Viltrox AF 85mm f/2 EVO: Again… Seriously. What The Heck, Viltrox?
Subtitle: Yet Another Viltrox Lens Far Better Than It Has Any Business Being.
This is now my fourth Viltrox. Years ago, I picked up a Viltrox portrait lens during one of my Fujifilm X benders.
This was five years ago. A fine lens.
Let go of it when I pivoted away from Fujifilm X. More recently, I became aware of the new Air range of Viltrox lenses. Made for APS-C also, but I quickly picked up the two full-frame options.
A fantastic lens. No qualifiers. A great lens.
Not a great lens for $199.
A great lens full stop.
More please.
So, two great, well-matched lenses.
So… We are good, right?…
Oh, no, no, no, my optimistic friend. I realized I liked these lenses so much because they reminded me of Canon’s RF STM lenses. Specifically, the 35mm f/1.8 STM,…
…and 50mm f/1.8 STM.
But there was another. The 85mm f/2 STM.
And combined with the Canon EOS RP,…
…a perfect little compact full frame three lens prime kit.
And while a 21mm or 28mm lens would make more sense for a trio:
- I prefer 14mm as a third lens because 35mm kind of sat on the use case of the 50mm STM lens.
- I have already filled the 21mm to 32mm prime gap with the Remaster Slim kit.
There was a significant issue, though. Canon was not my main system. Canon was not playing with third party lens manufacturers, so it could not be my main system. I did not want two full-frame lens mounts to feed. So I let the Canon gear go. No regrets, honestly. It “made sense”.
Over time, I made peace with a rotating menagerie of Sony FE primes. Had no hopes that any third party manufacturer or Sony would approximate the Canon STM options. That is until Viltrox made the 14mm and 50mm Air lenses. Hope was raised that they would make a full frame portrait AIr lens also. I had reason for optimism. They made an APS-C portrait Air lens.
So, I waited for a bit. But recently, Viltrox instead launched a new EVO line of lenses, starting with a portrait lens. An 85mm f/2 lens, like the Canon lens.
Ok. Checks spec sheet and notes:
- Barely larger than the Air lines.
- Build closer to the mid tier Viltrox Pro line.
- AF/MF switch, aperture ring that you can declick with a switch, and a hold button.
- Adds a lens gasket for a bit of weather sealing.
- Pro level IQ performance.
- Swift, silent, and accurate AF.
- Costs little more than the Air lenses…
So less of an Air Plus and more of a Pro Lite, IQ, build, and button/ring/switch wise, at a nearly Air price, size, and weight…
…<ahem, mi, mi, mi>
Take! My! Money!
Spoiler alert: After initial tests,…
… I can safely say that this lens is awesome.
A retake of the RF pic above was a priority for this lens nerd.
I am very happy.
The “Whatabouts”.
What about the f/2 aperture?
Meh.
Non issue.
There is no way to distinguish the results of this lens from those of an f/1.8 lens. If I said I could, I would be lying.
Low light.
The pics taken below were taken at late dusk with nearly no available light.
With the fantastic high ISO performance of modern cameras in low light, f/2 is more than adequate.
Bokeh and subject isolation.
In the second picture above, the gate in the foreground is almost completely obscured by bokeh.
And these two quick pics taken from the hip…
…would remove any concerns I had about subject isolation, if I had any. Which I did not. The Canon RF STM lens above was f/2 and there is no issue. The TTArtisan AF 75mm f/2 has no issues.
So I would not expect any issues here either.
Now that I mention other lenses…
What about other lenses?
Starting with the lens I just mentioned.
TTArtisan AF 75mm f/2.
A fine lens. Here it is turned back on me.
On paper, the two lenses compare well.
I could do just fine with the TTArtisan. But you do get a few things I like for the extra $76.
- The build of the TTArtisan is not bad, but it feels less “mature” of finished sat next to the Viltrox.
- The aperture dial moves a bit better.
- The hybrid plastic/metal or metal-ish build of the Viltrox feels a bit better than the also pretty nice but slicker feeling TTArtisan.
- Small stuff like the hood feeling a bit better and going on and off a bit better.
- Features.
- You get a focus hold button.
- Declickable aperture by a switch.
- AF/MF switch.
- IQ.
- I like the IQ of the TTArtisan, but I must admit that the Viltrox is a bit better behaved from what I have seen so far. More controlled in backlighting, for instance, without being clinical.
Both are fine choices.
While I mention clinical.
Sony FE 85mm f/1.8.
A fine lens.
So much so that if I were a sensible man, which I am not, this would have been the end of it.It is a lens I have recommended to many. So what happened?
Not 100% sure, but I had to guess it would be one thing.
Boring.
Everything was fine.
In isolation, the price was fine also. But the Viltrox kind of turns everything on its ear.
As mentioned, the difference between f/1.8 and f/2 is meaningless for me in the real world. And at the lower price Viltrox retains the AF/MF switch and focus fold button while adding a declickable aperture ring.
Rokinon/Samyang 75mm f/1.8.
This is another lens that performed well in the real world. (NYC Photo Walk Harlem Portraits below.)
The Rokinon/Samyang has smaller size on its side but, price for features, otherwise the Viltrox comes out on top.
- Better build.
- More features.
- Lower price.
Twofer. Rokinon/Samyang 85mm f/1.4 and f/1.8.
This one is easy. Had the f/1.4 version I and it was capable of great results,…
…but… having had the version I, and from what I have read, the same applies to version II I would choose the Viltrox.
C0mpared to the Viltrox, the f/1.4 is a bit of a bus.
Compared to both.
- Based on past experience, the AF is better on the Viltrox.
- The Viltrox feels better and gets additional switchgear like the declickable aperture.
Final thoughts.
Do not get me wrong.
All of the lenses mentioned are fine. If you have them or plan to get them, you will not be disappointed. I just prefer the Viltrox.
Why?
It is the perfect compromise.
- Fast enough aperture.
- IQ that matches and often bests other options.
- Sharp wide open and across the frame.
- Little distortion.
- Great bokeh and subject isolation.
- Great build.
- Great AF performance.
- Small and light enough to take with you anywhere, and pairs nicely with the A7C line.
- Lower price than all but one other option.
Do I recommend this lens?
Yes.
Enough yammering. Here are some early sample images.
Visited my local camera shop.
Product pics.
To be clear, this is not a good for the money proposition like the TTArtisan 75mm f/2. This is a great lens, full stop, that I would put up against any portrait lens.
In fact, I have a portrait session tomorrow. Had thought I would use my new gee-whiz adapted fancy pants kit, but after initial testing, I will likely use this instead.
Well done, Viltrox.
Happy capturing.
-ELW
Eric L. Woods 
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