Today, we will be looking at the fastest AF lens in the Viltrox lineup, the Viltrox 35mm f/1.2 AF.
About Viltrox
Viltrox has been making lenses since 2009, and while it is primarily known for its affordable lenses, it has also started a new line of premium lenses called LAB, with the AF 135mm F1.8 LAB announced in 2024 and the AF 35mm F1.2 LAB that we shall be reviewing today announced earlier in 2025.
The Viltrox 35mm f/1.2 AF
Optical Design
The lens includes 15 elements in 10 groups with 5 ED elements, 3 HR elements, and 2 UA elements. The lens is coated with a multilayer nano coating to reduce ghosting.
Materials
The lens is made from magnesium-aluminum alloy and feels very robust in the hand.
Size and weight
The lens measures 12cm long (4.8”) and has a diameter of 8.9 cm (3.5”). It weighs in at just over 900g (around 2lbs), which is certainly a lot but still a little lighter than the Sigma 35mm F1.2 DG DN Art.
Rings
The lens has two rings, a very smooth front focus ring, and a narrow aperture ring with deeper grooves. The aperture ring moves in nice, audible clicks and is relatively easy to turn (we actually turned it by accident a few times). In de-clicked mode, it is extremely smooth.
Buttons, switches, and screen
The lens has an AF/MF switch, a click/de-click switch for the aperture, and two assignable buttons (more on these in a moment) as well as a top screen that provides real-time info on the aperture, focus distance and depth of field as well as info on the focus mode and Fn buttons.
The AF/MF and dual buttons on the side of the lens
App
The Viltrox LAB line is one of the only lens lines that has a supported app. On the LAB line, this is done via built-in BT in the lens (Tamron, which pioneered this concept, requires a physical connection). Having an app allows for easier firmware updates and a great deal of personalization.
We used the Viltrox lens app for Android, and while you must register with a phone or e-mail, the installation itself was simple and fairly quick. For some reason, Viltrox did not list the names of the lenses to choose from, and to us, it would make more sense if the app would just connect and recognize the lens on its own.
We tried to update the firmware without success in several different ways until we connected it to power via USB (disconnected from a camera/computer), and then it worked. It would be great if Viltrox would add an option to work with the app when the lens is connected to a camera.
In the app, you can change the function of the two Fn buttons, including focus lock, A-B focus presets, toggle the display on/off, and change the startup text/image.
Sealing
Viltrox markets the lens as having a “high-grade sealing design for dust and splash resistance”.
Mount
The lens comes in E and Z full-frame mounts (we will be testing the E variant).
The lens mount and the built-in USB-C port
Hood/Cover
The lens has a petal-shaped hood measuring just over 4cm (1.5”).
Aperture
The Viltrox has an 11-bladed aperture.
Filter
The lens has a 77mm front filter thread.
The front of the Viltrox 35mm f/1.2 AF lens
Performance
Focus
The Viltrox uses a Quad HyperVCM Autofocus System that is designed to be fast and silent.
The AF speed of the lens in our studio test seemed to produce great results in both speed and accuracy against stationary targets.
On moving targets outdoors with our A1 however, the AF accuracy was not on par with our Sony 35mm f/1.8 lens, especially when the subject got closer to the camera.
We also tested if the lens has a linear focus throw, and just like most fly-by-wire lenses, it does not. It would be interesting to see if Viltrox can somehow add this as a feature in the app.
Sharpness
We tested the sharpness of the Viltrox and Sony 35mm f/1.8 lenses using our Imatest chart with the Sony A7R V.
The Viltrox is surprisingly sharp in the center, wide open, especially for an f/1.2 lens, and you only gain a little bit of sharpness and contrast closing down to between f/1.8 and f/2.8.
Viltrox sharpness center frame – f/1.2 (top left), f/1.8 (top right), f/2.8 (bottom left), f/4 (bottom right)
The corners are a different story, and you need to close down to between f/4 and possibly f/5.6 to get good sharpness.
Viltrox sharpness corner of the frame – f/1.2 (top left), f/1.8 (top right), f/2.8 (bottom left), f/4 (bottom right)
The Sony 35mm f/1.8 is not as sharp in the center, and you need to close down to between f/2.8 and f/4 for maximum sharpness and contrast.
Sony 35mm f/1.8 center sharpness – f/1.8 (top left), f/2.8 (top right), f/4 (bottom left), f/5.6 (bottom right)
Like the Viltrox, you will also need to close down to between f/4 and f/5.6 for maximum corner sharpness.
Sony 35mm f/1.8 corner sharpness – f/1.8 (top left), f/2.8 (top right), f/4 (bottom left), f/5.6 (bottom right)
Close-up performance
The official min focus distance of the Viltrox is 34cm, although in our test it was able to achieve only 36.5cm with AF (some lenses can focus closer in MF). The official max magnification is 1:5.8.
For comparison, the Sony 35mm f/1.8 has a much closer min focus distance of 22cm (in our test it was around 21.5cm or so) with a slightly better max magnification of 1:4.2.
In the center, close up, wide open, the Viltrox looks sharp, and you can see improvement in contrast between f/2.8 to f/4.
