News and Preview: Viltrox Announces 35mm 1.8 & 55mm 1.8 EVO lenses in Sony FE and Nikon Z mount

Viltrox have today announced the release of both 35mm and 55mm 1.8 EVO lenses. Regular readers might remember my 85mm EVO lens review where I pretty much concluded it was the perfect 85mm lens for my personal needs. Small, light, feature packed, excellent optical quality, though not without some character… Well, these two new lenses are cut from the same cloth, and I am very pleased to have my hands on both of them for review!

I have had these lenses for a little while now, but me being me, I like to spend a little more time than I am given before the launch with lenses to write reviews. As such, I agreed with my Viltrox contact that I would release this shorter article on launch day, and then follow it up with full reviews in the fullness of time.

Whilst I haven’t had enough time to finish either review, I have definitely started to get a feel for both lenses, and I must say, I am incredibly impressed. I was expecting to be impressed, though there was a little bit of me that worried that something about one or both of these lenses wouldn’t quite live up to just how awesome the 85mm is. Actually, as I will come to in the reviews, just like the 85mm, these lenses aren’t 100% perfect. The 35mm, for eg, seems to have a slight tendency to flare given an angle where the sun is just out of frame – though I have found this to be totally remedied through the use of the hood… and actually, me being me, I quite like the effect in some instances too.

But, more importantly, also just like the 85, they are stunningly sharp right into the corners from wide open, they have really nice – but not too clinically smooth – bokeh, and are otherwise pretty free of anything in terms of other more unpleasant aberrations. In fact, in many ways they feel like an optical-match for the 85mm – they certainly punch well above there price point like the 85mm too!

What I am really taken by though is the form factor. They are very much photo-lenses – that is to say they have photographer rather than videographer oriented features. But, a little like a set of cine lenses, they are all pretty much exactly the same shape and size. They all weigh a similar amount, have all the buttons and switches in the same place too meaning that switching from one lens to the next has a very familiar feel. They also stow in a bag in the same shape slot, so swapping from lens to lens feels particularly seamless. This might sound like a small thing, but as someone who likes to travel light with a small bag, this does actually make a difference.

Since this is a launch announcement, I will also share a few specs on the lenses as follows:

Viltrox 35mm f/1.8 EVO

– 35mm f/1.8 (63 degrees FOV)
– 0.34m MFD
– 13 optics in 10 group apochromatic design with a bunch of fancy elements
– APO optical design
– Sony FE mount (330g) and Nikon Z mount (350g)
– STM focus motor (silent, fast and internal focusing)
– Focus Ring (nicely damped)
– Aperture control with switch to click/de-click
– AF/MF switch
– Fn button
– 58mm filter
– Launch price $395USD/€459EUR/£385GBP

The 35mm can be bought directly from Viltrox here (affiliate link)

Some of my early test images:

Viltrox 55mm f/1.8 EVO

– 55mm f/1.8 (43 degrees FOV)
– 0.43m MFD
– 13 optics in 9 group apochromatic design with a bunch of fancy elements
– APO optical design
– Sony FE mount (365g) and Nikon Z mount (385g)
– STM focus motor (silent, fast and internal focusing)
– Focus Ring (nicely damped)
– Aperture control with switch to click/de-click
– AF/MF switch
– Fn button
– 58mm filter
– Launch price $370USD/€429EUR/£359GBP

Some of my early test images:

I shall be back with my full reviews of these lenses in due course – but as I say, first impressions are very positive indeed. Both Viltrox 35mm and 55 Evo lenses have impressed me hugely, I am already feeling like they have answered my needs for both these focal lengths for my Nikon Zf!

The 35mm can be bought directly from Viltrox here (affiliate link)
The 55mm can be bought directly from Viltrox here (affiliate link)
They are also 5% off for 5 days via these links

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