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Review: Viltrox AF 75mm F/1.8 EVO Lens

Viltrox recently sent me a lens to try out: their brand-new AF 75mm f/1.8 EVO. This a portrait lens with a somewhat large maximum aperture. As a third-party (non-Fujinon) option, how good is it? Where does it fit within Fujifilm’s lineup? Is it worthwhile to buy? Those are the questions I will try to answer in this review.

The first question I had is: what does EVO mean? Apparently, it is short for “Evolution of Essentials” and designates Viltrox’s mid-tier lineup. They call their low-budget line AIR and the top-end PRO. So the 75mm f/1.8 fits in the middle. It’s probably most equivalent to Fujifilm’s “Fujicron” f/2 series, as far as build and image quality goes, which is good company to be in.

Fujifilm has a pretty mature lens lineup with high quality glass and without a lot of holes; however, there are indeed some holes. The middle ground is pretty crowded, but at the ultra-wide and telephoto ends, there is a little lack of coverage. After the Fujinon 56mm f/1.2, there are two macro’s—the aging 60mm f/2.4 (in need of a refresh) and the excellent but expensive 80mm f/2.8—and then the 90mm f/2. The 56mm f/1.2 and 90mm f/2 are a couple of my favorite lenses, and are great options, but there should be something in-between that’s fast and affordable (and not a macro). That’s where we find the Viltrox AF 75mm f/1.8 EVO.

A 75mm (112mm full-frame equivalent) lens isn’t just good for portrait photography, but for a lot of other things, too. Anytime you want to isolate the subject or compress the scene, this is a good focal-length choice. It can be used in street, travel, landscapes, events, still-life, and more. It’s a very useful focal length to have available for a variety of subjects and situations, but Fujifilm doesn’t offer it.

*Withering Cactus Flower* – Surprise, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5 & Viltrox 75mm – Vivid Velvia

The image quality from the Viltrox 75mm f/1.8 is fantastic. It has excellent sharpness edge-to-edge and very little distortion. When wide open, there is a very small drop in overall sharpness and some minor vignetting (nothing to be concerned about); however, stopping down just a little improves it, with optimal image quality around f/4 and f/5.6. Bokeh, which is the quality of the out of focus areas of the picture, is very pleasing. I was impressed with the photographs that this lens produces, and found very little to complain about. Well done, Viltrox!

Personally, I like lens flare, but not everyone does. The Viltrox lens controls flare very well. If the sun or a bright light is just out of frame, you can get some hazy “veiling” flare. Sunstars aren’t half bad when using small apertures. If you don’t like lens flare or if you do like sunstars, this lens is pretty good. Below are two examples of sunstars and one example of flare with this lens.

Autofocus was quiet, quick, and accurate. The focus ring is smooth, making manual focus pleasant. Close focus is mediocre, at “only” 29 inches (maybe a reason why those two macro lenses might be preferable). The aperture ring—yea, it has an aperture ring!—has nice clicks, with one-third intermediate stops in-between the full stops. It takes 58mm filters. Build quality seems quite good, perhaps a tad plasticky, if there’s anything negative to say about it. It has some level of weather sealing, although I did not put that too the test. The lens weighs only 11.8 ounces, which is just slightly more than the old kit Fujinon 18-55mm f/2.8-4 zoom, and pretty lightweight for a telephoto. It’s a little smaller than both the Fujinon 56mm f/1.2 and Fujinon 90mm f/2, making it a good in-between option that will fit a little easier into your camera bag.

Perhaps the number one selling point for the Viltrox AF 75mm f/1.8 EVO is the price, at only $330. For that low amount, it’s very easy to recommend. This isn’t a “good for the money” situation, though: the lens is good, the affordable price is a bonus. If you are in the market for a lens in-between Fujifilm’s 56mm and 90mm options, and you don’t want or need a macro, this is one to strongly consider. Also, maybe you own and love both the 56mm and 90mm, but want something that’s close enough to both yet is a little easier to travel with, this might be it. I think the Viltrox AF 75mm f/1.8 EVO is a really good lens, and it fills a void in the Fujinon lineup quite nicely. I’m very happy with it, and you probably would be, too.

