Up next in 10
Photographer Dustin Abbott takes a deep dive look at the new "N" version (No Display") of Viltrox's superlative LAB 35mm F1.2. Is the N version the best version? | Read the Text Review: https://tinyurl.com/LAB35review | Visit the Image Gallery: https://tinyurl.com/LAB35Pics | Purchase the Viltrox AF 35mm F1.2 LAB FE @ Viltrox https://tinyurl.com/BuyLAB35N (use code DUSTINABBOTT for 5% off) | B&H https://bhpho.to/4tRn99u | Adorama https://prf.hn/l/L3PqPYQ/ | Amazon https://amzn.to/43Q3zR4 | Amazon Canada https://amzn.to/3G7tbiA | Amazon UK https://amzn.to/43R6skE | Amazon Germany https://amzn.to/4jtb7h9
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
=============================
Table of Contents:
=============================
0:00 - Intro
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:10
Hi, I'm Dustin Abbott. Last year, I gave
0:12
you a review of the second of Viltrox's
0:15
highest end lab series of lenses. That
0:18
was the 35mm F1.2. I reviewed it first
0:22
on Sony in May of 2025 and then later on
0:26
on Nikon Zmount. In both cases, I found
0:30
it to be optically one of my, if not my
0:33
favorite 35mimeter lens ever. It is
0:36
incredibly sharp, even at f1.2. Uh, it
0:39
has beautiful rendering. It has a load
0:42
of features, but it's also a load of a
0:44
lens. It's big and it's heavy. And I
0:46
noted there were a few things that I
0:48
didn't love about the design. Viltrox
0:51
had experimented with having an OLED
0:54
screen on the top of the lens and rather
0:56
than a traditional aperture ring, more
0:58
of a customizable control ring ring like
1:00
Nikon uses that could be decllicked, but
1:04
it had some really strange uh function
1:07
when it came to actually using it as an
1:09
aperture ring and then so it didn't have
1:11
traditional clicks. I found that it
1:12
often didn't line up. Well, there was
1:14
just quirks in and around the OLED
1:17
screen. I gave some negative feedback in
1:20
regard to that on both of the lab series
1:21
lenses that have been released to that
1:23
point and it's clear that Viltrox has
1:25
heated those concerns because they have
1:27
come back with a new N version of this
1:29
lens and the N stands for no screen. And
1:33
so in this case we have a traditional
1:35
aperture uh ring. We have a setup which
1:38
is basically what I've been asking for
1:40
where all of the features particularly
1:42
when it comes to aperture are controlled
1:44
basically like the pro series with one
1:46
addition and that is that we do have a
1:49
second function button and it's not a
1:51
redundant function button but rather one
1:53
that can be assigned a different value
1:55
than that which is assigned from within
1:56
the camera. So, fortunately, Viltrox has
1:59
sent me one of the new N series lenses
2:01
and so I can evaluate it and give you
2:03
feedback. And I've done a quick review
2:05
of outside of just the changes to the
2:08
control scheme to see if there's been
2:10
any other hidden improvements along the
2:12
way. Even though this is the same
2:13
optical formula, I'm happy to uh to
2:16
report back to you that there are a few
2:18
subtle improvements, tweaks to things
2:20
like autofocus that make this the in my
2:23
opinion best version of the 35mm f1.2
2:26
two lab series lens. So far, other than
2:28
it being big and heavy, this is a lens
2:30
now that is getting pretty close to
2:32
perfect. And the fact that it is
2:34
available for under $1,000 US makes it a
2:37
killer deal. So, let's dive in and let's
2:39
take a closer look to see whether or not
2:41
this new inversion of the lens is the
2:44
version to get. So, as far as the basic
2:46
size here, everything is pretty much
2:48
unchanged. The lens is still 89.2 mm in
2:51
diameter and 121.8 8 mm in length. Lens
2:56
hood's same design. No locking mechanism
2:59
there, but it does fortunately does
3:01
click into place with pretty good
3:02
precision. It is movable, so I would
3:05
like that still to be a little bit
3:06
firmer. But overall, not too bad. But
3:08
our big change here obviously is when it
3:11
comes to not no longer having an OLED
3:13
screen and instead of a kind of
3:15
customizable control ring without any
3:17
kind of, you know, limits to it.
