p.1 #1 · Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro vs Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM and GM II
I currently own the Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM which I bought when it came out. I had considered last year upgrading to the latest GM II version but admit I wasn’t using it enough so I did not move forward. Now a year later the new Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro peaked my interest and the lower Black Friday price seems like a great deal if you don’t already own an 85mm.
I know the newest Sony GM II maybe the best but it’s new post tariff pricing of approximately $2000 makes it more than 4x the Viltrox BLack Friday price of $478 and it has very quiet VCM motors and is about the same size and weight as the GM version 1.
I’ve looked at a lot of reviews and they have not scared me away. Has anyone here purchased one or had any experience with it? I have some experience with the Viltrox APS-C 56mm f/1.2 Pro on a Fuji and that is OK. I am not a professional shooter any more and it’s been years since I shot a wedding but Fuji’s 40.2 Mpixel sensor appears to be a good test case.
Would like to hear from others who are considering the Viltrox 85mm f/1.4 Pro. Take care.
p.1 #2 · Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro vs Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM and GM II
I was about to do the same thing!
I also own the 85 GM II, and almost pulled the trigger on the Viltrox. The Viltrox appears to have a lovely rendering. And has a nice flare in backlighting that might be great for portraits
I was able to suppress the GAS for the moment.Telling myself it’s more a want than a need. But $478 is tempting
p.1 #3 · Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro vs Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM and GM II
Not sure if this is helpful. Or something I’m telling myself to justify not buying one (yet).
But I noticed in all the comparisons I’ve seen, the Sony is not quite a true 85mm. Or the Viltrox is slightly longer than 85mm. But the Sigma appears to be very similar to the Viltrox, so I’m leaning towards the former
Regardless, at first glance, the Viltrox appears to have slightly creamier bokeh. Since all the comparisons I’ve seen have shot from the same spot. But I think if you move the Sony closer to match the framing of the Viltrox, the bokeh would be very close
Hopefully, someone that actually owns both lenses can chime in with some first hand experience
p.1 #4 · Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro vs Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM and GM II
I haven’t used the 85 GMs, but I did own the Viltrox briefly. It’s well-built but I rarely shoot this fl and it's just too heavy for me, so I sold it. I recently picked up the Samyang 85mm f/1.4 Mk2, and its autofocus is nearly as quiet but just as fast as the Viltrox. I also find the Samyang’s rendering more appealing. With its current Black Friday price of $407 on Amazon, it’s worth a look.
p.1 #5 · Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro vs Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM and GM II
I recently upgraded to the Viltrox from the Sony f/1.8. it's a bit heavy of a lens but for me totally worth it. I've used it a few times but traveling for the holidays right now on a new computer so I only have access to one photo.
Actually just found a second shot from the same session. The Viltrox will give you some cool looking lens flare when pointed towards the sun like in the shot below. Some people may not like that but I really like it.
p.1 #6 · Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro vs Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM and GM II
BillD208 wrote:
I recently upgraded to the Viltrox from the Sony f/1.8. it's a bit heavy of a lens but for me totally worth it. I've used it a few times but traveling for the holidays right now on a new computer so I only have access to one photo.
Actually just found a second shot from the same session. The Viltrox will give you some cool looking lens flare when pointed towards the sun like in the shot below. Some people may not like that but I really like it.
p.1 #7 · Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro vs Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM and GM II
Had the viltrox and used it all summer for senior portraits and off camera flash. I did not like the flare issues the lens has, but otherwise it was pretty great. I did notice a handful of times where focus was off, and I started checking focus after every shit, but that only happened a few times.
p.1 #8 · Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro vs Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM and GM II
BigBabyMoses06 wrote:
... I did notice a handful of times where focus was off, and I started checking focus after every shit, but that only happened a few times. ...
I've seen a couple of comments about the focus being out occasionally with the viltrox 35/1.2 too. I was wondering if this was a legit issue, maybe it really is (rather than just a random thing).
p.1 #9 · Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro vs Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM and GM II
BigBabyMoses06 wrote:
Had the viltrox and used it all summer for senior portraits and off camera flash. I did not like the flare issues the lens has, but otherwise it was pretty great. I did notice a handful of times where focus was off, and I started checking focus after every shit, but that only happened a few times.
I'll be upgrading to the GMii eventually.
Interesting. I like a little lens flare for backlit portraits. Is the flare on the Viltrox that severe?
p.1 #10 · Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro vs Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM and GM II
I shot without a lens hood and it was severe at times. Some may call it artistic, which is fair, but I wanted more control over it. I was using a variable nd filter at the time so I couldn't use the hood. I did notice flare with the hood a few times. It can come across as very red and orange.
The autofocus issue I had was on a tripod too, for yearbook photos, glad I over shot! Happened a few times on the tripod, but generally it was very good. It was probably af-c but should have switched it to af-single on the tripod.
robert614 wrote:
Interesting. I like a little lens flare for backlit portraits. Is the flare on the Viltrox that severe?
p.1 #11 · Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro vs Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM and GM II
Abbott thought flare resistance was fine, even a highlight:
'Flare resistance is also solid. Large aperture lenses used to struggle with bright lights in the frame, but coatings have really improved. The lens is very strong at large apertures, with little loss of contrast and only minor ghosting artifacts.' 'great flare resistance'.
He preferred its rendering over his long term favorite, the GM II, and this is going to slowly wear down the anti-Chinese sentiment, the sheer quality of the images. Do you have any 'flare issues' examples to share?
p.1 #12 · Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro vs Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM and GM II
It's certainly possible that I'm being a little harsh to it, especially considering I'm not overly a fan of flare haha. It renders beautiful photos. It didn't ruin the photos, but there were occasions when shooting fast I found photos that weren't usable. There is an image thread running here somewhere.
p.1 #13 · Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro vs Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM and GM II
BigBabyMoses06 wrote:
I shot without a lens hood and it was severe at times. Some may call it artistic, which is fair, but I wanted more control over it. I was using a variable nd filter at the time so I couldn't use the hood. I did notice flare with the hood a few times. It can come across as very red and orange.
The autofocus issue I had was on a tripod too, for yearbook photos, glad I over shot! Happened a few times on the tripod, but generally it was very good. It was probably af-c but should have switched it to af-single on the tripod.
p.1 #14 · Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro vs Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM and GM II
This being the latest used Viltrox thread:
What’s coming next from Viltrox? Besides their angle of attack getting steeper:
Viltrox 35mm f/1.2 LAB for Nikon Z mount coming in December.
New Viltrox front teleconverters (0.8× and 1.4×), probably designed for compact cameras like the Fuji X100:
“We’ll soon be launching a front teleconverter (increasing the focal length by 1.4×) and a wide-angle conversion lens (reducing the focal length to 0.8×). With these, you can instantly unlock new focal lengths without changing your camera.“
