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Viltrox announces $399 35mm f/1.8 lens for Nikon Z mount

Viltrox 35mm f/1.8 lens for Nikon Z mount

For just $399 you can now get a fast 35mm prime lens with electronic contacts and an aperture ring

Budget lens manufacturer Viltrox has just announced details of a new 35mm f/1.8 autofocus lens for Nikon Z mount cameras. Despite being a relative newcomer to lens manufacturing, Viltrox makes decent glass that won’t break the bank.

For anyone with a full frame Nikon Z camera, such as the Nikon Z7 II, the Viltrox 35mm f/1.8 is by far the cheapest prime of that focal range available. And for APS-C bodies like the Nikon Z fc, it becomes an equivalent 52.5mm lens. Made up of ten elements in eight groups including two extra-low dispersion elements, two aspherical elements, and two high refraction index elements it offers crisp images with little aberrations.

• Read more: Best Nikon Z lenses

It features nine aperture blades, has a constant aperture of f/1.8 through to f/16 and a minimum focusing distance of 0.4m. Compared to the Nikkor Z 35mm f/1.8 S, which has a minimum focusing distance of 0.25m, you have to be further away from your subject but so far that's the only downside – at least, until we get one to test the image quality.