Viltrox AF 85mm 2.0 EVO Full-Frame

Just when we thought that Viltrox had finally covered all possible prime lenses from 14mm to 135mm, they are coming up with another one. However, we shouldn't complain because the Viltrox AF 85mm f/2 FE EVO is a nice one. It may not possess the glory of an 85mm f/1.4, but not all of us are keen on carrying a heavy brick in our lens bag. And the 85mm f/2 should be "fast enough" for most of us, and it's certainly compact enough not to be a burden, especially when traveling. Optically, it's almost excessively sharp while still maintaining a nice bokeh. On the downside, it doesn't offer correction profiles for vignetting and distortions. The slight image distortions shouldn't be a big concern anyway, but the vignetting may need some correction in post. The amount of bokeh fringing is comparatively low. The Viltrox AF 85mm f/2 FE EVO can also convince in terms of build quality. It's a tightly assembled metal construction with high-quality control rings. We'd wish for more weather sealing beyond the mount gasket, but we can't have it all at this price point, I reckon. The AF is decent without being super-fast. Overall, Viltrox has another winner here - and that's at an amazingly low price - once again. The established gang should be quite concerned about the progress that Viltrox has made lately.

The Viltrox AF 85mm f/2 EVO Z basically repeated the great results that we've already seen the our E-mount review. It produces outstanding sharpness in the broader center straight from f/2, and the outer image field is still very good at relevant aperture settings. Image distortions and CAs are low. It is a bit unfortunate that the Nikon version doesn't feature a distortion correction profile, though. Surprisingly, vignetting autocorrection is available, and it can certainly help at f/2. The bokeh isn't perfect but still pretty decent. The Viltrox AF 85mm f/2 FE EVO can also convince in terms of build quality. It's a tightly assembled metal construction with high-quality control rings. We'd wish for more weather sealing beyond the mount gasket, but we can't have it all at this price point, I reckon. The AF is decent without being super-fast. Overall, the Viltrox AF 85mm f/2 punches WAY beyond its price class, and it's a clear value recommendation.