Last Updated on 02/11/2026 by Chris Gampat
There’s no other way to put it: the Viltrox 135mm f1.8 LAB FE lens is a mammoth, hulking beast that somehow moves incredibly fast. Considering that it’s from a third-party that isn’t Tamron, we’re quite shocked because most brands can’t perform at this level. This lens is sharp, contrasty, vibrant, and amazingly affordable. What’s more, it also boasts weather resistance — which means that it’s going to keep working for a long time. We’ve been testing it since before the announcement, and we’ve been quite pleased with everything that’s capable of doing.
Table of Contents
Declaration of Journalistic Intent
The Phoblographer is one of the last standing dedicated photography publications that speaks to both art and tech in our articles. We put declarations up front in our reviews to adhere to journalistic standards that several publications abide by. These help you understand a lot more about what we do:
- At the time of publishing this review, Viltrox is not an advertiser with the Phoblographer. This doesn’t affect our reviews anyway and it never has in our 15 years of publishing our articles. This article is in no way sponsored.
- Note that this isn’t necessarily our final review of the unit. It will be updated, and it’s more of an in-progress review than anything. In fact, almost all our reviews are like this.
- None of the reviews on the Phoblographer are sponsored. That’s against FTC laws and we adhere to them just the same way that newspapers, magazines, and corporate publications do.
- Viltrox sent the unit and accessories to the Phoblographer for review. There was no money exchange between Viltrox and the Phoblographer for this to happen. Viltrox and several other manufacturers trust the Phoblographer’s reviews, as they are incredibly blunt.
- Viltrox knows that they cannot influence the site’s reviews. If we don’t like something or if we have issues with it, we’ll let folks know. We were the first publication to inform about the issue with the Leica M10R and how it renders the color orange. We’ve also called out Sony on several things as well as gone back and changed ratings on products before.
- Viltrox shipped the unit to the Phoblographer and, if they request it back, will be paying for the return shipment. This is a standard practice in the world of journalism.
- The Phoblographer’s standards for reviewing products have become much stricter. After having the world’s largest database of real-world lens reviews, we choose not to review anything we don’t find innovative or unique, and in many cases, products that lack weather resistance. We’ve also steered away from Micro Four Thirds and APS-C as they’re dying formats. This is a conclusion that even the other members of TIPA agree on. Unless something is very unique, we probably won’t touch it.
- In recent years, brands have withheld NDA information from us or stopped working with us because they feel they cannot control our coverage. These days, many brands will not give products to the press unless they get favorable coverage. In other situations, we’ve stopped working with several brands for ethical issues. Either way, we report as honestly and rawly as humanity allows.
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More can be found on our Disclaimers page.
The Big Picture: Viltrox 135mm f1.8 LAB FE Review Conclusions
The Viltrox 135mm f1.8 LAB FE is an incredible lens in so many ways. The image quality is stunning and comparable to what Canon outputs. That means that the lens surely has character to it. It’s also a fast focusing lens and can track eyes with few issues. On top of that, it’s weather-resistant. Lots of photographers will find the Viltrox 135mm f1.8 LAB FE to be a perfect 135mm lens.
Of course, all of this comes with a trade-off. It’s big and heavy. Don’t get me wrong, I may only be 5’6″ tall, but I’m very active and do a lot of physical self-care. I took this lens along for a walk of several miles and even used it on a paid or two. I can bring it along with me for a while, but I wouldn’t want to because it’s so big.
We’re giving the Viltrox 135mm f1.8 LAB FE 4/5 stars. Want one? Check it out on Amazon.
Pros
- $899 is a very affordable price point
- The top LED screen is always a nice touch
- Fast to focus; the focusing speed rivals that of both Sony and Tamron
- Weather resistance
- Beautiful 3D pop and bokeh
Cons
- Big and heavy; though nothing of what I’d expect from a Sigma lens.
Who Should Buy the Viltrox 135mm f1.8 LAB FE?
Get the Viltrox 135mm f1.8 if you really need or want a lens for headshots and if you want to save money. It’s honestly the best bang for your buck in this segment.
Gear Used
We tested the Viltrox 135mm f1.8 with the Sony a7r V and the Sony a7r III. The lens was provided to us by Viltrox, who does not expect to get it back. The a7r V was a loaner provided to us by Sony. The a7r III is my personal camera; and it was used alongside the Profoto B10, which is my own light.
Further testing was done using the Sony a1 II.
Innovations
You can’t really consider this much of an innovation, but it’s the first lens of this type for Sony FE to have a top LCD screen since the Zeiss 135mm f2.8 Batis lens came out. Otherwise, it has nearly Canon RF 135mm f1.8 L level of character. And that’s great, because Sony’s system needs character.
