In the fall of the 2024 I had the opportunity to review the long awaited first entry in Viltrox’s Premium LAB series – the Viltrox AF 135mm F1.8 LAB FE. I loved the lens on Sony despite it being large and heavy and gave it a pretty glowing review. One regret I had was that my Megadap ETZ221 Pro adapter didn’t play well with the LAB 135mm, so I didn’t have a chance to use the Sony FE version on my Nikon Z8. As an aside, I’m interested in seeing if Viltrox’s own new E to Z adapter solves that problem. But fortunately we have a better solution, because a new Nikon Z mount version of this amazing lenses has officially arrived, and frankly the big LAB is going to be a better match for my large Nikon Z8 body anyway! One thing hasn’t changed; this is still a big, heavy lens, but it also a very serious challenger to the premium Nikkor Z 135mm F1.8 S Plena…particularly considering that lens’ hefty $2500 USD price tag. The Viltrox AF 135mm F1.8 LAB Z is an optical juggernaut, and the bargain price tag of $899 USD makes it a huge value (and if you use code DUSTINABBOTT at checkout at Viltrox, you can get an additional 5% off!). Find out if this should be the 135mm in your own kit by watching the video review, reading the text review, or by just enjoying the photos from the lens in the galleries below.
Thanks to Viltrox for sending me a review copy of this lens. As always, this is a completely independent review. All opinions and conclusions are my own. *The tests and most of the photos that I share as a part of my review cycle have been done with the 45MP Nikon Z8, which I reviewed here.You can visit the product listing page of the Viltrox AF 135mm F1.8 LAB Z.
Keywords: Viltrox AF 135mm F1.8 LAB Z, Viltrox, Viltrox AF, LAB, Viltrox LAB, #LAB, #LAB135, Viltrox 135mm, Normal, Full Frame, F1.8, f/1.8, VCM, Viltrox LAB 135mm F1.8 FE, Viltrox 135mm Review, Viltrox AF 135mm F1.8 FE Review, VCM, Pancake, Chip, Sony a7IV, Sony Alpha 1, Sony a7RV, Review, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, let the light in, weathersealing, #letthelightin, DA
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In the fall of the 2024 I had the opportunity to review the long awaited first entry in Viltrox’s Premium LAB series – the Viltrox AF 135mm F1.8 LAB FE. I loved the lens on Sony despite it being large and heavy and gave it a pretty glowing review. One regret I had was that my Megadap ETZ221 Pro adapter didn’t play well with the LAB 135mm, so I didn’t have a chance to use the Sony FE version on my Nikon Z8. As an aside, I’m interested in seeing if Viltrox’s own new E to Z adapter solves that problem. But fortunately we have a better solution, because a new Nikon Z mount version of this amazing lenses has officially arrived, and frankly the big LAB is going to be a better match for my large Nikon Z8 body anyway! One thing hasn’t changed; this is still a big, heavy lens, but it also a very serious challenger to the premium Nikkor Z 135mm F1.8 S Plena…particularly considering that lens’ hefty $2500 USD price tag. The Viltrox AF 135mm F1.8 LAB Z is an optical juggernaut, and the bargain price tag of $899 USD makes it a huge value (and if you use code DUSTINABBOTT at checkout at Viltrox, you can get an additional 5% off!). Find out if this should be the 135mm in your own kit by watching the video review below or by reading on in the text review.
Thanks to Viltrox for sending me a review copy of this lens. As always, this is a completely independent review. All opinions and conclusions are my own. *The tests and most of the photos that I share as a part of my review cycle have been done with the 45MP Nikon Z8, which I reviewed here.You can visit the product listing page of the Viltrox AF 135mm F1.8 LAB Z.
I’ve had a long-term love affair with 135mm lenses. I still own some classic 135mm options from the film era (SMC Takumars and the like) and have been privileged to own some of the modern premium 135mm options, from the Canon 135mm F2L to the Zeiss Milvus 135mm F2 to the Sony FE 135mm F1.8 G Master. In short, I have owned a premium quality 135mm for just about as long as I have been a professional photographer. I value the focal length above all for the utterly unique portrait shots you can get; shots the feature extreme isolation and wonderfully creamy bokeh. There are many lenses where you can get a blurred out background if you get very close to your subject, but a lens like the LAB 135Z allows you to completely isolate your subject even when you are a much further distance away, like this:
And look at what happens if you take a tighter crop of that shot:
You can perhaps get a sense of just how exquisite the combination of bokeh and sharpness is…even at F1.8.
I love the look of images shot with a fast 135mm lens…but I don’t end up shooting with the focal length as often as I might like. My least favorite part of owning premium 135mm lenses is how comparatively rarely that I reach for the lens (just too long for a lot of situations). For me that has made me question the amount of money I have sitting on the shelf far too often, and has caused me to (at times) sell such a lens to help fund a more practical purpose. The size and weight of the LAB 135Z might still be such a deterrent, but the price won’t be. I would feel far less qualms over a $900 (or less!) lens sitting on the shelf a bit too much than having a $2500 lens like the Plena sitting on the shelf.
The Viltrox AF 135mm F1.8 LAB Z is a fiercely good lens, and I suspect is going to be somewhat disruptive here on Nikon because of just how good it is at such an inexpensive price.
*There will be some redundancy with my Sony FE review of the lens as this is in essence the same lens mechanically, cosmetically, and optically. I have updated the imagery and also any area of unique performance to the Nikon platform.
Viltrox LAB 135mm Build and Handling
There is basically one variance from the E-mount version of the lens to the Z-mount version of the lens, and that is that the barrel of the lens near the mount is much wider on the Z-mount version to accommodate the significantly wider diameter of Z-mount (on the right).
You might also notice that the rear weather sealing gasket is a little more obvious on the E-mount version, but that is only because the gasket is seated a little differently to accommodate the different mounting position on Nikon. Other than that the E-mount and Z-mount versions are essentially identical, with similar size, length, and features.
In many ways the new LAB 135mm feels like a blend between a Canon L series and a Zeiss Batis lens. The overall feel of the lens and its textures reminds me of a Canon L series, while the top mounted LCD screen reminds me of a Batis lens.
Nikkor 135mm Plena is a big lens, as have been all of Nikkor’s premium fast primes. It is 98mm (3.9″) in diameter and 139.5mm (5.5″) in length. It weighs 995g (35oz). But the LAB 135Z manages to top that. It is 93mm in diameter (3.66″), a little narrower, but is a bit longer at 147.6mm (5.74″) in length. That’s not bigger (the Plena has an internal volume about 1% higher), but the LAB 135Z is a hefty lens, weighing in at a whopping 1268g (44.72oz), or about 270g more than the Plena (I weigh the FE version of the LAB at 1236g, a little lighter due to that smaller diameter near the lens mount). Do not buy this lens if you are adverse to some weight. Why is it so heavy? Above all, it has a LOT of glass inside.
Up front we get a large 82mm front filter thread, though that is pretty common for any 135mm lens with an F1.8 aperture. You can’t beat physics!
Viltrox has demonstrated that they are capable of producing small, lightweight lenses with good optics (the AIR series is a perfect example of that), but that’s not the point of the LAB series. The LAB series seems to following a similar design philosophy to Nikon’s F1.2 S line lenses: build the best optical instrument at the focal length that you can, and don’t worry about the size and weight. These types of lenses are not for everyone, but some photographers simply want the best. Those types of photographers are going to be delighted with the LAB lenses.
It looks like Viltrox’s Pro Series will take a more traditional approach to aperture similar to either Sony’s GM series or Sigma’s better DN prime lenses, namely a marked aperture ring that could either be clicked or declicked. Their approach with the LAB series is a little more similar to Nikon’s approach with the S-line lenses. The aperture ring is a bit more like a command dial that interacts with the LCD screen than a traditional aperture ring with hard stops at either end. You still have the option to have the ring either clicked or declicked, but the aperture rings seems to move in a speed dependent, non-linear way. A quick rotation will speed you through the aperture options, while a very slow rotation doesn’t even move a one-third stop with each click. The LCD screen shows only one third stops between the full stops like F2 and F2.8, so I’m not sure what the point of this is. A more traditional aperture control setup would have been preferable all around, though, like Nikon Z mount lenses in general, you can use this ring for other things than aperture (exposure compensation, ISO, etc…).
Unlike native Nikon lenses, however, you do have the option to have the aperture clicked or declicked via a switch on the left side of the barrel.
When you turn the clicks off you can smoothly move through the whole aperture range without defined slots. This allows for smooth video aperture racking and has become an expected pro-grade feature on modern lenses. There does seem to be less lag in the aperture iris than many lenses, however, making smooth aperture racks more possible. This is the rarely lens that I prefer the aperture clickless rather than clicked even for stills.
Unlike Sony (at least at the present), some of Nikon’s cameras have a top mounted LCD screen, and while you can see the selected aperture on both screens, you can see that it is larger and more easily seen on the camera rather than the lens LED.
The iris itself has 11 aperture blades, and these make for a nicely rounded aperture even when stopped down a fair bit.
Beneath the declick button there is a three position focus limiter that allows you to select the full range, up close (0.7-2m), and to eliminate the close focus range (1.5m to infinity). The LCD screen also functions as a distance scale, showing you the focus distance in large letters while showing a scale above in smaller letters.
Further up the barrel is an AF | MF switch along with two FN (function) buttons. The top one functions like the typical function button, performing whatever function you have that button programmed to in camera. The second button is going to be used more commonly for video functions, however, as when in manual focus mode it allows you to preset two focus positions and automatically switch between the two at the press of the button (A-B focus). This works in conjunction with the LCD screen on the top of the lens (more on that in a moment). You can preset the focus position(s) by long pressing the FN 2 button, and then access the focus changes by short pressing it.
Now to that LCD screen. The LCD functions in many ways like those found on the Zeiss Batis lenses, though with some improvements. The screen itself is nice and bright, allowing for good visibility even in bright conditions. It solves the problem of a distance scale (something missing on most mirrorless lenses), as it gives you a large font telling you the precise focus distance along with a distance scale above that. The bottom part of the screen gives you a readout of the current aperture. It also gives you some information related to the function buttons however, with the Fn icon lighting up when the first Function Button is depressed, and then the A or B function lights up when you are presetting focus distances. There’s actually a lot of useful information on the LCD screen once you get familiar with how it is all being displayed, though I’m sure a lot of people will still find it somewhat of a gimmick.
The manual focus ring is slightly raised and has a rubberized, ribbed texture. It moves fairly smoothly, I feel like there is a little more feeling of steps or pulses from the focus motor while manually focusing than on Sony. There’s obviously a bit of a difference with the way that input on the focus ring is routed through the Nikon body, as on Sony the focus process feels smooth and linear. Like the aperture ring, input on the focus ring seems to be speed specific and not quite linear. Using the A/B focus is a much more precise way to set up repeatable focus pulls.
We also have weather sealing on this lens that starts with a unique maroon-colored gasket at the lens mount along with other seal points through the lens (a total of 12 of them, by my count).
This is an internally focusing lens, so there is nothing that moves where dust might intrude. There’s also an HD-Nano multilayer coating on the front element to help with water and fingerprint resistance, making the front element easier to clean. As always, however, “moisture-proof” does not mean “water-proof”, so don’t go crazy! This is, however, a professional grade lens with professional sealing.
Viltrox continues with a trend that other lens makers are now imitating by including a USB-C port in the lens mount that allows you to do firmware updates right to the lens. I’m a fan of this approach, as it eliminates the need for a separate dock or lens station for firmware updates, and I find the process a little more intuitive than even doing firmware updates through the camera. This allows Viltrox to future proof their lenses and continue to improve them through firmware.
As with other recent Viltrox lenses, the lens is Bluetooth equipped, which means that you can use the Viltrox app for IOS or Android and update firmware wirelessly. You can also program a custom splash animation to the powerup cycle on the lens (I’ve got mine showing my business logo during startup).
There is no lens based stabilization, so you will need to rely upon the in-camera stabilization if your camera is so equipped.
One thing worth noting is that when the lens is powered off, there will be some movement/clunking if you rotate the lens up and down. This can be very disturbing if you are not familiar with modern lens design. Many high end modern lenses employ floating elements that allow for better up close performance. The lens groups are not fixed, but float in a certain area, so when they are not energized they will move around a bit. This is by design, however, and when the camera is powered on, those elements will be energized and become fixed. You can rotate the lens up and down without anything moving around. It feels like the Viltrox has finetuned this process with the LAB 135Z, however, and it seems a bit less obvious than on the Sony version.
The benefit of this design is that you get a much better up close performance that you typically see on Viltrox lenses. You can focus as closely as 72cm, giving a maximum magnification figure of 1:4, or 0.25x, which bests the 0.20x (1:5) available on the Plena. Up close performance is fantastic even at F1.8, with excellent sharpness and contrast and a nicely flat plane of focus.
