A few samples of the 55's rendering where the 35 tends to fall apart. Overall the 55 renders a much less busy background at mid distances than the 35 does.
Again the 55 at a variety of apertures. It gets the busiest around f5.6 in my tests and wide open performs much better than the 35. Not really a surprise but good to see it proven.
Thanks for doing this! I picked up this lens recently based on your contributions in this thread. I think this lens brings a lot to the table without leaving anything off. I'm excited to start using it.
Thanks @RoamingScott for posting this review. I found it very interesting and went on to read your review of the 35mm EVO as well. I have the Viltrox 50mm F2.0 Sony FE. No EVO designation so I am not sure where it sits in the range.
It is very pleasing in many ways but there are a couple of things I noticed when using it which compare to your findings. The AF can be a bit slow -- the target is recognised quickly enough but the lens is a bit slow to focus correctly, although I have not missed any shots. It's just not snappy. The bokeh can be busy, as you note with the 35mm, although that can be mitigated in the initial framing or in post.
What I do find annoying is that the colours are not quite right. When you said you noticed a bit of a yellowish tint I think that is what I am seeing too. It can be fixed quickly using AWB but I wonder if that disturbs the WB in unintended ways. It needs to be adjusted for nearly every picture, which is a bit tedious. If you have found a way to make the adjustment on import or with a preset it would be good if you can share it.
Apart from these niggles the lens has performed wonderfully well -- light, sharp, clear -- great for a compact setup to take to gatherings and parties.
rob_ww wrote:
Thanks @RoamingScott@ for posting this review. I found it very interesting and went on to read your review of the 35mm EVO as well. I have the Viltrox 50mm F2.0 Sony FE. No EVO designation so I am not sure where it sits in the range.
It is very pleasing in many ways but there are a couple of things I noticed when using it which compare to your findings. The AF can be a bit slow -- the target is recognised quickly enough but the lens is a bit slow to focus correctly, although I have not missed any shots. It's just not snappy. The bokeh can be busy, as you note with the 35mm, although that can be mitigated in the initial framing or in post.
What I do find annoying is that the colours are not quite right. When you said you noticed a bit of a yellowish tint I think that is what I am seeing too. It can be fixed quickly using AWB but I wonder if that disturbs the WB in unintended ways. It needs to be adjusted for nearly every picture, which is a bit tedious. If you have found a way to make the adjustment on import or with a preset it would be good if you can share it.
Apart from these niggles the lens has performed wonderfully well -- light, sharp, clear -- great for a compact setup to take to gatherings and parties....Show more →
You probably have the Air version, which is technically just beneath the EVO line (no APO elements like some of the EVO lenses).
I put some thought into adjusting the kelvin on import to Lightroom, and came up with nothing...the problem, is I use Auto White Balance and generally would want to lower it by about 200 Kelvin...unfortunately impossible when the slider isn't a relative value, but an absolute value.
I asked AI about this, and this was the best it came up with (something I don't really want to do for one single lens):
If your goal is simply:
"Whatever Auto White Balance chose, make it 200 K cooler"
there's a more advanced route using a metadata preprocessor. The script would:
- read the camera-recorded Kelvin value from the RAW metadata
- subtract 200
- write an XMP sidecar with the adjusted white balance before Lightroom sees the file
That produces exactly the behavior you're describing.
Thanks Scott. I hadn't thought of asking AI but ChatGPT came up with a similar suggestion - reducing WB by around 200 and increasing tint by 2 to 5 if the result is too greenish. This actually mirrors what I have found to work so far so I will try that for a while longer on a range of different shots.
Here is the full conversation:
Yes, the lens you have is indeed the Viltrox AF 50mm f/2 Air, even if it doesn't have "AIR" printed on the barrel. Viltrox has been inconsistent with the branding; some production runs simply say AF 50/2.0 FE while using the same optical design and specifications.
Regarding the slightly yellow (or warm) rendering, the picture is a bit nuanced.
Have others noticed it?
Interestingly, not many professional reviewers mention a systematic yellow cast.
Australian Photography specifically described the colour reproduction as neutral and accurate, if anything with slightly subdued saturation, not warmer than expected.
TechRadar and Digital Camera World discuss sharpness, bokeh and autofocus, but don't report a warm colour bias.
On Reddit, most owners describe the colours as natural. One user even commented that the lens has "excellent with neutral tones".
That tells me this is not a universally recognised characteristic of the lens.
But your observation is still plausible
Lenses can differ very slightly in transmission and coatings. Even among Sony's own G and GM lenses, photographers often talk about one lens looking a touch warmer or cooler than another.
The Viltrox coatings may transmit a little more red/yellow light than, say, your Sony lenses. On modern Sony cameras the effect is usually subtle, but if you:
compare two lenses side-by-side,
shoot RAW,
and edit carefully,
it's entirely possible to notice.
What Lightroom users generally do
If the warmth is consistent, I'd avoid correcting every image manually. Instead, create a preset.
Typical adjustments are surprisingly small:
Temperature: about –200 to –400 K
Tint: sometimes +2 to +5 magenta if cooling makes the image slightly green
Leave the HSL sliders alone unless skin tones genuinely need tweaking.
For example, if Lightroom reports:
Temp 5600 K try 5300–5400 K rather than making a dramatic change.
pemanja93 wrote:
Viltrox 28mm f1.8 EVO and 26mm f2.8 EVO are coming in 2 days
26 EVO, yes.
I saw the SAR post about the 28 1.8 II, but I haven't heard anything about that on my side. Looks like the image is just a photoshop of the 35 EVO. I wish it were true, having shot the the 26
After pressing the shutter-release you can even start to wonder whether you are not accidentally in the MF mode. At the beginning it seems there is simply no reaction whatsoever. The mechanism eventually moves forward, but slowly. As a result, running through the whole distance and confirming the focus takes even 0.8-0.9 of a second. It's hardly impressive.
If correct, that sounds rather terrible. Is it really that bad? I've had the Sonnar 55mm, is the Sonnar faster? The two have been the same price where I live.
If correct, that sounds rather terrible. Is it really that bad? I've had the Sonnar 55mm, is the Sonnar faster? The two have been the same price where I live.