3:19
Instead, we have a traditional aperture
3:21
ring here. And so you have the ability
3:23
to have that aperture either decllicked.
3:26
And so you can move smoothly through
3:28
this and do aperture racking like this
3:30
or you can click the button on the side
3:31
and you can set up the clicks and you
3:34
have nice precise detents there at 1/3
3:37
stops. Aperture all lines up properly as
3:40
it should. Then a little bit firmer
3:42
detent between f16 and automatic and
3:45
it's about right. There is no iris lock
3:47
but other than that it does well. So in
3:50
this place where the OLED screen was, we
3:53
just have the branding information
3:54
there. And while initially I looked at
3:56
it and I missed the screen just from the
3:58
visual, the more that I look at it, the
4:00
more I appreciate the nice clean lines
4:02
of this lens. It looks really, really
4:04
fantastic. We have an AFMF switch as
4:07
before. And then we still have the two
4:09
function buttons here on the side. Now,
4:10
when it comes to the function buttons,
4:12
that's the only place where I would say
4:14
it's a little bit less functional
4:15
because there was some interaction
4:17
between the function buttons and the
4:19
OLED screen if you're shooting setting
4:21
like an AB focus or infinity focus. And
4:24
so, obviously, you have a little bit
4:25
less control with that. But, as before,
4:28
in theory, you're going to be able to
4:30
assign the value of these buttons
4:32
through the Viltrox app. So far, I
4:34
haven't been able to do that. And I
4:36
think it's basically just that the
4:37
firmware has not been or the app build
4:39
has not been updated to accommodate
4:41
that. But in theory, because these two
4:43
buttons are right side by side, if
4:45
they're redundant buttons, it's useless.
4:47
There's no use having two of them. So, I
4:49
think the point is to have function one
4:50
and function two having two different
4:52
functions. However, you will have to
4:54
just kind of go with that a little bit
4:55
more blindly as far as setting an AB
4:58
focus. And then obviously, you are
5:00
missing the distance scale. And I as far
5:02
as aperture feedback, I don't miss that
5:04
at all because the aperture ring itself
5:05
is more precise and it is a much better
5:08
way to control aperture. To me, overall
5:10
the the change is well worth it. Weight
5:12
is still heavy. It's 910 grams in
5:15
overall weight inside. There's 11
5:17
aperture blades. Keeps a nice circular
5:19
aperture. We've got a weather sealing
5:20
gasket here. And then we've got a
5:22
thorough weather sealing all throughout
5:23
the lens design. As before, minimum
5:26
focus distance here is 34 cm. And mag
5:29
maximum magnification is 0.17 times. Not
5:32
a massive amount of magnification, but
5:34
useful enough. And the lens is amazingly
5:37
good up close. And yes, as before,
5:42
you might hear some clunking there as
5:44
you go back and forth. It does have
5:45
floating elements to help that up close
5:47
performance. That will go away once the
5:49
lens is energized. So if you take your
5:51
lens out of the box and it feels like,
5:52
oh, there's something loose in there,
5:54
that's by design. Put connects to your
5:56
camera, turn the camera on. If it goes
5:58
away, all is well. This is the way it's
6:00
designed to operate. I would say now
6:02
that while this is a big, heavy lens, it
6:04
looks absolutely premium, which it is.
