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.
In the course of any given year, I review a LOT of gear. In 2024 I did 108 total reviews, including 7 cameras and many dozens of lenses at all price points. At this stage of my career, I have reviewed hundreds of lenses and many dozens of cameras. We are, I believe, in a golden age of photography. 2024 saw a slight shift in the overall movement towards using phones for photography with more people considering a “real camera” instead. But what gear stood out from the crowd in my reviews? Find out by watching the 2024 DA Awards below! There’s also a summary of the awards in this article.
If you just want a summary of what I covered in the video, you can can see the list of contestants in each category below along with the slide of the winner and a photo taken with each winner. Just to clarify: these are my top picks among the lenses I personally reviewed. I review Canon, Sony, and Fujifilm (APS-C and medium format), and Nikon, so there won’t be any M43 or Leica gear here…even though I’m sure there are several deserving products from those brands.
For the second year in a row, Sony wins with the top zoom lens. The Sony 28-70mm F2 GM was a winner to both me and my audience. Here’s one favorite photo from it.
DA Awards 2024 – Top Budget APS-C Prime Lens (Under $600)
List of contenders:
Viltrox Pro AF 27mm F1.2 (Sony)
Viltrox AF 56mm F1.7
TTArtisan AF 56mm F1.8
7Artisans AF 27mm F2.8
Yongnuo AF 11mm F1.8
Sirui Sniper 16mm F1.2
Sirui Sniper 75mm F1.2
Yongnuo 50mm F1.8 DA DSM Pro
Yongnuo 33mm F1.4 Pro
Viltrox AF 35mm F1.7
AstrHori 25mm 2-5x Macro
Viltrox takes home a win in this category for the second year in a row. The 35mm F1.7 AIR isn’t as high end as last year’s winner, but it (along with the 56mm F1.7 AIR) are big winners for providing very good optical instruments at budget prices.
DA Awards 2024 – Top Budget Full Frame Prime Lens (Under $600)
Here’s the list of contenders:
7Artisans AF 50mm F1.8
7Artisans AF 85mm F1.8
Nikkor 40mm F2
Viltrox AF 40mm F2.5
Nikkor 50mm F1.4
TTArtisan AF 75mm F2
Viltrox AF 28mm F4.5
TTArtisan 75mm F1.5 Swirl
Pergear 100mm F2.8 2x Macro
Thypoch Simera 28mm F1.4
Thypoch Simera 35mm F1.4
Sirui Aurora 85mm F1.4
The Nikkor Z 50mm F1.4 is a very solid lens at a shockingly affordable price of $499. In my review I concluded that it was “enough” in basically every category for most all photographers. Here’s a photo favorite from it.
DA Awards 2024 – Premium Full Frame Prime Lens
List of contenders:
Laowa AF 10mm F2.8
Sigma 500mm F5.6 Sport
Sigma 15mm F1.4 Fisheye
Sigma 50mm F1.2 ART
Voigtlander Nokton 75mm F1.5
Voigtlander Nokton 50mm F1.9
Sony 85mm F1.4 GM II
Fujinon GF 500mm F5.6
Tamron 90mm F2.8 Macro
Viltrox LAB 135mm F1.8
Laowa 55mm F2.8 T/S
I’ve been very eagerly awaiting Viltrox’s LAB series ever since it was announced, and the LAB 135mm F1.8 did not disappoint. It is feature rich, optically amazing, and sported a whole new autofocus system (Hyper-VCM) that allows it to have quick, accurate autofocus. It’s a treat.
DA Awards 2024 – Which Company Had the Best Year?
Sigma released a ton of interesting lenses this year, from intriguing zooms (24-70mm F2.8 II, 28-45mm F1.8, 28-105mm F2.8) to interesting primes (50mm 1.2, 15mm F1.4, 500mm F5.6), to being the first to move into the Canon RF (APS-C) space with both primes and zooms.
DA Awards 2024 – Which Lens Surprised Me the Most?
There’s nothing surprising about a 50mm F1.4 lens. But what is surprising is that a first party brand like Nikon would release a very good 50mm F1.4 for just $500. My conclusion was that this lens was “enough” for most people, and for Nikon to take the risk of undercutting more expensive options took a lot of bravery.
