Anyone who follows what I write here knows that in the past I’ve expressed my doubts about china-made lenses, in particular those that are made for manufacturers based outside china.

Although lenses made by china companies several years ago at first seemed to be low-priced novelties, a few of the makers upped their game quite a bit while still keeping their prices reasonable. The first such lens to catch my attention was the Viltrox 75mm f/1.2, which—no other way to put it—has no apparent weaknesses. It’s sharp across the frame wide open, obliterates backgrounds, is resistant to flare, and of very solid build.

Having abandoned the mine field of legacy Leica glass before the end of last year, and more recently on the prowl for a few autofocus Nikon lenses to complement my AI-S glass, I started looking at what the china companies offer in Z-mount. One that fit my needs was the Viltrox 85mm f/2 EVO, one of their “mid-line” lenses, and dirt cheap.

Opening the very Zeiss-like packaging, the lens appeared to be robust in construction, with even a mount seal. In the field, optics are a clear notch better than the last copy of the 90mm Summicron-M v.3 I owned, and very close to the 90mm APO-Summicron-SL lens–at less than half the latter’s weight (and minus the squeaking focus ring of the SL lens). The Viltrox also has better color fidelity than either of the Leica lenses.

Right around the time I acquired it, Viltrox released a 55mm f/1.8 EVO lens that’s supposedly apochromatic. Again, dirt cheap, so I ordered one. Yes, it IS a true APO lens, with superb sharpness into the corners wide open.

I’ve had some fun in the past with lenses from 7artisans and TTartisan. But the three Viltrox lenses are ones I reach for when I’m doing serious shooting. They’re not just “good enough.” And they’re not “good for the money.” All three are just plain good.

Z7 II/70-180mm f/2.8 . . .