6:07
Has a feature set similar to a Sony GM
6:09
lens. It is beautiful and it handles the
6:12
way that I wanted these lenses to
6:14
operate. So, let's talk autofocus. I've
6:16
been doing all of my outdoor filming on
6:18
the Lab 35 F1.2 to in lens. And as you
6:22
can see, it handles all of the autofocus
6:25
things that I've thrown at it with a
6:27
plum. This is still powered by four of
6:30
their hyper VCM focus motors. It always
6:33
had a lot of thrust, but there were were
6:36
some room for improvement in autofocus
6:38
when it came to algorithms and just
6:39
overall focus confidence. I'm happy to
6:42
report that I feel like Viltrox has kind
6:45
of unlocked the potential of these quad
6:48
HyperVCM focus motors. Now, not only is
6:50
there tons of thrust, as there always
6:52
was, particularly for a lens with such
6:54
big, heavy glass elements, but now it
6:57
feels like there's just that extra
6:58
degree of polish and precision. One
7:00
thing that I noted that stood out to me
7:02
compared to not just other Viltrox
7:04
lenses, but lenses on Sony in general,
7:06
and that was I found like the lens was
7:08
much more responsive in nailing closeup
7:12
images. And so, if I was wanting to
7:13
focus on a close subject here, often
7:16
lenses want to stay stuck on the
7:17
background. But I found that this new
7:19
Lab N series lens was able to just adapt
7:24
to that and to pull focus to where I
7:26
wanted to without me having to do manual
7:27
override or things like that. I shot it
7:30
in an event setting in Montreal and I
7:32
found uh that it did an amazing job and
7:35
I shot basically exclusively at f1.2.
7:37
Always nailed focus just perfectly. And
7:40
you can see from these close-up shots
7:42
that its ability to just nail with
7:45
absolute precision and then to allow
7:47
those amazing optics to utterly shine is
7:51
what makes this lens stand out as being
7:53
just so special. On the video side of
7:55
things, I noticed that things kind of
7:58
went up a notch there as well because it
8:00
is has I think better algorithm support.
8:03
It's more finely tuned. Not only was I
8:05
able to do my traditional thing like
8:07
approaching the camera, ducking in and
8:09
out, you know, my, you know, kind of
8:10
traditional test that I do there, but
8:12
because it did it so well and I saw so
8:13
much more responsiveness, I thought,
8:15
okay, what if I just ran full tilt
8:17
towards the camera at f1.2? Well, as you
8:20
can see here, it actually did remarkably
8:22
well in keeping up with me all the way
8:24
throughout the frame. And so, this is a
8:26
really responsive lens at this point.
8:29
Focus pulls are utterly confident back
8:31
and forth. Um, you know, there's there's
8:33
perfect speed. There's no visible steps
8:35
or settling or pulsing here on Sony. All
8:37
of that is great. The only kind of
8:39
remaining concern that obviously hasn't
8:41
been ironed out because the optical
8:43
formula hasn't changed and that is the
8:45
simple fact that there is a bit more
8:47
focus breathing than what I would like.
8:49
And so while focus changes are nice and
8:51
confident, for example, from my hand to
8:52
my eye here, you can just see that
8:54
unfortunately you can see a little bit
8:56
of that kind of lurching sensation due
8:58
to the focus breathing as a part of
9:00
that. But I found uh when shooting often
9:03
you at f1.2 and just kind of moving
9:05
around that focus was just really strong
9:08
staying on the subject and if I was
9:10
trying to force a transition to another
9:12
focus subject nice and smooth
9:14
transitions. So overall I'm really
9:16
impressed not only by what I see as very
9:20
positive changes to the handling of the
9:21
lens and its function but to autofocus
9:24
as well which again leads me to the
9:26
conclusion that this is the best version
9:27
of the lens we've seen so far. Now, if
9:29
you want my typical deep dive into the
9:31
optical performance, I would recommend
9:32
that you go back and look at last year's
9:34
review as it is the same optical formula
9:36
and I'm still testing at the same 61
9:38
megapixel um you know, kind of
9:40
resolution point. But suffice it to say,
9:43
I've used this lens a lot at this point.
