Irix 11mm f/4 Firefly Review

Irix 11mm f/4 Firefly Performance

Looking at sharpness, the centre starts off as very good at f/4, becoming excellent at f/5.6 and f/8. Results are still very good at f/11, falling to good levels at f/16 but becoming quite soft at f/22.

The edges are good at f/4, very good at f/5.6 and f/8, good at f/11, becoming soft at f/16 and very soft at f/22.

CA (Chromatic Aberration) is not easy to correct in such a wide lens, but Irix has done a good job. Centrally, CA is well held to under half a pixel. At the edge CA is visible, but this can be tackled in software. A good result.

Absence of flare is highly creditable. Even into the sun, there are no artefacts and the images display good contrast, diminished slightly but not significantly. Considering the very wide field of view, this makes the lens absolutely usable in all lighting conditions without fear of ghosting effects.

There is -3.70% barrel distortion, hardly surprising. That measures slightly higher than the Irix claim of -3.13%. However, we expect barrelling from ultra wides so our eyes will not find that too disconcerting. Again, the distortion can be tacked in software if desired.

Bokeh is almost not a consideration with an 11mm lens. Unless really sought after, out of focus backgrounds are not the norm and they can look a little odd. The ultra-wide edges when way out of focus look smeared and this is probably not the way to use this lens.

Despite the huge challenges in making a lens of this type, Irix has overall done a splendid job of it, the quality is definitely there and it shows.

Value For Money

The Irix 11mm f/4 Firefly lens is priced at around €635, with really nothing else to compare it with. There are 10mm and 11mm rectilinear lenses, but all for APS-C format.

The nearest competitors might be the 14mm lenses. Here we have the Samyang 14mm f/2.8 ED AS IF UMC (£329), Samyang 14mm f/2.4 AE XP (£899), Canon EF 14mm f/2.8 L II USM (£2149) and the Nikon 14mm f/2.8 D AF ED (£1389).

For its unique position as the widest rectilinear lens and the high quality of the images it produces, the price tag seems very reasonable.

For more options have a look at the Top 15 Wide-angle Landscape Lenses.

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