I used the LAB 135Z for some product shots for another review, and it delivered excellent results.
That’s macro lens levels of performance there!
Viltrox has redesigned the front lens cap with a bevel along the front that makes it feel slimmer (good, as this is their biggest front lens cap so far). The lens also comes with the hood and a nicer than usual leather pouch (similar to Canon L-series lenses). There is some cushion on the bottom, but I don’t find these pouches nearly as useful as a good padded nylon case like what Sigma provides.
The LAB 135Z comes with the nicest lens hood that I’ve seen on a Viltrox lens. The plastics are extra thick and sturdy. There is a felt lining inside to keep light from bouncing around, and there is a rubberized transition section that helps to protect the lens from bumps and also makes a nice option for placing the lens facing down. The lens doesn’t have a lock, but does have a firm bayonet into place that sits securely. I had no issues with it coming loose. I will note that it can reversed for storage but fits very tightly, so it can be a little work to get off sometimes as the rubber of the hood grips the rubber of the focus ring.
As noted, the lens barrel construction reminds me a lot of Canon’s better L- series lenses, with an magnesium alloy body, which is the same material used in expensive camera bodies. The new LAB badge on the side of the barrel reminds you that this is from this new premium series of lenses.
While I don’t agree with all of the ergonomic choices Viltrox made with the LAB 135mm, I do think that this is a very nicely executed package. The lens feels high quality in the hands, and it handles like a premium lens. In many ways this feels like a much more expensive lens than the $899 USD price tag. The finish feels durable and I would expect the lens to hold up well for the long haul. This is a big, heavy lens, so that will obviously be a deterrent for some buyers, though frankly the Plena is actually a bit bigger (though the LAB is heavier). Sony does have the slightly smaller, lighter option in the form of the Samyang AF 135mm F1.8, but at the moment, Nikon has no such option. I will say this as a final word on the matter: the LAB 135mm feels like a much more natural fit on a beefy body like my Z8 than it does on any of my smaller, lighter Sony bodies. I’m not sure that “two wrongs make a right” applies here, but perhaps we could say that a heavy lens makes more sense on a big, robust camera.
Autofocus (Stills)
I was excited to see that Viltrox was pioneering a new autofocus system with the launch of the LAB series, as I felt like A) they had gotten about as much out of their STM motors as they were going to get and B) a premium lens like this with big, heavy glass elements needs as much thrust in the focus motor as possible. Like the Sony FE version, the LAB 135Z is equipped with not one VCM (voice-coil motor), but dual “Hyper VCM” motors that work in harmony to drive autofocus. This is a similar approach to what Nikon has done with the 135mm Plena, and the dual high performance focus motors allow you to broaden the scope of what can be done with a fast prime lens like this, up to and including sports.
As with the FE version, I have been reviewing a prerelease copy of the LAB 135Z, so the lens arrived without the final “retail firmware” update. But you could also tell that they’ve had that extra six months to refine focus, as the Z-mount version just felt more confident out of the box (the Sony version got there after a firmware update). Fortunately firmware updates are pretty simple, and can be done via a drag and drop on a computer, or via Bluetooth through the Viltrox app.
Autofocus speed is very good. Not quite instant, but near to it. In my formal tests I saw quick and mostly confident focus changes from close to distant. If I go back and compare my results to the Sony FE version, I find that focus is a little slower and perhaps a little less confident. On Sony the progressions from close to distant and back were nearly instant and with complete confidence, but I find a few more little pulses and an occasional quick rack in the wrong direction. In real world shots, however, focus changes tend to be smaller and I didn’t really notice the same things.
That included shooting in lower light conditions. You can shoot with precision even in situations with a tiny depth of field, like this:
I’ve been playing a lot of squash recently, and I was curious to see if the AF speed was sufficient to keep up with the rapid fire action on the squash court. I tested the Sony FE version with basketball, and it did fine, so this was something different. The good news is that focus had no problem keeping up with the action and acquiring subjects.
This is too long a focal length for this application, really, and you have to contend with shooting through glass (I would NOT want to be in there with a camera!), so I wouldn’t choose this combination for serious tracking of the sport. But that wasn’t really the point; I wanted to know if the lens could keep up on my Z8, and the easy answer was yes.
I actually feel like Viltrox has done a really solid job of porting over to Nikon’s focus algorithms here, as the lens feels very natural and at home on the platform. I’ve consistently been impressed with how well third party lenses that I’ve reviewed on other platforms first behave on Nikon. Often the VR (In Body Image Stabilization) works better, focus is very similar to what I find on Sony, and when testing on Sony, I ran into the typical limitation for all third party lenses: burst rates are capped at 15FPS for non-Sony lenses. Fortunately no such limitation exists on Nikon, so I was able to shoot as quickly as 30FPS and got consistent focus in those very quick bursts.
Someone next to me while I was shooting asked, “How many photos did you just take?” after one such burst. I told them I had no idea; all I knew is that I was getting 30 of them every second!
Focus precision was also exceptionally good. I had no problem nailing quick shots of Nala as she rolled around in a shaft of sunlight. Look at just how gorgeous the focus (and the detail!) is in this shot:
Focus sound is near silent, with a very light whirring sound as focus moves back and forth. There’s no drama associated with focus, just quick, accurate results.
Things were mostly fantastic when shooting portraits. I was literally shooting in the middle of a blizzard, and the sheer number of keepers despite the persistent distractions was actually pretty impressive.
A few times, however, the focus system got distracted by the snowflakes and it was like it couldn’t see past them to the subject, like here:
I ended up saving this shot anyway because I kind of liked the effect. The potential for these focus issues seemed to go away when I got closer, and the contrast of the subject become more obvious. My keeper rate for the portrait session was very high despite the conditions.
This is definitely in the upper tier of autofocus performance for third party lenses. It’s amazing how far Viltrox has come in just a few short years.
Autofocus (Video)
Video autofocus was largely an extension of what I saw from my stills tests, though the flaws were a little more obvious. The hint of little focus racks in the wrong direction were more obvious with video autofocus pulls, and everything didn’t seem quite as confident as I saw on Sony…though there is some hopes that the retail firmware could improve that.
Movement towards the camera was fairly good if the movement was consistent and linear, but if I stepped in and out of frame, the reactiveness of picking me back up had some lag.
Video focus on real subjects seemed to be fine. Here’s a screenshot from some 4K60 footage during the portrait shoot.
Video footage looks noticeably very detailed and crisp, and the beautiful color, contrast, and rendering of the lens makes for some gorgeous footage.
Viltrox clearly wanted the LAB series to be a statement in every area, and fortunately that includes autofocus. While autofocus isn’t quite as exceptional on Nikon as it was on Sony, it’s also true that Sony’s focus is a little more sophisticated in general. I was very happy overall with focus performance here.
Image Quality Breakdown
Ahhh, and now to my favorite part, because the LAB 135Z is just a special, special lens. I fell in love with the Zeiss Otus lenses because, despite their being ridiculously big and expensive, they were just so good optically. It might be heresy to say, but the Viltrox AF 135mm F1.8 LAB is just that kind of lens. The optical design is 14 elements in 9 groups, with four of those being ED (low dispersion) elements and two of them being HD (high refractive index) lenses. The MTF is fantastic, with an absolutely stunning center and midframe performance that isn’t quite the same in the corners. At F8 the MTF is pretty much a straight line across the top, i.e. perfect.
Just for fun, let’s take a look at the Nikkor 135mm F1.8 Plena MTF:
Gulp. If the MTF is to be believed, the $900 LAB 135Z is sharper all across the frame than the $2500 Plena.
And yes, if we look at real world images, the results are just ridiculously sharp.
Take a look at the crop:
In fact, the Viltrox LAB 135mm F1.8 delivered once of the best all-round optical performances that I’ve ever seen and is essentially strong to extremely strong in all areas that I test. It is the rare lens that is both technically and artistically excellent. Look at the lovely overall rendering from this image:
And now let’s look at the crop that shows the technical excellence:
Yup. That’s great.
More on this in a moment. Let’s look at the technical side of things.
I was expecting a lens well corrected for LoCA (longitudinal chromatic aberrations), and that is the case here. I see mostly neutral results on either side of the plane of focus without any visible fringing.
I tried a wide variety of situations to see if I could find some fringing while testing both the Sony and Nikon versions of the LAB 135mm, but the LAB beat me. Look at how utterly neutral it is when dealing with the shiny and engraved bits of my classic lenses, which are typically amongst the absolute worst case scenario for fringing.
Brilliant.
LaCA (lateral chromatic aberrations) typically show up along the edges of the frame with high contrast transition points. I saw a small amount of LaCA in my tests, which actually surprised me, as I didn’t see any on the Sony version.
Viltrox lenses have not always had great profile support, and if there is any advantage to this it is that they have gotten accustomed to doing a lot of the corrections optically rather than relying on software corrections. On the Sony FE version I found essentially no distortion or vignette. Essentially all the lenses I’ve tested first on Sony and then on Nikon have exhibited more vignette on the Z-mount version.
That’s the case here as well. There’s still no measurable distortion (there’s maybe a fraction of a percent of pincushion), but I do see some vignette (I used a +50 in the correction above).
It’s not a big deal and easily correctable.
We’ll move on to inspecting our test chart. This test has been done on a 45MP Nikon Z8 sensor. I use a high end tripod and two second camera delay to ensure vibration doesn’t affect images. Here’s a look at the test chart that we will examine at high magnification:
If we take a look at crops (at 200%) at F1.8 from the center, mid-frame, and lower right corner, we find that center and mid-frame performance is exceptionally good, and that sharpness extends right to the corners.
The lower resolution point on Nikon (45 vs 61MP) only makes the results look even more consistent. If I compare mid-frame result above with the upper left corner from the (both at F1.8).
Yes, you can see that the mid-frame result is slightly sharper, but that is remarkably consistent performance.
To put that in context, let’s take a look at the same result using the Nikkor Z 50mm F1.4 that released in 2024. Not a top tier lens, obviously, but a pretty decent one that I gave a positive review to and even purchased for myself.
Wow! You can see just how radically sharper the LAB 135mm is. This is definitely the sharpest lens I’ve tested on my Z8 thus far. Stopping down to F2 does make a mild difference, particularly in the outer parts of the frame, though you might be hard pressed to spot the differences without the two images side by side and at very high levels of magnification.
By F2.8 the sharpness levels are essentially at the ridiculous level. There are more fine details visible in this old two dollar bill than I knew were even there.
The eagle-eyed among you may notice a minor reporting bug that hadn’t been squashed in my pre-release firmware yet, namely that while the lens properly registers in Lightroom as the Viltrox AF 135/1.8 LAB Z, the focal length registers as 16mm. That bug will be dealt with in the retail firmware.
Stopping on down produces improvements so minor as to be hard to see most places in the frame, though I could tell the improvements in the far corners.
Physics will affect even the mightiest of lenses, however, so expect diffraction to start to soften the image by F11 and more obviously by F16, which is minimum aperture (though this lens is still sharper than many lenses at its weakest!)
You’ll have all the portrait sharpness you’ll ever need, with perfect amounts of sharpness and contrast and beautiful skin tones.
In fact, one of the best applications for a lens like this is to shoot environmental portraiture at F1.8, where you can shoot at longer distance, compress the scene, but still get a nice separation of your subject from the background.
This is a lens that is pretty obviously overengineered for the full frame image circle. I’d actually be curious if Viltrox would ever consider bringing the LAB series to the Fujifilm GFX platform and to see how well they would cover that larger image circle. I noted, for example, when reviewing the Sony version that the LAB 135mm consistently metered a little faster than the Samyang in my comparisons while delivering similar brightness levels, so I also believe that the T-stop is about one third stop faster than the Samyang. I wouldn’t at all be surprised to find that the LAB’s T-stop is very similar to its F-stop.
The Viltrox LAB 135Z clearly delivers near APO levels of sharpness and contrast. What is rarer still is the lens that can deliver incredible sharpness and contrast while also delivering soft bokeh…and you probably won’t be surprised to hear that this is one of them.
First of all, it does very well with specular highlights. Here’s an F1.8 image that shows that there is some geometric deformation near the edges of the frame, but overall the bokeh looks great. You can see just how big and soft the bokeh can be when you’re close to your subject.
If you really want all round specular highlights, stop down even to F2.5, and it is nearly perfect there.
But perhaps my favorite application is for portraits. First of all, the general rendering looks great.
But what’s harder to see when viewed full is how all of those different layers of snowflakes are being turned to varying sizes of specular highlights. It’s really pretty stunning.
The general rendering is just fantastic.
