Viltrox AF 26mm 2.8 EVO

There are only a couple affordable yet still cool lenses out there, and the Viltrox AF 26mm f/2.8 EVO FE is among them. The focal length may be a bit unconventional but this is surely not a showstopper if you are after a wide-angle prime lens. Optically, it performs quite well. It is extremely sharp in the image center. There's a drop in quality towards the corners but they remain good to very good at the relevant settings. The vignetting is a bit on the high side, but auto-correction reduces this to acceptable levels. Image distortions are best left untouched but they are rather moderate anyway. Lateral CAs are quite low. The build quality is surprisingly high. It has has a metal body including the metal dome-shaped hood and the magnetic lens cap. It even has metal aperture and focus rings. The STM (stepping motor) works fine but don't expect lightspeed. There is an inner lens tube that is moving when focusing so better leave the tiny dome-shaped hood in place. There may be better wide-angle lenses out there, but none are as small and lightweight as the Viltrox AF 26mm f/2.8 EVO FE. It's ideal for street photography or if you have to pack light. Besides being a decent performer, it can also serve as a backup lens that won't take much extra space in your bag. And it doesn't cost an arm and a leg - thus it receives our "value recommendation" here.