I like to carry minimal gear and travel light when on vacation or a travel photography adventure, and my favorite camera hasn’t changed after 7 years of ownership—it’s the Nikon Z50. Finding the right lens has always been a struggle, though, until I got my hands on Viltrox’s AF 27mm f/1.2 Pro.

Over the years, it’s been a continual search for the perfect lens to pair with this incredible little camera. I’ve used full-frame lenses, tried little vintage lenses, and Nikon’s APS-C kit lenses designed for the Nikon Z50. I shoot in low light when I travel—in restaurants, historic buildings, and on the streets at night. Having a cropped-sensor camera means not cranking up the ISO for fear of degraded image quality, so I’ve always looked for a lens with a wide aperture. An extra stop or two of light can make all the difference when shooting APS-C.

Over the years, I’ve had the best results with little manual-focus lenses. You can find very affordable options, which are great. But there are times when we need autofocus, and those options have been limited. APS-C (DX) lenses from Nikon are few and far between, and I’ve found them to be very plasticky and fragile. They’re not built to last; the two I had quickly broke while traveling.

A few months ago, when I heard Viltrox had released a 27mm f/1.2 autofocus lens designed for Nikon’s APS-C cameras, I was very keen to get my hands on one, having had a really good track record with Viltrox AF 27mm f/1.2 Pro since my full-frame Z-mount cameras.

Why a 27mm APS-C Focal Length?

A 27mm focal length on a lens designed for a cropped-sensor camera gives you a full-frame equivalent of 40mm. This focal length has grown in popularity recently because it can do the job of two essential focal lengths—a 35mm and 50mm—to a degree. A 40mm equivalent field of view is how our eyes see. We can get a natural-looking image with no distortion or compression. It’s the perfect focal length for documentary photography.

If you want a solid refresher on the fundamentals behind choices like this, Photography 101 is a good starting point.

One could argue there are some compromises, but having spent many months with this lens, and having many years of shooting 35mm and 50mm, my opinion is the compromise isn’t as great as one might first expect. It turns out 40mm is the perfect everyday focal length.

This focal length allows you to do what a 35mm can do. You can shoot street, travel, and environmental portraits, and it’s wide enough to show some context. You can also get close to your subject for a more intimate image, similar to using a 50mm.

Viltrox AF 27mm f/1.2 Pro 

The moment you lock this lens onto your camera, you can feel the reassuring quality. The Z50 is a tiny camera, so the lens does look slightly on the large side, but that’s because 15 very sophisticated elements are packed into the metal, weather-sealed casing. It only weighs 560 g, though, and with the camera (including battery) weighing 450 g, that’s a reasonable total weight of a touch over 1 kg. I’m happy to carry that around on my shoulder all day.

This lens provides fabulous separation with an impressive minimum focus distance of about 12 inches. Perfect for isolating your subject, including portraits. One unexpected use for this lens is shooting food in restaurants, which I do a lot on my travels. The out-of-focus areas are creamy smooth. The bokeh boffins will be very happy. There is a little vignetting wide open, but you won’t notice unless you shoot a white wall square-on. Who even does that?

Autofocus is quick, and image quality is impressively sharp even when shooting wide open at f/1.2. Two low-dispersion lens elements designed to reduce color fringing and chromatic aberrations do an excellent job and produce good clarity and color accuracy across all apertures.

I really appreciate the MF/AF switch and the aperture markings on the lens barrel for the times I prefer to shoot manual focus. When taking advantage of the superb autofocus system, I found it locked quickly in the trickiest low-light conditions.

Specs

• Focal Length: 27mm (40mm full-frame equivalent)

• Aperture: Max. f/1.2, Min. f/16

• Lens Mount: Z (also available for X and E)

• Lens Sensor: APS-C (Nikon DX)

• Angle of View: 55.3°

• Minimum Focus Distance: 11 in / 27.9 cm

• Optical Design: 15 elements in 11 groups

• Aperture Blades: 11

• Filter Size: 67mm

• Dimensions: Ø 3.2 x L 3.6 in / Ø 82 x L 92 mm

• Weight: 1.2 lb / 560 g

Verdict

If I were to choose just one perfect lens to pair with my APS-C Nikon, the Viltrox AF 27mm f/1.2 Pro is it. There’s nothing better on the market right now.

The main reason I was drawn to this lens was low-light performance, and it delivered in spades. I found myself shooting on the streets at night and was able to get fabulous and impressive noise-free results when shooting handheld, despite neither the lens nor camera having built-in stabilization.

I’ve tested many lenses this year, and this Viltrox AF 27mm f/1.2 Pro is the best of the bunch. It does everything you want it to, without compromise. The price point is affordable for enthusiasts at $578, and the performance is at the professional level. Great job, Viltrox!

This is the first time I’ve rated anything 10/10.

Look above to watch a video from one of my first test outings for the lens.