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Viltrox EVO 55mm F1.8 Z-Mount Review | A Cheaper S-Line Alternative?
Apr 13, 2026
Photographer Dustin Abbott takes a deep dive look at the Viltrox EVO 55mm F1.8 APO lens - is this the best lens in the EVO series thus far? | Read the Text Review: | Purchase the Viltrox EVO 55mm F1.8 @ Viltrox (use code DUSTINABBOTT for 5% off) | B&H | Adorama | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany
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Table of Contents:
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0:00 - Intro
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0:00
Hi, I'm Dustin Abbott. I'm pretty much a fan of most everything that Viltrox is doing these days
0:15
but perhaps no series is more intriguing to me than their Evo series, which launched last year
0:21
It combines some of the upscale feature set of the Pro series of lenses with the more compact
0:27
design of the air series lenses while bringing thus far a pretty outstanding optical performance
0:32
to the now three lenses available in the series i've previously reviewed the 85 millimeter f2 the
0:38
first in the series then the 35 millimeter f1.8 and today i am reviewing the 55 millimeter f1.8
0:45
lens from the evo series now all of these lenses are available on both sony e-mount and nikon z
0:52
mount i'm reviewing this one on z mount today that brings me to this lens the 50 millimeter f1.8 s
0:59
is to me the crown jewel of the f1.8 s series lenses from nikkor and i can still consider to
1:05
be a fantastic lens at a pretty strong value this new viltrox evo lens is going to give it a run for
1:12
its money however because it is smaller it is lighter it is more feature rich it's just as good
1:18
optically and of course it is cheaper at just 370 us dollars so that makes it a really compelling
1:25
option if you are looking for a 50 millimeter ish prime i hope to come back at some point with a
1:31
sony mount review but today we're going to look at the z mount version most of my observations will
1:37
apply equally over to e-mount as well for the sony shooters that are watching today now before we jump
1:42
into the review itself in full disclosure this lens was sent to me by viltrox for evaluation
1:47
it however they have had no input in this review they will not see it before you it is a completely
1:52
independent review all of that aside let's jump in let's take a look and before we jump into the
1:57
review today i wanted to give you a quick update a caveat on some of the information contained in
2:02
the review itself that is incorrect because it's based on information that viltrox sent out
2:06
initially where they showed that the along with the minimum focus distance at the maximum magnification
2:12
on both the 35 millimeter and the 55 millimeter was just 0.10 times not a very competitive figure at
2:18
all i discovered subsequently when i was doing a comparison review with the 55 millimeter and the
2:24
nikkor's own 50 millimeter f1.8s that the nikkor rated at 0.15 times had the same level of
2:31
magnification as what the viltrox 55 millimeter did and so i took that data back to viltrox they
2:37
went to their engineers and they came back with revised figures on both of these lenses
2:42
Now the 35mm has same minimum focus distance, but is rated at 0.15 times level of magnification
2:49
Whereas the 55mm, same minimum focus distance, but now it is rated at 0.16 times level of magnification
2:59
Now on that latter figure, I think it's actually a little bit high. I think that it's probably 0.15 times is the accurate figure
3:06
In either way, however, it makes these lenses more competitive. and I wanted to share that updated information with you and let you know that what you're going
3:14
to see subsequently in the video, both the numbers that I give and the way that it kind of
3:18
influences my opinion on the lens, we need to revise that a little bit based on that updated
3:23
information. All right, those of you that recently watched my 35mm f1.8 Evo review will see a lot of
3:31
similarities because Viltrox is basically leveraging common design for all of the lenses we've seen so
3:37
far in the Evo series. So that's the 85 f2, 55 f1.8, and then 35 f1.8. All of them have the same
3:44
exterior dimensions, and they are the basic same feature set. The only variance really is when it
3:50
comes to the lens hood itself, which has slightly different shapes depending upon the vignetting
3:55
needs of the particular lens. All of these come in both Sony E-mount and Nikon Z-mount. This one
4:01
I am reviewing in Z-mount today. Price is $370, and to give you a look at the comps
4:07
the Sony 55mm f1.8 Sony Zeiss is a whopping $1,100, which kind of blows my mind for a 13-year-old
