Viltrox AF 28mm 4.5

The Viltrox AF 28mm f/4.5 VCM Z takes the pancake concept to the extreme. Short of the infamous "lens caps" that incorporate a tiny lens, we haven't seen another lens this small. However, the small size does come with some compromises. Performance-wise, it's not great on a high-resolution sensor. The broader center quality is actually pretty good, and the borders are quite acceptable, but the extreme corners are soft. Image distortions are surprisingly low, whereas vignetting does benefit from auto-correction. Lateral CAs are fairly high in the image corners as well. Stray light can be an issue in scenes with bright light sources. The build quality is generally good. Surprisingly there's a metal mount and the quality of the plastic for the body is decent. The tiny built-in lens cap mechanism feels a bit flimsy, but it's good to have it on board. Other than that, there isn't much to report here. There are no buttons nor control rings on the lens. The AF is works fine without excelling. Manual focusing is not supported. A fixed aperture of f/4.5 is quite exotic for a 28mm lens. As such, it's certainly not meant for landscape photographers because at f/4.5 the foreground just won't be sharp in infinity focus scenes. If you want high corner-to-corner quality, it's also not for you. There are, however, scenarios where this lens could be useful - 4K video is just about 8 megapixels and the Viltrox lens can do that. If you are looking for a lightweight lens for "talking & walking head"-style YouTube videos could be another one. f/4.5 won't matter much here. And, of course, there's street and social photography, where you tend to shoot quickly just to capture the moment - "Lomography" is a thing out there for many enthusiasts. So if it fits with your shooting style, the Viltrox AF 28mm f/4.5 VCM Z could be a fun option - especially at this price point. Even so - check for sample variations. Viltrox lenses can be purchased via the Viltrox online store (enter KS28CHIPZ5 for a little discount) or the usual suspects such as Amazon or B&H.