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PRO VS ART | 85MM F1.4 SHOWDOWN
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Apr 24, 2025
Photographer Dustin Abbott shares a comparison between the two top third party alternatives to the premium Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM II - the Viltrox PRO AF 85mm F1.4 and the Sigma 85mm F1.4 DN ART. Has the Sigma finally been dethroned? Sigma Reviews: Video Review https://bit.ly/85DNDef | Text Review https://bit.ly/85DNReview Purchase the Sigma 85mm F1.4 DN ART @ B&H Photo https://bhpho.to/2PoKQVg | Amazon https://amzn.to/33DXOH7 | Amazon Canada https://amzn.to/2DoHG1a | Amazon UK https://amzn.to/2DrQHGL | Amazon Germany https://amzn.to/30AoDtP | Ebay https://bit.ly/sig85DN Check out the DA Merch here: https://bit.ly/TWIMerch | Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/dustinabbott | On the Web: http://dustinabbott.net/ | Sign up for my Newsletter: http://bit.ly/1RHvUNp | Instagram: http://bit.ly/DLAinsta | Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1nuUUeH | Flickr: http://bit.ly/1UcnC0B | 500px: http://bit.ly/1Sy2Ngu Follow Craig @ https://www.instagram.com/craigstoffersen/ Want to support this channel? Use these affiliate links to shop at: B&H Photo: http://bhpho.to/1TA0Xge Adorama: https://howl.link/nt4zdz1goa7ql Camera Canada: http://bit.ly/DLACameraCan Sony Canada: https://www.thesonyshop.ca/?ref=abbott Amazon: https://amzn.to/3HrY64d Amazon Canada: https://amzn.to/3qG1p18 Ebay: http://bit.ly/DustineBay Into the AM Clothing: https://bit.ly/intotheAMda and use code DUSTIN10 for 10% off Fioboc Clothing: https://tinyurl.com/FiobocDA20 and us code DUSTIN20 for 20% off Make a donation via Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/dustinTWI
View Video Transcript
0:00
[Music]
0:10
back in 2020 I reviewed the Sigma 85mm
0:14
f1.4DN art lens shortly thereafter I
0:18
purchased one and it's been my go-to
0:19
85mm lens for the past 5 years during
0:23
that time I have put it head-to-head
0:25
against a variety of other 85mm lenses
0:28
first was the original 85mimeter F1.4 G
0:31
Master then later the GM Mark II i've
0:35
put it up against the Samyang AF
0:37
85mimeter F1.4 the SRI Aurora 85mm F1.4
0:42
and those are just the head-to-head
0:44
videos that I've done during that time
0:46
but it's always come out looking really
0:48
good because it's got a great
0:50
combination of build quality autofocus
0:53
performance and of course a really
0:55
fantastic optical performance our
0:58
favorite disruptor is back and Viltrox
1:01
has their new ProAF 85mm f1.4 and it
1:06
shares a lot of the same virtues as the
1:08
Sigma does but at a much much lower
1:11
price tag so is it now the season for my
1:15
Sigma to be dethroned that's what we're
1:17
here to determine today so we're going
1:18
to head into the lab and put these
1:20
lenses head-to-head and see who comes
1:22
out on top let's take a
1:24
look so we'll start off our discussion
1:27
by looking at the ways that these lenses
1:30
are similar because the truth of the
1:31
matter is is that there's probably more
1:34
commonality here than what I've seen
1:37
between most of these lenses that I've
1:38
done comparisons with in the past so
1:40
obviously we have the same focal length
1:42
and the same maximum aperture and in
1:44
this case I would say that the focal
1:47
length even behaves very very similarly
1:49
i didn't really see I've seen in some
1:51
cases where one lens appeared to be
1:52
shorter or longer in this case they both
1:54
seem to be about the same so very
1:56
similar in that regard they also have a
1:58
mostly similar feature set and that
2:00
includes the ability to declick an
2:02
aperture an AFMF switch a function or
2:05
custom button that can be programmed and
2:08
there is one feature on the Sigma that's
2:11
not present on the Build Trox but we'll
2:12
get to that in just a moment they also
2:15
have a very similar degree of overall
2:17
build they're made out of premium
2:19
materials they feel very high quality
2:22
they both have a similar degree of
2:24
weather sealing the Sigma has 11 sealing
2:28
gaskets throughout the Viltrox has 10
2:31
they both have a coating on the front
2:32
element to help to resist fingerprints
2:35
water all of those type things they both
2:38
have 11 aperture blades inside that do a
2:41
pretty similar job of staying rounded as
2:43