DA Awards 2024 – Most Disappoint Lens?
The sad thing about the Canon RF 35mm F1.4L VCM is that in many ways it is a very good lens, with great autofocus and amazing sharpness, but it also has a number of qualities that I consider inexecusable in a $1500 lens, like massive distortion and vignette along with some really questionable design choices. I wanted to love this lens, but ended up very disappointed by it…even though you can make some lovely images with it.
DA Awards 2024 – Reader’s Choice Awards
I polled my audience on YouTube over a series of weeks in three categories, and got around 1000 votes in each category. Here are the winners:
Keywords: DA Awards, 2024, Best, Worst, Reader’s choice, Viltrox, Viltrox AF, LAB, Viltrox LAB, #LAB, #LAB135, Nikon Z8, Sony a7CR, Sony 28-70mm F2 GM, Sigma, Nikkor, 7Artisans, TTArtisan, Yongnuo, Tamron, Laowa, Voigtlander, 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.
We now have a name for Viltrox’s series of small, lightweight, and yet surprisingly high performing lenses – the “Air” Series. We’ve seen 20mm F2.8 and 40mm F2.4 full frame lenses, a really excellent 56mm F1.7 APS-C lens, and now a companion to that lens in the form of the new Viltrox AF 35mm F1.7. I’m delighted to see this lens, as I really liked the 56mm, and this is arguably an even more useful focal length. Fuji has two 35mm options already: the 35mm F2 (which I reviewed here), and the 35mm F1.4 (which I haven’t reviewed). Their most recent lens in this general vicinity is the excellent 33mm F1.4 LM WR lens which I reviewed here. I’m a big fan of the 33mm F1.4, which has beautiful rendering, but it also retails for a a whopping $799 USD, which is, of course, out of the range of many buyers. The Viltrox provides a much cheaper alternative at just $179 USD while still delivering a lens with a lot of great qualities. Is it worth checking out? Find out my thoughts by watching the video review below, reading the text review, or by enjoying the photos in the gallery below.
Thanks to Viltrox for sending me a review loaner 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 Fujifilm X-H2 camera.
35mm is a slightly oddball focal length on APS-C, landing at a 52.5mm full frame equivalent. It stands to reason why the 33mm (49.5mm) is more conventional, as it is delivering that typical 50mm “normal” angle of view. That extra 3mm is hardly likely to make much of a difference. This is a great focal length that gives a very normal, relatable point of view.
In Viltrox’s earlier days they released an F1.4 series with a 23mm, 33mm, and 56mm option. This new series is going to naturally provide a bit of confusion, as the newer lenses have smaller maximum apertures (F1.7 rather than F1.4), have a slightly downgraded build (no aperture ring, plastic housing rather than metal), but are actually better lenses in terms of autofocus and optical performance. Viltrox has improved their optical glass, the smoothness and effectiveness of their autofocus motors, and has generally become much more competent in their optical designs. There’s also the fact that the new 35mm F1.7 is 17mm shorter and weighs a full 100g less, which is a core part of why the “Air” series has proven so popular.
Much like Samyang’s “Tiny series”, this lens is for those who don’t care about bells and whistles and just want a lightweight, high performing lens. Add in the fact that, like the 56mm F1.7, this new lens is one of the least expensive lenses that can fully resolve the extremely demanding 40MP sensor. It’s sharp even at F1.7, has nice bokeh, and can produce extremely nice images.
Sound interesting? Perhaps the photos below will help you decide.
Keywords: Viltrox, Viltrox AF, Viltrox 56mm, Viltrox 35mm F1.7, 35mm, 56mm, F1.7, STM, AF, Fuji X-H2, Fujifilm, Fuji X-T5, X-S20, Full Frame, Review, Review, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Portrait, #viltrox, #letthelightin, #viltroxAF1756, #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.
