw files. I have Capture One Fujfifilm (it's free BTW) which I use to open my Fuji raw files and do some very minor adjustments. I then save the files as 16 bit tiff and then complete my processing in Photoshop/ACR. This gives much better results than using Adobe solely. Good video BTW :)
yes I still prefer in-camera RAW conversion or using Fujifilm's X Raw Studio for the 'purist' film simulations. LR is great for editing (which most confuse with post processing, which isn't the same). I organize my photos with LR with very light processing.
@@PhotoTubeUK Yes of course, but they are not as good as when those film profiles are created using the camera's own processor. There are many tests that I have done personally, as well as my colleagues. In-camera JPEG or in-camera RAW to JPEG conversion looks best with film profiles. I'm finding this even more critical with Classic Neg.
