New, dedicated APS-C format prime lenses from OEMs have become a bit of a rare sight outside the Fujifilm ecosystem. However, Viltrox has been putting some new life into this format lately. Besides the AF 90mm f/2.2 EVO, Viltrox just released the Viltrox AF 75mm f/1.8 EVO – again available in E-, Z- and X-mount. We’ve tested the E-mount version for this review. In full-format terms it’s equivalent to a 114mm f/2.7 putting it in between the classic 56mm (FF “85mm”) and 90m (FF “135mm”) focal lengths. Just like the other EVO lenses, it is very competitively priced at just 329USD (389EUR, 319GBP, 479CAD, 60,800JPY).
The build quality is, once again, impressively high. The lens body is made of metal including the control rings. The focus ring is very smooth and the de-clickable (E-mount) aperture ring has a decent click action to it. We’d wish, however, that the A-mode has a more distinctive click because it can slip easily. It also features a customizable Fn-button. There’s also an AF/MF switch on the lens. The weather sealing is quite basic with just a gasket at the rear. A barrel-shaped lens hood is part of the package.
The 75mm f/1.8 has an STM (stepping) motor for focusing that Viltrox uses for their more consumer-oriented lenses. There are faster AF motors out there, but it does the job and it does so silently.
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Optical construction | 11 elements in 9 groups (2x ED, 2x HR) |
| Number of aperture blades | 9 |
| min. focus distance | 0.74m (max magnification: 0.12x) |
| Dimensions | φ 69×78mm |
| Weight | 335g |
| Filter size | φ 58mm |
| Hood | barrel-shaped (bayonet mount, supplied) |
| Other features | Aperture ring (de-clickable in E-mount, likely not in X-mount) Fn custom button (in E-mount, likely not in X-mount) Firmware updates via USB-C/Bluetooth Mount gasket |
Distortions
The lens produces a native image distortion of just ~0.2% pincushion-style. This is negligible. A correction profile isn’t provided nor is it needed here.
Vignetting
The native vignetting characteristic is on the high side. At f/1.8 it produces a light falloff of 1.7 EV (f-stops). That’s beyond the 0 to 1.5 EV range that we expect from APS-C lenses. The vignetting is much reduced at f/2.8 and well controlled from f/4.
The E-mount version of the AF 75mm f/1.8 EVO does have a correction profile for this, and the issue is well managed from f/1.8. It’s almost negligible from f/2.2 already.
MTF (resolution) at 24 megapixels
The Viltrox AF 75mm f/1.8 EVO produced outstanding results in this chapter. In fact, it has the best MTFs that we’ve ever seen among the APS-C lenses in Sony E-mount. The sharpness is almost perfect at f/1.8 and stellar at f/2.8. It stays great up to f/8. Diffranction has a higher impact from f/11.
The centering quality of the tested sample was excellent. The field curvature is flat.
There are marginal deviations compared to our E-mount review, but the sensor is different, and we are also using slightly different conversion parameters in Z-mount, and there’s always a little sample-to-sample variation even in the best of cases.
Please note that the MTF results are not directly comparable across the different systems!
Below is a simplified summary of the formal findings. The chart shows line widths per picture height (LW/PH) which can be taken as a measure of sharpness. If you are keen to know more about the MTF50 figures, you may check out the corresponding Imatest Explanations.
Chromatic Aberrations (CAs)
Lateral CAs are extremely low at all aperture settings even without corrective measures.
Bokeh
The Viltrox EVO tele lenses don’t incorporate aspherical elements so out-of-focus highlights have a very clean inner disc structure. There’s a little outlining effect at the disc edges. The circular shape of the discs (in the center) remains intact until f/2.8 with a hint of edginess visible at f/4.
The highlights deteriorate to “cat eyes” the more they are positioned towards the borders / corners – this is a mechanical effect related to the size of the front opening of a lens. Stopping down restores the shape but the corner discs aren’t fully circular even at f/4.
The blur in the focus transition zone is quite smooth but a bit too contrasty in the image background (shown to the left below). The foreground blur (to the right) is slightly “shadowy”.
Bokeh Fringing / LoCA
LoCAs, or bokeh fringing, is a color fringing effect on the Z-axis. It shows up with a purplish tint in front of the focus point and a greenish tint behind, and it’s nearly impossible to fully correct in post.
As you can see below, the Viltrox lens shows some color fringing at f/1.8 with a bit of a greenish tint beyond the focus point. There’s barely any tint in front of the focus point, though. Stopping down to f/2.8 reduces the fringing, and it’s mostly gone from f/4.
You may also notice that the focus point shifts very slightly to the rear when stopping down. However, this has no practical relevance in this case.
Competition
If we limit the scope strictly to 75mm lenses, the Viltrox AF 75mm f/1.8 EVO has two main competitors: the TTArtisan 75mm f/2 (available in E-, Z-, L-, and X-mount) and the Samyang AF 75mm f/1.8 (in E- and X-mount). We haven’t tested these lenses but they are supposed to be pretty good, but given the results above they are unlikely to be better than the Viltrox lens. The TTArtisan is, however, cheaper. The Samyang is a full-format lens which has its merits. Beyond the 75mm “segment” there are numerous 85/90mm to choose from, including 2 made by Viltrox (in E-mount at least).
Sample Images
Lately, Viltrox has been killing it with numerous high-quality yet still very affordable prime lenses. And the Viltrox AF 75mm f/1.8 EVO is another one in this row. Sony hasn't beefed up the megapixel game on their APS-C cameras yet, and the lens easily crushed what's available on the 24-megapixel sensor used for testing. On this platform, it's exceedingly sharp straight from f/1.8 and that's across the image field. Lateral CAs are minimal. Axial CAs can be visible at large aperture settings, but they are still very moderate. The native vignetting is on the high side, but an auto-correction profile is available (at least in E-mount). Image distortions are negligible. The bokeh is, once again, quite decent although it's too punchy in certain scenes.
As for the build quality the lens remains in line with the other EVO lenses that we've tested lately. The metal construction feels very sturdy with good feedback from the control rings - other than the A-mode on the aperture ring which slips too easily. The AF is pretty good as well. As to be expected from en EVO lens, the weather sealing is on the basic side.
In the sea of fast medium prime lenses, the Viltrox AF 75mm f/1.8 EVO stands out with sheer performance and you should check it out if you are shopping in this segment.
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The Good
- Ultra-sharp
- Nice build quality
- Great value
The Bad
- Native vignetting a bit high at f/1.8
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Optical Quality
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Build Quality
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Price / Performance