In the early stages of Viltrox’s lens development their optical glass was, well, more budget oriented, but that has radically changed in the past couple of years. I find Viltrox’s current optical glass to be excellent, and it also tends to be very neutral. Colors are rich, but not oversaturated. The images are neither warm nor cool, allowing you to choose your preference either in camera with the white balance or in post.
That intense contrast just makes the colors look very rich and, well, expensive.
Flare resistance was also very good on the LAB 135Z. The lens hood isn’t necessarily small, but it is smaller than many other 135mm lenses that I’ve tested because frankly it isn’t overly needed. Here’s a variety of positions and apertures shooting into very bright sun and you can see that contrast holds up fine, without ghosting or veiling.
I did test for coma on the Sony version, which I’ll share here (snowstorms don’t make for good astro tests!). This makes yet another interesting application for this lens, as the longer focal length lends itself to a different perspective on astrophotography. Coma was very well controlled even into the corners, and the extremely low fringing assures that bright heavenly bodies aren’t ruined by some nasty color smears around them.
The bottom line is that this is one the most complete lenses that I’ve tested optically, and I would be hard pressed to point to a better optical performance from any lens priced under $1000, and could probably count the number of better optical performances, period, on one hand. If you’d like to see more images in my extensive image gallery, just click here.
Conclusion
I found reviewing the FE version the Viltrox AF 135mm F1.8 LAB a real treat, and I felt no differently about covering the Z mount version. To do my job correctly I need to invest a lot of time and care into using and evaluating a lens whether I personally enjoy it or not. It can be very frustrating to have a camera in hand in a beautiful photographic opportunity and be stuck with a lousy lens attached to the camera because that’s what I happen to be testing. Not so with the LAB 135Z; this is a lens that I would choose to shoot with. It’s also a fabulous match for my Z8 in the larger size of the camera, the great autofocus system, the stellar VR, and of course the gorgeous images that the LAB/Z8 combo can produce.
I’m so glad that Nikon has opened up to third party brands, and while this lens will certainly steal some potential Plena purchases, the availability of high end, affordable lenses like the Viltrox LAB series has the potential to sway customers debating between Canon and Nikon in Nikon’s direction.
I’ve come out this review impressed all over again. I recognize that LAB 135Z will be too big and heavy for some potential buyers, but if this happens to be something that you can look past, you will find an absolutely stunning lens that will produces images that are richer, sharper, and more compelling that what you can get with just about anything else in your bag. Yes, please!
Pros:
The LAB series is supposed to be Viltrox’s BEST…and it shows
Beautiful built lens
Feature rich
Very good weather sealing
USB port for firmware updates along with Bluetooth for wireless access
New Hyper VCM motors are fast and accurate
Focus pulls are nicely damped
Exceptionally sharp lens that matches or bests the very best in the center and mid-frame
No distortion or vignette
Exceptional control of fringing
Colors look great
Amazing contrast
Gorgeous bokeh
Great flare resistance
Low coma
Amazing price to performance ratio
Cons:
Big and heavy
Don’t love the aperture ring design
Some might be put off from the “clunk” of the floating elements
Keywords: Viltrox AF 135mm F1.8 LAB Z, Viltrox, Viltrox AF, LAB, Viltrox LAB, #LAB, #LAB135, Viltrox 135mm, Normal, Full Frame, F1.8, f/1.8, VCM, Viltrox LAB 135mm F1.8 FE, Viltrox 135mm Review, Viltrox AF 135mm F1.8 FE Review, VCM, Pancake, Chip, Sony a7IV, Sony Alpha 1, Sony a7RV, Review, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, let the light in, weathersealing, #letthelightin, DA
DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
It’s been a long time since I’ve used a Tokina lens. I actually owned multiple Tokina wide angle zooms back in my time as a photographer before I became a reviewer. Tokina has released relatively few lenses in the mirrorless era, and I hadn’t ever really built a relationship with the company, so I actually have not done any Tokina reviews. But late in 2024 they reached out to me about the possibility of reviewing their upcoming wide angle zoom for Fuji X-mount – the Tokina ATX-M 11-18mm F2.8 – and I readily agreed to do so out of interest to see the state of their development. The E-mount version of this lens was their first wide angle zoom for mirrorless cameras, and they’ve made a few minor tweaks to the formula here to produce an even more useful zoom lens. There are some strong competitors in this segment, so does the ATX-M 11-18mm stand out in any way? Find out by watching the video review, reading the text review, or just enjoy the wintry photos in the gallery below!
Thanks to Tokina for sending me a review copy of this lens. As always, this is a completely independent review. All opinions and conclusions are my own.I’m doing this review on a 40MP Fujifilm X-H2 camera.You can visit the product page for the ATX-M 11-18mm here.
A few of the basics first. This is an APS-C lens designed for mirrorless cameras only, and this review is of the Fuji X-mount version of the lens. The APS-C crop factor of Fuji’s XF cameras is 1.5, giving the ATX 11-18mm a full frame equivalent zoom range of 16.5-27mm; not dissimilar to Tamron’s 17-28mm F2.8 full frame zoom, which I reviewed here. It’s not a big range, obviously, but it does cover a lot of the key wide angle framing options, going from this at 11mm:
…to this at 18mm:
The ATX-M 11-18mm has a constant maximum aperture of F2.8, making it useful in a variety of lighting conditions.
Some of the chief competitors among other third party brands include:
Sigma 10-18mm F2.8 DN (my review here). The Sigma has a slightly larger zoom range (1 extra millimeter on the wide end), but also has more vignette and distortion.
The Tamron 11-20mm F2.8 RXD (my review here). The Tamron also has a slightly longer zoom range, with an extra 2mm on the long end. It has the highest MSRP ($899 USD) of the three, though it looks like Tamron may have permanently dropped the price to $659.
I quite like both of those lenses, and while Tokina isn’t quite as well known as either of those brands, the ATX-M 11-18mm does provide a credible alternative to them, with very nice image quality and great Kenko optical glass colors.
And, while the initial MSRP for the lens is $699 USD, the E-mount version is currently retailing for considerably less and undercuts both the Tamron and Sigma in price. If that sounds potentially interesting, check out my reviews linked above…or just enjoy the photos here.
Keywords: Tokina ATX-M 11-18mm F2.8, Tokina, ATX-M, 11-18mm, F2.8, Tokina 11-18mm X, Wide Angle, Zoom, Pancake, Chip, Fuji, Fujifilm, X-mount, XF, Review, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, let the light in, weathersealing, #letthelightin, DA
DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
It’s been a long time since I’ve used a Tokina lens. I actually owned multiple Tokina wide angle zooms back in my time as a photographer before I became a reviewer. Tokina has released relatively few lenses in the mirrorless era, and I hadn’t ever really built a relationship with the company, so I actually have not done any Tokina reviews. But late in 2024 they reached out to me about the possibility of reviewing their upcoming wide angle zoom for Fuji X-mount – the Tokina ATX-M 11-18mm F2.8 – and I readily agreed to do so out of interest to see the state of their development. The E-mount version of this lens was their first wide angle zoom for mirrorless cameras, and they’ve made a few minor tweaks to the formula here to produce an even more useful zoom lens. There are some strong competitors in this segment, so does the ATX-M 11-18mm stand out in any way? Find out by watching the video review or reading on in the text review below!
Thanks to Tokina for sending me a review copy of this lens. As always, this is a completely independent review. All opinions and conclusions are my own.I’m doing this review on a 40MP Fujifilm X-H2 camera.You can visit the product page for the ATX-M 11-18mm here.
A few of the basics first. This is an APS-C lens designed for mirrorless cameras only, and this review is of the Fuji X-mount version of the lens. The APS-C crop factor of Fuji’s XF cameras is 1.5, giving the ATX 11-18mm a full frame equivalent zoom range of 16.5-27mm; not dissimilar to Tamron’s 17-28mm F2.8 full frame zoom, which I reviewed here. It’s not a big range, obviously, but it does cover a lot of the key wide angle framing options, going from this at 11mm:
…to this at 18mm:
The ATX-M 11-18mm has a constant maximum aperture of F2.8, making it useful in a variety of lighting conditions.
Some of the chief competitors among other third party brands include:
Sigma 10-18mm F2.8 DN (my review here). The Sigma has a slightly larger zoom range (1 extra millimeter on the wide end), but also has more vignette and distortion.
The Tamron 11-20mm F2.8 RXD (my review here). The Tamron also has a slightly longer zoom range, with an extra 2mm on the long end. It has the highest MSRP ($899 USD) of the three, though it looks like Tamron may have permanently dropped the price to $659.
I quite like both of those lenses, and while Tokina isn’t quite as well known as either of those brands, the ATX-M 11-18mm does provide a credible alternative to them, with very nice image quality and great Kenko optical glass colors.
And, while the initial MSRP for the lens is $599 USD, the E-mount version is currently retailing for considerably less and undercuts both the Tamron and Sigma in price. Sound interesting? Let’s take a closer look.
Tokina 11-18mm F2.8 Build and Handling
The Tokina lenses that I owned back in the day had a very dated look (by modern standards), but I’m actually very partial to the design language of the ATX-M 11-18mm, which looks both modern and premium.
The lens features a lightly flocked barrel made of metal and engineered plastic components. Both the zoom and focus rings have tight ribs and a flush rather than raised design. There are arguments to be made that a raised ring may have better ergonomics, but I would say that aesthetically this design looks very clean to me. The build quality feels a bit more upscale than the Tamron and more akin to the Sigma. One negative aspect of the tighter ribbing is that it isn’t unusual to find a bit of dust and lint caught in the ribs. I noticed that even in the product photos from reviews of the Sony E-mount version of the lens.
Not a big deal, but an observation nonetheless.
One unusual design choice is that the lens hood has a somewhat rough texture on the outside but is smooth inside, which is pretty much opposite of most designs.
You can see that the hood itself is quite large, and it definitely adds to the overall size of the lens. While it doesn’t have a lock on it, it does click into place very definitely and stays well locked into place.
A design element here that I do prefer is that while the Sigma and Tamron lenses have a section that extends forward slightly while zooming (that the lens hood is attached to), the Tokina has a very slight extension of the inner barrel which doesn’t affect the area of the lens barrel where the hood bayonets on.
That inner barrel extension is longest at 11mm and fully retracted at 18mm:
But what I like is that if you have the lens hood in place (as I typically do), then that little bit of extension happens within the confines of the lens hood, and the physical dimensions of the lens do not change. From the outside the lens’ length looks the same at all times, and because the lens hood isn’t moving in and out, it also means that the lens will maintain a more consistent balance (important if you were using it on a gimbal, for example).
The Tokina ATX-M 11-18mm F2.8 falls in between the Sigma and Tamron lenses in size. It is 74.4mm (2.9″) in both diameter and length, making it very slightly wider than the other two lenses but 10mm longer than the Sigma and 12mm shorter than the Tamron. The weight is 320g (11.28oz), making it a fair bit heavier than the Sigma (+70g) but slightly lighter (-15g) than the Tamron.
There are obviously smaller and lighter choices like the Sigma, but this is still a very lightweight and portable lens that I found very easy to bring along. It is definitely lighter than the average for the class, though, to be fair, it also has the smallest zoom range.
The zoom ring has each focal length marked. Competing lenses go by twos or skip certain focal lengths. The Tokina has a smaller zoom range, obviously, so there is room for all 8 options to be marked. The zoom ring itself is excellent. It zooms very smoothly and almost feels like an internally zooming lens.
The weight/damping of the manual focus ring is a bit light, but, more importantly, there is very little focus throw. I found it hard to focus outside of a meter, as there is only a few degrees of rotation between one meter and infinity. Let’s just say that this works much better as an autofocus lens!
Up front we have a 67mm front filter thread, which appears to be the standard for these type lenses (all three have a 67mm front filter thread).
At the back of the lens we find one key upgrade over the E-mount version: there is now a weather sealing gasket! While Tokina doesn’t mention other internal seals, the addition of the gasket at the lens mount helps a lot. The Sigma is similar with just a mount gasket, but the Tamron and Fuji 10-24mm WR both have more thorough weather sealing with internal seals as well.
We also find a USB port for firmware updates located on the lens mount, which I always appreciate. For some reason they elected to go with the older micro-USB standard (USB-B) rather than the now ubiquitous USB-C port I’m finding on essentially all modern lenses so equipped.
Nonetheless, I’m very happy the port is there to help to keep the lens future proofed.
Tokina is a Japanese company whose products are built in Japan, which isn’t always the case these days.
The lens does not have optical stabilization built in, which is also true for the F2.8 competitors as well at the moment. It does have proper communication to the camera and Tokina claims full compatibility with such Fuji features as image stabilization (if your camera is so equipped), MF assist, and optical corrections including vignette, chromatic aberrations, and distortion.
The minimum focus distances varies depending on whether you are shooting on the wide end (19cm) or telephoto end (30cm). The higher magnification comes on the wide end, though you have to be very close to your subject to achieve it. Tokina cites a very low 0.08x on the telephoto end and a slightly better 0.11x on the wide end.
