Viltrox 135mm f/1.8 LAB vs Sony GM | 95% of the GM for 40% of the price

[@robertdoyle8972]

I have the Viltrox 16mm 1.8 for my Sony A7R V and love it but I really wish Viltrox would make some zoom lenses like a 24-70 2.8 and some other zoom lenses and not just fixed lenses because for the price of the Viltrox lenses and what you get they really are a good value at least to me

[@gordonbunker3272]

Thank you Benj for your review. There's a lot to love here with the Viltrox (they do have the IQ : price ratio nailed down), but as so often is the case with third party gear, it's so close and yet so far. For example the screen and then the aperture ring with no stops. In use these could become very pesky pains in the butt. The more time spent fiddling the gear, the more shots missed, so give careful consideration of these details before buying. And please don't get me wrong - first party in not always immune either.

[@Paintbait]

It looks like the lens compensation for vignette is not as good to me, but that's totally fixable. I skipped to the part of the video where there were side-by-sides in lightroom not knowing which was which. I can spot the Gmaster because it's a bit brighter for all of those shots, but again this is something you can compensate for. Obviously shooting at the same exact settings with different lenses will net slightly different results. I'm impressed how close they are and for a focal length like 135 count me in on Viltrox. I have the first version of the 85mm GM lens and to be honest if this thing is even slightly quieter or faster than that thing, it's a total win at 135.

[@devilangel4655]

Viltrox Nailed It👌 It’s a must have, but not necessarily for me!

[@joed6641]

I bought this Viltrox 135 on a Black Friday deal for $765 + tax, I think that's the right price for it rather than the MSRP. I second shot a wedding with my A7iv the day after I got it delivered and it really was my favorite lens to use that night, even though my photographer wanted me on the dance floor with my 35mm GM for a lot of the reception. Really a sharp lens, I captured some great photos of the speeches and the cake cutting with it. Will be keeping it in my camera bag for sure, especially because my 85mm is the Meike f1.8 - not a bad lens but it produces noticeably less sharpness and contrast in my images.

[@ryan2641-f2e]

This lens is tempting, but I’ve always been drawn to the more compact feel of TTArtisan’s primes. Maybe someday they’ll try a 135mm!

[@PhotoTrekr]

The Sony 135mm GM lens is probably the best lens I've ever used. If the Viltrox approaches the quality of that lens it would certainly be a good value.

[@benjhaisch]

Same

[@benjhaisch]

95% of the Sony at 40% of the price 👀

[@megamastah]

I've heard the same from Mark Galer, best IQ/sharpness on the market. For people needing that focal length and speed it was a no brainer, at least until this Viltrox dropped heh

[@MichaelSeneschal]

This is really interesting. I’m curious about the close focusing distance. My Plena lens is around 135mm, but I know that some third-party lenses lose focal length because of focus breathing. For example, my old Sigma 70-200 was actually closer to 135mm when focusing closely, even though it was set to 200mm. I say this because the 135mm is generally a portrait lens, and it may perform more like a true 85 at closer focus distances

[@benjhaisch]

Don’t lenses typically zoom *in* at closer focal distances in terms of focus breathing? Mine all do. They get tighter in terms of FOV.

[@MichaelSeneschal]

@ That would be a nice issue to have. :) The norm is having the focal length decrease due to focus breathing.

[@benjhaisch]

Not on the close end? It’s every lens I’ve ever owned, gets tighter as it focuses closer and zooms out as I focus away.

[@justinburley8659]

@@benjhaisch My Tamron 70-200 SP for example, zooms out when close focusing

[@benjhaisch]

@@justinburley8659 that’s wild, I double checked on 5 different lenses yesterday and every single one of them made a tighter frame as it focused closer. Maybe I’m just not communicating this right or something or maybe some lenses do the opposite and I’ve just never seen it.

[@midwestgnar]

I have the sigma 105 1.4 I love the lens and the look but the auto focus is a bit to slow for me and I end up using it a lot les than I would like. Do you think the auto focus in this is better?

[@tristanwilhelm9600]

@@midwestgnar I loved the sigma 105 1.4! Such a great lens and gave awesome photos, but I did not like the lens flare amount or the weight of it and that’s why I sold it for the 85mm sigma. Then 3 years later I switched to the 50mm sigma dg dn and its great

[@petrpohnan875]

What body do you have that S. 105/1.4 focuses slow? I use it on Canons R3 and R5 mk II and the AF is just great.

