VILTROXAF 135mm F1.8 LAB FE Full Frame Lens for Sony e Mount, Dual Floating Focus 135mm f1.8 f/1.8 HyperVCM Motor Telephoto Prime Lens for Sony E-Mount

This is an absolutely fantastic lens that produces very pleasing and sharp images. The autofocus is very fast and can capture high speed sports without issue. This lens also has the sharpness, and close focusing ability that it can work as a macro after cropping on a high-resolution (I’m using an A7RIV) sensor. There’s just something about the 135mm F1.8 that produces stunning images. Headshots, tight portraits, mid and full-length portraits especially in backlight conditions look magical with this lens. The image included in the review is a unedited straight out of camera JPEG.It is heavy and big, but I feel like those are OK compromises for its price and performance. I was hoping that it would be a net weight savings if I can leave my Tamron 35-150mm f2-2.8 and my macro in the car on wedding days.This issue that makes it unsuitable for any professional photography is the aperture ring. I am a wedding and event photographer and have an assortment of lenses that both have and lack aperture rings. Because not all of my lenses have aperture rings I typically disable aperture rings, or lock the aperture ring so that the aperture control is mapped to a command dial on the body. The issue with the Viltrox 135mm is that the aperture ring cannot be disabled. You can turn the dial to where aperture is controlled by the body, but just a couple of very subtle clicks to the left and the aperture is at f16. I frequently carry two camera bodies and there were times where I found myself shooting at f16 because the aperture dial must have moved over at some point. Another issue is when you see that you are at the wrong aperture, you must turn the dial several revolutions to the right to get back to camera body command dial control. Once you are back to the command dial, the aperture defaults to f4, and then you need to turn the command dial several revolutions to get back to f1.8.During some sports photography I noticed I was at f16, had to turn the aperture control dial on the lens to the right to get to automatic, and then turn my command dial to get back to f1.8. This takes a few seconds and caused me to miss some shots. Fortunately, this was during sports photography I was shooting for fun.The most frustrating aspect of this is it’s just a software choice Viltrox made. There should be an option to disable the aperture ring in the Viltrox app. Once that option is there this will move from a “fun lens” to a lens I can actually use for work. I will also update my review if that software/firmware change is made available.

I purchased the Viltrox 135mm 1.8 Sony E-mount lens from the Viltrox official store during the pre-sale for $764. While the lens performs well overall, I encountered a few issues worth mentioning.Pros:The lens delivers excellent image quality with sharp details and beautiful bokeh.The build quality feels solid and professional.It competes with high-end lenses like the Sony GM series at half the price.Cons:I noticed a rattling sound when shaking the lens. However, this issue disappears once the lens is attached to the camera and powered on. Viltrox support informed me that this is due to the VCM (Voice Coil Motor) technology used in the lens, and the noise is normal.The pre-sale purchase experience was disappointing. Despite buying directly from Viltrox, the shipping process from Shenzhen, China, took almost two months. This long wait was frustrating, especially since the lens is now available on Amazon at the same price with Prime fast shipping.Overall, while the lens itself meets my expectations in terms of performance, the purchasing experience from the Viltrox official store left much to be desired. I would recommend considering other purchasing options for faster delivery

Got this used, didn't try all features yet, but this is a beautiful, albeit very heavy, lens. This is my third Viltrox lens (first one used although got it from them) and as you can see, I think they deliver good value. Just got it yesterday, and have yet to "pixel peep" but from what I see so far it, delivers optically. Great for faces (human and my cats so far, lol), background separation/bokeh, and low light performance. Fast sharp autofocus. Have not yet tried video yet although I'm less likely to use such a tight zoom on video very often.