I’m one of the journalists in the photography world with nearly every single Viltrox lens in his possession. Viltrox often provides these for free to reviewers — which is something that the Phoblographer fully declares in our reviews. But I also own various lenses that I’ve bought — such as those from Tamron. With that said, I’ve just spent the last few hours testing Viltrox’s lenses after firmware updates on the Sony a7v. All I can say is that I’d never buy this camera — and it’s one of the reasons why I’ve lost so much faith in Sony over the years. So nearly all of the site’s Viltrox reviews have received updates.
Viltrox 14mm f4
You can find the full text of this review right here at this link. Here’s the update that we added:
Admittedly, we’re behind on updating our reviews because of the holiday season.
In my tests with the Sony a7V, the Viltrox 14mm f4 focused really quickly and 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.
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.
Yes, even the 14mm had problems.
Viltrox 28mm f4.5
You can find the full text of this review right here at this link. Here’s the update that we added:
The firmware was updated via the mac 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 28mm f4.5 focused really quickly and 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.
Still, I had problems in the AF-C mode and with scene detection after switching between Sony, Tamron, and Viltrox lenses.
Viltrox 35mm f1.2
You can find the full text of this review right here at this link. Here’s the update that we added:
The firmware was updated via the mac 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 35mm f1.2 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 f1.2 without scene detection mode turned on. 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.
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 50mm f1.4
You can find the full text of this review right here at this link. Here’s the update that we added:
We updated the firmware for this lens via the mac 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 50mm f1.4 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 f1.4 without scene detection mode turned on. 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 still has more focusing trouble than with the 35mm f1.2.
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 85mm f1.4
You can find the full text of this review right here at this link. Here’s the update that we added:
The firmware was updated via my Mac and using Viltrox’s software. 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 85mm f1.4 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 f1.4 without scene detection mode turned on and with a subject that’s very small. 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.
The Viltrox 85mm f1.4 overall performed more satisfactorily than the 50mm and 35mm lenses in this series.
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. This is the case even with scene detection and in both selecting the autofocus point and not.
The big problem here is that Viltrox’s 85mm f1.4 is still miles ahead of Sony’s own G Master lens – and Sony probably hates that.
Viltrox 135mm f1.8
You can find the full text of this review right here at this link. Here’s the update that we added:
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.