The Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro lens is a new option aimed at Sony full frame mirrorless camera users. An affordable, quality 85mm lens has always been an attractive prospect, and this one looks like a winner.
Coming to you from Christopher Frost, this informative video looks closely at what the Viltrox AF 85mm f/1.4 Pro FE lens offers. Frost points out how well-suited an 85mm focal length is for creating flattering portraits without compressing the background entirely. The f/1.4 aperture provides the striking subject isolation you likely want for portraits. Frost highlights the lens' impressive build quality: a robust metal body, weather-sealed mount, and smooth metal focus and aperture rings. One particular detail he mentions is a USB-C port embedded into its mount, a handy feature for firmware updates. Still, there's a notable downside—this premium construction pushes the lens weight to around 800 grams, making it heavier than some comparable alternatives.
When it comes to image quality and autofocus performance, Frost finds the lens to be quite capable. On his challenging 61-megapixel Sony a7CR, central sharpness at maximum aperture f/1.4 is good but stopping down to f/2 significantly enhances detail. At the extreme corners, the lens performs decently wide-open, yet it improves considerably when stopped down, reaching excellent sharpness around f/4 to f/5.6. On more common sensors, like 42 or 33 megapixels, Frost believes the results would look impressive even from wide-open apertures.
Key Specs
- Focal Length: 85mm
- Maximum Aperture: f/1.4
- Lens Mount: Sony E (Full Frame)
- Angle of View: 28°
- Minimum Focus Distance: 79 cm
- Magnification: 0.13x (1:7.7)
- Optical Design: 15 Elements in 11 Groups
- Aperture Blades: 11
- Autofocus: Yes
- Image Stabilization: No
- Filter Size: 77 mm (Front)
- Dimensions: ø: 3.3 x L: 4.3" (84.5 x 108.5 mm)
- Weight: 1.8 lb (800 g)
Moving onto autofocus performance, Frost describes it as quiet, accurate, and generally dependable. Switching to continuous autofocus mode results in smoother, more confident tracking, a benefit if your work involves shooting moving subjects or video clips. He also touches on the lens' moderate level of focus breathing—a slight drawback for video. You'll see framing shift a bit when adjusting focus from close to distant subjects, which is something videographers particularly may dislike.
Despite these minor drawbacks, Frost finds plenty to appreciate. The lens handles chromatic aberrations reasonably well once stopped down slightly, though expect some blue fringing wide open at close focusing distances. Its bokeh quality is very attractive, offering smooth backgrounds essential for portraits. Handling bright lighting conditions may mean contending occasionally with some flare and lowered contrast, though it's manageable.
If you want to see comprehensive image quality tests, detailed samples at various apertures, and direct comparisons with other lenses, Frost provides those insights in the full video above.
