There is no better time to be a photographer on a budget.
The camera lens brands competition is stronger than ever. This is especially good for us – the consumers.
Don’t get me wrong – Big camera manufacturers are still producing great products, sometimes with exceptional quality.

But, there is a price to pay for quality lenses. And speaking from experience, starting as a photographer is already a big investment. As soon as I changed my camera system to Fujifilm, I quickly started looking for the best budget lenses. I was dedicated to building a versatile collection of lenses. I still am. In my opinion, this is better than paying for one expensive prime lens or flagship camera.

Here, Chinese manufacturers like Viltrox came into play. Offering great product quality at a fraction of the price. Honestly, I am still amazed, at how they can produce almost all-metal lenses, with F/1.4 aperture and very good image quality for 279,00 USD?

Yes, you can get this lens pretty cheap, especially used (I got mine for around 180 USD).
Still, you might be wondering: Why I should even pay attention to it when there are so many other options?

Well, I hope that this article will help you make the right buying decision. In this review, I am sharing my thoughts on the Viltrox AF 33mm F/1.4 XF. Please keep in mind that I am using and testing lenses only in real-life situations. There are no testing charts or other pixel-peeping tools.

Let’s look at it more closely.

Viltrox AF 33mm F/1.4 XF: The Best Budget Lens for Fujifilm Cameras?

Viltrox AF 33mm F/1.4 XF – BUILD QUALITY

As I mentioned, the build quality looks and feels premium.
It’s an all-metal lens, with a metal lens hood. Everything is ‘glued together very nicely. It is a very handsome lens. Especially on a Fujifilm body. It weighs 270 g, so it is a bit on the heavy side for some people.

There is a dedicated aperture ring and a very smooth focus-by-wire focusing ring.
You probably have heard to avoid focus-by-wire by all means. Don’t worry. This one feels almost like a traditional one, at least in my opinion. I prefer to manually focus when I do street photography. It helps to achieve the desired look. The lens focuses very smoothly and precisely, almost like a manual lens. The focus ring has nice resistance and it’s very precise.

The aperture ring is a “clicked” one. I prefer this one for photography. That particular one has very good resistance and distinctive clicks. It never changed apertures accidentally.

The focus is fast and reliable. Maybe a bit slower than the native Fujinon lenses, but still on a very high level. I own the Fujifilm X-T2. It is not the best example for testing the focusing capabilities. This is due to the old contrast-detection AF technology.

Finally, the lens is not weather-sealed. It misses that rubber gasket at the rear of the lens. So, if you live in a rainy area, I would suggest Fujifilm’s Fujinon XF 35mm F/2 R WR. The price difference is not huge for a weather-resistant lens with great image quality. Speaking of image quality…

Viltrox AF 33mm F/1.4 XF – IMAGE QUALITY

So let’s talk about the thing you are most interested in – image quality. And this lens does not disappoint.
Its sharpness and contrast are not so good at F1.4 but performs much better at F2.
I prefer softer images for portraits, so I keep it from F/1.4 to F/1.8 for these kinds of shots. If I am doing headshots in the studio, I use it at F/4. And yeah, it’s pretty sharp stopped down.

The colors are warm and ‘fuji’ like, in my opinion. Fuji recipes are working very well with this lens.
My favorite one is Classic Chrome.

If it comes to chromatic aberration (color fringing), as with most cheaper lenses, it’s most visible at F/1.4.
You can correct that in Adobe Lightroom or shoot at a narrower aperture. I don’t mind it for portraits. It can be an issue for people who are doing street or architecture photography at wide apertures.

I didn’t notice any visible distortion or vignetting. In my opinion, the lens flare is not strong and can serve for your artistic purposes.

VERDICT

Personally, coming from the Fujinon XF 35mm F/2 WR, I like this lens very much.
To be honest, I wanted to sell it at some point. I missed my 35mm F/2 because of the size and weight difference (170 g vs 270 g). But then I realized, that Viltrox AF 33mm F/1.4 XF is a very good way to get into the fifty/nifty focal range. I would rather invest in some strong prime zoom (Viltrox 85mm F/1.8?). So, yes, this one is a keeper. At least for now.

Its versatility, low light, and optical performance make it a very strong competitor. Especially when you are searching for it in the used market.

If you are just getting your hands on your first camera, get the Viltrox AF 33mm F/1.4 XF. It is a great lens to start with.

After all, photography doesn’t have to be expensive. Great images are coming from us, photographers.
And nowadays, these Chinese manufacturers are helping us to get exceptional images for a very low price.

Do you own or plan to get this lens? Let me know what you think of it in the comments.

Finally, below you can find a video of my recent photo walk using this lens.

You can visit my YouTube channel dedicated to Photography here.

Keep shooting!