Is there a 35GM little brother?

rob_ww
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p.3 #1 · Is there a 35GM little brother?

For a small walk-around setup on my A7CR I often use the Zeiss Batis 25mm. It's a bit chubby but quite short and light. As a lens it renders beautifully, like all the Batis lenses. It's a tad wider than 28mm and of course an APS-C crop takes it to approx. 36mm.

Jun 29, 2026 at 05:17 AM

JD07
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p.3 #2 · Is there a 35GM little brother?

vaptre wrote:
I'm in the same boat!

I used to have the 35/1.8, but I wasn't a fan of it because of his plasticky feel of the image and some noticeable chromatic aberrations. So, I made the switch to the 35GM, and I absolutely love it! However, there are times when I wish for something lighter and easier to carry around.

I�ve tried a few alternatives:

- The 40/2.5 is an improvement over the 35/1.8 in terms of image quality, but image looks too sharp and feels a bit unreal.
- The Viltrox 35/1.8 II EVO didn't impress me with its bokeh or rendering. While it...Show more →

Can I ask, have you tried out the i35 side by side with the 35GM? I have not, but I have a 35GM and the i65. I have been surprised by how much smaller, lighter weight (although to a lesser extent) and easier to carry the i65 feels to me. Reading the specifications I was not expecting that, but the shorter length and narrower width make the i65 feel significantly smaller than the 35GM, at least to me. The i35 is a bit shorter and lighter weight than the i65. I really like the images from the 35GM and the AF is excellent, and it's not really that big or heavy, so I am not sure I could give up the 35GM, and I am not very keen to have a second 35mm prime lens in my kit, but I can get an i35 for a good price at the moment and I have to say I am tempted to get one and give it a go. Maybe you tried out the i35 and 35GM though and the difference in size and weight didn't feel significant to you?

Jun 29, 2026 at 07:10 AM

rico
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p.3 #3 · Is there a 35GM little brother?

The Siggy 45C is small enough but quite dense: the tradeoff for its all-metal build. I wanted small, light coverage of 35mm�which usually means a prime. The 35i is burdened by its build quality, so I ended up with the Sony 28-60/4-5.6 which OP may discount due its slow aperture and zoom nature. That would be a mistake given the optical performance, tiny size (it's collapsible), and low weight of 167g. Fred's review:

https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1682772/

Sometimes you have to think outside the box.

P.S. I do own nine 35mm primes, four of them Leica and four Zeiss.

Jun 30, 2026 at 02:07 AM

patotts
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p.3 #4 · Is there a 35GM little brother?

everphotos wrote:
I've tried for a long time to find exactly the same thing. From what you've said so far in the thread, I'd highly recommend you try the Sony 40G. I think it is as close as you can get to the 35GM. Great autofocus, great image quality, aperture ring and button, great weathersealing. I used it for a long time, and was the perfect alternative to the 35GM when I wanted something smaller and less obtrusive. I cannot recommend it enough. It isn't F2, but 2.5 wasn't an issue in low light too often, and it has the subject separation of a 35 F2.2, so not far off there.

The only complaints I have are incredibly minor and subjective. As convenient as it is, I didn't like the look of the default lens hood, which was easily remedied with a Haoge square hood (which I also have for my 35GM, so it really was the little brother). The other more important thing I just never could get past is that 40mm just isn't 35mm. I see in 35mm, and every time I lifted the camera up, I'd be just a bit too cropped in. Often I could take the step back, and there were times where a bit tighter was nice. But I just didn't enjoy the experience of seeing something, and instead of immediately being able to take the picture, having to recompose a bit before getting the photo I wanted.

If you're more flexible than I am, then I would do everything to push you towards the 40G. I use the 35 2.8 ZA now instead for my everyday carry lens, and I enjoy it, but in my opinion, it is the inferior lens in every way except slightly smaller and (most importantly for me) slightly wider. Not as good of a focus, not as sharp, not as weathersealed, no aperture ring or button. If only Sony had made it 35, or I wasn't so single-visioned... :')

Otherwise, I don't think there's too many other options out there. I don't care about weight as much as I care about length with the lens hood on. With the Haoge square hood which is much smaller than the default lens hood, the smaller F1.8-F2 options don't provide enough of a reduction for the other tradeoffs. If size and weight were a big factor and I could only have one lens, the Viltrox EVO seems hard to beat as the perfect compromise. But since I do have the GM, if I'm going to be carrying that big of a lens, I feel like I might as well just go a bit farther and grab the better lens.

I've had the Sony 35 1.8, enjoyed that lens a lot, but the fringing and lack of real weathersealing made me upgrade to the GM. Haven't tried the Sigma 35i, but had the 90 2.8, and just didn't mesh with the design for some reason.