*Two Ducks on a Boat Ramp* – Goodyear, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5 & Viltrox 75mm – Provia Positive

*Flower Pot by a Lake* – Goodyear, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5 & Viltrox 75mm – Provia Positive

*Three Palm Trunks* – Goodyear, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5 & Viltrox 75mm – Pacific Blues

*Vines Climbing a Palm* – Goodyear, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5 & Viltrox 75mm – Reggie’s Superia

*Waiting on a Bench* – Phoenix, Arizona – Fujifilm X-E5 & Viltrox 75mm – 1-Hour Photo

*Chloe* – Surprise, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5 & Viltrox 75mm – Reggie’s Superia

*Circles & Stripes* – Surprise, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5 & Viltrox 75mm – Kodak Tri-X 400

*Prickless Cactus* – Surprise, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5 & Viltrox 75mm – Kodak Tri-X 400

*Withered Cactus Bloom* – Surprise, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5 & Viltrox 75mm – Reggie’s Superia

*Cholla in the Rocks* – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5 & Viltrox 75mm – Pacific Blues

*Shaded Saguaro* – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5 & Viltrox 75mm – Pacific Blues

*Evening in the Desert* – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5 & Viltrox 75mm – 1970’s Summer

*Arizona Sunset* – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5 & Viltrox 75mm – Avalon Ace

*Electric Sunset* – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5 & Viltrox 75mm – Provia Positive

*Joyful Smile* – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5 & Viltrox 75mm – Kodak Film

*Party Soda* – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5 & Viltrox 75mm – Kodak Film

*Sunset Moon* – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-E5 & Viltrox 75mm – Provia Positive

This post contains affiliate links, and if you make a purchase using my links I’ll be compensated a small amount for it.

Fujifilm X-E5 in black:
Amazon, B&H, Moment, Nuzira
Fujifilm X-E5 in silver:
Amazon, B&H, Moment, Nuzira
Viltrox AF 75mm f/1.8 EVO:
Amazon, B&H

Review: TTArtisan AF 56mm F/1.8

Posted on April 19, 2024 by Ritchie Roesch

A few months back Pergear reached out to me and asked if I would like to test an upcoming lens. This is actually the second time that this has happened; the first was the TTArtisan AF 35mm f/1.8. Now this time, the lens is the TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8. Unlike the 35mm lens, which was quite obviously an early-preproduction model, the 56mm seemed very production-ready. It’s still technically a preproduction model, but I don’t think there’s much, if any, changes between my copy and the final version that is now available for purchase; however, just to be completely transparent, there could be something different that I’m unaware of.

The TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8 lens is an affordable autofocus portrait lens for Fujifilm X-mount. I’m sure it’s available for other lens mounts, too, but this is a Fujifilm-centric website, so we’re specifically talking about using it with Fujifilm cameras. Because of the crop factor, 56mm on APS-C is an 84mm full-frame-equivalent focal-length, which means that it is basically an 85mm lens, a fairly common focal-length for portrait photography. I’m not a portrait photographer myself, so I mostly used it for other subjects.

The maximum aperture on the TTArtisan AF 56mm lens is f/1.8, and the minimum is f/16, with 1/3 intermediate-stops in-between the full-stops. The minimum focus distance is about 20″, which is decent. There are 10 elements in 9 groups, with 9 aperture blades. The lens accepts 52mm threaded filters. It is made mostly of metal and weighs about half a pound. It has similar dimensions to the TTArtisan AF 35mm f/1.8, which means that it is reasonably-sized for a telephoto. The autofocus motor is fairly quick and quiet, but not quite as snappy as most Fujinon lenses that I’ve used, and it has a tendency to hunt sometimes. It comes with a little lens hood. Like the 35mm lens, the firmware for this lens is updated via a USB connection in the rear lens cap, but apparently requires a Windows operating system. It has electrical contacts, which means that the lens information is recorded into the EXIF data.