4:16
lens. The Nikkor 50mm f1.8 S is going to set you back about $667 at retail, so that obviously puts
4:26
the Viltrox in a very good position when it comes to the price to performance ratio, particularly
4:31
considering this is another apochromatic design, which I absolutely love that we're getting
4:37
APO designs in such inexpensive lenses. And of course, as we're going to see in a few minutes
4:42
that really makes a difference when it comes to the optical performance. I actually really like the build quality of these Evo lenses. They strike a nice balance between the
4:53
you know, heavier Pro and Lab series and then the lightweight Air series. Obviously having a lot of
4:58
the features that the Pro lenses have, but having a much lighter build, nice and compact, this is
5:04
going to mate very well with something like the ZF or smaller bodies like that. And obviously it
5:10
could also work fine on APS-C cameras as well because of being compact and lightweight. Now
5:16
interestingly, there is a gasket here at the lens mount, but when I asked Viltrox, because I hadn't
5:21
seen any information about internal seals, I was surprised to find that there actually are internal
5:25
seals in the lens itself And so that was great to see And so you can see from this diagram that there about seven different seal points and this is an area where they continuing to work to improve this compact and inexpensive series It does include the lens hood and then also a pouch with it
5:44
And when you compare it to the various options it's going to go against
5:48
the Sony 55 millimeter has like zero features. It just has a manual focus ring
5:53
Whereas here we have an aperture ring, which you have the option of having clicks
5:58
with one third stop. You have the ability to de-click it here on the side if you want to smoothly go throughout the whole aperture
6:05
allowing you to do things like aperture racks, as you can see here. And then also we have an AF-MF switch and a custom or function button on the side
6:16
The 50mm F1.8S, the primary competitor here on Nikon, it has an AF-MF switch
6:22
and it doesn't even have a separate customizable control ring. If you want to use this as a control ring, it means eliminating it as a manual focus ring
6:29
And so obviously kind of compromised in that regard. So anyway, I definitely appreciate the feature set here, which continues to be basically the best in class
6:39
which is impressive for being such an inexpensive lens. Now, you may have noticed the USB-C port there at the lens mount
6:47
That will allow you to do easy firmware updates. and you can see here I've already done a couple of updates and Filtrox is pretty proactive when
6:55
it comes to their firmware so you continue to get a better performing lens which is great
7:00
Inside we have nine rounded aperture blades and as you can see here as we go through that it does
7:05
a fairly good job of keeping a circular shape. The lens is it's all of these are the same size so
7:11
in this case it's 69 millimeters in diameter or 2.71 inches so if you're in the e-mount version
7:17
it'll be 76 millimeters in length here on Nikon at 78 millimeters, different flange distance
7:23
and so the lens needs to be a little bit longer to accommodate the optical path here
7:27
but still very compact at 78 millimeters or 3.07 inches. The Nikkor lens is not only 9 millimeters
7:35
longer, but it is also a whopping 6 millimeters bigger in diameter, making it just a significantly
7:41
larger lens all around. The weight of the Evo 55 millimeter is 385 grams in Z-mount form
7:50
so a little bit heavier than what the E-mount will be. That's 13.58 ounces. The Nikkor lens is 415
7:57
ounces, again in good position for the Viltrox lens. It has a 58 millimeter filter thread up
8:03
front, which is shared across all three of these lenses. The actual manual focus ring, it moves
8:09
nice and smoothly, no issues there, and so all good on that front. The one fly in the ointment
8:15
here with these Evo series has been the minimum focus distance. And here it's 43 centimeters
8:21
which is not terrible, but the maximum magnification is just 0.10 times. And so unfortunately
8:27
that's a pretty low figure. Average for a 50 millimeter lens is more like 0.15 times
8:34
similar to what the actual Nikkor lens is. And so you're definitely losing
8:39
some close focus capabilities. On the other hand, the up-close performance is quite good from the lens, so at least we have that
8:46
I really love this package. I love the look, I love the design
8:50
I love the feature set, I love the size. All good in my mind, particularly at a price tag
8:54
of just 370 US dollars. So let's talk autofocus. On the higher-end pro and lab series of lenses