We now have a name for Viltrox’s series of small, lightweight, and yet surprisingly high performing lenses – the “Air” Series. We’ve seen 20mm F2.8 and 40mm F2.4 full frame lenses, a really excellent 56mm F1.7 APS-C lens, and now a companion to that lens in the form of the new Viltrox AF 35mm F1.7. I’m delighted to see this lens, as I really liked the 56mm, and this is arguably an even more useful focal length. Fuji has two 35mm options already: the 35mm F2 (which I reviewed here), and the 35mm F1.4 (which I haven’t reviewed). Their most recent lens in this general vicinity is the excellent 33mm F1.4 LM WR lens which I reviewed here. I’m a big fan of the 33mm F1.4, which has beautiful rendering, but it also retails for a a whopping $799 USD, which is, of course, out of the range of many buyers. The Viltrox provides a much cheaper alternative at just $179 USD while still delivering a lens with a lot of great qualities. Is it worth checking out? Find out my thoughts by watching the video review below…or just keep reading.
Thanks to Viltrox for sending me a review loaner 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 Fujifilm X-H2 camera.
35mm is a slightly oddball focal length on APS-C, landing at a 52.5mm full frame equivalent. It stands to reason why the 33mm (49.5mm) is more conventional, as it is delivering that typical 50mm “normal” angle of view. That extra 3mm is hardly likely to make much of a difference. This is a great focal length that gives a very normal, relatable point of view.
In Viltrox’s earlier days they released an F1.4 series with a 23mm, 33mm, and 56mm option. This new series is going to naturally provide a bit of confusion, as the newer lenses have smaller maximum apertures (F1.7 rather than F1.4), have a slightly downgraded build (no aperture ring, plastic housing rather than metal), but are actually better lenses in terms of autofocus and optical performance. Viltrox has improved their optical glass, the smoothness and effectiveness of their autofocus motors, and has generally become much more competent in their optical designs. There’s also the fact that the new 35mm F1.7 is 17mm shorter and weighs a full 100g less, which is a core part of why the “Air” series has proven so popular.
Much like Samyang’s “Tiny series”, this lens is for those who don’t care about bells and whistles and just want a lightweight, high performing lens. Add in the fact that, like the 56mm F1.7, this new lens is one of the least expensive lenses that can fully resolve the extremely demanding 40MP sensor. It’s sharp even at F1.7, has nice bokeh, and can produce extremely nice images.
Sound interesting? I suspect so, so let’s dive in a little deeper into the details.
Viltrox AF 35mm F1.7 Build and Handling
The first thing to note is the slightly unusual maximum aperture value. Similar lenses are going to be F1.8, not F1.7, but I like this move as it sets the lens apart and gives it a small but real advantage over F1.8 lenses. F1.8 is 2/3rds of a stop slower than F1.4, while F1.7 is 1/2 half stop slower. That also means that this lens has a full half stop advantage over a lens like the Fuji 35mm F2. That’s a reasonably useful improvement, giving some additional light gathering and that slightly larger maximum aperture will also mean slightly larger and softer specular highlights, which helps close the gap a bit with F1.4 lenses.
As noted, the Viltrox AF 35mm F1.7 eschews the heavier metal casing typically used for the earlier Viltrox lenses and embraces a more conventional, lightweight design in polycarbonates (engineered plastics). I wouldn’t call the build high grade here, but what I can say is that nothing about the plastics feel flimsy. It doesn’t have the feel of the early Samyang Tiny series lenses but instead feels tough and durable; its the kind of lens that feels like it could survive some falls (not that I intentionally dropped it!)
The new AF 35mm F1.7 is extremely compact, only 64mm in diameter (2.6″) and 54.7mm in length (2.15″), making it pretty much identical in size to the 56mm F1.7. It weighs only 170g (6oz), which is 1g less than the 56mm.
That makes for a very compact profile on your camera. I happen to be using the larger X-H2 body, but the small size will be even more compelling on Fuji’s more compact cameras.
Up front we have a 52mm filter thread, which is a small but relatively common filter size. The front of the lens fascia has a variety of information imprinted on it and has a classic profile. I’m a fan of having some lens information on the front fascia, as I feel it adds character to the lens.
There is a lens hood included that bayonets into place with more confidence and precision than the 56mm lens. It locks completely into place when mounted, and won’t be knocked off kilter by little bumps. It’s also considerably larger than the very compact hood included with the 56mm, and just feels more robust and better made in general.
