Viltrox AF 55mm F1.8 EVO (Sony FE) lens

Viltrox AF 55mm F1.8 EVO (Sony FE) lens

An affordable and compact 55mm lens for full-frame Sony SLR cameras. The Viltrox EVO series combines high-quality optics, comprehensive physical controls, and a weather-protected metal body. The result is a compact lens with image quality that is sufficient for even the most demanding enthusiast.

• Bright f/1.8 aperture and beautiful background blur
• Apochromatic lens structure reduces chromatic aberrations
• Quiet STM focus motor also suitable for video shooting
• Weather-protected metal body and uniform 58mm filter thread
• Integrated USB-C port for software updates
• Closest focusing distance 43cm

Versatile 55mm focal length and high brightness

The classic 55mm focal length is extremely versatile, and lends itself naturally to street, landscape and portrait photography. It leaves the subject room to breathe, but doesn't distort the proportions too much.

The lens's large f/1.8 aperture gives you excellent opportunities to shoot in low light without having to raise the sensor's ISO to ridiculously high levels. The light output also enables you to shoot with a shallow depth of field, allowing you to separate the main subject from its background with professional-looking background blur.

Apochromatic structure and sharp image quality

The lens offers excellent image quality and raw sharpness, which is more than enough for today's high-resolution bodies. The EVO series design uses a large number of special lenses, and the lens has an apochromatic optical structure.

In practice, apochromaticity means that dark details shot against a bright sky or other light background, for example, are sharp without disturbing purple or green color aberrations. In addition to sharpness, Viltrox has paid special attention to how the transition from sharp to blurry areas looks, and the end result is a very calm and soft bokeh.

A small compromise when shooting at full aperture is visible vignetting, but the darkening of the edges is easy to fix either directly in the camera settings or in post-processing.

Reliable focus for photos and video

The autofocus is powered by a quiet STM stepping motor. It's quite fast and accurate for all normal use, although it doesn't quite match the speed of the manufacturer's more expensive series motors for the most demanding action shots.

The focus also works smoothly when shooting video, where the transition from one subject to another is precise and smooth enough for video. Videographers should note that the lens has some focus breathing, meaning the size of the image changes when focusing.

The closest focusing distance is 43cm, and the high-quality focus ring makes manual focusing of the lens precise and pleasant.

Weather-resistant metal body and physical controls

The mechanical quality of the lens is impressive. The durable metal body is equipped with weather protection around the bayonet, and the lens itself has around seven separate weather-protected areas against dust and moisture.

The body features a programmable custom button and a traditional aperture ring. The ring's clicks can be turned off if desired, which is a great addition for videographers for stepless exposure control.

All lenses in the EVO series have a common 58mm filter thread, making it easy to use the same filters cross-referenced with other lenses in the series. In addition, the bayonet has a convenient USB-C connection for future software updates.

Specifications:

• Compatibility: Sony FE
• Sensor size: Full sensor
• Focal length: 35mm
• Aperture: f/1.8 (min. f/16)
• Optical construction: 13 elements in 9 groups
• Closest focusing distance: 43cm
• Focus motor: STM
• Filter thread: 58mm
• USB-C port for firmware updates
• Weight: approx. 370g