Viltrox Launches Its 28mm f/4.5 Pancake for L-Mount: Ultra-compact and with Autofocus

Viltrox has announced the AF 28mm f/4.5 Chip, a pancake lens with autofocus for L-mount cameras. This is the brand's second AF lens for this standard, following the 16mm f/1.8, and it arrives about nine months after Viltrox joined the L-Mount Alliance in September 2025.

The dimensions are the most immediate data: 60 grams of weight and 13.2 millimeters of thickness. The aperture is fixed at f/4.5, the minimum focus is at 0.32 meters, and the autofocus is managed by a fully electronic VCM (Voice Coil Motor). This last detail means that there is no manual focus control: there is no dedicated ring, nor the possibility for mechanical intervention. Similarly, there is no physical aperture ring, which means that the diaphragm cannot be adjusted or locked from the outside. The lens instead supports native in-camera profile corrections and face and eye detection for autofocus.

Construction and Compromises of the Format

In optical terms, the lens features 6 elements in 6 groups, with 2 ED (extra-low dispersion) elements and 2 aspherical elements. The design of the front element produces characteristic diffraction effects around point light sources. There is no threading for filters, a direct consequence of the ultra-compact profile. Weather sealing is also absent.

The integrated sliding cap protects the front element when the lens is not in use: a solution that eliminates a separate accessory and fits the street-use profile, where quick extraction is important.

Positioning and Price

The price is 109 euros. Viltrox has stated that it designed the lens for compact L-mount cameras, with the Panasonic LUMIX S9 and the Sigma BF as explicit references. This pancake lens provides a pocket-sized autofocus system, in a segment where the most direct alternative in format is Panasonic's 26mm f/8, which is also a fixed lens but manual, without AF, and about twice the price. The new L-Mount version joins the variants already available for Sony, Nikon, and X-Mount.