Here’s what that looks like out in the real world, and also gives you an idea of the kind of background blur you can achieve (not much!)
This is one area where the competing lenses are all superior.
The addition of the weather sealing gasket is a real boon here, and I really liked the handling of the Tokina ATX-M 11-18mm F2.8 X. It was fun to use and presented no complications to me out in the field. I would have liked a better close focus performance, but that’s not really what I buy wide angle lenses for anyway.
Autofocus for Stills
The Tokina ATX-M 11-18mm is equipped with an STM focus motor. I’m always a little concerned when testing third party lenses (and sometimes first party lenses!) on Fuji, as their autofocus system is less sophisticated (at the present) than competing brands. Fortunately the ATX-M 11-18mm survives the porting to Fuji very nicely. The speed of the focus motor is quick and confident, with near immediate transitions from foreground to background subjects.
Wide angle lenses are not the best for eye tracking, as often the eye doesn’t occupy a large enough portion of the frame to track unless you are close to the subject, but when I was close enough, the green box locked onto the eye and tracked fine.
But eye tracking is less necessary when the subject is a bit further away, as pretty much everything will be in focus at that point with a wide angle lens.
I shot the photo below of snowmobilers zipping by, but it wasn’t difficult to nail focus because so much was in focus.
There is basically no focus sound even with my ear near the barrel, though there will be a light clicking if you let on and off the shutter as the aperture blades open and close.
One other important thing is that the lens focused well even when stopped down to landscape apertures, with no hunting or pulsing. That was true even when shooting into a strongly backlit scene.
In short, I was very pleasantly surprised by the autofocus performance for stills. Focus was quick, quiet, and confident, leaving me nothing really to complain about…so I won’t.
Video Autofocus
The video side of things was also quite good. This tends to be the weakest link in the Fuji autofocus chain, and I did see a few of the typical “Fuji quirks”, but they were rather muted. Focus pulls were generally very good, with no visible steps in the main pull, though I did see a final adjustment after the focus area was reached. It’s as if the Fuji focus algorithms tend to second guess themselves. It was relatively minor, however, and far less than what I’ve seen on many other lenses. I would say that this test was mostly similar to what I saw from the Sigma 10-18 and better than what I saw from the Tamron 11-20mm.
There is a bit of focus breathing, but nothing severe.
My “hand test” where I alternately block the camera’s view of my face with my hand and then remove it went mostly well. The lens successfully transferred focus from my hand to my eye and back, though those focus pulls weren’t remarkably well damped, so they felt very slightly abrupt.
Real world focus transitions seemed fine, and one big deal to me is that I didn’t see any focus slipping and readjusting as I zoomed in and out. Some lenses (the Sigma 18-50mm F2.8, for example) are guilty of a lot of warping and focus adjustments while zooming, but that’s not the case here.
Focus was stable in static shots as well. I did notice a bit more shaking in my footage, but that could be because it has been incredibly cold this winter and I may just be shaking a bit more!
Image Quality Breakdown
The optical formula is 13 elements in 11 groups with 4 of those elements being special elements (2 SD elements and two different types of aspherical lenses). The MTF shows a very sharp center, extremely good mid-frame, and softer corners at F2.8 and 11mm, while 18mm shows a fairly steady slide from center to corners and a slightly less sharp performance all around.
I’m always a little concerned when testing zoom lenses on the X-H2, as the 40MP sensor on cameras like my Fujifilm X-H2 is the most demanding platform that I test on. It has the pixel density equivalence of more than 90MP on full frame, which of course doesn’t exist at the time of this review. It tends to really, really punish any optical weaknesses. I did see some of that at 18mm (particularly at wider apertures), but I’m happy to report that in general I found real world sharpness to be very good.
I felt like the real world “bite” of images was good, which is really important in a wide angle zoom where a lot will be in focus and you want the details to look crisp.
Wide angle lenses rarely have an issue with LoCA (longitudinal chromatic aberrations) as depth of field is fairly large, and that is the case here. I see mostly neutral results on either side of the plane of focus without any fringing.
Far more common in wide lenses is LaCA (lateral chromatic aberrations), and frankly I really dislike them because they tend to make corners look more mushy and less clean. That proves to be another area of strength, however, with little evidence of fringing around the black and white transitions.
I can turn off corrections and still find the edges of the frame unaffected by LaCA in real world shots.
The Sigma is really rough in the distortion and vignette department on the wide end, with very strong amounts of barrel distortion and enough vignette to require maxing out the sliders. Both the Tokina and Tamron fare better by not attempting to go as wide, and both of them show a much milder amount of distortion at 11mm.
I used a +9 to correct for the mild barrel distortion, and it corrected fairly cleanly even with a manual correction. Vignette was still pretty heavy, however, requiring a +85 to manually correct.
The telephoto end features much milder vignette and distortion, with a touch of pincushion distortion (-4 to correct) and much less vignette (+54 to correct).
As noted, these figures are close to what we saw on the Tamron, but the ATX-M 11-18mm definitely outperforms the Sigma in these areas.
So now the crucial look at resolution and contrast. The lens performed fairly well in the reviews I’ve seen on the lower resolution Sony APS-C sensor, but this high resolution Fuji sensor is a completely different challenge. This test has been done on a 40MP X-H2 sensor. I use a high end tripod and two second camera delay to ensure vibration doesn’t affect images. Here’s a look at the test chart that we will examine at high magnification:
If we take a look at 11mm crops (at 200%) at F2.8 from the center, mid-frame, and lower right corner, we find that as the MTF suggested the center is excellent, the mid-frame is good, and the corners are fairly good except for the last little bit.
Contrast is noticeably improved when stopped down to F4:
By F5.6 the corners are looking quite good.
In general I found that real world landscape images were nicely sharp in the center and mid-frame, but the corner sharpness was unimpressive to me.
In this case I actually found that stepping on down to F8 and even F11 in real world images were worthwhile in getting even sharpness, though I didn’t necessarily didn’t feel the same when just viewing my chart.
Landscapes at smaller apertures look pretty consistently great at F8 (F9 here).
Diffraction on a very high resolution body comes early and hits hard. By F11 you’ll start to see some softening, but that becomes painfully obvious at F16 and F22. Physics definitely affects smaller apertures on a high resolution body, as you can see here:
My recommendation is to avoid F16 and smaller apertures regardless of the lens you are using on a 40MP APS-C sensor.
I went back and compared my 11mm F5.6 results from the Tokina with the 10mm F5.6 results from the Sigma 10-18mm. I honestly could not really call a winner. They were very close all across the frame. That’s great for the Tokina, as I think the Sigma is a very strong lens.
Moving on to the middle of the zoom range brings a more consistent sharpness across the frame, starting in the middle:
There’s an even more noticeable difference in the corners.
Landscape images at 14mm look nice and crisp. No real complaints there.
Before moving on to 18mm, I do want to give some perspective for those using the lower resolution 26MP sensor. There are advantages to the higher resolution sensor, but one potential downside is that it makes lenses like this look at a little softer…at least at a pixel level. If I downscale one of these images to the 6244 x 4163 pixel resolution of the 26MP sensor, sharpness and contrast at 1:1 pixel level appears higher. This gives you an idea of performance on your camera.
Moving on to 18mm we will find some optical regression which is more pronounced wide open. The center looks softer than what we saw at the peak of 14mm:
The falloff in the corners is more pronounced.
The good news is that there is a much more dramatic improvement when stopping down. F4 and then F5.6 all look considerably sharper. Here, for example, we can see a significant improvement from F2.8 to F5.6 in the mid-frame.
F8 looks quite good across the frame, though corners are good, not great. I would recommend shooting at smaller apertures if you want consistent sharpness across the frame.
When shooting at F2.8 but composing in the center, the results look good.
My conclusion is that 18mm is the weakest part of the zoom range, but it’s not terrible. I went back and compared to my results from the Sigma 10-18mm and found that (at 18mm) the Tokina was sharper in the center but the Sigma was sharper everywhere else at F2.8. With both lenses stopped down to F5.6, the results are largely similar across the frame.
In short, sharpness is competitiveness with the other main players in this class, so no complaints there.
Bokeh is not really going to be a significant asset here. There are essentially three paths to creating strong defocus (four, if you include tilt!). Those are A) long focal length B) fast maximum aperture or C) close focus abilities. The closest the ATX-M 11-18mm comes is in the “fast maximum aperture” category, and frankly F2.8 on APS-C isn’t particularly fast…particularly when coupled with wide angle focal lengths. I’ve demonstrated peak bokeh earlier in the review, but here’s a more typical shot that shows that even with the background being distant it still isn’t strongly blurred out.
I didn’t see anything objectionable about the bokeh; I just didn’t see much of it!
I was generally satisfied with flare resistance…particularly on the wide end. When shooting at F2.8, the flare resistance at 11mm is solid, but 18mm shows more general ghosting and some loss of contrast.
When you stop the lens down at either position, the results are generally more favorable, with deep contrast, though 18mm still shows more ghosting artifacts.
Most often you’ll be shooting between those two extremes in terms of aperture, however, and in real world shots I generally found that I could compose with impunity and get good results.
I always like to test wide angle lenses for coma if possible and to see how they’ll handle something like astrophotography. I mostly saw good results here, with a little elongating of the star points near the edge of the frame (image 3 below), but no “wings” growing out of them.
Generally this was a solid optical performance, with no fatal flaws. I was obviously shooting in cold, winter conditions (not the most colorful season!), but I found that color saturation and color tone were still very nice. Images had a certain pristine quality that appealed to me.
I wouldn’t say that the Tokina ATX-M is necessarily optically better than either the Tamron or the Sigma, as there is definitely give and take between the three lenses. The Tokina does have lower amounts of distortion and vignette than the Sigma, so that’s one key advantage. In short, however, if you choose the Tokina you can be assured that you are choosing a lens that performs among the very best in the class. You can see more images in the gallery here.
Conclusion
Good wide angle zooms are invaluable lenses, allowing you to get a very wide perspective for shooting landscapes, interiors, and even the night sky. The Tokina ATX-M 11-18mm F2.8 is a great addition to Fuji X-mount lineup, giving a third reasonably priced alternative to premium options like the Fujinon XF 8-16mm F2.8 ($1500!) or the XF 10-24mm F4 OIS ($1000). Fuji doesn’t have a native wide angle zoom with a constant F2.8 aperture under $1000, and so that opens up a huge lane for lenses like the ATX-M 11-18mm, which goes plenty wide for most people.
The Tokina was a great match for going out and capturing winter landscapes, with a weather sealing gasket and a tough build quality that never faltered in the -20 conditions.
I’ve liked images that I’ve gotten with the lens and look forward to shooting in future seasons that are a bit less bleak. It was easy to shoot with in the field, and I particularly appreciate that fact that all zoom extension takes place behind the hood, allowing the lens to practically behave more like an internally zooming lens. Some Fuji shooters may be put off by the lack of an aperture ring, but is that ring worth spending an additional $400-900? I suspect the answer is no, and since none of the other third party wide angle zooms have an aperture ring either, Tokina is probably on safe ground here. The biggest disadvantage for the ATX-M 11-18mm F2.8 is that it has the smallest zoom range of the competing lenses, but it does compensate with nice build, excellent autofocus performance, and very good optical performance…even on the demanding Fuji 40MP sensor. All in all, the Tokina ATX-M 11-18mm F2.8 X is well worth considering if you’re looking for a wide angle zoom for your Fuji camera.
Pros:
Nice physical design
The addition of a weather sealing gasket for X-mount
Very smooth zoom action
Zoom extension happens behind hood
USB port for firmware updates
Smooth, fast autofocus
Fairly good video AF performance
Low distortion
Low chromatic aberrations
Good wide open sharpness throughout much of the range
Keywords: Tokina ATX-M 11-18mm F2.8, Tokina, ATX-M, 11-18mm, F2.8, Tokina 11-18mm X, Wide Angle, Zoom, Pancake, Chip, Fuji, Fujifilm, X-mount, XF, Review, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, let the light in, weathersealing, #letthelightin, DA
DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
In September of 2024 I released a review of the Viltrox AF 28mm F4.5 “Chip” lens for Sony E-mount. One of the most common requests I got in the responses to my review was for a Fuji X-mount version. I found that interesting, as the “Chip” (Viltrox’s name for the lens) is a full frame lens. But I found that when I was recently reviewing the new Fujifilm X-M5 I actually wished for a lens like this one that would make a compact camera like that truly pocketable. And, the truth of the matter is that in many ways I found using the new X-mount version of the Viltrox AF 28mm F4.5 a lot like using the X100VI with its fixed 23mm F2 lens. When paired with the right body (something smaller than my X-H2!), the little 28mm F4.5X makes for a truly portable experience. But how does the autofocus and image quality hold up in the transition to Fuji? Find out in the video review, the text review, or just check out the photos in the galleries.