A lens pouch is also included. The pouch doesn’t add a lot of protection value, but, like the hood, at least it is included. There are many more expensive lenses that include neither a pouch or a hood.
This inexpensive series is set apart from most of Viltrox’s lenses in that there is no aperture ring in the design. There are no switches, either. The only feature on the lens barrel is a wide manual focus ring. The manual focus ring has a nice amount of damping and moves smoothly. All manual focus aids (including automatic magnification of the focus area) will work with the Viltrox, and I appreciate the fact that manual focus speed is improved to where you can make larger focus changes with one twist of the wrist, particularly if you move faster (this is a non-linear focus ring).
The Viltrox AF 35mm has 9 blades in its aperture iris. The blades do a very reasonable job of maintaining a circular shape as the aperture is stopped down. When stopped down far enough, an 18 bladed sunstar will emerge.
We have an important Viltrox standard in the form of a USB-C port on the metal lens mount that allows you to connect the lens to a computer and update the firmware directly. The firmware update process is very simple; just unzip the upgrade folder, drag the firmware update file to the folder that shows up when the lens is attached to the computer, and the update is done in seconds.
One area of improvement over the 56mm is that the minimum focus distance is 33cm (0.33m) and provides a higher magnification level of 0.13x. This is only very slightly bested by the 0.14x of the Fuji 35mm F2. Here’s what that looks like:
The previous Viltrox 33mm could only focus as closely as 40cm and delivered just a 0.10x magnification, so this is certainly improved. You certainly won’t be able to do any “macro” work with it, but you can certainly get close enough to strongly blur out a background.
While some Viltrox lenses have started to come with weather sealing, this inexpensive 35mm lens does not have it. It does have a HD Nano multilayer coating with water-resistant and antifouling coating on the front element.
Though the AIR series is short on bells and whistles, the Viltrox AF 35mm F1.7 does excel in one key area: it is very compact and lightweight. And while there aren’t any special features, the lens feels sturdy and well made. As I noted in the intro, this is a lens designed for a specific market, and I feel like Viltrox has made the right choices in order to give us a functional lens that at the same time is extremely inexpensive.
Viltrox AF 35mm F1.7 STM Autofocus
The Viltrox AF 35mm F1.7 STM utilizes a lead-screw type stepping focus motor (STM) that makes for reasonably fast and definitely quiet focus changes. Focus felt silent unless I put my ear up next to the barrel, where I could hear some very light whirring during major focus changes. Focus speed is about average for an X-mount lens. There are some obvious steps (howbeit rapid ones) from this particular stepping motor during significant focus changes. I noticed focus speed far less in normal work where it’s rare to go from close to distant all the time. More minor focus changes happen fast enough that it didn’t stand out.
I’ve reviewed about four Viltrox lenses on both Fuji and then Sony, and in every case I’ve found AF more snappy and appealing in general on Sony. But even here on Fuji, I’ve had good focus accuracy overall. I had good success locking onto a variety of subjects, up to and including portrait work. I didn’t do formal portraits during this review cycle, but I did shoot a number of casual portraits during autumn hikes, and always got accurate focus on the eye.
General purpose shooting produced a lot of well focused results.
Ferrari the cat followed my wife and I on an evening walk, so I turned to take an extended burst of photos as he came towards us. As per usual with most non-sports lenses on Fuji, autofocus was initially fine, but as Ferrari continued to move closer and closer, focus remained a bit behind him, and its not until he stopped and looked to the side that autofocus caught up.
This is part Viltrox, yes, but also a big part on Fuji, as even some of the best of their current cameras (like my X-H2) just aren’t matching what I see from other brands in terms of autofocus. This lens should be fine if you’re doing event, general purpose, or portrait work, but if you are looking for a lens fast enough to keep up with young children or animals moving around, look elsewhere.
Video AF is also a mixed bag. Focus pulls are rather unimpressive. They aren’t fast, and there is some obvious stepping in the process. This is quite different from what I saw on Sony with the AF 56mm F1.7 lens, so at least part of this is the nature of Fuji’s video AF, which is a fair bit behind what I see on Sony and Canon. As per usual on Fuji, I also had issues with responsiveness on the touchscreen to try to change focus subjects.