9:01
Viltrox uses their Hyper VCM or voice coil motors. However, on these lower tiers of lenses
9:07
they're still using STM focus motors. I think that they have properly evaluated the fact that
9:12
there's enough thrust in an STM focus motor to get the job done, and they can avoid the heavier
9:17
voice coil motors in these compact lenses. And certainly, while focus isn't like instant
9:24
you can see that it moves back and forth with good speed. And I think, if anything
9:29
it's an easy match for the actual Nikkor lens when it comes to the focus speed. It also uses
9:35
an STM focus motor, so that kind of stands to reason. What's more, I found excellent autofocus
9:40
accuracy, and that included some of the shots that surprised me, where, for example, if Nala was
9:46
just about to jump off, for example, in this shot, and so she's springing, starting to move
9:50
and I only had a split second to catch a shot, it was nailed. And you can see that not only is
9:55
focus perfect, but that detail is fantastic. In some ways, I actually feel like these Evo lenses
10:01
focus with a little bit more responsiveness on Z-mount than what they do on Sony E-mount
10:08
and I'm more likely to catch shots like that here than what I am on E-mount, which is kind of
10:12
surprising, and it shows how far that Viltrox has actually come on the Z-mount platform
10:18
Obviously, when it came to people-type shots, I had zero problems. I detect was fantastic. I got
10:24
well-focused results, whether I was shooting speakers at a conference that I was at, just
10:29
other participants in the room, no problem with any of those things. I liked this shot also where
10:34
my subject was backlit and I was able to, again, nail focus at F1.8, detail was fantastic. All of
10:42
that was good. I don't really have any kind of concerns or qualifications when it comes to the
10:47
focus performance. It was rock solid for me on my Nikon Z8 body that I used to test with
10:53
Now on the video side of things, I would say that my findings were also quite good
10:58
You can see on these outdoor filming segments, I'm shooting all of them on the actual 55mm F1.8 on my Z8
11:06
and you can see that focus is steady and solid not moving away from me no hunting or pulsing or any of those things Pretty much all that you would expect at this point When I did focus pulls I found that while I accustomed to this being not quite as smooth as what it is on Sony or Canon
11:23
you can see it move back and forth fairly well without a lot of that kind of back racking that I sometimes see on Nikon
11:29
or kind of a lack of settling down, and that's doing touch to focus
11:34
Now, when I just did something where I was on screen, like my hand test, that went perfectly fine moving back and forth
11:40
You'll notice in all of these clips that there is some fairly obvious focus breathing
11:45
It's not extreme, but neither is it well corrected. And of course, as third-party lenses
11:50
you're not going to see any kind of focus breathing compensation on the camera body, to my knowledge
11:55
And so, unfortunately, you're just going to have to deal with that. For some of you, it's going to be a big deal
12:00
For others, I know that it is not. when i approached the camera i had no problem with it not only tracking me as i moved towards
12:07
it but then also as i stepped in and out of the frame it picked me back up just fine no issues
12:13
there likewise in some just random clips of nala moving around all of that was good and then
12:19
obviously in these outdoor clips i was in niagara falls for conference and used it exclusively there
12:24
and i got you know great results in shooting the falls you would expect nothing but that at this
12:30
point. But really, I don't have any kind of concerns on autofocus on either stills or video
12:36
side. All's well here. All right, let's start by taking a look at the optical design. We have a
12:41
total of 13 elements in nine groups here. That includes a couple of high refractive lenses
12:47
as you can see here and here, one as spherical lens, and then two extra low dispersion elements
12:53
in the design. Now here on the left, I have the MTF chart from the new Evo 55 millimeter. On the
12:58
right I have the Nikkor 50mm f1.8. You can see I've lined them up to where I put that line
13:04
through the 80% threshold. Anything above that looks absolutely fantastic. You can see that the
13:10
Evo lens starts way up here at about 94% and it does not drop below 80% until just the last
13:18
few percentage points of the actual image circle. And so that's a really, really impressively strong
13:25
performance. You stop it down to f8 which is the red lines you can see here and you can see that it
