Viltrox’s First Aerial Lens Fills a Much-Needed Gap in DJI’s DL System

Jul 25, 2025

Jeremy Gray

A camera lens is shown on the left against a white background, while on the right, a drone with a mounted camera flies in a clear sky.

Unlike Viltrox’s new “Air” lenses announced earlier this year, the company’s latest lens really does take to the skies. Viltrox announced the AF 90mm f/3.5 for DL mount, the company’s first lens explicitly built for drone-mounted aerial photo and video work.

The full-frame 90mm f/3.5 lens comes exclusively in a native DL mount version, meaning that it can work with the DJI Ronin 4D and the company’s high-end professional drones, like the DJI Inspire 3 and its Zenmuse X9-Air gimbal camera.

The Viltrox AF 90mm f/3.5 fills a void in DJI’s own DL lens lineup, which comprises primes from 18mm to 75mm and a 17-28mm T3.0 zoom optic. With its 90mm focal length, the full-frame lens delivers a mid-telephoto field of view, which Viltrox says works well for compressed landscape shots. Viltrox says its new lens is “perfect for high-fidelity 8K aerial cinematography.”

A compact and lightweight design is vital for gimbal and drone-mounted photo and video work. The Viltrox AF 90mm f/3.5 employs a counterweight-free design and weighs just 170 grams, which “perfectly meets Inspire 3’s requirements for ultra-high maneuverability.” The lens is 63 millimeters (2.5 inches) long and has a maximum diameter of 65 millimeters (2.6 inches). The lens accepts 52mm filters.

Internally, the prime features a dozen elements arranged across nine groups and a nine-bladed aperture diaphragm. Of its 12 elements, there are five ED and four HR pieces of glass. Viltrox promises excellent resolution and edge-to-edge sharpness, even when shooting wide open.

Close-up of a professional drone with a camera mount, without the lens attached. A camera lens sits nearby on a textured surface; the background shows a blue sky with clouds.

The lens features a quick and quiet STM motor for autofocus, and although it would only matter when used on a Ronin 4D, it can focus as close as 0.8 meters (2.6 feet), which is a maximum magnification of about 0.11x — nothing crazy.

“In aerial cinematography, every frame counts. That’s why we engineered the AF 90mm f/3.5 DL lens from the ground up — specifically for the DJI Inspire 3 — to unlock new creative horizons,” Viltrox explains. “With its signature medium-telephoto compression, rock-steady autofocus, and feather-light 170g build, this lens turns every flight into a cinematic journey.”

Close-up of a black camera lens mounted on a gimbal, with an out-of-focus background featuring blue and orange colors.