Viltrox has outdone itself by producing a 10x zoom lens designed for medium format sensors. With a large 60 mm image circle, this lens can comfortably cover camera sensors such as those found in the GFX 100S II and the Hasselblad X2D. What's even more impressive is that it has a constant aperture of T5.6.
Generally speaking, medium format zoom lenses tend to have variable apertures. This helps to keep the overall size of the lens relatively small. The downside is that at the longest end of the focal length, the aperture will be smaller than when shooting at the widest end.
This is what makes the new Viltrox lens quite unique; even with the huge focal range of 42–420 mm, the lens retains a constant aperture of T5.6. This is impressive because it's a constant t-stop, not an f-stop, meaning that regardless of what focal length you're shooting at, the exposure will remain the same.
Of course, this does mean the lens ends up being absolutely huge and weighs a whopping 16 kg, so it's probably not the best option for vlogging.
Nonetheless, it's still an impressive feat, although with a price tag of $100,000, it's probably not going to be flying off the shelves.
For more details, check out the video linked above from CineD YouTube channel.
This lens is pretty amazing! What's even more amazing is that a small budget minded company like Viltrox produced it. The price of this lens will certainly lighten your wallet, but your not going to mind since the lens is a whopping 35lbs!
We are seeing more and more high quality lenses that yield a 10x zoom focal length factor.
So I ask the readership at large, if you could have any focal lengths you wanted in a 10x factor, which range would you choose?
For me, it would be:
120mm to 1,200mm for birds,
80mm to 800mm for mammals,
and 18mm to 180mm for reptiles and amphibians
They need to make a version that has auto focus and OIS, and if they can reduce the price by a significant margin, they could then market it as a travel zoom lens.
These are always cool to see, but they couldn't give us any sample photos with the thing? It would have been nice to see what the images look like from it.
For that cost I would buy a Land Cruiser and drive overland closer to my subject…I’d get the shot AND a car!