you stop the lens down furthermore I
2:45
found that in terms of doing things like
2:47
aperture racking for example here you
2:50
can see with the Viltrox that it's a
2:52
nicely smooth process with the aperture
2:55
decllicked and I could get good aperture
2:57
racks i could do the same with Sigma in
2:59
very very similar fashion and get very
3:02
similar types of results and so really
3:05
they're very similar in that regard i
3:08
also found that they are very similar in
3:09
terms of their maximum magnification now
3:12
technically the Viltrox can focus a
3:14
little bit closer and on paper it has a
3:16
very slightly higher 0.13 times
3:19
magnification versus
3:21
0.12 times for the Sigma but in practice
3:25
I found that the magnification looked
3:27
pretty much identical in my eye and I
3:29
couldn't really see a measurable
3:30
difference between the two i also found
3:33
that in a surprising way the overall
3:36
rendering and bokeh from these two
3:38
lenses is surprisingly similar i found
3:40
that in many cases you could probably
3:43
blind swap them back and forth and ask
3:46
people to pick which is which and I
3:47
suspect it'd be kind of hard for people
3:49
to do that they really do produce very
3:51
similar type results now how about some
3:55
areas where there is some
3:56
differentiation between the two but it's
3:59
not necessarily an advantage it's more
4:01
maybe a preference so I would say that
4:04
the Viltrox uses a bit more metals in
4:07
its construction it has a very nice
4:09
magnesium aluminum alloy uh chassis here
4:12
that it's built around the Sigma lens
4:15
has a combination of metals and then
4:18
what they call their thermal composits
4:21
engineered plastics but you know while
4:23
the materials are a little bit different
4:25
the overall quality of build it feels
4:27
very very similar it basically comes
4:29
down to a taste thing the Viltrox has
4:32
floating elements and if you're not
4:34
accustomed to those it feels like
4:35
something is kind of rocking around in
4:38
there when the lens is turned off some
4:40
people really don't like that but it's a
4:41
pretty common feature on higherend
4:43
lenses in modern lens design the Sigma
4:45
does not have that and the reason for
4:48
the floating elements is to enable
4:50
better uplose performance but bec I
4:52
found that the uplose performance was
4:54
very similar between the two and so
4:55
we'll call that a neutral difference
4:58
i do probably slightly prefer the USBC
5:02
port that's on the lens mount and it
5:04
also the uh Viltrox lens is Bluetooth
5:08
enabled and so doing firmware updates is
5:10
a simpler process you know technically
5:13
than what it is on the Sigma of course
5:15
at this stage however the Sigma is 5
5:17
years old there aren't probably any new
5:19
firmware updates that are coming for it
5:21
so it becomes kind of a moot point there
5:24
so we'll start by looking at advantages
5:27
for each lens with the Sigma which is my
5:29
venerable defender at this point one
5:32
area that the Sigma wins in is that I
5:35
found that it had better contrast at
5:37
large apertures and if you're the look
5:40
you're you want is to be really high
5:43
contrast the Sigma is a little bit
5:45
stronger than the Viltrox in that regard
5:48
i also found that that carries becomes
5:50
true when it comes to upclose images
5:52
where they have a similar degree of
5:54
detail there's definitely more contrast
5:56
in the Sigma result as you can see here
5:58
despite the floating elements in the
6:00
Viltrox lens the Sigma is slightly
6:04
smaller it is 82 mm in diameter versus
6:08
84 mm it is 96 mm in length versus 105
6:14
mm and so particularly when it comes to
6:16
the length there's a pretty significant
6:18
difference between the two lenses it is
6:20
also considerably lighter it weighs in
6:23
at 625 grams again they did a really
6:26
great job of miniaturaturizing this lens
6:28
versus the Art series lenses for DSLRs
6:30
of the previous generation and so 625
6:33
grams is great the Viltrox is a
6:36
noticeably heavier 800 g i noted that
6:40
there's one feature present here that
6:42
the Viltrox doesn't have and that's an
6:43
iris lock iris lock can be very useful
6:46
if either you want to lock into or lock
6:49
out of the aperture ring so if you're a
6:51
person that doesn't like aperture rings
6:53
and you want to keep it locked in the
6:54