Thanks to Viltrox for sending me a review copy of this lens. As always, this is a completely independent review. All opinions and conclusions are my own.I’m doing this review on a 40MP Fujifilm X-H2 camera.You can visit the product page for the 28mm F4.5 here.
This is a welcome addition to the Fuji X-mount platform despite this being a full frame lens. There are some advantages that do come with that, as I break down in the reviews. Enjoy the photos in the galleries below.
Keywords: Viltrox, Viltrox AF, Viltrox 28mm, Normal, Full Frame, APS-C F4.5, f/4.5, VCM, Viltrox AF 28mm F4.5 E, Viltrox 28mm Review, Viltrox AF 28mm F4.5 X Review, VCM, Pancake, Chip, Fuji, Fujifilm, X-mount, XF, Review, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, let the light in, weathersealing, #letthelightin, DA
DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
In September of 2024 I released a review of the Viltrox AF 28mm F4.5 “Chip” lens for Sony E-mount. One of the most common requests I got in the responses to my review was for a Fuji X-mount version. I found that interesting, as the “Chip” (Viltrox’s name for the lens) is a full frame lens. But I found that when I was recently reviewing the new Fujifilm X-M5 I actually wished for a lens like this one that would make a compact camera like that truly pocketable. And, the truth of the matter is that in many ways I found using the new X-mount version of the Viltrox AF 28mm F4.5 a lot like using the X100VI with its fixed 23mm F2 lens. When paired with the right body (something smaller than my X-H2!), the little 28mm F4.5X makes for a truly portable experience. But how does the autofocus and image quality hold up in the transition to Fuji? Find out in the video review or just read on in the text review.
Thanks to Viltrox for sending me a review copy of this lens. As always, this is a completely independent review. All opinions and conclusions are my own.I’m doing this review on a 40MP Fujifilm X-H2 camera.You can visit the product page for the 28mm F4.5 here.
I’ve already given this lens a thorough review, so I will update this review in the relevant sections with some update images and observations on the unique performance on Fuji.
This a very different kind of lens for Viltrox, as producing a lens this thin means that there are some things that will have to be compromised. For many such lenses, what gets sacrificed is image quality along with functionality. While the functionality is a little different here, but the image quality really isn’t. There’s something about this lens that really seems to fit the whole Fuji ethos.
But at the least, the functionality is different. This is the first “fixed aperture” lens for Viltrox, in that the 28mm F4.5X is always F4.5. Not bigger, not smaller. No aperture ring or aperture control from within camera. Aperture is fixed at F4.5.
There also isn’t any manual focus here. Whereas the only smaller lens that I’ve ever reviewed was manual focus only (the Brightin Star 28mm F2.8), the Viltrox 28mm Chip is autofocus only. There is no manual focus ring. Fortunately autofocus is good enough that you probably won’t miss it, and, frankly, the lens is so compact that there just isn’t room for any rings on the barrel; it’s shorter than the grip on my X-H2 (and by a good margin).
So let’s dive a little deeper into the nuts and bolts of this extremely unique new lens.
Viltrox 28mm F4.5X Build and Handling
We have to start with a consideration of focal length, as this is somewhat unique as a full frame lens that is now being marketed and sold as an APS-C lens. I noted that the front facade was slightly different as a byproduct. Let’s put the X-mount and E-mount versions side by side.
There’s a few changes. First of all, there is a distinction in the lens “Image Size” designation. The full frame lens has IMAGE SIZE 43.3mm on the front. This refers to the diagonal measurement of a full frame (36 x 24mm) sensor. This is Viltrox’s way of designating this as a full frame lens and is something I’ve seen on a number of other Viltrox lenses. The APS-C version says “APS-C Frame” instead, which is pretty obvious.
The second distinction is the minimum focus distance, which shows as 0.32m/1.05ft on the full frame, but 0.34m/1.12ft on the X-mount version. I was actually disappointed to see this, as I was hoping the APS-C lens would retain the same minimum focus distance as the full frame lens and thus get a bit of extra magnification because the focal length would act longer due to the APS-C crop. Fuji’s APS-C crop is 1.5x, which means that the 28mm full frame lens becomes a 42mm full frame equivalent lens on APS-C.
But wait a minute! That slight difference (2cm) of minimum focus distance doesn’t nearly account for the difference in focal length, so when I compare the amount of magnification, the X-mount version actually has a much higher level of magnification. I would estimate the magnification here at roughly 0.14x.
That amount of magnification is no world beater, but it does give you a little more to play with in terms of up close performance, and I would say that I actually felt the X-mount version performed a bit better up close than the Sony E-mount version.
While this lens is very small and lightweight, it isn’t because of compromised build quality. This is actually a very nicely made little lens with a retro/classic vibe to it. The closest analog that I can come up with is Nikon’s SE (Special Edition) versions of their 28mm F2.8 and 40mm F2 Z mount lenses, which have somewhat of a similar look.
This is a VERY slim lens, only a little thicker than the rear lens cap for the lens.
Most of the time I look at the camera (from the top) and wonder if I’ve remembered to attach a lens. I would consider the recent Viltrox AIR 35mm F1.7 XF lens a very compact lens, but you can see that it towers over the 28mm F4.5X:
The actual dimensions are 60.3mm in diameter (2.37″) and just 15.25mm in length (0.60″). The weight is a minimal 60g (2.11oz). You can see just how slim the lens is if I stand it up in the cap.
The mount is metal (duralumin, an aluminum alloy). The body is also made of metal and feels surprisingly premium for such an inexpensive lens. Viltrox has been able to maintain their standard of having a USB-C port in the mount to allow for firmware updates, however.
You’ll note that there is a small lever on the front of the lens. That essentially serves like a front lens cap. One direction will open the protective cover over the glass elements for shooting, the other direct will close it and protect things for storage. I have noted that the front lens element will do a focus rack inside that space when powered on, so it is probably wise to always open the hatch before powering on the camera.
There are no other “features” on the lens. No switches (autofocus only), aperture ring (fixed aperture), or other buttons. This is the ultimate grab and go lens.
The fixed aperture makes it unique. F4.5 is neither fast nor slow, and that’s kind of the point. The hope is that F4.5 is “fast enough” that it doesn’t penalize too much in low light, but also provides enough depth of field to keep enough in focus at one time as you don’t have the option to close the aperture further. I think of this more as a street/general purpose lens than a portrait lens for that reason, as depth of field will almost never be small enough to give you real subject separation.
As far as handling, the truth of the matter is that the only thing you need to handle is the lever to open or close the protective cover. The lens is small enough that you might not even touch it during operation and instead keep your hands on the camera instead.
While there is no weather sealing here, the front element has been treated with an HD nano multilayer coating that is moisture and fingerprint resistant.
While the aperture of F4.5 isn’t particularly sexy, this is a lens that makes a lot of sense on Fuji where it feels like aesthetic matters more than, say, on Sony. This is a “vibes” kind of lens, and I think it makes perfect sense on someone who likes to travel light and discrete. The Viltrox AF 28mm F4.5 X is a fun fit on Fuji.
Autofocus for Stills
The 28mm Chip was the first Viltrox lens (along with their upcoming 135mm F1.8 LAB lens) to receive a brand new autofocus system – VCM (voice-coil motor). This is similar to Tamron’s VXD focus system in being a linear style motor. It’s extremely unusual for there to be autofocus in a lens this thin, so the focus motor had to prioritize being extremely miniaturized. This is always the area I’m most concerned on when reviewing a multi-platform lens on Fuji, as I find that Fuji’s autofocus is less sophisticated, which means that third party lenses often don’t perform as well. This will be the first time that I’ve tested a Viltrox lens with a VCM motor on Fuji, and overall I found focus fairly good.
My autofocus tests showed a few things. First of all, when actually seeing the focus process taking place you become aware that there is some visible steps and pulses in the focus process. This is a bit surprising in that this VCM motor doesn’t actually have “steps” to go through, so part of this is just Fuji’s AF system, as I saw no steps when testing on Sony.
Because of the steps and the unfortunately tendency on Fuji of focus sometimes pulsing in the wrong direction, I saw slightly uneven speed in my indoor tests (where the F4.5 aperture is a bit of a limiting principle, as it cannot open wider to allow the AF system more light to work with). Focus speed was averagely fast indoors, but I noticed that it definitely picked up in speed in my outdoors test where I had more light to work with.
I felt like real world focus was largely better than what I saw in my controlled tests. It felt like focus came reasonably quick and accuracy was good. I did get at least one instance of a false positive lock where focus wasn’t really on anything, though I did the same shot right after and got the right results.
Focus accuracy is particularly important on the 28mm F4.5X as there is no manual focus option.
Fortunately I was able to get good autofocus even in close focus situations, which is also important where there is no manual focus override.
There is a faint clicking/whirring sound if you put your ear right next to the lens barrel, but if I held the camera at chest level and racked focus here and there, I couldn’t hear anything.
The bad news is that autofocus isn’t quite as good as what I saw on Sony, and that was particularly true when I compared in a controlled environment. The good news is that when I was just out shooting with the lens (as you will be doing), I actually had a positive impression of autofocus and that using the lens on Fuji wasn’t holding it back too much.
Video Autofocus
That is far less true on the video side of things. I said in my Sony E-mount review that, “…focus pulls are smooth and have a somewhat cinematic “damping” to them, in that they are not abrupt and move smoothly from one subject to another. The advantage of the VCM over an STM is shown in the absence of any visible steps in the process.” It’s actually incredible how much different focus pulls look like on Fuji. They are a series of very obvious steps, which of course slows the whole focus process down. I counted about six steps on average between the A and B focus points in my typical focus pull test, and that was true in either direction (even with the higher contrast B focus point). It’s rather disappointing. A VCM motor is not a stepping motor, so focusing in steps is not actually part of the focus motor’s function. The fact that I’ve seen this to be true on another platform only exacerbates my frustration with Fuji’s state of video autofocus.
Focus breathing is pronounced with the 28mm F4.5X, and the fact that you can see that breathing happening in obvious steps only draws your attention to it further.
My “hand test” where I alternately block the camera’s view of my face with my hand and then remove it was a little better. The 28mm Chip was reasonably reactive in moving back and forth when appropriate, though the obvious focus breathing and steps made that process a little more jarring than it needed to be.
Real world focus pulls (outdoors) have fewer obvious steps but will have noticeable focus breathing.
As with the Sony version, I did notice that my handheld results for video were a little shakier than usual. Having almost no weight at the front the camera actually makes stabilizing it a little tougher, as your supporting left hand tends to stay on the camera rather than in a forward position on the lens.
Video footage itself is interesting, as the 28mm F4.5X has an interesting optical signature. It can often be lower contrast (particularly with any side lighting), and that can have the effect of making footage look somewhat cinematic.
I didn’t expect the transition to Fuji to result in better or even equal performance to what I saw on Sony, and that was exactly what I found. Fortunately for stills work, at least, I found that autofocus worked well enough that I didn’t really think about it…so I guess we’ll call that a win?
Image Quality Breakdown
The optical formula is 6 elements in 6 groups (no grouping of elements), with 4 of those elements being special elements (including 2 ED and 2 aspherical elements). While the optical design is of course the same as what we saw on Sony, the MTF chart is different.
Here’s a little chart that I put together that shows the difference. I put a red line on the MTF point that aligns with the APS-C image circle edge. What you can see is that almost all of the optical drop-off actually comes outside the APS-C cut-off point, meaning that the 28mm F4.5X will actually be a higher performing lens at least in some ways on Fuji, though, as per usual, the 40MP sensor on cameras like my Fujifilm X-H2 is the most demanding platform that I test on. It has the pixel density equivalence of more than 90MP on full frame, which of course doesn’t exist at the time of this review.
So, while the lens must compete on a more demanding optical platform, it also gets the benefit of having the weakest area of its performance cut right off. This makes it a more viable option for shooting landscapes, for example, or for composing images where the plane of focus is near the corners. This landscape shot, for example, shows that there isn’t a significant difference between the center and edge performance.
The Viltrox AF 28mm F4.5 VCM is a very interesting lens optically. In many ways the optical performance reminds me a bit of a vintage lens. It’s as if it doesn’t have modern lens coatings, and that is for good and bad. I’ve rarely reviewed a modern lens where the “look” of the images is more dependent on the shooting situations and how you use it. It is particularly influenced by side light or a light source right out of frame. Here, for example, you can see how the whole image has “hazy” glow to it as if someone completely lifted all the black levels.
Remove the potential of that side light, and suddenly images look much higher contrast.
Here’s another example, where even the less intense winter sun on a partly overcast day caused this image to have a low contrast look.
