427In the photography community, the joke "photography makes you poor for three generations, and SLR ruins your whole life" has been circulating for a long time. German Zeiss and Leica lenses often sell for tens of thousands of yuan, while Japanese Canon and Nikon's "red ring" and "gold ring" lenses make enthusiasts grit their teeth as they pay, lamenting their emptied wallets!
However, this situation is quietly being rewritten by a Chinese brand,Viltrox. Founded in 2017 in Shenzhen, this company has achieved a stunning transformation from "Made in China" to "Quality Made in China" in just a few years. It has successfully entered products into more than 100 countries and regions worldwide, with overseas markets accounting for as much as 70%. It has even been hailed in authoritative reviews as "the beginning of Chinese lenses surpassing Japan."
So, how did this Chinese brand stand out from a market monopoly?
Image source: Internet
From Small Accessories Factory to Dark Horse in Lenses
According to records, in 2014, when giants like Canon and Nikon shifted their focus to mirrorless cameras, the old lenses in SLR users' hands instantly became "chicken ribs" (useless but hard to throw away). These expensive original adapters deterred many people.
At that time, Viltrox, which started with photography accessories, keenly captured this pain point and launched an autofocus adapter ring, allowing SLR lenses to be "revived" on mirrorless cameras. As soon as this product was released, it quickly became a hit, making the Viltrox team realize that mirrorless cameras replacing SLRs was a foregone conclusion, and the gap in the lens market was in urgent need of filling.
Image source: Internet
After that, the Viltrox brand began to fully invest in lens R&D.
In 2019, its first mirrorless lens, the AF 85mm F1.8 XF, was launched. With its lightweight design and high cost performance, it quickly gained traction in the Southeast Asian market. In 2023, the AF 16mm F1.8 full-frame lens was rated as "stunning image quality" by the global authoritative journal Digital Camera World, directly benchmarking Japanese brands.
In 2024, the brand once again broke through technical barriers, launching the first domestically produced prime lens equipped with a VCM voice coil motor, priced at only 60% of Sony's similar products, yet achieving "technological surpassing."
Image source: Digital Camera World
Today, the Viltrox brand has formed a lens matrix covering multiple mounts such as Sony, Nikon, and Fuji, with annual sales exceeding 30,000 units, becoming known among photography enthusiasts as the "king of cost performance."
Industry Recovery and Demand Explosion: "Right Time and Place" in a Niche Track
Under the impact of smartphones, the camera market once cooled down, but in recent years, it has been revived by the wave of content creation such as short videos and live streaming.
According to third-party platform data, global digital camera sales grew by 25% in 2023, with mirrorless cameras growing by 31%. In 2024, the mirrorless market is expected to grow by another 35%, with China jumping to the world's second-largest market with a 23.3% share of shipments.
Image source: Xinhuanet
In this wave of growth, "Gen Z creators" have become the core driving force. They pursue professional imaging effects but are unwilling to pay for brand premiums—mid-range mirrorless cameras priced between 5,000 and 10,000 yuan have become the mainstream choice, and the demand for matching lenses has surged accordingly.
It is reported that the Viltrox brand has precisely targeted this market gap, launching the thousand-yuan-level Air series lenses, with "large aperture" and "lightweight" as selling points, allowing users to experience "the difference between camera and mobile phone shooting."
Image source: Amazon
Multi-Platform Marketing: How to Break the "Made in China" Stereotype?
Facing the "mind monopoly" of German and Japanese brands, Viltrox chose to reshape perceptions with localized content and technical endorsements.
1. TikTok
On the TikTok platform, Viltrox has adopted a refined operational strategy, establishing a localized account matrix for key markets such as the US, UK, Indonesia, and the Netherlands.
The most outstanding is its TikTok UK account @viltrox.global, which has accumulated 80,100 followers and a total video view count exceeding 47 million. The account mainly features product performance demonstrations, presenting intuitive shooting effect comparisons and real usage scenarios, allowing users to clearly understand the imaging characteristics of the lenses.
Image source: TikTok
In addition, Viltrox regularly holds online interactive events on TikTok. The latest themed event video has accumulated 1.5 million views, attracting many user comments and bringing considerable exposure to the brand and its products.
Image source: TikTok
2. YouTube
On YouTube, Viltrox chooses to cooperate with professional photography bloggers, gaining user recognition through real product testing.
Image source: YouTube
For example, a 12-minute review video posted by photography blogger Arthur R is quite representative. He used professional equipment to objectively compare Viltrox lenses with similar products. The video shows in detail key indicators such as imaging effects under different lighting conditions and focusing speed, allowing viewers to intuitively understand product performance.
Once released, this video received 200,000 views and accumulated more than 3,000 comments in the comment section.
Through such content, the Viltrox brand has gradually established a reputation among professional user groups. Compared with direct product promotion, this way of letting the product "speak for itself" is more likely to win the trust of photography enthusiasts.
Image source: YouTube
3. Instagram
Unlike the technical science videos on TikTok and YouTube, Viltrox focuses more on brand image building on Instagram, mainly by collaborating with professional photographers to showcase the outstanding performance of Viltrox lenses in various scenarios.
Currently, its Instagram account @viltrox.official has gained more than 224,000 followers. By continuously outputting high-quality works, it has shaped a relatively "high-end" image for the brand.
Image source: Instagram
The Next Stop for Made in China: Globalization Is More Than Just "Cost Performance"
The globalization of Chinese manufacturing is undergoing a profound transformation. The case of the Viltrox brand proves that to break the monopoly of international giants, price advantage alone is far from enough. Brands need to create real product value through technological innovation and localized operations.
In the future, with the rapid development of new technologies such as AI and computational photography, the imaging equipment industry is bound to usher in more changes. This is not only a challenge but also an important opportunity for Chinese brands to transform from "followers" to "leaders"!