automatic mode that iris lock will allow
6:56
you to do it you don't have to worry
6:57
about inadvertently bumping out of there
6:59
or vice versa if you prefer the aperture
7:01
ring there is that kind of hard detent
7:04
between uh F-16 and automatic on the
7:07
Viltrox but there isn't an iris lock so
7:10
score one for the Sigma in terms of the
7:12
features neither one of these lenses has
7:15
a significant amount of fringing but of
7:17
the two the Sigma has less it is very
7:20
well controlled for longitudinal style
7:22
chromatic aberrations lateral too but
7:24
really longitudinal is what come into
7:26
play more here and you can see in this
7:28
comparison that there is a little bit
7:29
more fringing that is present on the
7:32
Viltrox
7:33
lens i also found that though both
7:36
lenses have a maximum aperture of f1.4
7:39
that at similar focus distances I felt
7:42
like the Sigma had slightly larger
7:44
specular highlights and so that can have
7:47
certain advantages um and so I would say
7:49
the aperture is ever so slightly larger
7:52
on the Sigma than what it is on the
7:54
Viltrox lens and you know and remember
7:57
that all of with all of these lenses in
7:59
many cases there's you know there's just
8:01
very very you know the lens could be
8:04
marketed for example as an 85 millimeter
8:06
lens and maybe it's 84 and a half
8:08
millimeters or 85 and a half or 86 you
8:12
know it's there can be a minor bit of
8:13
variance there and that's also true here
8:16
I think of maximum aperture that they're
8:18
very very similar and so much so that
8:20
they meter the same but I think it's
8:22
just very very slightly a tiny
8:24
percentage larger on that i also found
8:27
that when I was comparing the two side
8:29
by side that the Sigma had uh better
8:32
center sharpness not by a big margin but
8:34
of the two I felt that it was the winner
8:36
there as you can see
8:38
here I also found that I liked the
8:41
damping of the manual focus ring a
8:43
little bit better and so thus the
8:45
overall feel I slightly preferred
8:47
relative to the Viltrox lens viltrox is
8:50
nice as well and I could get similar
8:52
kind of focus pulls out of the two but
8:54
of the two I preferred the feel of the
8:56
Sigma a little bit better and so there
8:59
are a number of reasons to choose the
9:02
Sigma over the Viltrox so how about
9:04
reasons to choose the Challenger instead
9:07
well I think the biggest reason to
9:09
choose the Viltrox over the Sigma is
9:11
that the Viltrox is much cheaper in fact
9:14
it's it's half the price literally right
9:16
under $600 versus right under $1,200 and
9:20
so you could buy two of these Pro Series
9:22
lenses for the price of one of the Sigma
9:24
obviously that's going to be a pretty
9:26
significant factor when you know all
9:28
other things being equal i also found
9:31
that this Viltrox lens has a more modern
9:34
autofocus system it's got their new
9:36
hyper VCM focus motor whereas the Sigma
9:39
is using Sigma's older STM technology
9:42
and they have a new uh focus motor OSD
9:46
that is fantastic but this lens came
9:49
before they had developed that focus
9:50
motor and so as a byproduct I just felt
9:53
like the Viltrox had the snappier
9:54
autofocus and uh it was you know it's a
9:57
little bit quieter it's a little bit
9:58
more sophisticated in performance and so
10:00
a win for Viltrox there one huge optical
10:04
difference between the two is that I
10:05
always felt with the Sigma that what
10:07
gave for the op the in Sigma's engineers
10:10
in downsizing the lens to this size was
10:12
they basically left a lot of uncorrected
10:15
pin cushion distortion and so just
10:18
relying on some software corrections for
10:20
that the Viltrox has a very minimal
10:24
amount of distortion that's not a factor
10:26
at all and so I could actually without
10:28
correction I could definitely see the
10:30
pin cushion distortion if I had straight
10:32
lines even in shooting at weddings I
10:34
could see it and I definitely had to
10:35
correct it and so that's just not the
10:38
case here on the
10:39
Viltrox less of a big deal is that there
10:42
is a little bit less of vignette on the
10:46
Viltrox versus the Sigma lens i mean
10:49
it's not significant i used a plus 48 to
10:52
correct for the vignette on the the
10:54
Viltrox used a plus 56 to correct for it
10:57
on the Sigma and so definitely not a
