The Difference Is Clear as Day: We Review the New Viltrox 35mm f/1.8 II EVO

This isn't just another third party lens for your mirrorless camera. This new lens focuses (pun intended) not just on aiding the shooting process but even more so on delivering quality images.

Viltrox has been having a very strong past couple of years with their development of a wide range of autofocus prime lenses that have taken leaps forward in terms of technology and image quality. Not too long ago, Viltrox was a brand that made manual third party lenses along with affordable field monitors and other accessories. While they still do have other non-lens products in their line-up, it is evident that they have focused their efforts on elevating their camera lenses. At first, the goal of a third party lens brand is to make affordable options for photographers on a budget to have access to large-aperture primes. Viltrox has clearly taken steps forward toward developing evolved versions of well-loved focal lengths as well as innovating on lenses that are first of their kind. This new member of the EVO line, the 35mm f/1.8 EVO, is an astounding example of the former.

The Viltrox 35mm f/1.8 EVO

The Viltrox 35mm f/1.8 EVO comes in a familiar form with an all-metal build except for the front-most part that is a plastic reversible lens hood. It comes in at 330 grams for the Sony FE mount version and 350 grams for the Nikon Z mount version. It is 69 mm thick and 76 mm long in total.

On the distal end is a front element that is much smaller than the intentionally sized standard 58 mm filter thread. This is followed by a 1.25-inch-thick metal focus ring on the front of the barrel. Next to it are the lens markings as well as the silver EVO badge. Alongside this is the usual autofocus switch, a customizable shortcut button, and an aperture click switch that manages the tactile experience.

Below all of that is a manual aperture ring that is about a third of an inch thick with stops ranging from f/1.8 all the way to f/16 with an additional stop for "A" which is either for automatic (depending on the camera mode) or transfers the control to the assigned dial on the camera body.

At the very bottom is a metal lens mount that is equipped with a hidden USB-C port that works as an interface for firmware updates and/or calibration. This has been a standard in all recent Viltrox lenses. However, another noticeably nice feature on this lens is the presence of a thin orange rubber gasket that provides a certain amount of weather sealing on the mount. While there is no available information on the weather sealing itself, the presence of that gasket is a really good sign.

Apochromatic Lens Design

The biggest difference that this lens offers is not related to anything in the build or even the focal length/aperture capabilities. The Viltrox 35mm f/1.8 EVO along with its 55mm f/1.8 twin comes with an apochromatic, or APO, lens design that is optimized to eliminate any chromatic aberration.

The 13 glass elements in 10 groups are arranged in such a way that light would be focused on the focal plane with as little shifting of frequencies as possible, which is what we know as chromatic aberration that is most visible in high-contrast or back-lit scenarios. This overall contributes to a much sharper and significantly cleaner-looking image with finer details altogether.

Application and User Experience

The 35mm f/1.8 combination is probably one of the most well-established lenses in the market in terms of usability. Many photographers prefer the perspective of a 35mm lens because of how close it is to normal human POV perspective, especially in photographing human activity in interesting environments. 35mm lenses are a favorite of many street photographers, and I particularly echo that because of how it can give a subject emphasis without cutting out key elements in the nearby environment. In addition, because of the updated autofocus mechanism, it can be a great tool for photographing scenes that involve a lot of motion. Though it isn't as fast as how other specialized lenses can be for photographing action, it is still significantly fast enough to keep up with continuous autofocus and AF tracking.

At the same time, though it is not rid of perspective distortion, it is a great focal length to be used in shooting environmental portraits. This non-wide but wide enough angle of view makes it great to give an intimate look at a person in a certain setting without distorting the image to an unflattering extent.

Lastly, as a combination of the perspective it offers, the f/1.8 maximum aperture, and the fast autofocus, this lens can also do very well in certain scenarios shooting videos even with a lot of motion involved. Photographers looking to expand their skills here may want to explore Introduction to Video: A Photographer's Guide to Filmmaking. This also includes low-light scenarios wherein the large aperture can be very much of help. As a bonus, adjusting the aperture while filming can be much smoother to the point of being used as a visual transition with the help of the ability to turn off the clicks on the aperture ring.

Conclusion

The Viltrox 35mm f/1.8 II EVO has come in the exact form that it needs to be in. As the product name implies, it is an evolution of something that has been well loved as a lens option in the past, and this has clearly been made to keep up with the technology of newer camera sensors and autofocus systems. It's still compact and relatively light despite the metal build and it being weather sealed.

Most importantly, it is uncompromising when it comes to sharpness and image quality as it performs remarkably well with little to no chromatic aberration. The benefit of having a clean and sharp image is often under-appreciated, especially in the budget lens segment, but those who pay attention to the details of their images will certainly love this lens.

What I Liked

• Compact and light build
• Adaptive focusing
• Weather-sealing features
• Remarkable optics

What Can Be Improved

• More APO focal length options