New Viltrox AF 23mm f/1.4 E Lens reviewed at SonyAlphaBlog: “excellent sharpness in the centre”

The new 23mm f/1.4 APS-C E-mount lens at BHphoto and the worldwide Viltroxstore.

SonyAlphaBlog tested the new Viltrox AF 23mm f/1.4 E Lens and concluded:

The Viltrox 23mm F1.4 (285 euros) is a very good AF lens for Sony APSC cameras. 23mm being the equivalent of a 35mm lens on full frame , this is a very useful and common focal length for street photography or half body portrait.

The main selling arguments of this lens are

• its excellent sharpness in the centre combined with fast aperture which give you a nice blurry background for portrait
• its AF (fast and efficient) and clickless aperture ring for video

However

• corners are quite soft at large aperture and you need to close to F4/F5.6 for best results on the entire field for street / landscape, so don’t expect to consistent sharpness in low light
• The lens also suffer from heavy Chromatic aberrations even whith aperture closed down, so you will need to correct those in post prod

Compared to the Sony E 24mm F1.8 Zeiss Sonnar, the Viltrox is a bargain

Pros

• Very good sharpness in the centre wide open at f1.4 and excellent as of F2
• Excellent sharpness across the whole frame at F5.6 and F8
• Fast and efficient AF , eye AF working very well
• Very good build quality
• Clickless aperture ring for video
• Reasonable price for a lens with AF
• Good bokeh balls and background blur (although it could be a little bit more softer)
• Good color rendition
• Lens can be upgraded via USB port (and Viltrox do regularly upgrade their lenses)

Average

• Vignetting up to F4
• AF not fully silent in video
• Moderate distorsion
• Resistance to flare could be better

Cons

• Heavy CA
• Corners soft up to F2.8
• On A6000 only : Some AF issues in video

Recommended as 35mm equivalent lens on Sony APSC cameras

The new 23mm f/1.4 APS-C E-mount lens at BHphoto and the worldwide Viltroxstore.