Viltrox close-up sharpness center frame – f/1.2 (top left), f/1.8 (top right), f/2.8 (bottom left), f/4 (bottom right)
Looking at the edges of the frame close up, we see a different picture. Wide open and up to f/4, the image isn’t sharp, and even at f/5.6, the image is not fully sharp.
Viltrox close-up sharpness corner of the frame – f/1.2 (top left), f/1.8 (top right), f/2.8 (bottom left), f/4 (bottom right)
The Sony 35mm f/1.8 that can focus much closer also doesn’t look that sharp wide open, but much better at f/2.8 and beyond in the center.
Sony 35mm f/1.8 close-up center sharpness – f/1.8 (top left), f/2.8 (top right), f/4 (bottom left), f/5.6 (bottom right)
The corners of the Sony start to look better at f/4 and are pretty sharp at f/5.6. This lens is definitely the better choice for close-up work.
Sony 35mm f/1.8 close-up corner sharpness – f/1.8 (top left), f/2.8 (top right), f/4 (bottom left), f/5.6 (bottom right)
Breathing
The Viltrox does have visible breathing (see our video), especially at close focusing distances. The Sony 35 mm f/1.8 is a surprising lens in this respect, with fairly little breathing even when the breathing compensation is turned off.
Chromatic aberrations
In our test, the Viltrox didn’t show any significant longitudinal chromatic aberrations, wide open and closing down to around f/1.8, the lens looked perfect and visibly better than the Sony at that aperture.
CA test comparison – Sony 35mm f/1.8 top (f/1.8 on the left and f/2.8 on the right); Viltrox 35mm f/12. bottom (f/1.2 left; f/1.8 on the right)
Flare
The Viltrox has a ton of purple and green flare wide open without the hood when in direct light (see our video). To be fair, the Sony 35mm f/1.8 is also not exactly clean, although not quite as bad.
Vignette
Wide open, the vignette on the Viltrox when the in-camera correction is off is extreme. Closing down to f/1.8 brings a visible improvement, and a big improvement is shown between f/2.8 and f/4.
Vignette test, Viltrox 35mm f/1.2 – f/1.2 (top left), f/1.8 (top right), f/2.8 (bottom left), f/4 (bottom right)
What surprised us is that the Sony 35mm f/1.8 looks worse at f/1.8 in terms of vignette compared to the Viltrox at f/1.2, and although it also improves as you close down, it’s not completely gone even at f/5.6 and still lags behind the Viltrox in this respect.
Vignette test, Sony 35mm f/1.8 – f/1.8 (top left), f/2.8 (top right), f/4 (bottom left), f/5.6 (bottom right)
Barrel distortion
With in-camera corrections turned off, the Viltrox 35mm appears to have very little barrel or pincushion distortion, and so does the Sony 35mm f/1.8, for that matter. Interestingly, the Viltrox looks to be a tad wider than the Sony.
Geometric distoration test – Viltrox on the left, Sony on the right
Bokeh
Looking at the bokeh of the lens at f/1.2 in the center of the frame, the bokeh balls look large and round and are also fairly clean. As you move away from the center, they get the familiar cat’s eyes, although when you close down a little to around f/1.8, they are pretty much gone and are fairly similar to those made by the Sony 35mm f/1.8 lens.
Bokeh test (center of the frame) – Viltrox f/1.2 (left), Viltrox f/1.8 (center), Sony f/1.8 (right)
Sample Images
Here are a few images that we took with the Viltrox 35mm using our Sony A1 and A7R IV cameras. Please note that we had experienced some strange behavior with our lens, especially on the A1 where we had to remove the battery and re-insert it to regain control of the camera, but this might be due to the early nature of our copy of the lens.
Sample images shot with the Sony A1 and A7R V and the Viltrox 35mm f/1.2 (no edits, just crop/resize)
Conclusion
The Viltrox 35mm f/1.2 AF lens is an exceedingly ambitious undertaking by the Chinese manufacturer. Considering the fact that even Sony itself does not currently make an f/1.2 35mm lens and that Sigma is the only one to even try this, it certainly shows how high Viltrox is aiming with this lens.
But did this bet pan out for Viltrox? There is certainly a lot to like about the lens; it has good build quality, nice features like the de-click and USB-C for firmware updates, and even some nice bonuses like the top screen and app.
The Viltrox 35mm f/1.2 AF screen
Maybe most importantly, the sharpness of this lens, even wide open at the center, is good, and closing down a little makes it exceptional. The lens also has very low CA and a really pleasant Bokeh, and little to no geometric distortion.
The lens does have some important downsides that you need to be aware of. Its corners’ sharpness is not great, and you will need to close down quite a bit to improve it. The lens does have a great deal of flare, and its minimum close-up distance and corner sharpness could be better.
In our test, the biggest drawback was the AF accuracy with our Sony A1, especially versus moving targets at closer distances.
All in all, though, if you are looking for a wide-angle lens that can provide impressive background separation with very good center sharpness at a fairly affordable price tag, the Viltrox 35mm f/1.2 should be on your shortlist. Just keep in mind that it’s AF still needs some work.
Update: Viltrox released a new firmware update (ver 1.6) just as we were finishing this lens review that should improve the AF and stability of the lens (we are currently testing it to see if it resolved some of the initial issues that we had).
The 1.6 firmware update features for the Viltrox 35mm f/1.2
Pricing
The lens currently sells for around $1000.
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Iddo Genuth 
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