Viltrox kicks off its L-Mount Alliance membership by bringing one of its best lenses to more cameras

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The high-end Viltrox ultra-wide-angle Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8 L for Sony and Nikon mirrorless cameras is now also available in L-mount

Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8 L-mount
(Image credit: Viltrox)

Lens manufacturer Viltrox began a new chapter back in September of last year, becoming the 10th member of the L-Mount Alliance. It thus joined elite image industry movers and shakers, including Leica, Sigma, Panasonic, and DJI, in the process.

As a leader in the welcoming committee, Leica Camera AG released a statement saying, “By welcoming Viltrox as a new member, we are strengthening our network with a highly regarded partner that shares our vision of a forward-looking and versatile system. Viltrox contributes valuable expertise in high-quality lens development and brings fresh momentum to our ecosystem.”

As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating and while there’s an AF 28mm f/4.5 L waiting in the wings, the first Viltrox L-mount lens out of the blocks is the AF 16mm f/1.8 L. The lens has actually been around for a while, the Sony E-mount edition being launched back in May 2023, and the Nikon Z-mount version following in May 2024 (see our full review).

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Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8 lens on a camera
(Image credit: Viltrox)

A high-tech feast of a lens, it was Viltrox’s first to feature a color LCD display panel, along with dual customizable function buttons and an aperture control ring complete with a click/de-click switch. Autofocus is courtesy of a fast and virtually silent linear stepping motor, and the dual-function buttons enable you to set up two ‘A and B’ focus distance settings, so that you can automatically transition between the two.

The high-end optical path comprises 15 elements in 12 groups, including three aspherical elements and four ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements, plus HD Nano multilayer coatings. The front element also has a fluorine coating, and the lens is extensively weather-sealed.

On full-frame cameras, the lens has an expansive viewing angle of 105.6 degrees, while the fast f/1.8 aperture enables a fairly tight depth of field for close-ups. (Image credit: Viltrox)

(Image credit: Viltrox)

Expect to pay around $580 / £533 / AU$999 for the L-mount version of the lens, with prices closely following the Nikon and Sony versions of the lens. 

For more, you can check out our review of the Sony E-mount version of the Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8.

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Matthew Richards
Matthew Richards

Matthew Richards is a photographer and journalist who has spent years using and reviewing all manner of photo gear. He is Digital Camera World's principal lens reviewer – and has tested more primes and zooms than most people have had hot dinners! 


His expertise with equipment doesn’t end there, though. He is also an encyclopedia  when it comes to all manner of cameras, camera holsters and bags, flashguns, tripods and heads, printers, papers and inks, and just about anything imaging-related. 


In an earlier life he was a broadcast engineer at the BBC, as well as a former editor of PC Guide.

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