[@6gwilliams]

Sony limits all third-party lenses to a max of 15fps. So with this Viltrox lens you cant do 20fps with the A9/A9II, 30fps with the A1, 120fps with the A9III. I have the excellent Viltrox 16mm f1.8 lens for my A1, A9III, A7RV. Cheers

[@Shiinamusiclyricssubs]

While true, this is a portrait lens, where people seldom shoot above 10fps anyway. For sports and animal photography, you get paid well and buy a sony GM lol

[@6gwilliams]

@@Shiinamusiclyricssubs 135mm f1.8 lenses are also used for sports shooting by countless pros like myself (especially in low light) , not just for portraits, a fact. I do own the Sony 135mm f1.8 GM. Cheers

[@co7079]

@@Shiinamusiclyricssubs the 135 GM lives on my A9III for hockey and basketball

[@POVwithRC]

So how's it handle on the C body? Apologies if you answer during the video.

[@benjhaisch]

Not great, I’d use the included grip for anything of this size

[@POVwithRC]

Very good. Keeping me from spending more on my lens library today ☺️​@@benjhaisch

[@bosiefoobar]

@@POVwithRC what lenses do you use on your c body?

[@POVwithRC]

@@bosiefoobar It's a new body to me, but I've been mostly sticking to the G primes. They don't really really resolve well on the R sensor some of the time but the weight is really swell. I think the next buys for me will be the 65 and 90 sigma primes. Low aperture doesn't matter a lot to me.

[@bosiefoobar]

@@POVwithRC small primes like the 40G seem to be perfection with the C. do you find yourself using the screen a lot with the C? how do you find foucsing/setting the focus on the C?

[@Secretweapondoze]

Can we add it to a Leica L mount or RF mount? ❤🎉❤

[@benjhaisch]

RF Mount is going to be a no, sadly. I’m not sure Viltrox has done any L Mount stuff but it could be a possibility

[@mattricci2981]

Where do you get that it’s 95 percent of the same Lense you can’t shoot full fps on it which is a huge deal more like 75 percent of the lense with similar quality

[@kingghidorah8106]

either a7rv has light metering issues like a7iv or viltrox is a tad worse in transmission, all images come a little dimmer

[@benjhaisch]

Yep, I’m curious if that is actual transmission or if it’s down to in camera corrections. The same didn’t seem to apply in video but I could be wrong

[@benjhaisch]

It wasn’t a metering issue though as both cameras had identical settings on manual exposure

[@rz5959]

great review & comparison. Clearly not much different & huge cost saving as well..

[@Oliver46233]

This lens looks solid, but at $900+, it’s creeping into premium territory. Hoping TTArtisan explores something similar with a lower price point.

[@sgpork]

Maybe i’m the only odd 1. Everyone is head and shoulder over this because yea its alot cheaper yet perform almost the same but at the same time its bigger and heavier lens. People still like it because its alot cheaper. I get it. But how about and when can we see the opposite. Ever have a chance we see the same lens 135 f1.8 but ALOT smaller and lighter then maybe price $1000 more? That would be then interesting. I mean 3rd party coming out something cheaper but bigger and heavier is not something new already.

[@Ryuken2721]

@@sgpork it would be difficult if not impossible. The size of the front element is at its limit. It's just not possible physically to make the front diameter smaller. But length wise it's possible.

[@sgpork]

@@Ryuken2721 to be fair... almost everything start with impossible.. isnt it. that's why I say hopefully 1 day or soon we will be able to see that tech advancement or tech marvel. There are market of people who just want cheap.. they dont care the size and weight. But there are also market for people who want high quality yet smaller and lighter and willing or able to pay abit more. Cheaper but heavier and bigger has always been a thing. But the opposite is rare. Having said that.. 50 GM 1.2 is pretty small and light. Look at Nikon and Canon 50 1.2... 70-200GMii is also lightweight.. 70-200 used to be 1400++.. but the GMii is 1000+ abit.. Then the 300GM 2.8.. used to be 3kg now only 1400+grams.. These are huge news and really welcome to people who appreciate high quality yet smaller and lighter. Sure it come at a price.. But more option is always better. ^^

[@Ryuken2721]

@@sgpork hmm, the amount of light entering the camera is the problem. How to you get more light inside without making the entrance bigger?

[@Ryuken2721]

@@sgpork maybe lighter and shorter lens. But not smaller diameter

[@jliang70]

People like this lens not just because it is cheaper but in some aspect of IQ it is actually superior to the Sony GM. I guess is you have not shot with a GM 135mm or this very lens. What is surprising for 3rd party lens this cheap and this good is something new.

[@cameraprepper7938]

The Viltrox is much too big and heavy 1235g , get the Samyang 135mm 1.8 772g or a used Zeiss Batis Apo Sonnar 135mm 1.8 T* 614g.