This TTArtisan is pretty good optically, and I really don’t have a lot to say about it. Oftentimes with these less-expensive third-party options, there are flaws which can give your photographs character that precision-engineered glass cannot. If you appreciate that character, it might be a reason to purchase the lens, and if you don’t appreciate it, that might be a reason not to buy. The TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8 doesn’t have very many flaws, so it lacks the typical character that one might expect; instead, you have good sharpness corner-to-corner without vignetting or other issues, especially when stopped down a little—wide open, there is a little corner softness and vignetting, but it’s not bad. I’m not convinced that this lens can fully resolve the 40mp sensor found in some of the latest cameras. I don’t think that really matters—for example, I sometimes use the Fujinon 18-55mm f/2.8-4 kit zoom, which also doesn’t fully resolve 40mp, and I don’t think twice about it and I’m not bothered by it in the slightest. I believe that maximum sharpness is around f/5.6, but I didn’t do any scientific tests to figure that out.

My opinion is that any and all lenses for Fujifilm X-series cameras should have an aperture ring. Of course not all of them do—not even all Fujinon lenses. Many of the low-budget options don’t have an aperture ring; a lot of third-party lenses are made for multiple lens mounts, and aperture rings aren’t necessarily common for other brands. The TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8 does not have an aperture ring, which is my largest negative comment about it. My hope is that TTArtisan would someday offer a version with an aperture ring.

Something else that might be considered a complaint—or a compliment (depending on your perspective)—is lens flare, which is well controlled. I had to work at achieving it in my pictures, even with the hood off. If you like flare (which I do, personally), that might be considered a negative, but if you don’t like it, then it’s positive news. The pictures below are the best that I could get regarding lens flare.

*Fujifilm X-T5 + TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8 + Summer of ’59*

*Fujifilm X-T5 + TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8 + Agfa Ultra 100 v2*

*Fujifilm X-T5 + TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8 +* Fujicolor Natura 1600

I really had to consider which Fujinon lens this TTArtisan best competes with. Of course, there’s the 56mm f/1.2, but I believe if you can afford that one, you’re going with the Fujinon, no questions asked. So maybe the TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8 is a good alternative to it if money is tight, and could serve as a temporary stop-gap until you can afford the better lens. There’s also the Fujinon 60mm f/2.4 Macro, which might seem like a less-obvious comparison at first glance. While the TTArtisan is not a macro by any means, there are similarities, I think, between the two with regards to image quality and autofocus performance and such. If you don’t need the macro capabilities, the TTArtisan is about as good, yet with a larger maximum aperture and a significantly lower cost, at only $168.00 USD (or $158 when ordered directly from Pergear). Between the Fujinon 60mm f/2.4 Macro and the TTArtisan 56mm f/1.8, if I wasn’t interested in close-focusing capabilities, the TTArtisan is similar quality for a fraction of the cost, and is a better overall value. Otherwise, the Viltrox 56mm f/1.7 was recently released and is seemingly similar for a little less money. If you’re in the market for a good quality autofocus portrait lens for your Fujifilm camera, the TTArtsian AF 56mm f/1.8 is definitely one to consider, just as long as the lack of an aperture ring doesn’t bother you.

This post contains affiliate links, and if you make a purchase using my links I’ll be compensated a small amount for it.

TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8:
Amazon, Amazon (<— save 10% with code 10POB9YC for a limited time using that link)
Fujifilm X-T5 in black:
Amazon, B&H, Moment, Wex, Nuzira
Fujifilm X-T5 in silver:
Amazon, B&H, Moment, Wex, Nuzira

Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs captured using my preproduction version of the TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8 lens on my Fujifilm X-T5:

*Fujifilm X-T5 + TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8 + Kodak Portra 800 v3 – Photo by Jon Roesch*

*Fujifilm X-T5 + TTArtisan AF 56mm f/1.8 + Kodak Portra 800 v3*

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