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Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.2 LAB FE: one-minute evaluate
Professional lenses usually provide one of the best picture and construct high quality, however at a value. Plus, when desirous about options on prime lenses, most are pretty easy regardless of the aforementioned traits. One of two lenses bucking this development is the Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.2 LAB FE, the opposite being the Viltrox AF 135mm f/1.8 lens.
The latter is on the market for each Sony E and Nikon Z mount, with the 35mm quickly to be obtainable for Z mount, too. The factor I like about these lenses is that, regardless of being primes they’re surprisingly feature-packed, and can be found at extraordinarily engaging costs.
The 35mm f/1.2 LAB prices simply $999 / £959 at Amazon, which is a tremendous worth for what you get (in case you’re shopping for from Australia you should buy the lens in USD.) This worth is particularly spectacular when the slower Sony FE 35mm f/1.4GM is significantly costlier. The Sony is, after all, a flagship G Master lens, which can counsel superiority, however the 35mm f/1.2 LAB holds up properly by comparability.
That further 1/3 cease of light-gathering functionality makes a distinction in two methods. First, it makes the lens higher for astrophotography. Second, it produces a superbly shallow depth of discipline. Detail can be impressively sharp large open at f/1.2, so for portraiture and astrophotography this can be a really beautiful lens.
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Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.2 LAB FE specs
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Type: |
Standard prime |
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Mount: |
Sony E mount (Nikon Z coming quickly) |
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Sensor: |
Full-frame |
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Focal size: |
35mm |
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Max aperture: |
f/1.2 |
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Minimum focus: |
13.4 inches / 34cm |
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Filter measurement: |
77mm |
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Dimensions: |
3.51 x 8.80 inches / 89.2 x 121.8mm |
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Weight: |
32.5oz / 920g |
Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.2 LAB FE: Design
- Digital colour display screen
- Large and heavy for a 35mm lens
- Excellent construct with climate sealing
Most prime lenses are pretty easy of their design, counting on their quick most apertures and wonderful picture high quality to behave as the principle promoting factors. The 35mm f/1.2 LAB definitely follows go well with right here, however it additionally has a couple of methods up its sleeve that set it aside from different primes. It’s additionally a beast of a lens, at 3.51 x 8.80 inches / 89.2 x 121.8mm and weighing32.5oz / 920g.
It’s definitely nowhere close to as massive and heavy because the 135mm f/1.8 LAB lens, however it’s near double the load of the Sony FE 35mm f/1.4GM and is barely bigger. The proven fact that it is an f/1.2 lens is a contributing issue, however Viltrox LAB sequence lenses do appear to be fairly hefty, to say the least.
Both lenses are fabricated from aerospace-grade magnesium-aluminum alloy with a die-coating, in order that they have a premium feel and appear alongside being of a particularly excessive construct high quality. Plus, the lenses function a mud and moisture-resistant building, making them good for outside photographers.
The filter thread is 77mm, so not too massive and splendid for each round and sq. filters, whereas the 11-blade aperture produces clean bokeh with round highlights. The minimal focusing distance is 13.4 inches / 34cm, which isn’t the shortest you may discover however continues to be fairly good.
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As talked about, regardless of being a main lens, the 35mm f/1.2 LAB is pretty feature-packed. It has a customizable multi-function ring, which by default is about to regulate the aperture, with clicked and clickless operation selectable utilizing a swap.
There are additionally two customizable Fn buttons and a small colour digital display screen that exhibits the main target distance, aperture, and the lively Fn button. The display screen can, alongside the Fn and multi-function ring, be custom-made by connecting the lens through Bluetooth to the Viltrox Lens app.
Since this can be a third-party lens, firmware updates and customization can’t be utilized in the identical approach as OEM lenses. But, with the lens unattached from a digital camera, it may be powered through a USB-C port on the lens mount after which linked to the app. This works extremely properly; a firmware replace was required throughout testing and solely took a couple of minutes to finish.
The means to personalize the controls is extraordinarily helpful for tailoring the lens to the best way you wish to shoot. I used to be fairly pleased with the default configurations, so though I seemed on the choices obtainable within the app, I left all the pieces because it was.
Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.2 LAB FE: Performance
- Excellent picture high quality general
- Impressive sharpness at f/1.2
- Sharpest at f/8
The picture high quality produced by this lens is sensational, with unimaginable sharpness and element large open at f/1.2. Sure, with this lens you’ll must cease down on some events, however most individuals need a lens like this for that quick most aperture, and the 35mm f/1.2 LAB is unimaginable when capturing large open. It’s not good, however it’s significantly spectacular.
The 35mm f/1.2 LAB produces distinctive middle sharpness at f/1.2, and whereas excessive nook sharpness is kind of comfortable, edge sharpness is superb. Corner sharpness will increase step by step as you get nearer to the middle of the body and as you cease down the aperture, with f/4 exhibiting enormously improved excessive nook sharpness.
Overall sharpness continues to enhance as much as f/8, which, like many lenses, is the candy spot at which most element is resolved and the general picture produced is sharpest. Beyond f/8, diffraction begins to return into play, with f/11 offering barely much less sharp photographs, and f/16 exhibiting the least sharp outcomes.
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Vignetting is most seen at f/1.2 as you’d count on, and turns into much less noticeable till f/2, the place it virtually disappears, and fully disappears at f/2.8. This is regular for a main lens, and it’s not a problem in any respect as a result of vignetting is simple to take away with software program.
There isn’t a profile obtainable in Adobe Lightroom but since this lens continues to be comparatively new after an April 2025 launch, so any corrections presently need to be made manually. Chromatic aberration is minimal, with solely the tiniest quantity of fringing seen, and this was simply eliminated.
Autofocus efficiency is quick and exact, with the lens locking onto topics rapidly and silently. The AF 35mm f/1.2 LAB options Quad Viltrox HyperVCM motors, which Viltrox claims present 150% sooner AF than STM motors. I couldn’t understand a distinction in velocity.
The lens additionally helps topic recognition, which I examined through the use of individuals/eye recognition to shoot portraits large open. This labored exceptionally properly, with completely sharp eyes and a dramatic fall-off in depth of discipline.
Should you purchase the Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.2 LAB FE?
Buy it if…
Don’t purchase it if…
How I examined the Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.2 LAB FE
- I examined it over a number of weeks
- I used it to seize a number of topics
- I examined it with an unforgiving Sony A7R V
I examined the Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.2 LAB FE over a number of weeks connected to an unforgiving Sony A7R V, capturing a variety of related topics and utilizing totally different aperture settings to check sharpness and distortion. I shot each static and transferring topics to check autofocus efficiency.
With 30 years of photographic expertise and 17 years working as a pictures journalist, I’ve used lots of the cameras and lenses which have been launched in that point. As a working photographer, I purpose to check cameras and lenses from a photographer’s perspective.