[@ParampreetDhatt]

The Zeiss Batis 135mm is actually F2.8 not F1.8, which makes it more than one stop slower than the other options, hence not really a fair comparison or alternative.

[@_rhapsodist]

@@ParampreetDhatt exactly!

[@Kay-cy9vi]

Samyang performance and material used are not as good, not comparable.

[@cameraprepper7938]

@@ParampreetDhatt I have had the Sony 135mm 2.8 for 5 years, the very best photos were at apertures from 2.8 to 5.6. Weight and size matters a lot !

[@cameraprepper7938]

@@Kay-cy9vi The built quality of the Samyang is almost as good as Sony and Viltrox, the optical image quality is about the same as the Viltrox, autofocus is about the same (Sony best), but the Viltrox is much too big and heavy and much more expensive than the Samyang !!!

[@geekcommentator8567]

1:20 How can you be frank, YOU’RE BEN!! 😎

[@benjhaisch]

I’m Benj hahaha

[@geekcommentator8567]

@gah! Beni, my apologies, silly joke. Love the content!

[@Reviews4fun1]

I guess I don’t understand the utility of a 135 prime over a 70-200 which is much more versatile. That’s like mounting a 50x fixed spotting scope on a combat rifle which you will be engaging at various distances instead of an adjustable optic.

[@benjhaisch]

Zooms vs primes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@petrpohnan875]

No problem just use your 70-200 :-).

[@mmills006]

For me it's about the aperture. The 70-200 2.8 is an amazing lens, but in the gyms where i shoot sports the f/1.8 makes all the difference in being able to shoot at 1/1000 and maintain reasonable ISO. I usually use the Sony 85mm f/1.8 courtside, but if i can't get that close, the 135mm 1.8 is a great option.

[@edwardnoble9897]

I used to own the Sigma DSLR version which weighed about the same with the adapter and it was so heavy I didn't want to take it out. The Sony version was a huge improvement and the Samyang is absolutely amazing since it also delivers the same image quality while being far lighter than even the Sony and the price is even cheaper than the Viltrox. If you're on the Sony platform I can't see why anyone would go for the Viltrox. There is just far too much, far better competition and the weight is a deal breaker.

[@jliang70]

That is incorrect and I own both GM and Viltrox. It is in my opinion that Viltrox is better than Sony in term of sharpness, contrast and also in its colour rendering. Is it better than Sigma HSM ART 135mm? Yes, it is. I don't see an autofocus E mount 135mm better than this one. The two I think optically superior are the manual focus Zeiss Milvus and possibly Samyang 135mm F2.0

[@premiumyoutubechannel2341]

What about viltox vs sigma 135

[@benjhaisch]

They only make the old DSLR version, right?

[@aratafreecs3445]

I think the performance of this lens is stellar, but I won't buy it because it's too heavy. I currently own the Samyang 135 f1.8 and I love the weight, but the AF performance is a letdown. If Sigma doesn't come out with a 135 1.8 soon, I'll sell the Samyang for the Sony GM, which can be had used quite reliably under 1000€.

[@petrpohnan875]

??? Sigma has their 135/1.8 Art for 7 years now and it is truly great lens.

[@aratafreecs3445]

@@petrpohnan875 I've used plenty of Sigma DSLR lenses on my Sony bodies when I switched from Canon to Sony. Even with Sigma's own adapter, they made the camera crash oftentimes, and the autofocus just does not hold up in modern times. The Sigma is optically still good today, but WAY too heavy, which is the same thing I'm critiquing with the Viltrox and the AF is even worse. Not an option for me. If you only shoot subjects that never move, it wouldn't be a problem, but I use my long lenses for action and none of the 3rd party lenses do it well.

[@_rhapsodist]

just get the Samyang..lighter than the GM (but just as good) and cheaper than the Viltrox 😉

[@Acura1NSX]

Viltrox is far too heavy compared to the superior Sony GM plus the image quality is better for professionals.

[@corey.taylor.photography]

Cmonnnn canonnnnn..ugh

[@Kay-cy9vi]

Plastic is lighter, that's samyang

[@oliversteiner0815]

I will stay with the Samyang 135 mm. Viltrox' biggest problem is the size and weight of their lenses. Either they don't learn, or they just can't do any better. An absolute dealbreaker for me, I mainly do nature photography (apart from portraits) and every gram counts.

[@Kxiong.1]

You got what you paid for, there a reason why it’s way cheaper then the Sony GM.

[@benjhaisch]

Ok