9:45
I've put it in a lot of comparisons with
9:47
a variety of lenses from Sony GM lenses
9:50
to new lenses from Sigma um 35mm f1.2s
9:55
and f1.4s. What I have found is that
9:58
this is an optical formula that even the
10:01
very best, they just really can't beat
10:03
it. It has an amazing combination of
10:06
resolution, sharpness, contrast, but
10:09
then also out of focus rendering. And
10:11
you can see even in these outdoor video
10:13
shots that it has gorgeous rendering for
10:15
a 35mm lens. As a byproduct, I just get
10:19
images that I often feel just have that
10:21
bit of extra special sparkle, that
10:24
little bit of magic that really look
10:26
gorgeous out of it. And my feelings on
10:28
that haven't changed. All of the images
10:31
I'm showing you in this particular
10:32
review are lenses that I've taken with
10:34
this new version of the lens. And as I
10:37
go back and just look at real world
10:38
images, you know, chart testing aside,
10:40
what has stood out to me is that this
10:42
lens is still really, really amazing.
10:45
And frankly, if you're looking for an
10:47
affordable 35mm lens, it's going to give
10:50
you very close to the best performance
10:52
we've seen at 35 mm. Uh it's it's hard
10:55
to beat the 35mm f1.2 Lab. And the fact
10:59
that it now is designed and handles the
11:01
way that I want it to. Fantastic. Put
11:05
simply, this is the lens that I wanted
11:07
from Viltrox. it already had an amazing
11:10
optical design and the fact that they
11:12
not only have improved now the the build
11:15
and the function to to work basically
11:18
the way that I think it should, which is
11:19
essentially it handles just like a Sony
11:22
G Master lens. Um, and so it's got all
11:25
of the features that you're looking for.
11:26
It's got the function. I would say that
11:28
the only reason to not consider the
11:30
Viltrox 35mm f1.2 to lab in is if you
11:35
need something that is smaller and
11:37
lighter because one thing that it isn't
11:38
is smaller or lighter at this point. So,
11:40
it's still a big, heavy, bulky lens, but
11:43
optically it is fantastic. And the fact
11:45
that they have managed to while not
11:48
changing the hardware when it comes to
11:50
autofocus, they have managed to tweak
11:51
algorithms and just tune the
11:54
responsiveness to the lens to where it's
11:56
now operating at, I would say, a level
11:58
up from where it was when it was
11:59
initially released. Makes it now, I
12:01
think, to me, the most compelling big
12:04
aperture 35mm lens on the market. I
12:07
really like Sigma's 35mm f1.2. 2 uh art
12:11
series lens Mark I. I think it's a great
12:13
lens, but I just kind of instinctively
12:16
prefer the rendering out of the lab
12:18
lens. And that's one thing that has
12:19
stood out to me is that just if I'm
12:21
looking side by side at images, I just
12:23
tend to very slightly prefer the ones
12:25
out of the lab. And the fact that you
12:27
can get this lens for under $1,000, and
12:29
there is a uh coupon code in the
12:32
description down below that'll help to
12:33
save you a bit more off of that, it just
12:35
makes it a really, really compelling
12:37
lens. And so this is the change I was
12:38
looking for from Viltrox. And I really,
12:40
really hope that their road map that has
12:43
a 50mm f1.2, an 85mm f1.2 from the lab
12:48
series are going to follow this design.
12:51
Get rid of the OLED, get rid of the
12:53
customizable control ring, and just give
12:55
us traditional aperture control, give us
12:57
this beautiful looking lens, and
12:58
beautiful performance like this. I will
13:01
be delighted. If you want more
13:03
information, you can check out my link
13:05
in the description. We'll go back to my
13:06
original review of this lens. There are
13:08
buying links there as well. As always,
13:10
thanks for watching. Have a great day
13:12
and let the light in.
#Science