Viltrox has brought four of its compact Air primes to L-mount: a 14mm f/4, 20mm f/2.8, 40mm f/2.5 and 50mm f/2, all weighing around 200g or less and priced under US$200.

Viltrox has announced L-mount versions of four lenses from its Air series, giving Leica, Panasonic Lumix and Sigma full-frame users a set of small, light autofocus primes. The Air range was previously available for Sony E and Nikon Z.

The four lenses are the AF 14mm F4.0 Air L, AF 20mm F2.8 Air L, AF 40mm F2.5 Air L and AF 50mm F2.0 Air L.

Small, light and consistent

The appeal of the Air series is size. The lightest lens, the 20mm f/2.8, weighs just 159g, and even the heaviest, the 50mm f/2, is only 205g. All four are around 64-65mm in diameter and 52-55mm long, so they’re close to pancake territory and well suited to compact bodies such as the Lumix S9 and S5 II.

Every lens uses an STM stepping motor with a lead screw for autofocus, and each has a front element coating that repels water and dust. Filter threads are 52mm on the 20mm and 40mm, and 58mm on the 14mm and 50mm.

The 14mm f/4 is the stand-out for landscape and interior work, with a 0.13m minimum focus distance and 12 elements in 9 groups. The 50mm f/2 gets nine aperture blades rather than seven, which should give rounder out-of-focus highlights.

Why it matters

L-mount has plenty of excellent lenses, but many are big and expensive. Affordable, compact primes have been a gap, particularly for Lumix S9 owners who bought the camera for its size. A matched set of four small primes at under US$200 each makes a lightweight travel kit a lot more attainable.

Viltrox Air L-mount specifications

Viltrox Air L-mount price and availability

All four lenses are available now from the Viltrox store. US prices are: AF 14mm F4.0 Air L US$199, AF 20mm F2.8 Air L US$176, AF 40mm F2.5 Air L US$168 and AF 50mm F2.0 Air L US$199. UK pricing hasn’t been confirmed.