Скачать или смотреть Viltrox 40mm f/2.5 (A Budget Competitor for the Best Street Lens) | Round Glass Review

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Today we’re taking a look at the Viltrox 40mm f/2.5 lens—a semi-fast wide-angle option introduced in 2024. It hit the Nikon Z mount first, followed later by Sony E, and was designed with street shooters, documentarians, and casual everyday photographers in mind. Bottom line up front: this lens is surprisingly good, especially for its price. It shines when framing subjects within their environment—capturing not just a person, but a person and their world.

The 40mm focal length gives you a 57.8° angle of view on full-frame or about 60mm and 39° on APS-C. You get an f/2.5-16 aperture range, 10 elements in 6 groups in a layout that still feels very double-gauss to me even months after testing against the Sony. It focuses as close as 0.34 meters and uses an STM lead-screw AF motor with fly-by-wire manual focus. Filter thread is 52mm, and the lens weighs just 167g—easy to toss in your bag. Dimensions vary slightly by mount, but it’s small and light on either system.

To get the most from this lens, think about scenes rather than isolation. It doesn’t sweep wide like a 28mm but gives you enough room around your subject to frame contextually. That makes it great for reportage work where capturing mood and place matters. And because it's both affordable and featherweight, it’s a smart choice for riskier shooting environments—break it and you're out less than dinner for two in a big city.

The simplicity of this lens is also a strength. It has one interface—the fly-by-wire focus ring—which feels just like Viltrox’s other recent primes. If you've used the 20mm f/2.8, 50mm f/2, or 35mm f/1.7, you’ll feel right at home. That kind of tactile consistency is something I wish all lens makers adopted.

Let’s talk performance. The Seidel testing reveals expected compromises at infinity: cat-eye blur on the edges, mixed with aperture-induced hexagons toward center. This indicates some internal vignetting and that the aperture never fully clears from the optical path even wide open. Up close, the blur becomes circular, showing the aperture is out of the way and clean. Onion rings from aspherical elements also show up in bokeh highlights at close range. APS-C shooters, take note—this could be a compelling portrait option.

In the dot chart test, sharpness in the center was more than respectable—especially for a $166 lens. We see some coma and tangential astigmatism in the corners, which limits astrophotography utility, but radial control is solid. Corner performance is consistent except for a bit of monitor misalignment on my part.

Let’s break it down. Pros: very good sharpness for the price, particularly up close. The lens makes a strong case on crop sensors as a long-normal prime. Build quality is basic but acceptable, contrast is bold and punchy, and the out-of-focus rendering—especially close-up—is lovely. Distortion is slight but well controlled, and flare and ghosting are a non-issue in most situations—even without the hood, which is basically decorative.

Now for the drawbacks. Aperture stars are disappointing. Like other third-party budget primes, you won’t see anything aesthetically exciting from the aperture until f/11 or f/16. Also, light loss through vignetting is real—visible in tests and in daily use—but sometimes can enhance mood if used deliberately.

Balance on lightweight and mid-sized camera bodies is fine; on heavier cameras it can feel front-light, but the benefit there is waist-level shooting becomes more intuitive. Not bad for quick street shots when you’re trying not to draw attention.
(Narrative written by AI based on my video outline)

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Video Index:
0:00 - Intro
0:11 - Viltrox 40mm f/2.5 Round Glass Review
0:44 - Viltrox 40mm f/2.5 Specifications
1:54 - Viltrox 40mm f/2.5 Tips & Tricks
3:31 - Viltrox 40mm f/2.5 Aberration & Bokeh Analysis
6:09 - Viltrox 40mm f/2.5 Strengths & Weaknesses

References:
https://www.handprint.com/ASTRO/ae4.html
https://www.pencilofrays.com/lens-des...
Cox, Arthur, M.A., B.Sc., F.Ints.P., Photographic Optics: A Modern Approach to the Technique of Definition, 13th ed. (London: Focal Press, April 1966).

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