The MTF shows us that the lens isn’t in fact low contrast; the sagittal and meridional axis are actually pretty close together. The image below I took less than a minute before the image above, but it was in a place where there was shadow and no direct light, and as a byproduct contrast is much higher.
The bottom line is that the potential lower contrast is about coatings. The nature of the lens changes according to the lighting, much like lenses in the past did before the era of modern coatings. If you happen to like the look of vintage lenses, then that may be a positive. You can get a really lovely glow in images, like this:
Bottom line is that the lens has some character, and that’s either a good or bad thing depending on your aesthetic tastes.
More on this in a moment. Let’s look at the technical side of things.
Lenses with smaller maximum apertures rarely have an issue with LoCA (longitudinal chromatic aberrations), and that is the case here. I see mostly neutral results on either side of the plane of focus without any fringing.
LaCA (lateral chromatic aberrations) fare better than they did on the full frame version of the lens for the simple reason that the most affected part of the frame (the edges) have been cut off.
I can turn off corrections and still find the edges of the frame unaffected by LaCA.
I would expect vignette to be considerably lower for similar reasons, since the area most affected by vignette has been cropped off. And it is true that vignette is slightly lower (a +62 to correct vs +77), but, as per usual, lenses designed for another platform tend to exhibit more vignette on Fuji. I suspect that number would be lower were I testing on Sony APS-C.
While the distortion is the same, I could actually do a little more correcting due to having the corners cut off. Correcting too much would create a bit of a mustache pattern, whereas on APS-C the crop allows the area that remains to correct in a more linear way. I used a -3 to correct a little bit of pincushion distortion, and you can see above that the correct is nice and clean.
In fact, I could definitely produce a cleaner manual correction in general. The distortion correction looks cleaner, the vignette correction doesn’t leave any “discolored” area, and the end result just looks better when compared with my corrections of the full frame E-mount version:
In at least some ways I would say that this is a more functional lens on APS-C than it was on full frame. It’s overengineered for APS-C but was arguably under-engineered a bit for full frame.
Using a full frame lens on APS-C is always a bit of give and take, and that’s going to become obvious in this next phase, as we take a look at resolution and contrast. This test has been done on a 40MP X-H2 sensor. I use a high end tripod and two second camera delay to ensure vibration doesn’t affect images. Here’s a look at the test chart that we will examine at high magnification:
If we take a look at crops (at 200%) at F4.5 from the center, mid-frame, and lower right corner, we find that contrast is never exceptional, but that detail holds up fairly well across the frame. There’s less of a drop-off in the corners due to the weakest area of performance being cut off. In general the lens looks slightly less sharp due to the greater demands of the Fuji sensor.
I mostly found real world contrast to be okay but not exceptional, and the same was true of sharpness. It’s not unusual for images to naturally have a slightly lower contrast look, though obviously you can change that through editing if so desired, as I’ve done on the right side below.
The truth of the matter is that I often generally like the look of images. They do have personality, even when shooting nature scenes.
While occasionally I was pleasantly surprised by sharpness at a pixel level, I would say that this is more of a lens to just appreciate the look of images rather than to obsess over the fine details.
Bokeh is going to be a somewhat rare commodity in this lens because it A) doesn’t have a long focal length B) has a rather small aperture and C) doesn’t have an amazing minimum focus distance. Situations where you can really have a strongly out of focus background are largely going to be limited to those situations where the background is a LONG way away.
In this shot the background isn’t strongly blurred out, obviously, but neither does it look objectionable.
Likewise here, though a situation that I choose because I could get an isolated branch with other trees some distance away, the background isn’t really blurred much…but neither does it look bad.
The quality of the bokeh is fine; there is just rarely going to be much of it.
Much, much more of a factor is going to be flare. This is a lens that does a wide variety of things when a bright light source is in the frame. Shooting full into the bright morning sun made the light (and the rays from the blades of the aperture) the dominating feature of the image (for good or evil, depending on your tastes):
In some shots the image will be flooded with light, giving everything a glow. You’ll either love it or dislike it.
Just be aware that you either need to like flare artifacts or you will need to compose carefully to avoid them.
My optical conclusion is that this is an interesting lens optically. I don’t like everything about the optics, personally, but I also appreciate that the lens has a lot of character, and there were plenty of times that I really liked the images I got. I truly appreciate the fact that this is a fully functional lens in what is an incredibly compact and portable package. I’ve used much more compromised lenses that were a lot bigger and more expensive than this! You can see more images in the gallery here.
Conclusion
I had an interesting thought while out hiking with the Viltrox AF 28mm F4.5 “Chip” lens; “…this feels a lot like using the Fujifilm X100VI.” No, the focal length isn’t the same, but something about the very compact nature of the lens and its purist aesthetic definitely reminded me of shooting with the X100VI. Put this lens on the X-M5 or a similar compact body and you’ve essentially got a point and shoot size of camera. And therein, I think, lies the charm for this little “Chip”. It is the ultimate low profile lens, and, what’s more, it’s actually a lot of fun to shoot with.
In many ways the 28mm F4.5X feels more at home on Fuji than it did on a full frame Sony body. There’s just something about it that really matches the Fuji aesthetic and spirit. I can definitely see dropping this lens in my bag when traveling for when I want a stripped down, purist outing.
This lens arrived during an incredibly cold snap where doing much in terms of “street” was out of the question, but that remains perhaps the best application for this lens. There’s so little to think about other than just shooting, which might allow photographers to spend more time thinking about their subjects and composition than they do on their gear. And at least for some photographers, that describes their perfect shooting scenario…particularly when the Viltrox AF 28mm F4.5 X can be had for just $99 USD!
Keywords: Viltrox, Viltrox AF, Viltrox 28mm, Normal, Full Frame, APS-C F4.5, f/4.5, VCM, Viltrox AF 28mm F4.5 E, Viltrox 28mm Review, Viltrox AF 28mm F4.5 X Review, VCM, Pancake, Chip, Fuji, Fujifilm, X-mount, XF, Review, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, let the light in, weathersealing, #letthelightin, DA
DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
I’ve just wrapped up a review of Viltrox’s smallest, lightest, and cheapest lens: the AF 28mm F4.5 “Chip” – a micro-pancake lens just 15mm long. That makes it somewhat ironic to immediately pivot to what is easily their biggest, heaviest, and most expensive lens to date. I’ve been excited about reviewing the Viltrox LAB series ever since they announced it in 2023 as a part of their roadmap ahead. The LAB series is to be Viltrox’s “Otus” series; an optically superlative lineup of lenses that will eventually include 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm F1.2 lenses in addition to the 135mm F1.8 LAB lens that I’m reviewing here. Viltrox is unique in my experience in that they tend to announce their development cycle well ahead of releases rather than hide them until they are ready for release. We’ve had more than a year to get excited about the LAB series, and I’m delighted to finally get my hands on one of them. So is the LAB 135mm worth getting excited about? That may depend on your tolerance of large, heavy lenses, but if that doesn’t turn you off, then the LAB 135mm is about as close to optical perfection as you’ll find. It is Viltrox’s most expensive lens, yes, but at a price tag of $899 USD it still is a pretty huge value (and if you use code DUSTINABBOTT at checkout at Viltrox, you can get an additional 8% off!). Find out more in either the video review below or by reading the text review…or just enjoy the photos in the gallery.
Thanks to Viltrox for sending me a review copy of this lens. As always, this is a completely independent review. *The tests and most of the photos that I share as a part of my review cycle have been done with the Sony a7RV and the Sony Alpha 1.
I have an interesting relationship with 135mm lenses. I fell in love with the Canon EF 135mm F2L a decade ago, and held onto it for years. I replaced it with the amazing Zeiss Milvus 135mm F2, a lens that I called worthy of being labelled an Otus. As I began to shoot Sony more and more, I eventually replaced the Milvus with the outstanding Sony FE 135mm F1.8 GM lens. I finally parted with the GM lens in order to purchase the Sony FE 50mm F1.4 GM instead, but only because I found the Samyang AF 135mm F1.8 good enough that I felt I could sell the 135GM and get both the Samyang and the 50mm GM lens for roughly the same money. In short, I have owned a premium quality 135mm for just about as long as I have been a professional photographer. I value the focal length above all for the utterly unique portrait shots you can get; shots the feature extreme isolation and wonderfully creamy bokeh.
But the biggest downside of a 135mm lens for many of us is the simple fact that it isn’t the most versatile of focal lengths. You often need a fairly large amount of working room to do portrait work, so many people prefer an 85mm lens even though the 135mm images are bit more special. I loved the 135mm GM lens but was willing to part with it because I had a lot of money invested in it but didn’t reach for it as often as what I would like. Can the Viltrox LAB 135mm provide GM levels of performance for $1300 less? While I think there is at least one area where the GM has an advantage, the optics definitely aren’t it. After using the LAB 135mm for a month, I’ve concluded that it has the peerless microcontrast of the recent Sony 85mm F1.4 GM II while also delivering smoother, creamier bokeh. Yes, this is one of the best lenses optically that I’ve tested. Take a look at this unedited shot.
Nice, right? Nice colors, smooth bokeh. But when I hit the zoom button on the back of my Alpha 1, here’s what I saw:
That was a bit of a “jawdrop” moment, because that level of microcontrast and detail at F1.8 is pretty amazing. From landscapes to portraits to general purpose shots, the LAB 135mm delivered results that I simply loved.
Keywords: Viltrox, Viltrox AF, LAB, Viltrox LAB, #LAB, #LAB135, Viltrox 135mm, Normal, Full Frame, F1.8, f/1.8, VCM, Viltrox LAB 135mm F1.8 FE, Viltrox 135mm Review, Viltrox AF 135mm F1.8 FE Review, VCM, Pancake, Chip, Sony a7IV, Sony Alpha 1, Sony a7RV, Review, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, let the light in, weathersealing, #letthelightin, DA
DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
I’ve just wrapped up a review of Viltrox’s smallest, lightest, and cheapest lens: the AF 28mm F4.5 “Chip” – a micro-pancake lens just 15mm long. That makes it somewhat ironic to immediately pivot to what is easily their biggest, heaviest, and most expensive lens to date. I’ve been excited about reviewing the Viltrox LAB series ever since they announced it in 2023 as a part of their roadmap ahead. The LAB series is to be Viltrox’s “Otus” series; an optically superlative lineup of lenses that will eventually include 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm F1.2 lenses in addition to the 135mm F1.8 LAB lens that I’m reviewing here. Viltrox is unique in my experience in that they tend to announce their development cycle well ahead of releases rather than hide them until they are ready for release. We’ve had more than a year to get excited about the LAB series, and I’m delighted to finally get my hands on one of them. So is the LAB 135mm worth getting excited about? That may depend on your tolerance of large, heavy lenses, but if that doesn’t turn you off, then the LAB 135mm is about as close to optical perfection as you’ll find. It is Viltrox’s most expensive lens, yes, but at a price tag of $899 USD it still is a pretty huge value (and if you use code DUSTINABBOTT at checkout at Viltrox, you can get an additional 8% off!). Find out more in either the video review below or by reading on in the text review.
Thanks to Viltrox for sending me a review copy of this lens. As always, this is a completely independent review. *The tests and most of the photos that I share as a part of my review cycle have been done with the Sony a7RV and the Sony Alpha 1.
I have an interesting relationship with 135mm lenses. I fell in love with the Canon EF 135mm F2L a decade ago, and held onto it for years. I replaced it with the amazing Zeiss Milvus 135mm F2, a lens that I called worthy of being labelled an Otus. As I began to shoot Sony more and more, I eventually replaced the Milvus with the outstanding Sony FE 135mm F1.8 GM lens. I finally parted with the GM lens in order to purchase the Sony FE 50mm F1.4 GM instead, but only because I found the Samyang AF 135mm F1.8 good enough that I felt I could sell the 135GM and get both the Samyang and the 50mm GM lens for roughly the same money. In short, I have owned a premium quality 135mm for just about as long as I have been a professional photographer. I value the focal length above all for the utterly unique portrait shots you can get; shots the feature extreme isolation and wonderfully creamy bokeh.
But the biggest downside of a 135mm lens for many of us is the simple fact that it isn’t the most versatile of focal lengths. You often need a fairly large amount of working room to do portrait work, so many people prefer an 85mm lens even though the 135mm images are bit more special. I loved the 135mm GM lens but was willing to part with it because I had a lot of money invested in it but didn’t reach for it as often as what I would like. Can the Viltrox LAB 135mm provide GM levels of performance for $1300 less? While I think there is at least one area where the GM has an advantage, the optics definitely aren’t it. After using the LAB 135mm for a month, I’ve concluded that it has the peerless microcontrast of the recent Sony 85mm F1.4 GM II while also delivering smoother, creamier bokeh. Yes, this is one of the best lenses optically that I’ve tested. Take a look at this unedited shot.