11:00
factor that I would choose between these
11:02
two lenses on but a a minor factor
11:05
nonetheless the Sigma is a little bit
11:07
sharper wide open than what the Viltrox
11:09
is but the Viltrox is actually better in
11:12
the mid-frame and into the corners and
11:15
so it's a little bit more of an even
11:17
sharpness profile across the frame
11:21
i did note that the Sigma is the better
11:23
in terms of having overall contrast the
11:26
trade-off of that can be is that there
11:28
are situations where I felt like the a
11:31
little bit less contrast on the Viltrox
11:34
actually produced a little bit more
11:36
pleasing a background and so you know
11:38
that little bit less contrast in things
11:41
that are out of focus actually has a
11:44
beneficial effect as you can see in this
11:46
shot for example another area when it
11:49
comes to the video performance is that I
11:51
felt like the video focus pools are are
11:54
faster and more confident for the
11:56
Viltrox again it has that more modern uh
12:00
focus system and you can tell it it's
12:02
just it's got a little bit more uh
12:04
thrust going back and forth for those
12:06
video pulls and then also just a little
12:07
bit more confident there's a little less
12:09
of the rocking when it gets to the
12:11
destination and so it does a little bit
12:13
better job there i also found that the
12:15
Viltrox has significantly less focus
12:18
breathing it's not focus breathing free
12:20
however the Sigma lens exhibits a much
12:22
stronger amount of focus breathing as I
12:25
pull in and out by the way this is shoot
12:27
shot at f11 and so depth of field it's
12:30
not really about that you can just see
12:32
that there's much more focus breathing
12:34
that takes place so that could be a
12:35
factor for you particularly since
12:37
because these are both third-party
12:38
lenses you're not going to get the focus
12:40
breathing compensation in Sony cameras
12:42
to digitally correct for
12:45
that one thing that is just kind of a
12:47
practical factor is that the lens hood
12:51
for the Viltrox is significantly
12:53
narrower you can see that I can actually
12:55
put that lens hood inside the Sigma's
12:58
hood i always found that the Sigma's
13:00
hood is quite large and so as a
13:02
byproduct it just takes up more of a a
13:05
bigger footprint even if you have it
13:07
reversed for storage it means that it's
13:09
wider in this way for storage and even
13:11
if it's set down it takes up has a
13:14
larger footprint it's taking up more
13:15
room uh just in a camera bag or anything
13:18
like that so I do prefer the hood here
13:21
from the Viltrox and that it's just a
13:23
little bit narrower in that regard so my
13:25
conclusion is this these are both really
13:28
awesome lenses the Sigma is smaller
13:30
lighter and has a little bit more
13:32
contrast but the Viltrox is much cheaper
13:35
has a little bit better autofocus has
13:36
far less distortion so is it price or
13:40
weight which is the bigger determining
13:42
factor for you the Sigma is a
13:45
wellestablished reliable player so if
13:47
you already own the Sigma I'm not sure I
13:49
would sell it to buy the Viltrox unless
13:51
you're wanting to try to make a little
13:53
money and fund that towards something
13:55
else however if you're fresh in the
13:58
market the value of the Viltrox is hard
14:00
to deny this is a ton of bang for the
14:03
buck once again we are spoiled for
14:05
choice on Sony E-mount with some really
14:08
fantastic 85 mm lenses to choose from
14:11
and it looks like there are more to come
14:13
on the horizon if you want more
14:16
information you can find in the
14:17
description below linkage to my full
14:20
reviews both text and video of these two
14:22
lenses and now if you'd like to see a
14:25
head-to-head optical comparison how I
14:27
drew these conclusions stay tuned with
14:29
me right now let's jump into it together
14:31
okay let's start by taking a closer look
14:33
at that pretty strong pin cushion
14:35
distortion that we see here on the Sigma
14:38
lens and you can see it's enough that it
14:40
really stretches itself right away from
14:42
the edges of the frame and definitely if
14:45
you're composing near the edge of the
14:46
frame you can see where the bends are
14:48
that if it's in this portion if you
14:50
don't correct it you will see that
14:52
warping of straight lines whereas here
