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.