Nice, right? Nice colors, smooth bokeh. But when I hit the zoom button on the back of my Alpha 1, here’s what I saw:
That was a bit of a “jawdrop” moment, because that level of microcontrast and detail at F1.8 is pretty amazing. From landscapes to portraits to general purpose shots, the LAB 135mm delivered results that I simply loved.
Sound interesting? Let’s take a closer look.
Viltrox LAB 135mm Build and Handling
In many ways the preview for Viltrox’s future blueprint for their higher end lenses came with the release of the fantastic 16mm F1.8 that came first for Sony FE and then later for Nikon Z. That lens has a lot of the same design language and pioneered some of the new features that we’ll see here. Viltrox did deviate from the formula a bit, but I’m not sure it is for the better.
In many ways the new LAB 135mm feels like a blend between a Canon L series and a Zeiss Batis lens. The overall feel of the lens and its textures reminds me of a Canon L series, while the top mounted LCD screen reminds me of a Batis lens. It is almost ridiculous to put Viltrox’s two most recent lenses side by side:
The LAB lens is huge; the 28mm F4.5 pancake is the smallest autofocusing lens I’ve ever tested. The LAB 135mm is the largest and heaviest 135mm lens I’ve ever tested. It is 93mm in diameter (3.66″) and a whopping 145.7mm (5.73″) in length. The Samyang is 130mm in length, which is actually perhaps the longest 135mm that I had previously tested, but it is very obviously shorter than the LAB 135mm.
That makes the LAB a full 18mm longer than the GM (127mm). And, at a whopping 1300g (45.85oz), it is a full 450g heavier. The Samyang is just 772g, which is getting perilously close to half the weight of the LAB 135mm. Do not buy this lens if you are adverse to some weight. Why is it so heavy? Above all, it has a LOT of glass inside.
Viltrox has demonstrated that they are capable of producing small, lightweight lenses with good optics, but that’s not the point of the LAB series. These are like autofocusing Zeiss Otus lenses. I once reviewed a Zeiss Otus 28mm F1.4 that was nearly the size and weight of this lens, and that was without an autofocus motor, weather sealing, or any features! The brief for the Otus series is similar to that of the LAB series: build the best lens optically at the focal length that you can, and don’t worry about the size and weight. These types of lenses are not for everyone, but some photographers simply want the optical best. If the LAB 135mm is anything to go by, photographers may get just that.
Up front we get a large 82mm front filter thread, though that is pretty common for any 135mm lenswith an F1.8 aperture. You can’t beat physics!
The Viltrox 16mm F1.8 had a traditional approach to aperture similar to either Sony’s GM series or Sigma’s better DN prime lenses. That was a marked aperture ring that could either be clicked or declicked. For some reason Viltrox left that tried and true approach for a new approach more dependent on the LCD screen. The first ring on the lens is for aperture, but it is an unmarked ring that relies on the LCD screen to show you the selected aperture. You still have the option to have the ring either clicked or declicked, but in the clicked mode it has clicks at every 1/9th aperture stop rather than the typical one third aperture stops. I assume the logic is to provide more precision, but frankly it is wasted when A) Sony cameras only register one third stops and B) the LCD screen shows only one third stops between the full stops like F2 and F2.8. In real life it just feels like too many clicks, and I don’t enjoy it. A more traditional aperture control setup would have been preferable all around. You can still rotate all the way to the left and move into automatic mode, and I suspect some people will probably prefer to just control aperture from within the camera. You do have the option to turn the clicks off as well via a switch on the left side of the barrel.
When you turn the clicks off you can smoothly move through the whole aperture range without defined slots. This allows for smooth video aperture racking and has become an expected pro-grade feature on modern lenses. There does seem to be less lag in the aperture iris than many lenses, however, making smooth aperture racks more possible. This is the rarely lens that I prefer the aperture clickless rather than clicked even for stills.
The iris itself has 11 aperture blades, and these make for a nicely rounded aperture even when stopped down a fair bit.
Beneath the declick button there is a three position focus limiter that allows you to select the full range, up close (0.7-2m), and to eliminate the close focus range (1.5m to infinity). The LCD screen also functions as a distance scale, showing you the focus distance in large letters while showing a scale above in smaller letters.
Further up the barrel is an AF | MF switch along with two FN (function) buttons. The top one functions like the typical function button, performing whatever function you have that button programmed to in camera. The second button is going to be used more commonly for video functions, however, as when in manual focus mode it allows you to preset two focus positions and automatically switch between the two at the press of the button (A-B focus). This works in conjunction with the LCD screen on the top of the lens (more on that in a moment). You can preset the focus position(s) by long pressing the FN 2 button, and then access the focus changes by short pressing it.
Now to that LCD screen. The LCD functions in many ways like those found on the Zeiss Batis lenses, though with some improvements. The screen itself is nice and bright, allowing for good visibility even in bright conditions. It solves the problem of a distance scale (something missing on most mirrorless lenses), as it gives you a large font telling you the precise focus distance along with a distance scale above that. The bottom part of the screen gives you a readout of the current aperture. It also gives you some information related to the function buttons however, with the Fn icon lighting up when the first Function Button is depressed, and then the A or B function lights up when you are presetting focus distances. There’s actually a lot of useful information on the LCD screen once you get familiar with how it is all being displayed, though I’m sure a lot of people will still find it somewhat of a gimmick.
The manual focus ring is slightly raised and has a rubberized, ribbed texture. It moves smoothly and with nice damping. It isn’t linear, so the amount of focus covered will depend on the speed in which you rotate the ring. Using the A/B focus is a much more precise way to set up repeatable focus pulls.
We also have weather sealing on this lens that starts with a unique maroon-colored gasket at the lens mount along with other seal points through the lens (a total of 12 of them, by my count).
This is an internally focusing lens, so there is nothing that moves where dust might intrude. There’s also an HD-Nano multilayer coating on the front element to help with water and fingerprint resistance, making the front element easier to clean. As always, however, “moisture-proof” does not mean “water-proof”, so don’t go crazy! This is a professional grade lens with professional sealing.
Viltrox continues with a trend that other lens makers are now imitating by including a USB-C port in the lens mount that allows you to do firmware updates right to the lens. I’m a fan of this approach, as it eliminates the need for a separate dock or lens station for firmware updates, and I find the process a little more intuitive than even doing firmware updates through the camera. This allows Viltrox to future proof their lenses and continue to improve them through firmware.
But Viltrox never seems to rest on their laurels. They’ve added a Bluetooth module to the lens, and through their new app for IOS or Android, you can also update firmware wirelessly. Right now the app function seems to be limited to just firmware updates, though the promise is that they will add more functionality to the app control in the future.
There is no lens based stabilization, so you will need to rely upon the in-camera stabilization if your camera is so equipped.
One thing worth noting is that when the lens is powered off, there will be some movement/clunking if you rotate the lens up and down. This can be very disturbing if you are not familiar with modern lens design. Many high end modern lenses employ floating elements that allow for better up close performance. The lens groups are not fixed, but float in a certain area, so when they are not energized they will move around a bit. This is by design, however, and when the camera is powered on, those elements will be energized and will not move any longer. You can rotate the lens up and down without anything moving around. The LAB 135mm doesn’t have the smoothest implementation of this that I’ve seen, however, so you will get a bit of a “clunk” when the lens is powered on and those floating elements lock into place.
This does allow the lens to have a very good close up performance, however, which is often not a strength for Viltrox lenses. You can focus as closely as 72cm, giving a maximum magnification figure of 1:4, or 0.25x, which is right there with the Samyang (0.24x) and the Sony (0.25x), though the actual up close performance of the Viltrox is better than either of them.
At 200% magnification, look at how much better the contrast and detail is for the LAB 135mm (left) vs the Samyang on the right:
That’s macro lens levels of performance there!
Viltrox has redesigned the front lens cap with a bevel along the front that makes it feel slimmer (good, as this is their biggest front lens cap so far). The lens also comes with the hood and a nicer than usual leather pouch (similar to Canon L-series lenses). There is some cushion on the bottom, but I don’t find these pouches nearly as useful as a good padded nylon case like what Sigma provides.
The LAB 135mm comes with the nicest lens hood that I’ve seen on a Viltrox lens. The plastics are extra thick and sturdy. There is a felt lining inside to keep light from bouncing around, and there is a rubberized transition section that helps to protect the lens from bumps and also makes a nice option for placing the lens facing down. The lens doesn’t have a lock, but does have a firm bayonet into place that sits securely. I had no issues with it coming loose. I will note that it can reversed for storage but fits very tightly, so it can be a little work to get off sometimes as the rubber of the hood grips the rubber of the focus ring.
As noted, the lens barrel construction reminds me a lot of Canon’s better L- series lenses, with an magnesium alloy body, which is the same material used in expensive camera bodies. The new LAB badge on the side of the barrel reminds you that this is from this new premium series of lenses.
While I don’t agree with all of the ergonomic choices Viltrox made with the LAB 135mm, I do think that this is a very nicely executed package. The lens feels high quality in the hands, and it handles like a premium lens. In many ways this feels like a much more expensive lens than the $899 USD price tag. The finish feels durable and I would expect the lens to hold up well for the long haul. This is a big, heavy lens, so that will obviously be a deterrent for many. But while this is the most extreme example on the market, it’s not like any of the alternatives are small and light. You’ll have to decide for yourself if that extra weight is made worth it by the sections to follow…
Autofocus and Video
I was excited to see that Viltrox was pioneering a new autofocus system on their most recent lenses, as I felt like A) they had gotten about as much out of their STM motors as they were going to get and B) a premium lens like this with big, heavy glass elements needs as much thrust in the focus motor as possible. This is their lens to receive not just a VCM (voice-coil motor), but dual “Hyper VCM” motors that work in harmony to drive autofocus. This is a similar approach to what Sony did with their 135mm F1.8 GM lens, and it great to see a third party company doing the same. The Samyang AF 135mm is very good optically (about the same as the GM), but there was big difference in autofocus performance. The Samyang focuses fairly well, but lacks the extreme thrust and confidence of the GM lens. Viltrox has managed to close that gap a lot with the dual Hyper VCM motors in the LAB 135mm. It’s hard to beat a premium first party lens on their own brand’s cameras, so the win goes to the GM lens for a few reasons, but using the Viltrox lens alongside the Samyang showed me that the AF in the LAB 135mm is much closer to the GM performance than the Samyang. I was able to snap up and immediately acquire birds in flight…even at F1.8.
I have been reviewing a prerelease copy of the lens, so the lens arrived without the final “retail firmware” update. AF worked fine on my Alpha 1, but wasn’t fully stable on my a7RV. Fortunately I was able to update the firmware to version 1.14 via the app and got stable performance on both platforms after that.
Autofocus speed is very good. Not quite instant, but near to it. Even major focus adjustments arrive quickly, and I saw good focus confidence even in dimmer lighting. I got this shot of a bookcase and photo on a shelf in a nearly dark room (1/25th of a second, F1.8, ISO 12,800).
Focus was a hair longer than good light, but it found proper focus very quickly.
I was able to track basketball players on the court without issue, with focus having enough speed to keep up with fast and erratic action.
Focus sound is near silent, with a very light whirring sound as focus moves back and forth. Focus confidence is very high, even when shooting through layers of grass to capture this dandelion bud.
I had pinpoint accuracy on the eye of a speaker in church even in profile. I took a number of photos and they were all well focused.
Perhaps most important, however, is the focus for portraits. I shot an extended portrait session with the LAB 135mm, occasionally switching over the Samyang 135mm for comparisons. The Viltrox was a champ in that setting, with perfectly focused results at all focus distances.
I doubt there is a lens out there that is going to give nicer results for portrait work (as a complete package) for this price.
Here’s a look at that kind of focus accuracy, even when depth of field is incredibly tiny (F1.8 here):
By comparison the Samyang lacked confidence, with more pulses and not that instant acquisition of the subject. And, when comparing the results side by side, I definitely preferred the Viltrox. The results are better focused, there is better microcontrast on the textures, and even the bokeh is more pleasing to me.
This is definitely in the upper tier of autofocus performance for third party lenses. It’s amazing how far Viltrox has come in just a few short years.
I will add one caveat, however. While the Viltrox is fast enough to keep up with a quick moving action, burst speed is limited by Sony to 15FPS. If you are using one of their sports bodies, like my Alpha 1, that means that you can only achieve half the maximum burst rate that you can with a Sony lens like the GM. That difference will be even more pronounced on a camera like the a9III. Fortunately when this lens comes to Nikon there will be no such limitation.
The focus excellence carries over the video side of things. Video focus pulls are smooth, quick, and confident. The advantage of not having a STM (stepping motor) is that there are no visible steps, allowing focus to move consistently and smoothly from one subject to another without any visible pauses. There is some focus breathing, but its not terrible for a such a long focal length.
