New Viltrox AF 23mm f/1.4 E Lens reviewed at SonyAlphaBlog: “excellent sharpness in the centre”

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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.

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This week SAR readers photos selection

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James Gan
“Fish too small for a King!”
Sony A9 + 600mm + 1.4xTC
Ss5000
Iso1600
F6.3

1) You can submit one single picture per week only.
2) To submit your picture for the weekly readers roundup post you can choose one of the following three options:
– Instagram: Follow @sonyalphagallery and tag us on your picture to give us the permission to repost your image on the instagram gallery and on SAR (we will credit you)
– Facebook: Submit your picture on our group: facebook.com/groups/sonyalphacamera. Please add the hashtag “#sonyalphagallery ” to grant the permission for reposting on SAR. Without the hashtag we will not add your picture!
– Forum: Submit your picture on the SonyAlphaForum image section and add the hashtag “#sonyalphagallery ”
3) Like and comment the pictures from other readers here: instagram.com/sonyalphagallery, facebook.com/groups/sonyalphacamera and on SonyAlphaForum.
4) A selection of most liked pictures by the community and by me SAR admin will be posted weekly on SAR.

Note: When sending a pic feel free to also add a link to your site to promote yourself! And please do share one single picture per week only. Do not spam :)

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RUMOR: new Samyang 35mm f/1.8 FE will cost 359€ and be announced on Sept 14

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The leaked Samyang 35mmf /1.8 on the left vs the Sony 35mm FE (credit Derek)

I have been told the new Samyang 35mm f/1.8 FE will cost 359€. That’s about 200€ than what you pay for the Sony version (here on Amazon DE). The Samyang is also smaller than the Sony. If the Image Quality is about the same this is surely going to be a very popular lens!

The lens will be announced on Monday Sept 14.

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