14:55
with the Viltrox the Viltrox does have
14:57
the tiniest amount of pin cushion
14:59
distortion but unless you were shooting
15:01
a chart just like this you frankly would
15:03
just not see it at all likewise there is
15:06
a little bit more vignette here in the
15:08
corners on the Sigma than what we see on
15:11
the Viltrox though that's less of a
15:13
factor now when it comes to longitudinal
15:15
style chromatic aberration you can see
15:17
that the Viltro excuse me the Sigma here
15:19
on my right is pretty close to neutral
15:21
whereas the Viltrox definitely shows a
15:24
little bit particularly in the version
15:25
of the greenish fringing that fringing
15:28
that comes after the plane of focus
15:29
that's a little bit more apparent here
15:31
on a three-dimensional object where we
15:34
can see in the shiny surfaces here on
15:36
the old SLR there is a bit of that
15:39
fringing that shows up that just isn't
15:41
present there on the Sigma likewise if
15:44
we take a look at the bokeh geometry
15:46
here the specular highlights for the the
15:50
Sigma lens you can see are just a little
15:51
bit bigger now they're also a little bit
15:55
busier so although they're in many ways
15:58
they're really more similar than
15:59
different but you can see that there is
16:01
some of that fringing that persist
16:02
around the specular highlights from the
16:04
Viltrox uh in the case where the Sigma
16:06
is neutral there as you begin to stop
16:09
the lenses down here's how the geometry
16:11
shapes out in some ways I think that the
16:15
Viltrox is a little bit better in terms
16:17
of the roundness you can see that the
16:19
Sigma stays a little bit more deformed
16:21
there just a little bit less of a round
16:23
kind of a an otter shape whereas this is
16:26
not perfectly round but at least it is
16:28
roundish and so a little bit of an
16:30
advantage for Viltrox there stopping on
16:32
down to
16:33
f2.8 I go back to giving a little bit of
16:36
an advantage for the Sigma not for the
16:38
geometric shape but for the fact that
16:40
you can see a little bit more of the
16:42
aperture shape than what you can with
16:44
the Sigma and so if that's the goal uh
16:46
Sigma is doing a little bit better job
16:48
with that now neither one of these
16:49
lenses has any kind of issue with
16:51
lateral style chromatic aberrations you
16:53
can see near the edge of the frame that
16:54
they're both pretty much perfect no
16:57
problem with fringing popping up there
16:59
so if we take a look at resolution and
17:00
contrast both of these are shot on the
17:03
Sony A7R Mark II 61 megapixels and these
17:07
results are shown at 200% magnification
17:09
so as far as the actual detail that's
17:11
present the both of them are very
17:13
similar in fact the Viltrox may have
17:16
very slightly better detail but the
17:19
contrast stands out more from the Sigma
17:22
and so in the center of the frame it at
17:23
least has the appearance of having
17:25
better resolution now that's less true
17:28
here in the mid-frame again they're
17:31
they're very similar in resolution but
17:34
the if anything I would say that the the
17:37
saturation levels or the contrast here
17:39
is very slightly better from the Viltrox
17:42
lens and if you look down in this corner
17:44
I like the Sigma better but if you look
17:47
in any other corner the Viltrox looks
17:49
better here up in this corner Viltrox is
17:52
looking better particularly here as you
17:54
get towards the edge as you can see and
17:56
over in this corner very clearly the
17:58
Viltrox is superior there and so overall
18:01
it's delivering just a little bit more
18:03
consistent sharpness performance wide
18:05
open at f1.4 if you stop both these
18:07
lenses down to f2 the contrast advantage
18:10
for the uh Sigma remains here in the
18:13
center of the frame it's improved more
18:15
in the center i would also say that its
18:17
mid-frame performance has bumped up a
18:19
bit and down in this corner it continues
18:21
to look better up here however we can
18:24
see that it's the Viltrox that's still
18:27
winning and likewise here the Viltrox is
18:30
just a little bit crisper and higher
18:32
resolution off towards the edge of the
18:34
frame at f2.8 8 both of these lenses are
18:37
ridiculously sharp i mean you're not
18:39
going to be able to ask for more i do
18:41