Where it’s truly innovative is with the fact that you can use the Viltrox app to customize the screen; and you can even display images, customzie the text, on it. But this isn’t enough to make me want to buy it.
So overall, the only other thing you can say is that’s it’s priced really low. But in the grand scheme of things, this isn’t an innovative lens.
Hardware
The Viltrox 135mm f1.8 has a lot of what you’d expect from a lens like this. The controls start with two rubber rings. One is for focusing while the other controls the aperture by default. Along the side of the lens are other controls for manual focus, aperture ring clicks, and focus limiters.
Of course, there is also the big LED screen up top. I’m lukewarm about this. They’re cool, but this screen isn’t enough to make me want to buy a lens like this.
The Viltrox 135mm f1.8 also has weather resistance built in; and very few Viltrox lenses have this. So it’s an overall great addition for the $899 price point.
In every single way, this is more affordable than Sigma’s; and if I liked the 135mm focal length, I’d choose this over Sigma.
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For years, here at The Phoblographer we’ve done tests on cameras, lenses, bags, computers, lights, and more. And we know that your warranty doesn’t always cover the damage. Plus, accidents can happen on set.
This is why we’ve created a Photography Care Program in partnership with Full-Frame Insurance. Now, photographers across the United States looking for extra security can get various protections to cover their craft. The Photography Care Program provides peace of mind; now you’ll know you can bounce back from a photoshoot gone awry, on-site or inside. We’re making it super easy to get it done, too! Better yet, there is coverage outside of the US and Canada when the photographer is traveling for short periods of time for business.
We’re able to do this through our partnership with Full-Frame Insurance, a company specializing in Small Business Insurance. Are you a Freelance Photographer? We’ll cover you. What about a freelance multi-media journalist? We’ve got you. The Photography Care Program will protect you.
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Ease of Use
Perhaps the most complex thing about the Viltrox 135mm f1.8 is using the app to customize the appearance of what you see on the screen located at the top of the lens. Of course, there’s also the USB port at the mount for updating the firmware. But otherwise, it’s a very standard 135mm lens. If you take the time to look at it and understand it, using this lens practically in the field will be very simple to do.
What’s really nice is the fact that you can use a lens like this at events, and people might not notice that you’re taking a photo of them because you’re so far away.
Focusing
What surprised us the most about the Viltrox 135mm f1.8 is the autofocus speed and accuracy. In the vast majority of autofocus situations, the lens was able to find eyes in the scene, track them, and focus on them. It also did this for people at large moving about on the streets and at events.
Focusing Update November 2024
Combined with the Sony a1 II’s autofocus updates to include up to 30% better autofocus for people, I found the Viltrox 135mm f1.8 able to almost hold its own in autofocus performance with both Tamron and Sony’s lens offerings. Even in super difficult and backlit situations, this lens did a great job when I mounted it to the Sony a1 II.
Focusing Update August 2025
Since our last review update, the company has offered a lot more firmware to the Viltrox 135mm f1.8 Lab. Here’s what you need to know:
V1.19: Fixed known issues.
V1.21
- Fixed known issues.
- Improved lens focus stability.
V1.22
- Added app-based control for customizing the focus rotation range.
- Added app support for assigning the FN button to lock the focus ring, aperture ring, and control ring.
- Fixed known issues.
V1.23
- Added APP preset object distance adjustment function.
- Optimize the APP focus rotation range function.
- Fixed known issues.
V1.25
Fixed known issues.
There’s a lot of fluff in terms of the details; and I’m very curious to know if Viltrox released this lens knowing that there would be a lot of issues. From my recolleciton of my original emails with them, it seemes like they did know that there would be issues. But during my tests, it performed pretty much just fine.
However, this is the single most difficult Viltrox lens to update the firmware for. I tried to do it via the app and my Sony a7r III, but it didn’t want to update. Then I tried three different cables connected to my computer, and the lens wasn’t recognized even though those cables worked for the other lenses. Eventually, I was able to plug it into one cable and update it through the app. This is pretty mind boggling and annoying because you need the right cable.
In real life performance, if you’re using a haze filter or shooting in low light, then the autofocus will be a bit more hit or miss than normal. That’s sad because I don’t really have this issue with Tamron or Sony glass. But you’re surely getting a tradeoff. In the day and when shooting action, I’d surely still use it for events with bright lighting (otherwise, outdoors during the daylight hours). This is with the Sony a7r III, however, and there’s a chance that it will be better with newer camera bodies that don’t have fudgetastic autofocus performance. Namely, I wouldn’t use it with the Sony a7r V or anything using that glacial 60MP sensor variant.