13:32
basically just goes all across the frame with just it's not as sharp in the center of the frame but
13:39
very very even performance right out to the edge. If we look over here at the Nikkor lens it starts
13:43
at a much lower level about 82 percent and then it drops about an equal amount into the corners
13:49
and so on paper the Evo lens is an easy winner there
13:53
Moving on to other metrics we can see that there is basically no distortion in the design
13:58
I didn't do anything to correct the image on the right. However there's a lot of vignette and I needed to nearly max out the sliders to get the result here on the right
14:07
If I can say anything in defense of this it is a nice linear style vignette
14:11
and in many cases I found that it actually looked good in images where you actually wanted a little of that shading
14:18
As an apochromatic design, we have got very, very little fringing. And so here on my test chart, you can see that it is very close to perfectly neutral with no fringing before and after the plan of focus
14:29
If we dive here and we look at the shiny bits, there is just a tiny amount of a kind of greenish fringing there, but very, very neutral
14:38
Nothing around these specular highlights. They all stay nice and neutral. looking at those specular highlights for a moment there is a little bit of business inside not quite
14:47
to the level of the concentric rings but you know a little bit of business there as we stop down to
14:53
f2.8 you can see just going back to the geometry for a moment you can see a little deformation
14:58
near the end by f2.8 really kind of perfectly circular there and then on to f4 you can see that
15:05
you're starting to barely see those nine aperture blades but a nice even performance all along i found
15:11
in real world images, I didn't worry about fringing at all. And so here, all of these shiny
15:15
bits, and you can see the, you know, the white imprinting of the coffee machine here. It's all
15:20
perfectly neutral. All of these shiny bits here, no fringing to see really, really fantastic
15:26
Now lateral style chromatic aberrations are also basically perfectly neutral. I see nothing here
15:32
in the corners, all as well there. So that points towards a very high resolution and contrast result
15:38
So here we're on a 45 megapixel Z8. I'm showing you results at 200%
15:43
Even at 200%, it looks pin sharp in the center of the frame
15:46
Great detail, great contrast. Mid-frame looks fantastic as we work our way down
15:52
We can see very good consistency, just a little bit of a drop off here
15:56
You can see that down here, it's still looking very good. Looks great here. And frankly, it looks quite great right off to the very corner of the frame
16:04
We look up here on the other side. in real world use I actually think that the corners look fantastic here at f1.8 now according
16:12
to the MTF charts this should easily best the Nikkor lens in the center of the frame that's not
16:17
really what I find however maybe I reviewed a really good copy of the Nikkor but anyway it's
16:22
really really strong in the center of the frame and so if anything I would say I would give a
16:26
mild edge in contrast to the Nikkor lens which I'm I've been always very impressed by likewise
16:32
here in the mid-frame I would give a mild edge you can just see there's a little bit more punch
16:36
in some of the inky spots there and it's only really at the corners where the MTF suggests
16:42
that the Nikkor should be every bit as good that it not and definitely I as I look at those corners it an easy win for the Viltrox in terms of that performance This is the kind of lens however that I just found
16:55
looking at real-world images. I was always impressed by how much detail and contrast was there
17:00
Just the overall rendering of the images and moving towards defocus, I really liked what I saw
17:06
So how about as we start to stop the lens down, going from f1.8 to f2 in the center of the frame
17:12
there's a little bit more contrast there i doubt if you're looking at a lower percentage level of
17:18
magnification i doubt you're really going to see it much there from f2 to f2.8 we're seeing even
17:24
more punch so great detail now i can see a little bit more of a difference there this mid frame is
17:30
just absolutely pin sharp and if we look up into the corners the corners are just looking absolutely
17:36
bright sharp so all is well there if we check back in with the Nikkor lens as before the Viltrox is
17:43
better in the corners if we look here in the mid frame they look very very similar I wouldn't
17:49
really give much of an advantage of one or the other in the center of the frame however I do
