Viltrox 16mm f/1.8 Z Astro

As usual, this is not a technical, in-depth look at the lens, simply an unbiased (no freebies, kick backs or otherwise) point of view. This is also based off the one opportunity I've had to try this lens at night, with considerable light pollution, so less than a scientific test. I also had a very small window before the cloud shown in the pics rolled back in, giving me no time to test back to back with the Nikon 20mm F/1.8.

Nikon Z7 - Viltrox 16mm, f/1.8

Single Shot, Mildly Edited in Snapseed

16mm, f/1.8, 13 sec, ISO 8000, cropped from below

So, can I just use the term "as expected", and be done with it? When you have a lens with a wide enough aperture, almost imperviable levels of any aberrations, a wide field of view and is miraculously sharp, what else is there?

Firstly, I'll address the one thing that was worrying me, vignette. Now as per above, the are I could shoot from (my deck), has an almost natural vignette/framing through a couple of trees, masking the true story here. In saying that, like my low light landscape tests, I was pleasantly surprised with how mild the vignetting was. Will this become a bigger problem when I don't have such a scene? Maybe. But thus far, there's nothing to suggest this is a problem too big for lens correction to adjust. Also note that nothing shown on this page has any lens correction, nor any artificial vignette removal done in post. But the final proof remains to be seen.

Regarding aberrations or any kind, I really don't think there is really much to be seen. Considering I went over the NPF Rule's 11.35sec maximum exposure for "Barely Noticeable Star Trails", and well over the 5.68 sec ideal maximum time, you could certainly hypothesize that most of the star elongation seen here, can more than likely be attributed to the 13sec exposure time I used in the shots shown. The direction of the trails is also consistent with this. Also note, that upon extending exposures to 15 and 20 seconds, the star trailing visible also followed this direction, as if a natural extension of what is seen at 13sec. of course, like any single photo shot with ANY lens, you could probably find some fringing (Lateral Chromatic Aberration) should you fill your screen with a handful of pixels. But again, they are at levels so small, you would never see them. All of this indicates that using a 45mm camera and the NPF Rule, the sharpness of the lens is ultimately dictated by length of exposure. In saying this, having viewed the above image on a 75" 4K TV, there is very little that would bother me, with the 4k resolution doing more harm to the shot then any star trailing or lens aberrations. For a lens offering a 16mm focal length, this is something that would be unheard of in any lens, only a year or two ago. In a lens with these features, and this pricing? It's almost unfair.

Following on, overall light gathering, contrast and colour rendition is also, absolutely bang on. Without the chance to shoot back to back with the Nikon 20mm, to my eyes, this may be another area where the Viltrox, once again, betters its native counterpart. The first test shot, at ISO 1,600, had me reaching instinctively for the ISO button, to bring it down to 800-1,000. Considering I was shooting straight into the light pollution glow of Sydney, only 45km away, the lens still showed amazing detail in the Milky Way. Again, the light pollution made it very easy for colouring to appear washed out, but to its credit, the Viltrox seemed almost unaffected.

Nikon Z7 - Viltrox 16mm f/1.8 Z

Full Shot Compressed

There is a little noise, clearly shown in the massively compressed shot above, (from which the first shot was cropped) but keep in mind that this has had zero noise reduction applied. Stacking a dozen shots, noise reduction, or a star tracker would easily remove any noise shown, but the image is shown as-is, for the sake of transparency. It should also be kept in mind that the Z7 is hardly the pinnacle of night time photography, making the results even more impressive.

Finally, do the lens's focal point recall, and cool little screen actually work? Well, they work so well, that I almost forgot to mention them. Lets be honest, after a few times using your preferred focussing technique, focusing to infinity in the dark isn't really that hard. But in saying that, the most time consuming part of setting up, is now simply extending the tripod. The fact that this is the case, probably says more about the current world we live in, then it does of focal accuracy. And the screen? I glanced at it once, only to confirm that the fn2 button had done its job, with the screen almost instantaneously flicking straight to infinity at a simple press, if only to confirm that the screen justifies the price of admission.

To sum up the lens's astro potential, I really don't know what else can be said, bar further testing showing up any glaring problems, not seen thus far. I actually thought it would need time to bond with it, find out what settings it works best in, "wine and dine" it, if you will. Instead, you simply plug it in, point it at the sky and press a button. It's almost too simple, too clinical, lacking in character. In fact, the result is so impressive, that unless you are spending around twice the money on a Nikon 20mm f/1.8, missing out on the Viltrox lens's huge field of view, party trick focal recall and glowing screen, I really don't know what else you would buy for astro. With features and performance that out of the box, batters lenses that were considered "common man standard" only a short while ago, the Viltrox seems to be actually restricted by the Z7 and my own skill, both of which seem archaic in it's presence. What it's like with a Z8/9/6III behind it? That I can't wait to see.