Anyone who follows what I write on these pages well knows by now that I’m not a fan of china-made lenses. But I’m even less of a fan of a manufacturer that stifles a free-market option that’s benefitted photographers for longer than I’ve been shooting: third-party lenses.
Where RF mount crop sensor is concerned, Canon’s policy is downright absurd. There’s a total of TWO APS-C lenses right now, both slow zooms with plastic mounts. EF-M glass doesn’t work on the EF to RF adapter, not that I’d buy any. Two lenses, that’s it. The longer one, which I have, is a meh lens at best.
So when I had a chance yesterday to grab a cheap-as-chips Viltrox RF 85mm f/1.8 lens, I grabbed it. It’s well-reviewed, praised by DXOmark, and my experience with it today would appear to confirm their findings. It’s the sharpest 85mm I’ve seen other than the crazy expensive RF 85mm f1.2L, which weighs 1.3kg and which I ditched recently. And AF is faster than with the RF 85mm f/2.
I might just add a TTartisan 21mm f1.5 as well, to work as a fast 35mm. Might as well get some of what’s out there while it’s still available. Thanks, Canon. You made that forbidden fruit even tastier!
