Viltrox Completes Its f/1.4 Pro Trio With a 35mm for Sony E and Nikon Z

Viltrox has announced the AF 35mm f/1.4 Pro, a weather-sealed full frame prime for Sony E and Nikon Z with a 16-element optical design and voice coil autofocus. It costs $829 and joins the 50mm and 85mm f/1.4 Pro lenses, which gives Viltrox a set of three fast primes that comes in under $2,000 combined.

In its launch announcement, Viltrox says the Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.4 Pro stays sharp to the corners wide open, and it uses 16 elements in 11 groups to get there. Two ultra-precision aspherical elements are there to suppress onion-ring bokeh, three ED elements handle axial chromatic aberration, and four high-refractive-index elements help keep the size in check. An 11-blade aperture keeps out-of-focus highlights round, and the lens focuses as close as 0.3 m for a maximum magnification of 0.18x. On a full frame sensor, that means the frame covers an area of about 20 x 13 cm at the closest focus, which is tight enough for food, product details, and close environmental portraits.

Autofocus runs on Viltrox's HyperVCM system, which drives the focus group with voice coil motors for fast, quiet focusing and works with your camera's face and eye detection. Viltrox says it kept focus breathing to a minimum, which matters for video and also makes the lens a good fit for focus stacking. On the barrel, you get an aperture ring with a click switch, an AF/MF switch, and a customizable Fn button, plus a USB-C port for firmware updates. The lens is sealed against dust and moisture, the front element has a water- and smudge-resistant coating, and it takes 77mm filters. The Sony version weighs about 760 g, and the Nikon version weighs about 780 g.

The 35mm fills the last gap in Viltrox's full frame Pro line. The AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro sells for $598 and the AF 50mm f/1.4 Pro for $549, so the three lenses add up to $1,976, and if you already own the 50mm, the 35mm uses the same PL-68A lens hood. That's less than Sony charges for its 35mm and 50mm G Master f/1.4 lenses together, and on Sony E, the new 35mm undercuts the Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 GM at $1,498 and Sigma's 35mm f/1.4 DG DN Art at $989. On Nikon Z, the picture is different, since Nikon's own NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.4 sells for $676.95. There, the Viltrox is the pricier option, and its case rests on the sealing, the autofocus system, and the extra controls.

Viltrox has spent the last few years moving from budget autofocus primes into higher-end glass with its LAB and Pro lines, a shift we looked at in Viltrox's move upmarket. If you shoot both stills and video, the click switch lets you choose between detents for stills and a smooth aperture ring for video, the voice coil motors keep focus noise down, and the low breathing keeps focus pulls from visibly zooming the frame.

Key Specs

• Mounts: Sony E and Nikon Z, full frame
• Optical design: 16 elements in 11 groups, including 2 UA, 3 ED, and 4 HR elements
• Aperture: f/1.4 to f/16, 11 blades
• Minimum focus distance: 0.3 m
• Maximum magnification: 0.18x
• Autofocus: HyperVCM voice coil motors
• Controls: aperture ring with click switch, AF/MF switch, customizable Fn button
• Filter thread: 77mm
• Size: 84.5 x 111 mm (Sony E), 84.5 x 112.5 mm (Nikon Z)
• Weight: about 760 g (Sony E), about 780 g (Nikon Z)
• Other: weather-sealing, water- and smudge-resistant front coating, USB-C firmware port

The Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.4 Pro for Sony E and the Viltrox AF 35mm f/1.4 Pro for Nikon Z are available now for $829.