My “hand test” where I alternately block the camera’s view of my face with my hand and then remove it went exceptionally well. Focus confidently moved from my hand to my eye and back without any settling or lack of confidence.
Overall video focus was excellent. Here’s a frame from a video where I was moving focus back and forth between two subjects. You can see that focus is excellent in this frame.
Viltrox clearly wanted the LAB series to be a statement in every area, and fortunately that includes autofocus. The dual Hyper VCM motors allow autofocus to keep up with everything that you’ll want to do with the lens, and, in particular, makes shooting portraits a painless joy.
Image Quality Breakdown
Ahhh, and now to my favorite part, because the LAB 135mm is just a special, special lens. I fell in love with the Zeiss Otus lenses because, despite their being ridiculously big and expensive, they were just so good optically. It might be heresy to say, but the Viltrox AF 135mm F1.8 LAB is just that kind of lens. The optical design is 14 elements in 9 groups, with four of those being ED (low dispersion) elements and two of them being HD (high refractive index) lenses. The MTF is fantastic, with an absolutely stunning center and midframe performance that isn’t quite the same in the corners. At F8 the MTF is pretty much a straight line across the top, i.e. perfect.
Not everyone reads MTF, but if you do, here are the Samyang 135mm F1.8 and Sony GM 135mm F1.8 MTF charts for comparison.
On paper the Samyang lens is better than the GM and even slightly better than the LAB, but after testing multiple copies of the Samyang (and owning one), I can say that the LAB just delivers better microcontrast and more detail in real world results. I did several dozen head to head comparisons, and the LAB lens won all of them.
In fact, the Viltrox LAB 135mm F1.8 delivered once of the best all-round optical performances that I’ve ever seen and is essentially strong to extremely strong in all areas that I test. It is the rare lens that is both technically and artistically excellent.
More on this in a moment. Let’s look at the technical side of things.
I was expecting a lens well corrected for LoCA (longitudinal chromatic aberrations), and that is the case here. I see mostly neutral results on either side of the plane of focus without any fringing.
I intentionally put the lens is some of the most intensive scenarios to produce fringing that I could devise, but it did brilliantly well in all of them. Here are some deep crops from three images that should have LoCA but clearly do not.
We’ve also got perfect corrections for LaCA (lateral chromatic aberrations) that typically show up along the edges of the frame with high contrast transition points. You’ll see no fringing on either side of the black and white transition areas.
Viltrox lenses have not always had great profile support, and if there is any advantage to this it is that they have gotten accustomed to doing a lot of the corrections optically rather than relying on software corrections. Never has that been truer on this lens. Check out my vignette and distortion test:
You may have noticed that the image on the right looks just like the image on the left. That’s because for the first time that I can remember there was nothing to correct. No distortion, no vignette. Here’s an uncorrected RAW image at F1.8. Notice that the corners look flawless.
In fact, I actually find that when stopping the lens down the corners almost look a little too bright! I would probably add a little vignette to this F5.6 shot to achieve my desired result.
We’ll move on to inspecting our test chart. This test has been done on a 61MP Sony a7RV sensor. I use a high end tripod and two second camera delay to ensure vibration doesn’t affect images. Here’s a look at the test chart that we will examine at high magnification:
If we take a look at crops (at 200%) at F1.8 from the center, mid-frame, and lower right corner, we find that center and mid-frame performance is exceptionally good, and the corners are good but a bit softer.
So let’s put that in perspective. The premium lens in the class is the Sony 135mm GM. The LAB 135mm is sharper everywhere save in the corners, where the GM might have the slightest edge. (*this comparison is done on the 50MP Sony Alpha 1, as that was the camera that I tested the GM on)
The Samyang AF 135mm is also an extremely good lens optically, but the Viltrox shows a similar level of dominance everywhere but the extreme corners, which are close but might slightly favor the Samyang.
In real world directly compared shots with the Samyang (as I have it on hand right now), I found that the LAB consistently won all the comparisons. I feel pretty safe in saying that this is the sharpest 135mm lens that I’ve ever tested, though frankly all three of these lenses that I’ve mentioned are amazingly sharp.
Another thing worth noting is that the LAB 135mm consistently metered a little faster than the Samyang in my comparisons while delivering similar brightness levels, so I also believe that the T-stop is about one third stop faster than the Samyang. I wouldn’t at all be surprised to find that the LAB’s T-stop is very similar to its F-stop.
For the fun of it, let’s also compare it to the recent Sony 85mm F1.4 GM II, which is the sharpest 85mm lens that I’ve ever tested (and perhaps the sharpest lens I’ve ever tested, period). It has a little advantage in this comparison in that I’ve stopped it down to F1.8 to match the maximum aperture of the LAB 135mm.
The LAB 135mm still manages to take a win the middle, though the GM shows superiority in the mid-frame and corners. If I stop down to F2.8, the Viltrox slightly wins in the midframe, but the corners still belong to the 85GM II. But bottom line is that the Viltrox LAB 135mm F1.8 is in the very top tier of lens sharpness, with a center and midframe sharpness that rivals the very best lenses I’ve seen.
I found it much like like the 85GM II in terms of microcontrast, as when I would zoom into images I would discover even more detail than expected time and again. Take this shot at F1.8 of some little thistles catch the faint sun on a foggy morning.
It’s a pretty image, but the amazing part is when you zoom in (here at about 115%) and discover that in the narrow plane of focus all of the little water droplets on the thistle as clearly delineated, and you can even see all of the little droplets of moisture in the air.
Or with this portrait shot, where even when shooting at a distance (I was separated from the subject by a small body of water), I was able to get a clear separation of the subject from the background (and great detail on my model).
The extremely low vignette meant that I could shoot (uncorrected) in the very last light of day get evenly illuminated results even when the corners needed to be bright.
You can probably tell that the optical performance here has left me very impressed.
Stopping down to F2 didn’t really offer any boost that I could see, but I did see a slight improvement at F2.8. You can see a definite improvement in the “two dollars” area on the lower right side of this comparison.
Somewhat surprisingly, there is even more sharpness available at F4, and now the corners are pin sharp.
F5.6 has a hair more contrast, and image quality is just exceptionally good everywhere. Landscape results in the F4-F8 range are just exceptional, with amazing color, contrast, and detail.
Physics will affect even the mightiest of lenses, however, so expect diffraction to start to soften the image by F11 and more obviously by F16, which is minimum aperture (though this lens is still sharper than many lenses at its weakest!)
So, the Viltrox LAB 135mm has delivered near APO levels of sharpness and contrast. But what few lenses are able to achieve is a blend of incredible sharpness and contrast while also delivering soft bokeh. That was arguably the weakest aspect of the Sony 135 GM. It was so well corrected that the bokeh wasn’t quite as exceptional as what I would like. The LAB 135mm is the rare lens that also manages to deliver really beautiful bokeh, however.
First of all, it does very well with specular highlights. Here’s an F1.8 image that shows that there is some geometric deformation near the edges of the frame, but overall the bokeh looks great. Many times the specular highlights in an image like this are tainted by some fringing around the edges, but the LAB 135mm handles that with aplomb.
If you really want all round specular highlights, stop down to F2.8, and it is nearly perfect there.
The close focus capabilities combined with the long focal length and large maximum aperture of the LAB 135 mean that it is easy to very strongly blur a background.
The next two images show what happens as you move progressively back a few steps, and, in the case of the latter image, even when stopping down to F2.5:
But arguably the most unique and valuable thing about a 135mm lens, and, in particular one like the LAB 135 that had the heady combination of sharpness/contrast and soft bokeh, is the ability to strongly separate your subject from the background even at a distance. This shot is far greater than full length, and yet there is still great subject isolation at F1.8:
I love images from a 135mm where you have both big scale but still have that very professional subject isolation – a “cutout” type look.
135mm is a great outdoor portrait lens, but there are some potential downsides. You need some working room with a longer focal length like this, so it isn’t as flexible indoors. And, even outdoors, working with a 135mm lens means that sometimes communicating with your subject is difficult. I was probably 60+ feet away from my model for the shot above, which means that I would have to shout at him to be heard. This is part of the reason why many portrait photographers stick with an 85mm lens. I do find that 135mm images are more special, however.
In the early stages of Viltrox’s lens development their optical glass was, well, more budget oriented, but that has radically changed in the past couple of years. I find Viltrox’s current optical glass to be excellent, and it tends to be very neutral. Colors are rich, but not oversaturated. The images are neither warm nor cool, allowing you to choose your preference either in camera with the white balance or in post.
Autumn in Ontario, Canada where I currently live is a gorgeous season, and I enjoyed shooting a few of those beautiful scenes with this lens.
Flare resistance was also very good on the LAB 135mm. It actually has a shallower lens hood than the Samyang 135mm, and that is because it doesn’t need it as badly. The Samyang isn’t bad, but the Viltrox is definitely better at resisting flare. You can see the exact same shot side by side here, and see how much more veiling there is with the Samyang:
The Viltrox holds its contrast much better along with the color fidelity.
I shot into intense sun a number of times but without any kind of negative impact. The LAB 135mm shows an amazing performance for this type of lens, and, as you can see below, did it a variety of aperture values (shown below are F1.8, F11, and F5.6).
This adds a lot of additional versatility for portrait photographers, as they can shoot backlit subjects without fear of their images falling apart. This image shows amazing contrast at F1.8 despite the intense sun reflected off the water near the boat.
One a final note on the optics, I was able to test one very early morning for coma. This makes yet another interesting application for this lens, as the longer focal length lends itself to a different perspective on astrophotography. Coma was very well controlled even into the corners, and the extremely low fringing assures that bright heavenly bodies aren’t ruined by some nasty color smears around them.
The bottom line is that this is one the most complete lenses that I’ve tested optically, and I would be hard pressed to point to a better optical performance from any lens priced under $1000, and could probably count the number of better optical performances, period, on one hand. If you’d like to see more images in my extensive image gallery, just click here.
Conclusion
The Viltrox AF 135mm F1.8 LAB is a rare treat for a reviewer like me. To do my job correctly I need to invest a lot of time and care into using and evaluating a lens rather I personally enjoy it or not. It can be very frustrating to have a camera in hand in a beautiful photography opportunity and be stuck with a lousy lens attached to the camera because that’s what I happen to be testing. But the LAB 135mm has allowed me to both do my job (as a lens tester), but do photography with one of the nicest optical instruments I’ve had the privilege to use. As I got towards the end of this review I had a hard time even choosing which images to conclude with as there were so many great photos yet unused in the review.
The long leadup to the release of this first LAB lens has allowed a lot of anticipation to build. Viltrox has been demonstrating that they are a serious new player and capable of making amazing lenses, and this series was to be their best yet. And thus far I am not disappointed, as while the LAB 135mm is big and heavy, the great autofocus and amazing optics make it a joy to use nonetheless.
Yes, it may be too big and heavy for some. And yes, there are a few ergonomic choices that I question, but at the same time Viltrox has once again seriously advanced to the next level. Their new Hyper VCM AF motors are definitely next level in speed and smoothness. The optical performance from the LAB 135mm is near perfect. The build quality is premium throughout. And, the price tag of $899 is nothing short of a tremendous bargain for a lens that matches or exceeds the Sony 135mm F1.8 GM in almost every category…and that lens costs $2100. The Samyang AF 135mm F1.8 is an excellent lens, and is $100 cheaper at $799 USD, but other than weight and price, the Viltrox wins every comparison that I put them through, with superior autofocus, optics, build, and more. If you have GM tastes but don’t have a GM budget, then put your money down for the Viltrox AF 135mm F1.8 LAB; you won’t regret it!
Pros:
The LAB series is supposed to be Viltrox’s BEST…and it shows
Beautiful built lens
Feature rich
Very good weather sealing
USB port for firmware updates along with Bluetooth for wireless access
New Hyper VCM motors are fast and accurate
Focus pulls are nicely damped
Exceptionally sharp lens that matches or bests the very best in the center and mid-frame
No distortion or vignette
Exceptional control of fringing
Colors look great
Amazing contrast
Gorgeous bokeh
Great flare resistance
Low coma
Amazing price to performance ratio
Cons:
Big and heavy
Don’t love the aperture ring design
Some might be put off from the “clunk” of the floating elements
Keywords: Viltrox, Viltrox AF, LAB, Viltrox LAB, #LAB, #LAB135, Viltrox 135mm, Normal, Full Frame, F1.8, f/1.8, VCM, Viltrox LAB 135mm F1.8 FE, Viltrox 135mm Review, Viltrox AF 135mm F1.8 FE Review, VCM, Pancake, Chip, Sony a7IV, Sony Alpha 1, Sony a7RV, Review, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, let the light in, weathersealing, #letthelightin, DA
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