A while ago, Viltrox released the AF 35mm f/1.2 LAB – an impressive lens, but also very big and heavy. It appears that the folks at Viltrox also recognized this so let’s welcome the new Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.4 PRO FE. It’s barely slower yet more compact and somewhat more affordable at $829 USD (859 EUR, 739 GBP, 1159 CAD, 157800 yen) although their pricing starts creeping up compared to previous years. Let’s see if its performance matches up.
It may not be a “LAB” lens but the build quality of Viltrox PRO lenses is still as good. The metal lens body is tightly assembled and weather-sealed. The metal focus ring is silky smooth and the de-clickable aperture ring has a nice action to it. We also appreciate that Viltrox opted for a marked metal aperture ring rather than an unmarked, freely rotating version with the info LCD. In terms of controls, there’s also a Fn-button. A deep, petal-shaped lens hood is also part of the package.
The AF system is based on a “Voice-Coil-Motor” (VCM) making focusing both fast and silent. Unlike with STM (stepping motors) the VCM group is free floating meaning that you can feel it moving when shaking the lens once it’s off the camera. We’ve seen this with lenses from other manufacturers that use the same system.
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Optical construction | 16 elements in 11 groups (2x aspherical, 3x ED, 4x HR) HD Nano coating |
| Number of aperture blades | 11 |
| min. focus distance | 0.3m (max. magnification 0.18x) |
| Dimensions | φ 84.5 × 111mm |
| Weight | 760g |
| Filter size | φ 77mm |
| Hood | petal-shaped (bayonet mount, supplied) |
| Other features | de-clickable aperture ring 1 Fn button dust- and moisture-resistant USB-C port for firmware updates |
Distortions
The Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.4 PRO produces a slight pincushion distortion in RAW files. At 0.75% this is usually not disturbing. Autocorrection reduces this to a very mild barrel distortion of just 0.2%.
Vignetting
Ultra-large aperture wide-angle lenses tend to produce high native vignetting and that’s no different here. A vignetting of 2.8 EV (f-stops) at f/1.4 is very visible in RAW files. Stopped down to f/2, this is reduced to 1.8 EV and the vignetting settles around 1 EV at medium aperture settings.
Thus using autocorrection makes sense here. It reduces the vignetting at wide-open aperture down to 1.6 EV. (f-stops). This can still be visible in some scenes. It’s only slightly reduced at f/2 and it gradually decreases further down to 0.7 EV from f/5.6 onward. The latter is usually not disturbing anymore.
MTF (resolution) at 42 megapixels
Most Viltrox lenses produced more than just impressive results in the resolution tests – and this is no different here. The center resolution is already excellent at f/1.4. And while there is a drop in quality beyond, even the corners reach very good results here. At f/2, the broader center is absolutely superb and exceeding the sensor potential. The outer image field creeps up in quality as well. The peak performance is already reached at f/2.8 with the borders/corners now also reaching excellent levels. This is maintained at f/4 and mostly at f/5.6 before diffraction effects set in at f/8. The sharpness remains very high here and f/11 is still pretty good.
The field curvature is negligible. The centering quality of the tested sample was very good.
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 would like to know more about the MTF50 figures, you may check out the corresponding Imatest Explanations.
Chromatic Aberrations (CAs)
Lateral CAs are very well controlled. At f/1.4 they are almost undetectable but increase slightly the more you stop down. However, an average CA pixel width at the borders of just 0.5px at f/11 is still nothing to really worry about.
Bokeh
A 35mm f/1.4 lens is meant for shallow depth-of-field photography so let’s verify the quality of the bokeh.
Out-of-focus highlights in the image center are nicely rendered. The inner zone of the discs is quite clean and the edges of the discs end with a slight halo. Stopped down to f/2 reveals the a slightly more edgy shape of the aperture already, though.
The above applies to the image center. The circular shape of discs deteriorates from the midfield at f/1.4. If you look closely below you may also notice that there’s some one-sided outlining of the discs developing. The outlining disappears when stopping down a little and the (near-)circular shape of the corner discs is also restored at f/2 already.
The rendering quality in the focus transition zone is smooth in the image background – shown to the left below. As so often, the less important foreground blur (to the right) is harsher.
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.
The Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.4 PRO produces some very obvious fringing at f/1.4 as you can see below. It improves a bit at f/2 and there’s a substantial reduction of the fringing at f/2.8. The LoCAs are mostly gone from f/4.
You may also notice that the focus point shifts towards the rear when stopping down (RSAs). However, the original focus point remains in focus due to the increased depth-of-field, so that’s not an issue in real-world conditions.
Sun Stars
Sun stars (diffraction spikes) are an aperture effect that occurs at strong light sources – such as streetlamps in nighttime city scenes.
The aperture is perfectly circular at f/1.4 so there’s nothing going on here yet. Marginal rays appear from f/2 but the effect becomes only really noticeable from f/8. For the best ray rendering you should stop down to f/11, ideally f/16, though. The rays are nicely pointy although not overly pronounced. There are many of them, 22 to be precise, due to the 11 aperture blades.
Competition
The 35mm f/1.4 segment is, of course, busy in Sony E-mount. There’s Sony’s own FE 35mm f/1.4 GM which we’ll review soon. However, at $1500 USD, it’s almost twice as expensive. A more affordable competitor is the Sirui Aurora 35mm f/1.4 which we liked quite a bit. The Samyang AF 35mm f/1.4 P FE is another budget option. The most obvious alternative is the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG DN ART II which is only a little pricier but more compact and lightweight and it comes with the reassurances of a big brand.
Sample Images
The Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.4 PRO follows the pattern of most Viltrox lenses that we've reviewed in the past. First and foremost - it's darn sharp. The center is great at f/1.4 and f/2 and the borders/corners are very good. Superb quality is available from f/2.8. The native image distortions are low to start with and basically gone with autocorrection. The vignetting could be a bit lower. Lateral CAs are very low while axial CAs are on the high side at large aperture settings. The technical quality of the bokeh is good at f/1.4 but it benefits from stopping down a tiny bit.
The build quality is another aspect where the Viltrox lens excels. Its body is fully made of metal down to the control rings. It is comparatively big and heavy, though. Internal focusing plus weather-sealing should provide some decent protection against the elements. The VCM AF is both fast and silent.
Overall, the Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.4 PRO delivers great image quality with a solid construction at an attractive price point. Highly recommended!
If you'd like to support our work, please consider shopping for this or other lenses via one of the following partners:
* Official Viltrox Store (20% off at launch time)
* Amazon (US)
* Amazon (EU)<
The Good
- Very sharp
- Comparatively affordable
- Great build quality
The Bad
- LoCAs at large aperture settings
- Vignetting is a tad high
- A bit heavy
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Optical Quality8.5
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Build Quality9
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Price / Performance9