My hand test was also a mixed bag, as while transitions from my hand to my eye and back were sometimes smoother, I also had moments where focus racked too far (past my head), and had to pull back to my face after the obvious rack.
Real world focus transitions could be smoother, but was very much shot dependent. I fully anticipate better autofocus results on Sony and Nikon based on past experience. Overall, autofocus performance is roughly average from what I’ve come to expect from lenses from Fuji. I went back and looked at my results from the premium Fujinon XF 33mm F1.4 WR with a linear focus motor, and the results in the video tests were no better.
Viltrox AF 35mm F1.7 Image Quality
The Viltrox AF 35mm F1.7 has an optical design of 11 elements in nine groups. What’s surprising in such an inexpensive lens is how many of these are exotic elements. There is one ED (extra-low dispersion) element, 2 HR (high refractive index) elements, and one aspherical element as a part of the design. The MTF looks excellent, though just a hair softer than than the 56mm F1.7.
All of this adds up to yet another Viltrox lens that is punching well above its weight class optically, which is important, as the 40MP Fujifilm X-H2 is the most demanding sensor for lens performance of any platform that I test. It’s not hard to produce beautiful, highly detailed images with this lens.
We’ll work through the chart results by first looking at distortion and vignette. The 35mm F1.7 does well in the distortion department but slips a bit with vignette.
I used a -3 to correct a tiny bit of pincushion distortion, though for portrait work you probably don’t want to correct that (a bit of pincushion distortion is flattering). Vignette required a +75 to correct (3 stops), though it is fairly linear and largely “works” for portraits, creating a natural vignette that draws the eye to the subject. These results were very consistent with what I found from the 56mm F1.7. A correction profile does exist in Lightroom for RAW images already. The linear nature of the vignette means that even uncorrected images don’t look bad.
Viltrox seems to have discovered the formula for largely eliminating fringing in their lenses. The 35mm F1.7 shows very low amounts of longitudinal chromatic aberrations. Fringing is well corrected, leaving very little fringing in my tests.
Real world results also look clean.
Lateral Chromatic Aberrations usually show up along the edges of the frame as fringing on either side of high contrast areas (like bare branches framed at the edge of images). There are minimal amounts of fringing on either side of the black/white transitions.
I also didn’t spot any issues in real world results, with branches in images looking clean of fringing.
So how about resolution and contrast? All chart tests done with a Fujifilm X-H2 (40MP) using a tripod and a two second timer. Here’s a look at my test chart:
And here are the crops (at roughly 200% magnification) from the center, mid-frame, and extreme corner at F1.7:
We see here what the MTF chart suggested. There’s a very consistent performance across the frame, with the corners really not all that far behind the center performance. To put this performance in context, here’s a look at the premium Fuji XF 33mm F1.4 WR stopped down to F1.8:
I see some contrast and detail advantage for the Fuji in the center, with results about equal in the corners (and in the midframe, which is not shown here). Certainly the inexpensive Viltrox lens delivers quite a competitive result for costing many times less.
In real world images wide open contrast isn’t flawless in the way a lens like the Viltrox Pro AF 75mm F1.2 is, at least on Fuji’s 40MP APS-C sensor, but I suspect it would be on 26MP sensors from Fuji or Sony. Even on 40MP, however, results look really solid.
Stopping down F2 does give a bit of contrast boost, but without a radical improvement. I see a bit more at F2.8, then at F4. Peak performance comes at F5.6-F8:
Real world results in this aperture range are nice and crisp, with good detail and contrast.
On a high resolution body like my X-H2, diffraction comes early, so while F8 still looks as good as F5.6, by F11 you will see some softening of the fine details due to diffraction, and by F16 (minimum aperture) the image is considerably softer.
I suspect that no one is going to be disappointed by the amount of sharpness you can get from the AF 35mm F1.7, particularly for the price tag.