There is the Techart M-mount to E-mount adapters that can add autofocus to manual focus lenses, so you can get really compact fast options that way, like the Voigtlander 35mm 1.4. But the autofocus, from my understanding, leaves a lot to be desired, and lenses designed for the M sensors will be worse quality than the same lens that is native to the E-mount. But that would be an avenue to go to get a compact lens with character that is fast and technically has autofocus. This video is 10 years old, but it does a good job of showing how compact it can be:

Would love to hear other people comment on how an adapted 35mm M-mount lens compares to the 35MM ZA in terms of autofocus and image quality. Could be worth giving up weather sealing to have a compact 35mm 1.4 with autofocus. ...Show more →

This is spot on IMO.

First of all, we have all been looking for a 35GM "light", basically there isn't one.

- Sony 35/1.8. Fast AF, pretty light, but lacking in feature and lots chromatic abs. Some people like it, I didn't.
- Sigma 35/2. Beautiful metal build, but heavier and bigger than one wants.
- Viltrox 35/1.8 EVO. Dark horse. Greater variation copy - if you find a good one it is apparently very sharp. AF is not on par with Sony, bokeh is subject to liking, but for me living in Europe it is a no go - poor consumer business practices - if you buy this lens in Europe, you have to return in to Hong Kong for a refund on your own dime. WFT!? Better in the US, from what I understand. Deal killer for me, I just don't want to deal with companies with such practices.

Which leads me to the Sony 40/.5 G. Is it perfect? Nope. It is a compromise. It weighs 173 grams (!), pretty small (not truly pancake though), fast and accurate AF, good colors. Yes, it is sharp in the rendering, but you can always dial that back somewhat in post. It wins out on convenience and trustworthiness in my book. The main issue is the price for what it is, but you can buy it right used or a big sale, I think it is a winner to have in the bag.

"Best" 35mm AF lens buy at this point I suspect is the new Sigma 35/1.4 ART II, but it weights exactly the same as the 35GM.

Jun 30, 2026 at 03:08 AM

tuxounet
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p.3 #5 · Is there a 35GM little brother?

Hi,

I didn�t know those practices about Viltrox. I also live in Europe, so thanks for pointing this out.

I hadn�t noticed that the 40 mm f/2.5 weighs only 173 grams. That changes the calculation a bit. However, I�ve always thought that this 40 mm was somewhat �sterile.� But it does check many boxes, indeed.
Also there is not much difference between the 40mm 2.5 and the 35mm ZA design (and MTF)�

The used 35 mm ZA I�d seen seems to be decentered; I need to test it again. I�ll take the opportunity to see if they have a 40 mm so I can get a sense of its dimensions.

Jun 30, 2026 at 09:45 AM

Jack Flesher
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p.3 #6 · Is there a 35GM little brother?

In use, I�ve generally preferred 50 to 40, but have enjoyed a net 38mm equivalent in other formats, something about it just worked well. I like 35�s on FF but for whatever reason rarely used them over my 50�s, so stopped buying them. I�ve always thought it interesting we can have a 40mm pancake lens and a 26 or 28 pancake lens, but nobody bothered with making a good AF 35 pancake unless it�s permanently attached to the camera. That�s one I think I�d use for when I wanted super compact, but then it would eat into fixed lens camera sales so we�ll probably never see it from Sony.

Jun 30, 2026 at 10:14 AM

Jonas B
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p.3 #7 · Is there a 35GM little brother?

tuxounet wrote:
Hi,

I didn�t know those practices about Viltrox. I also live in Europe, so thanks for pointing this out.

I hadn�t noticed that the 40 mm f/2.5 weighs only 173 grams. That changes the calculation a bit. However, I�ve always thought that this 40 mm was somewhat �sterile.� But it does check many boxes, indeed.

The used 35 mm ZA I�d seen seems to be decentered; I need to test it again. I�ll take the opportunity to see if they have a 40 mm so I can get a sense of its dimensions.

35EVO
Slow down a little: It's true the Viltrox quality control is a bit so-so. I got a good 35EVO but that was the third copy I tried. The one bought from Amazon was easy to return. The one bought from Viltrox (France) I had to return to Hong Kong but I did get my money back including the shipping cost. The law is actually the law sometimes. (Here it should be noted I don't know how the situation is if living in Switzerland).

My short distance test chart results for the three lenses, center and right border is here.

I also have the 50AIR - first copy everything very good, and the 85EVO and again the first copy was good. Needing to try three copies of the 35EVO was disappointing.

40G
I made a user review of the 40/2.5G back in 2021 and it's here.
In short, the feature set is great, optically it is average.

EDIT: spelling

Edited on Jun 30, 2026 at 11:05 AM · View previous versions

Jun 30, 2026 at 10:16 AM

Jack Flesher
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p.3 #8 · Is there a 35GM little brother?

I should add, I�d love a Viltrox full frame 35 air lens. I tried both the 35 and 55 EVO�s, both were excellent optically, but in the end the focals are close enough, and their weights were heavy enough, I knew I�d be choosing one or the other and not both. By comparison the weight alone on the airs would make it a non-issue to carry both. In a weight/performance/cost metric, the Viltrox air line is exceptional.

Jun 30, 2026 at 10:54 AM

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