17:54
think I like the Nikkor just a hair better at f4 and f5.6 these corners are probably about as sharp
18:01
as you're going to see. It's a really, really strong, impressive performance and just really
18:06
consistent all across the frame. Everywhere I look, fantastic detail, fantastic contrast
18:12
This is an amazingly sharp lens. Taking it out into the real world, it delivers beautiful landscape
18:18
results. I mean, look at how fine all of the detail is there and you can see that that persists right
18:25
off to the corner of the frame. It looks fantastic everywhere you look. Now by f11, you'll start to
18:30
see some softening due to the effects of diffraction and you can kind of see it more when the lens is
18:35
really sharp like this just because it's been so good and so high contrast. By f16 which is the
18:40
minimum aperture you can see a bit more of a softening. If you're looking at 100% magnification
18:45
though it's still certainly usable there. Now we've already lamented that the maximum magnification
18:51
isn't higher and I certainly would like to see that but you can see up close we have very good
18:56
detail and contrast and so that part of things is good up close here you can see that you can
19:02
really blur out a background if you're as you know close as you can be to a subject and the
19:06
background's a little bit further off here's another shot that's kind of near to that ratio
19:11
and you can see really really soft really creamy so that is very nice and sometimes apo lenses
19:17
aren't as good when it comes to the defocus rendering in this case however i actually
19:22
quite liked everything you know here you can see backgrounds not as strongly
19:26
defocused but look at how crisp and great contrast it is there and as I look
19:30
towards this background I don't know it looks pretty sweet to me all things
19:34
considered here you know in shooting inside the house with the guitar you can
19:39
see that amazing detail and contrast able to hold that really really difficult
19:44
of the metal of that string and then a nice transition towards defocus there
19:48
Now finally, when we look at flare resistance, you can see in this shot, unfortunately it was a lot of overcast days during the time of my review here
19:57
But as I look here at this, I see a little bit of a glow at F1.8
20:01
There was actually bright light coming through the trees here. And so that actually, I like that little bit of glow
20:07
I think the image looks nice. Here in the morning, I could see some really beautiful sunlight here at sunrise over Niagara Falls
20:16
I see these two little, you know, kind of optical ghosting there
20:22
I'm not too put off by that. Actually found here in another shot as I stopped down a little bit that that went away altogether
20:30
All told, I mean, I just I pretty much love the optics from this lens for such a compact and inexpensive package
20:36
It's pretty close to perfect. So what's my conclusion? As I said in the intro, I actually really love these Evo series of lenses
20:45
and this may be my favorite of them in terms of the pure optical performance
20:50
I think that it delivers a really amazing mix of really high detail and contrast
20:56
but also very nice rendering for this kind of lens, only having a maximum aperture of f1.8
21:01
I will do more of a head-to-head video with the Nikkor 50mm f1.8s
21:07
as here on Nikon, that is the chief competition. But for those of you that are coming from the Sony side of things
21:12
I would take this lens every day of the week over the older Sony Zeiss 55mm f1.8 sonar lens
21:19
And this lens is pretty close to a third of the price of that lens. Very, very impressive on that front
21:25
It just does so many things well. I love the combination of the feature set, the size of it
21:30
the fact that this is going to be a great lens to pack along if you're traveling with one of the smaller, lighter bodies, or even an APS-C camera
21:38
It just, I think it's going to work for a lot of people and going to deliver the kind of images that you're just going to be delighted with
21:45
And frankly, be quite shocked that you can get images this good with a lens that is that cheap
21:52
And so at the end of the day, I think this is another huge win for Viltrox
21:56
If you want more information, you can check out my full text review that is on DustinAbbott.net
22:01
And there, there are many hundreds of other reviews. And so you can find all the resources that you're looking for
22:07
There's some buying links in the description down below and a discount code that'll save you even a bit more money off of that already cheap price
22:13
As always, thanks for watching. Have a great day and let the light in