My chief objection to early Viltrox lenses was that I didn’t really love the quality of the optical glass. Colors felt a little “cheap”, but their optical glass has improved by leaps and bounds, and these days I would consider color rendition from the optical glass a strength for the company, even when we’re talking about these inexpensive little lenses.
It’s autumn in Ontario, Canada, where I live, and that means that colors are naturally rich and beautiful. Fuji cameras also have great color science, and that all makes for a winning combination.
Here’s another that shows rich, vivid colors.
One area where I do prefer the more expensive Fuji lens is in the rendering and quality of the background blur. The Viltrox is fairly good, but the Fuji has a really pleasing rendering that I found very appealing. Here’s a look at the specular highlights from the Viltrox.
I found the overall bokeh rendering pretty good at a variety of distances, though not quite as creamy as the Fuji lens.
Stop down a bit and you can get fairly round specular highlights across the frame even near the edge of the image.
Flare resistance is a bit of a mixed bag despite the robust lens hood. Flare resistance head on is fairly good, with only minimal ghosting and veiling, but there are points with the sun right out of frame where you’ll see some flashing and loss of contrast.
It’s largely fairly artistic, however, so I have no major objections.
I also found that coma was fairly well controlled. The low fringing helps star points to look clean (not purple fringing), and there isn’t much comatic distortion near the edges of the frame.
All told, this makes for a pretty compelling “nifty-fifty” style lens for Fuji, and at a great price. If you want to see more images, visit the image gallery here!
Conclusion
Viltrox didn’t have a “name” for these new lightweight, compact lenses when they started selling them, but now they do. The “Air” series has proven to be a hit with a winning formula of light weight, low price, and surprisingly strong optical performance. I was a fan of the Samyang “Tiny” series for similar reasons, but the “Air” lenses typically only cost about 50% of what the Samyang lenses did.
The Viltrox AF 35mm F1.7 has generally been a lot of fun to use. It’s a great focal length, doesn’t have any meaningful flaws, and can easily produce images that I really like.
The fact that this lens can be had for well under $200 is an even bigger bonus, and the 50mm(ish) focal length is beloved for a reason. This is a great walkaround lens, perfect for capturing the varied moments that life brings. Lenses like this are great for APS-C owners who want that perfect mix of small, light, cheap…and high performing. Kudos to Viltrox for making yet another lens that I’ve immensely enjoyed using.
Keywords: Viltrox, Viltrox AF, Viltrox 56mm, Viltrox 35mm F1.7, 35mm, 56mm, F1.7, STM, AF, Fuji X-H2, Fujifilm, Fuji X-T5, X-S20, Full Frame, Review, Review, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Portrait, #viltrox, #letthelightin, #viltroxAF1756, #DA, #viltrox35air, #carrylesscapturemore
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.
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!). But, of course, you can also get the excellent Samyang AF 135mm F1.8 for even cheaper, and it is smaller and lighter as well. So which is the 135mm to get on Sony E-mount? Find out in my head to head comparison video here!
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.
But now Sony shooters have two awesome options available at very reasonable price points in the Samyang AF 135mm F1.8 (my review here) and the Viltrox LAB 135mm F1.8 (my review here). In my head to head video I break down the relative strengths and weaknesses of both lenses. Here’s a summary of the points I found:
Reasons to Choose the Samyang:
Deep dive video review of the Samyang AF 135mm F1.8
Price: $799 vs ($899)
Weight: 772g (27 oz) vs 1300g (45.85oz)
Size (130mm [5.1”] vs 145.7mm [5.73”])
Better edge sharpness at F1.8
Reasons to Choose the Viltrox LAB
Deep dive video review of the Viltrox LAB 135mm F1.8.
Slightly higher magnification and better up close performance
Better center and midframe sharpness
Better flare resistance
Softer bokeh
Lower distortion and vignette
Better light transmission
Conclusion
The only real advantages for the Samyang lie in being much lighter and slightly cheaper. The Viltrox has a superlative build, features, autofocus, and overall image quality performance, and is my personal clear choice. At the same time, the difference in weight is significant enough that those who don’t need as fast of autofocus might considering going with the Samyang instead. It remains an excellent choice.
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, Samyang, Rokinon, Samyang AF 135mm, 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 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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