think I like the Sigma a little bit
18:42
better there but both of these out in
18:44
real world performance they're just so
18:46
sharp that you're probably not going to
18:48
miss anything if you get off towards the
18:50
edge of the frame the Viltrox is better
18:52
but as you move back towards the rule of
18:54
thirds area Sigma is every bit as good
18:57
if not even a hair better and so I mean
18:59
they're both really really good at a 5.6
19:02
six i do still think in the center of
19:03
the frame the contrast favors the Sigma
19:06
lens in this zone they're both extremely
19:09
extremely good maybe a little bit more
19:11
contrast for the Sigma however up here
19:15
in this corner I would say that they're
19:17
both still very very close and now you
19:20
can see that the Sigma has closed the
19:22
gap kind of in the extreme corner not
19:24
100% there but very very close now as
19:27
noted while technically the Viltrox on
19:30
paper has the higher level of resolution
19:33
we can see that it's it's not really the
19:37
case i mean there may be a fraction of a
19:39
percentage point more magnification but
19:41
I don't really see it the superior
19:43
contrast serves the u I think the Sigma
19:46
lens better here and that it stands up
19:49
looking just a little bit better and uh
19:51
if we look even down into this zone
19:53
again as you get closer to the edge of
19:55
the frame the Viltrox's advantage shows
19:57
up a bit it looks a little bit better in
19:59
this zone so I mean they're I would say
20:01
they're they're just more similar than
20:02
different as far as magnification using
20:05
a three-dimensional object here too you
20:07
can see that I don't really see a higher
20:10
level of magnification for the Viltrox
20:12
here i mean they really look quite
20:15
identical in overall performance now as
20:17
far as the rendering from the two lenses
20:19
I was actually quite surprised just how
20:21
much they looked alike and so I mean if
20:24
you look at terms of resolution they're
20:28
very very similar there so that's not
20:30
much of a difference as I look towards
20:32
these defocused areas I think maybe
20:34
there's a little more outlining for the
20:36
Sigma and the the Viltrox is just a
20:38
little bit softer but you can see that
20:41
if those were not side by side I doubt
20:44
you would see that uh they're both
20:46
really really nice and smooth now as far
20:48
as this shot here again it's similar
20:51
kind of results you know the the
20:53
resolution point is similar as I look at
20:56
areas like this I mean it's actually
20:58
surprising how similar that out of focus
21:00
rendering looks between those two it's
21:02
very very similar if we look in this
21:04
zone here again they're just they're
21:07
very very similar it's in this shot
21:10
where I felt like I liked the Viltrox
21:12
just a little bit better and it's mostly
21:14
about this zone right here if we zoom in
21:16
a little bit you can see that the higher
21:18
contrast makes this darker and so if we
21:20
zoom back out you can see that it just
21:23
catches the eye a little bit more than
21:25
what it does here on the Viltrox but
21:27
again yes I'm completely splitting hairs
21:30
at this point i look down in this zone
21:32
which is kind of complicated and I mean
21:35
I think I like the Viltrox a little
21:36
better again because of the lower
21:37
contrast but it's not like it's
21:40
radically different either one final
21:42
difference here is you can see that as
21:43
far as the color balance they look again
21:46
very similar the contrast is a little
21:48
bit stronger on the Sigma and so you
21:50
either you know will like or not like
21:51
that on the actual subject I would say
21:54
that I do like it in that I feel like
21:56
these kind of dark levels are just a
21:59
little bit darker and then so it's but
22:01
again again if they weren't side by side
22:03
at high magnification I don't know that
22:06
you could tell much of a difference
22:07
that's just how close these lenses are
22:09
on so many levels optically so thanks
22:11
for sticking around to the very end and
22:13
I hope that the deep dive into the
22:15
optics is helped to determine for you
22:17
which one of these bad boys you'd like
22:19
to own as always thanks for watching
22:21
have a great day and let the light in
22:24
[Music]
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