Viltrox is the tenth and newest company to join the L-Mount Alliance since the public announcement of the L-Mount standard at Photokina in 2018. The alliance consists of founding members Leica Camera AG, SIGMA, and Panasonic, as well as Ernst Leitz Wetzlar GmbH, DJI, ASTRODESIGN, SAMYANG Optics, Blackmagic Design and SIRUI. This collaboration enables Viltrox to develop products with the L-Mount, which will present great benefits for a wide range of photo and video applications.
Defining the standard
The L-Mount was developed by Leica Camera AG with the aim of providing customers with a future-proof, flexible, robust and precise bayonet mount that would fulfil even the most demanding photographic needs. Since its initial appearance, development of the L-Mount has continued with Leica and its strategic partners.
This has led to significant improvements and an effectively new and more sophisticated L-Mount technology. The result has been a constantly growing portfolio of cameras and lenses from all the alliance partners, currently comprising over 20 cameras and more than 120 lenses.
All lenses made for the different systems within the L-Mount Alliance can be used on all cameras without adapters and without any functional limitations, illustrating one of the numerous benefits of the common bayonet.
Valentino Di Leonardo, Managing Expert Technology & Licensing at Leica Camera AG: “The L-Mount Alliance has been a key pillar of Leica Camera AG’s strategy from the beginning, standing for openness, innovation, and the highest standards in photography.
“With its bayonet system, it offers outstanding flexibility across a wide range of photographic and videographic applications. By welcoming Viltrox as a new member, we are strengthening our network with a highly regarded partner that shares our vision of a forward-looking and versatile system.
“Viltrox contributes valuable expertise in high-quality lens development and brings fresh momentum to our ecosystem. Together, we aim to offer photographers and filmmakers an even more comprehensive and flexible system that meets the most demanding requirements.”
Dai Jinhui (Daniel Dai), CEO at Viltrox, adds: “Viltrox has joined the L-Mount Alliance, further expanding the system’s reach with high-quality, versatile, and accessible lenses. This collaboration complements Leica’s portfolio by inspiring a new generation of creators—from passionate enthusiasts to seasoned professionals—while reinforcing a dynamic and inclusive ecosystem alongside Alliance partners DJI, Panasonic, Blackmagic Design, and Sigma.”
About the L-Mount Alliance
The members of the L-Mount Alliance all utilise the L-Mount Standard developed by Leica Camera AG
for mirrorless camera systems. Currently, the members of the Alliance are Leica Camera AG, SIGMA,
Panasonic, Ernst Leitz Wetzlar GmbH, DJI, ASTRODESIGN, SAMYANG Optics, Blackmagic Design,
SIRUI and Viltrox.
The partners in the alliance employ the L-Mount Standard for cameras and lenses that are offered under their brand names. They market their respective products as competitors, and each with their individual product and marketing strategies. The alliance works together on advancing the technology of the L-Mount standard.
About the L-Mount standard
The diameter of 51.6 millimetres was chosen to ensure maximum product diversity. This allows the L-Mount to work with both full-frame cameras, and cameras with APS-C sensors. The short register of only 20 millimetres enables a short distance between the lens and the sensor, which in turn allows for more compact construction — a fact that in turn helps the development of wide-angle lenses.
The camera bayonets are manufactured from wear-resistant stainless steel, with four flange segments that ensure secure and precise lens attachment. To withstand the most extreme conditions and guarantee maximum reliability for many years of intensive use, the standardised L-Mount contact strip enables trouble-free communication between the electronic components of the lens and the camera. This also facilitates installing future firmware updates to further exploit their full performance potential.
For more information, follow the link: www.l-mount.com
About Viltrox
Viltrox was established in 2009, and today is recognised as a global leader in camera lenses and adapters, specialising in high-performance equipment for photography and cine.
Its portfolio includes cinema and autofocus lenses — such as the LAB, Pro, and Air series launched since 2018 — along with monitors, adapters, and lighting solutions.
The company expanded further into cine in 2022 with the “EPIC” anamorphic and “LUNA” zoom lenses, offering cost-effective solutions for filmmakers worldwide.
Renowned for their exceptional optical quality, reliability, and accessible pricing, Viltrox products reflect a commitment to engineering excellence and user-centred design, empowering content creators across still and motion photographic domains.
| MORE INFORMATION | |
| L-Mount Alliance | Viltrox |
| Leica |
Join the Macfilos subscriber mailing list
Our thrice-a-week email service has been polished up and improved. Why not subscribe, using the button below to add yourself to the mailing list? You will never miss a Macfilos post again. Emails are sent on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 8 pm GMT. Macfilos is a non-commercial site and your address will be used only for communications from the editorial team. We will never sell or allow third parties to use the list. Furthermore, you can unsubscribe at any time simply by clicking a button on any email.
In 2022 I purchased direct from China, a set of Viltrox L-mount extension tubes for use with my Leica T and Leica SL 601. The tubes worked fine with the Leica T and Sigma 45/2.8, and Panasonic 20-60mm L mount lenses. However, when the Viltrox tubes were used with the SL 601 / SL 24-90, the camera generated the message, “LENS UPDATE IN PROGRESS” and a very stubborn ‘revolving ball’. I decided to ‘abort’ but the camera would not ‘turn off’; the ominous message and ‘revolving ball’ continued. I therefore removed the battery to turn the camera off and then removed the lens / tubes combination. After reattaching the lens (without the Viltrox tubes), the camera and lens worked fine. At that time there were reports of Leica L mount lens / camera electronics being damaged when using third party accessories. To be clear, the Viltrox tubes have not damaged my SL camera or lens – but the ‘message’ and very stubborn ‘rolling ball’ experience has made me very wary of using the Viltrox tubes again. Richard Wong’s 2022 YouTube review for the Viltrox L-mount extension tubes is very positive – but was conducted using a Panasonic S5 – not with a Leica SL series camera and Leica SL lens.
Thanks, Dunk. To me, this suggests a Leica software bug rather than a specific problem with the third-party accessories. The software update routine should be limited to those lenses which can be updated and not any old random fitting. For it to be triggered by an extension tube is rather odd.
Also, on the L-mount Alliance:
https://dji-rumors.com/2025/09/02/will-dji-announce-a-new-l-mount-mirrorless-on-september-15/
Wouldn’t it be nice if DJI’s subsidiary Hasselblad moved over to L-Mount — not that this is likely, it’s just a nice thought. I’m sure a few compatible lenses would soon be produced by Sigma or one of the other members.
I agree, Viltrox joining the L-mount alliance is very interesting. I would love to see those AIR lenses on my CL camera. The 15mm and 25mm f/1.7 is really tempting. The PRO series would also be interesting on a full frame camera.
This is very positive news. I would love their 13mm f1.4 for my CL, especially since Sigma disappointed by not making their new 12mm f1.4 in L-mount, which I find hard to understand.
That is indeed pretty disappointing. They clearly have the expertise, and as they offer changing mounts as a service I would have expected it to be little additional effort to keep on supporting the L-mount in APS-C as well. FWIW, I still believe discontinuing its APS-C systems was a shortsighted decision from Leica, and a competitive disadvantage for the L-mount alliance in general.
Not to mention a boost for Fujifilm, a company which still seems to make a crust or two out of APS-C.