What I’m amazed at is that this lens’s firmware didn’t have specific improvements for AF-S and AF-C mode the way that the 85mm did.
To be very frank, this is a lens that I’m truly sure would rarely come out of my camera bag. I own the Tamron 35-150mm f2-f2.8. And at 135mm, I can’t really tell much of a major difference in the image quality unless I’m looking side by side.
But here’s the truth, my clients have never looked side by side and I’ve shot gigs with both of these lenses. Both deliver great photos, but no one will sit there on Instagram saying, “Oh that’s nice bokeh.” Instead, they’re reacting to the moments that I capture.
And that’s the truth: reliability is key in a world where things, like the news, moves fast. If that’s the case, then the Tamron will be a better choice for me and it will replace so many other lenses.
Granted, the Viltrox 135mm is under $1,000. And if you really just want a 135mm f1.8 with weather resistance and good image quality, this is insanely difficult to beat. It competes more with something that Sigma would offer instead of Tamron or Sony.
Focusing Update February 2026
The Viltrox 135mm f1.8 firmware updated via my phone, a special USB-C cable with an extra long male part, and the firmware update program. It’s really awesome that Viltrox was THIS fast on updating the firmware. But admittedly, we’re behind on updating our reviews because of the holiday season.
In my tests with the Sony a7V, the Viltrox 135mm f1.8 focused really quickly and most without any faults. It did so with the setting effect set to on and off both – which has always been a bane for many camera manufacturers. This is truly impressive for many users who use the Live View setting effect. I tend to turn it off because I don’t want my camera doing the thinking for me.
Where I found there to be the most issues has to do with focusing at f1.8 without scene detection mode turned on – and even then they’re rare. This is problematic if you’re shooting something like products, food, or anything that isn’t detected by Sony’s AI system. Granted, it could probably even happen with the AI enabled.
In fact, this lens performs about on par with Viltrox’s 85mm f1.4. And that’s great to know!
After I did my initial test, I realized that I was in both AF-A and AF-S modes – something that many Sony users seem to be allergic to. So I switched to AF-C but only after mounting the Sony Zeiss 55mm f1.8 and the Tamron 35-150mm f2-2.8 on the camera and trying it out. In the AF-C mode, Viltrox’s lenses felt like older Sigma lenses in that the autofocus seemed to hunt and struggle though not as badly as it was before.
Viltrox 135mm f1.8 LAB FE Image Quality
Overall, we’re really happy with the results that the Viltrox 135mm f1.8 gives us. The images look almost medium-format and the performance through and through is impressive enough to us. This is especially the case where all you’re doing is posting images to social media outlets. But in almost every situation, I think that the images from this lens would be more than good enough for print or for higher-end advertising needs.
I really enjoy the bokeh and the lens flare from the Viltrox 135mm f1.8. Truly, it’s hard for someone to not look good with this lens.
Image Quality Update November 2024
Now that the Sony a1 II has been announced, we talk more about using the Viltrox 135mm f1.8 with it. There’s a special pop and character that comes with this lens that I can never seem to get with Sony’s own lenses. In the past few years, Sony has overengineered their lenses to be way too clean. And the Viltrox isn’t as clean. That means that it has both pop and character — something that’s really needed with portraiture. And for that reason, we really like it.
Let’s Talk Art
This is the part where Phoblographer’s editors really talk about an art project that they did with the camera gear that they’re testing. In this case, It was really just straight portraiture of my buddy and capturing a few moments in Central Park. I’m not often inspired by the 135mm focal length, but I can totally see how someone would be.
All of these were shot with the Sony a1 II.
Extra Image Samples
The Phoblographer has been huge on transparency with our audience since day one. Nothing from this review is sponsored. Further, many folks will post reviews and show lots of editing in the photos. The problem then becomes that anyone and everyone can do the same thing. They’re not showing what the lens can do. So, we have a section in our Extra Image Samples area to show edited and unedited photos. From this, you can decide for yourself.
Unedited
Edited
Viltrox 135mm f1.8 LAB FE Tech Specs
These specs are taken from Viltrox.
- 11 aperture blades
- Multi-functional ring
- Programmable buttons
- Dust and splash-proof design
- 9 groups of 14 optical structures, including 4 ED lenses, 2 lenses with. high refractive index
- HD Nano multilayer coating with water-resistant and antifouling coating
- 0.72m Minimum Focus Distance 0.25x Magnification
- Material: Magnesium-aluminum alloy die-casting; Aerospace grade……
- Appearance: Spray dot coating
- OTA: Bluetooth——Viltrox Lens (can display a firmware upgrade scenario on a mobile phone)
- LAB index
- Lens hood with flocked matte finish
- 93×145.7mm
- 1300g
- 82mm
