Viltrox EVO 26mm f/2.8 Review: My Kind of Pancake

Who said full-frame lenses have to be big? Pancake lenses are always popular because of their compact nature, and you can have the image quality of a full-frame sensor in a package that’s easy to travel with.

The major compromise is a relatively slow aperture, but I honestly don’t find that to be an issue anymore, especially with how good modern sensors are at higher ISO settings.

Panasonic made the S9 camera a thousand times more enjoyable for me by creating the 20mm and 40mm pancake lenses. Together, the small body and small lenses became a capable but also convenient package. Now Viltrox wants to capitalize on this success with a new $299 26mm lens for both E-mount and Z-mount. As part of the Viltrox EVO line of lenses, the new 26mm should handle nicely and offer good image quality, so I took the lens on a family vacation out to the lake country of British Columbia. I found much to enjoy about this little pancake companion.

Viltrox EVO 26mm f/2.8 Review: How It Feels

The Viltrox EVO designation can be a little confusing to understand because some of the lenses are APS-C specific and some are full-frame. However, they all have very smart-looking designs and functional aperture rings. In fact, having an aperture ring on such a compact lens was a very pleasant surprise for me, and it made the shooting experience more fun. I do wish that there were stronger resistance on the aperture ring to prevent accidentally slipping the lens into the auto aperture setting. As it stands, you also will not find a locking switch to prevent this from happening.

The lens is tiny, weighing only 4.5 ounces (130 grams). This is incredibly light, and anyone will immediately notice the ease with which you can carry this optic. It comes with a very solid lens hood that bayonets onto the front of the lens with a firm twist. This hood also provides 43mm filter threads on the front, and the lens cap is a really slick magnetic-style cap that clips right over this lens hood. The lens feels quite solidly built as well, and has some weather sealing around the lens mount.

About the only thing that really bothered me in the handling department is the manual focusing ring. It has a very firm resistance, which I would normally enjoy, but the metal knurling is too flush with the chassis. As it is, I struggled to find the ring under pressure, and I had to pinch it uncomfortably to get it to turn reliably. This extra friction only made the ring even stiffer to turn, and I basically tried to forget about its existence on the lens. Fortunately, this is indeed an autofocusing lens. The stepping motor inside takes a little bit of time to drive the lens into focus, but it worked beautifully on the Sony A7R V I tested it with, as long as there was no rush. It can also make a bit of an audible chirping noise.

Viltrox EVO 26mm f/2.8 Review: How It Shoots

So the Viltrox 26mm does have some handling issues, but the convenience factor of a compact wide-angle is still really easy to appreciate. I especially like the 26mm focal length, which gives me a versatile composition well suited to landscape shots. I can capture wide vistas and tight spaces when I want, and easily crop in tighter for street photos too. This is a sharp little lens as well, with excellent detail in the central portion of the image, even at f/2.8. Corners have a touch of softness as you go to the extremes, but a slightly tighter aperture gave me excellent results across the entire frame. There is a little distortion in the lens, but it is easily and automatically corrected afterward.

The weather was quite sunny by the lake, and I did notice some flare issues when shooting toward the sun. Nearby fires were creating smoke in the air, but I tested the lens again in Calgary under clear conditions and found some scattering of light across the frame. If you stop the lens down, it helps to restore some contrast to the image, but you will get some very minor ghosting visible. This is with the hood in place the entire time, and it really needs to stay on whenever possible. Sunstars at tighter apertures also seem to lack definition.

You can get quite close to subjects with this lens and achieve about 1:5 macro reproduction at 0.2 meters. This is fun for the occasional detail shot, and does allow for some shallow depth of field in the background. Bokeh looks fair, but sometimes there is a touch of harshness or double imagery in the out-of-focus areas of the picture. Still, I think the bokeh has a decent quality to it, and you’ll rarely get shallow depth of field with a wide angle like this anyway. I did not find LoCA, or longitudinal chromatic aberration, to be an issue with this lens at all.

Viltrox EVO 26mm f/2.8 Review: Bang for the Buck

This lens has some issues, undoubtedly, but it also has some very pleasing characteristics. What it really has is a tiny profile and a tiny price. This is a no-guilt purchase, and it can bring you a lot of joy. I think the Viltrox EVO 26mm f/2.8 would be great on a Sony A7C II or the new Nikon Z5 II. It’s even a viable 38mm full-frame equivalent lens for your favorite APS-C body, and it definitely won’t feel too large on any of those cameras. If you are really into pancake lenses or just want a fun and simple tool for traveling purposes, you will get awesome value for only $299.

Are There Alternatives?

Nikon does make an excellent pancake lens that happens to also be a 26mm f/2.8. It has nice bokeh, but there is no aperture ring, and it’s substantially more money. Sony makes a very good 24mm f/2.8 G lens, which is also compact and has an aperture ring. It also happens to be more than double the price.

Should You Buy It?

Yes. If you can deal with the flare and don’t manually focus often, the value for the dollar and convenient size are hard to ignore.