REVIEW: Viltrox AF 75mm f/1.8 EVO (APS-C)

Introduction

After releasing three full-frame lenses in its mid-tier EVO series, positioned between the Air and Pro lines, Viltrox has now turned its attention to APS-C users with the simultaneous release of two new lenses: the 75mm f/1.8 and the 90mm f/2.2.

In this review, I take a closer look at the AF 75mm f/1.8 STM ED IF, which offers a full-frame equivalent field of view of approximately 113mm—a short-telephoto focal length suitable for portraits, weddings, and isolating mid-distant details.

I also reviewed the 90mm f/2.2 Evo and was impressed by its performance, you can see that review here. Now, let’s take a look at this 75mm.

I tested this lens on a 26.1 Mp Fujifilm X-S20, with the same sensor as in X-H2S, X-T4, X-Pro3, etc.
You can see this review as a YouTube video here!
Sample images in high resolution here.

Sample Images

Most of the sample images in this review and many more can be found in higher resolution here.

Specifications

Disclosure

Viltrox kindly provided this lens for test and review purposes.

Handling and Build Quality

This Viltrox AF 75mm 1.8 Evo is one of the first two lenses in Viltrox’s EVO lineup for APS-C sensors, and it handles more or less like its full-frame cousins. It’s quite compact and light for such a focal length. The body is made of hard plastic, while the rings are metal.

The lens mount is metallic and also features, in addition to the electronic pins, a USB-C port for firmware updates. There is a rubber gasket around the mount, providing weather sealing.

It features a dedicated de-clickable aperture ring (on Sony E and Nikon Z) similar in style and function to Sony’s GM and later G lenses. The Fuji X mount version is lacking this switch

Neither the AF/MF switch nor the function button found on Z and E versions are present on the Fuji X version.

The aperture ring has 1/3 of a stop click stops – which you can declick on Z and E versions by using a switch on the right side of the lens. It is not available on the X version.

You can also set the ring to “A”(utomatic) and let the camera choose the aperture value or to be able to use the camera dial to change the aperture value instead of using the aperture ring.

The dedicated aperture ring allows you to preset the desired aperture when the camera is not turned on yet, which can save crucial time in the heat of the moment.

The focus ring has decent damping and a non-linear coupling. The faster you turn the focus ring, the shorter the rotation needed from the minimum focus distance (0.74 m) to infinity.
When you turn your camera off, the lens will remember the last focus position and will still be there when you turn the camera on again.

The autofocus is accurate and quiet, but the speed is only average.

The lens comes with the usual front and rear caps, as well as a lens hood, which is quite basic but attaches securely to the lens with a click.

Optical Features

Sharpness (Infinity)

For the infinity sharpness test, we’ll look at three areas of the image — center, mid-frame, and corner — as highlighted below. Focus was set on the center of the image!

I focused on the center of the image.

I was impressed by the level of sharpness delivered by the 90mm f/2.2 EVO, and this lens is at least as good, if not slightly better. Wide open at f/1.8, it delivers excellent resolution and strong contrast across the frame, from the center to the corners. The corners appear slightly darker at f/1.8 due to vignetting, but one advantage over its 90mm sibling is the absence of visible color fringing in the corners.

The lens maintains its excellent performance up to f/11. Diffraction causes a slight reduction in sharpness at f/16, but image quality remains well above average even there.

Sharpness (Portrait)

Let’s look at the points of interest for portraits at the portrait distance: the very centre, the centre’s inner periphery  (1/3 rule intersection), and the centre’s outer periphery (1/4th intersection).

Here, I focused independently on the center, mid-frame, and corner areas to account for field curvature.

Even here, sharpness is excellent across all measured points, starting at f/1.8. The outer circle appears slightly darker at f/1.8 due to vignetting, but this is largely eliminated by f/2.8.

Sharpness (Close-up)

For close-up testing, I focused on the center of the frame and only included a 100% center crop.

At the minimum focusing distance, the image is a little softer wide open at f/1.8, but still remains at an acceptable level. Sharpness improves to a very good level at f/2.8 and becomes excellent from f/4 onward.

Lens Distortion

The Viltrox 75mm EVO is very well corrected for distortion, with no visible distortion in real-world use. Well done, Viltrox.

Vignetting

The lens shows moderate vignetting wide open at f/1.8, but the corners quickly brighten when stopping down one stop to f/2.8, reducing it to a very mild level. From f/4 onward, there is practically no vignetting present.

• F/1.8: 1.6 EV
• F/2.8: 1.0 EV
• F/4.0: 0.3 EV
• F/5.6: 0.2 EV
• F/8.0: 0.1 EV

Focus Shift & Aberrations

There is very mild longitudinal chromatic aberration present wide open at f/1.8, just like with the 90mm f/2.2. It is not bad at all, though. It improves significantly at f/2.8 and is completely gone by f/4.

There are no issues with lateral chromatic aberration, which is very good.

Flare Resistance

Here, you can make almost any lens look bad if you try hard enough. I deliberately put this lens through a demanding stress test and, unsurprisingly, managed to bring out its worst side.

In normal shooting situations, however, its flare resistance is actually quite decent. That said, it can produce veiling flare relatively easily when the sun is within the frame, leading to a noticeable loss of contrast when it occurs.

Ghosting flare is well controlled.

