What's wrong with this picture? A question of differing priorities.
Added 2025-09-05 05:19:47 +0000 UTCIt seems like every week brings yet more new lenses. Most of these new lenses don't interest me at all, because I am acutely aware of my own priorities when choosing a lens and I know what I need from a lens, and most of these new lenses don't offer any significant advantages over the lenses I already own.
Some of the recent lens announcements have, however, had me scratching my head, wondering whether the Alpha community will be asking the same questions of the manufacturers as I am.
Viltrox is currently releasing a lot of APS-C E-mount lenses, which is great, because so many companies making lenses only prioritise owners of the Full-Frame cameras.
Many owners of the Sony APS-C cameras are attracted to the smaller and more affordable lenses when compared to the equivalent Full-Frame lenses. Their camera kits are therefore generally cheaper, smaller, lighter and more portable than an equivalent Full-Frame system.
Viltrox make lightweight APS-C lenses in their 'Air' series but also wide-aperture primes in their 'Pro' series, which I see are proving to be popular on the Sony APS-C forums I follow on social media.
The F1.2 apertures of these 'Pro' series primes, offers APS-C camera owners the ability to achieve the Full-Frame figure/ground separation or background blur ...but at what cost? For Example, the Viltrox AF 27mm F1.2 Z has a Full-Frame equivalent focal length of 40.5mm and can achieve the same shallow depth of field as an F1.8 40mm Full-Frame lens (multiply the focal length and aperture by the 1.5x crop factor). The new Full-Frame TT Artisan 40mm F2 is a really compact 40mm lens that could be of interest to A7C/A7CR owners, the ones who don't want to purchase the new RX1R III but who are looking for the ultimate compact and lightweight street photography camera.
Now take a look at the cost and size of these two lenses in the illustration at the top of this article and you can probably understand why this post was titled "what's wrong with this picture". The APS-C owner considering purchasing an F1.2 Viltrox lens is ending up with a lens that is both larger and heavier than a full-frame equivalent lens. Admittedly, the Viltrox has a 1/3 stop advantage over the TT Artisan full-frame lens and may be optically superior (I have not reviewed either of these lenses), but my question is really about compromise and priorities. The TT Artisan attached to the A7CR is 1 lb lighter than an A6700 with the Viltrox attached.
So my question is, when does an A6700 camera owner make the decision to upgrade to a Full-Frame A7CII camera in order to access smaller and lighter lenses and/or when do camera manufacturers prioritise the size and weight of wide aperture APS-C lenses when they are designing them.
I may be alone here, but I feel that APS-C lenses should really be smaller and lighter than the nearest equivalent Full-Frame lens, e.g., the Sony E 15mm F1.4 G is significantly smaller and lighter than the FE 20mm F1.8 G (by approx 40%). The Sigma 56mm F1.4 DC DN is also 40% smaller and lighter than most of the 85mm F1.8 Full-Frame primes.
I want to love the Viltrox a little more for releasing F1.2 APS-C lenses, but I feel ignoring size and weight as APS-C priorities is where I start to lose the love for the brand. The TT Artisan 40mm F2 on the other hand, may not win over many A7C owners who are eyeing up Sony's compact FE 40mm F2.5 G (build quality, weather sealing and corner sharpness) but it does set the bar higher for Sony to increase their range of ultra-compact lenses for Full-Frame owners who prioritise size, but who don't want to own a fixed-lens camera. I would also like Sony to design some wide aperture APS-C zooms and primes so they can set the bar higher for manufacturers such as Viltrox. With this in mind I would love to see Sony release an E 27mm F1.4 G and maybe even a small F2 standard zoom. Sony's E 16-55 F2.8 G is a fabulous lens, but currently does not offer any significant size or weight advantages when compare to Sony's Full-Frame FE 24-50 F2.8 G (which has a 36-75mm range when used in APS-C Mode on an A7CR, and that doesn't compromise resolution when compared to the A6700). Sony's E 16-55 APS-C lens is also 50% more expensive and is heavier than the Full-Frame lens, which I find a bit troubling as this undermines, what are supposed to be the key advantages for owning an APS-C camera.
Food for thought.
Check out the 'Lens Choice 2' and 'Full-Frame or APS-C' seminars:
Lens Choice 2: https://www.patreon.com/posts/81162455?collection=34689
Full-Frame or APS-C: https://www.patreon.com/posts/99699910?collection=34689
Comments
I can see how an APS-C camera owner might be prepared to have one or two large "Pro" low aperture lenses, for specific needs (e.g. portrait), where portability doesn't matter so much, but where the rest of their lens collections does prioritise portability. For me (who owns an A6600) compactness is definitely a high priority, and one of the main reasons I'm using ASP-C rather than full-frame (as well as cost) as one of my main use cases is to take my camera on my bicycle rides with me - so my current (small) lens selection reflects that - I have the Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 zoom, the Sigma 56mm f/1.4 prime (which is their most compact f/1.4 lens) and the Viltrox Air 25mm f/1.8. Although it looks like an excellent lens, I doubt I will be getting the new Sigma 17-40mm f/1.8, because it's too large for most the use cases where I would need that focal length range. I would like to pick up a telephoto zoom lens at some point, but not sure whether to get the variable aperture Sony 70-350mm G lens (which is ASP-C) or the full-frame Tamron 70-180mm f/2.8 lens - the latter is around the same size, but about 200g heavier, though the constant f/2.8 aperture does appeal.
Paul Groves
2025-10-15 09:29:07 +0000 UTCThe Sony 11mm F1.8 and Sigma 10-18 F2.8 APS-C lenses are good examples of how APS-C lenses offer price, size and weight advantages and can also be used by owners of the higher resolution full-frame cameras when travelling light is a priority rather than resolution. The A7CR and A7RV cameras effectively become an A6700 in APS-C S35 Mode in terms of image quality.
Mark Galer
2025-09-26 21:20:22 +0000 UTCI have two lenses providing wide angles, the Sony 14mm f/1.8 full frame (for which Mark's review kinda "twisted my arm" into buying), and the Sigma 10-18mm f/2.8 APS-C, which provides a 35mm equivalent of 15-27mm. The Sony has some advantages, including being 1mm wider, having a wider aperture, and having the ability to take full advantage of a full frame sensor's resolution. The Sigma, on the other hand, is significantly smaller, lighter, and much less expensive. It also provides that zoom capability, which could prove useful in many situations. I wish the Sigma were magically capable of covering the full frame sensors of my cameras, but if those sensors are themselves of high resolution, the compromise to APS-C dimensions, as Mark has noted on occasion, can still provide sufficient detail for good photos and videos.
Ferris
2025-09-26 19:21:59 +0000 UTC