Coma

Coma is rarely an issue in telephoto lens applications. Nevertheless, we take a look at it. Below, you can see 100% crops from the upper-left corner of the frame. As you can see, coma smearing is virtually nonexistent and completely negligible.

Sunstars

This is another strong feature of the lens; it can produce sunstars at almost any aperture. They become quite attractive and well-defined from f/8 and smaller apertures.

Focus Breathing

This is one of the few areas where the lens struggles, as it exhibits quite noticeable focus breathing when pulling focus.

Bokeh

Bokeh highlights look quite nice, with evenly lit specular highlights and no double edging or bright rims around them. The bokeh balls gradually take on a cat’s-eye shape towards the corners.

Let’s have a closer look at the background blur at different distances!

Short Distance

At close distances, this lens, like many others with similar specifications, produces an extremely soft, unrecognizable background blur, which is quite pleasing.

Mid-Distance

Mid-range distances are arguably more important for a lens like this, as portraiture will likely be one of its primary applications. Fortunately, the background blur remains attractive here as well. In this picture series here, the foliage positioned relatively close behind the subject presents a particularly challenging test, but to my eye, the lens handles it very nicely.

Long Distance

Even at long distances, the background blur remains very pleasing. Overall, the bokeh is generally soft and remains attractive in all situations.

The beauty of bokeh is ultimately in the eye of the beholder. The sample images in this section also feature fairly similar backgrounds and environments. Throughout the review, however, I have included numerous images that showcase this lens’s rendering in a variety of scenes and under varying conditions. Take a look at them and judge for yourself how much you like the bokeh.

Conclusion

Wow, I was impressed by the 90mm f/2.2 EVO; I am even more amazed by this 75mm f/1.8 EVO, especially considering its price point and where Viltrox positions it in the market.

With sharpness that is far beyond the ordinary, dazzling contrast, perfect distortion control, smooth bokeh, excellent vignetting performance, beautiful sunstars, good resistance to ghosting when shooting into the sun, and excellent control of lateral chromatic aberration, this lens comes remarkably close to perfection. The main factor keeping it from the very top tier is focus breathing, which still has some room for improvement, although that will be completely irrelevant if you do not shoot video. I would also have liked to see better control of longitudinal chromatic aberration and veiling flare to make the optical performance truly exceptional. Faster autofocus would also be appreciated for portraits involving moving subjects. Finally, I miss having an AF/MF switch and a de-click switch for video work on the Fuji X version.

Compared to its 90mm sibling, this lens is optically superior and arguably more versatile, as it does not require the same working distance. The 90mm, however, still offers greater reach and stronger compression.

Unless you specifically need an even faster lens, such as an f/1.2, for portrait work, this is a lens that APS-C photographers should seriously consider.

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Alternatives

TTArtisan 75mm f/2
This is a full-frame lens and is only available for Sony E and Nikon Z mounts. It is also an excellent option for APS-C cameras. On an APS-C body, only the central part of the image circle is used, meaning that only the sharpest portion of the frame is captured while corner vignetting is largely eliminated. The lens is very sharp, and its size and weight are comparable to those of the Viltrox, yet it sells for only about two-thirds of the price.
Buy new: TTArtisan Store , Amazon (anywhere) (Affiliate links)

Viltrox 75mm f/1.2 PRO
This lens belongs to Viltrox’s PRO series, which is designed to offer a step up from the EVO series. Its main advantage is, of course, the two-thirds of a stop faster maximum aperture, providing slightly better low-light performance and a shallower depth of field for stronger subject separation and more pronounced bokeh. The trade-off is that it is larger, heavier, and more expensive.
Buy new: Viltrox Store, Amazon (anywhere)  (Affiliate links)
Buy used: ebay.com, ebay.de, ebay.co.uk from (Affiliate links)

TTArtisan 75mm f/1.5 (Biotar design)
This lens is a very different proposition in terms of character. It is a modern reinterpretation of the legendary Zeiss Biotar, featuring a fully manual design and available only in M42 mount. However, it can be easily adapted to virtually any mirrorless camera using an inexpensive mechanical adapter. The lens is renowned and beloved by many photographers for its distinctive rendering and characteristic swirly bokeh.
Buy new: TTArtisan’s Store, Amazon,  (Affiliate links)

Viltrox 56mm f/1.2 PRO
Not a 75mm, but if you want a portrait lens with a classic focal length and less tight field of view with a speed of f/1.2 for your APS-C camera, this is also a very good option
Buy new: Viltrox Store X mount, Viltrox Store E mount, Viltrox Store Z mount,  B&H, Amazon , eBay.com, eBay.de (Affiliate links)

More Sample Images

Most of the sample images in this review and many more can be found in higher resolution here.

Further Reading

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Martin M.H. lives outside Stockholm, Sweden. He is a M.Sc. in Computer Technology but he has been a passionate photographer for over 50 years. He started his photographic adventures when he was thirteen with an Agfamatic pocket camera, which he soon replaced with a Canon rangefinder camera that his mom gave him in his teenages. After that he has been using Canon SLR, Nikon SLR manual focus and Autofocus, Sony mirrorless crop sensor, Nikon DSLR and Nikon Mirrorless. He has photographed any genre he could throughout the years and you can see all kind of images in his portfolio. During the later years though it has been mostly landscape, nature, travel and some street/documentary photography.