Viltrox has been launching new lenses at a blistering rate recently, and that pace doesn't seem to be slowing. According to a recent teaser poster, its next release will be a Z-mount version of the AF 135mm f/1.8 LAB lens, coming on March 19th. We've seen this lens before in Sony-fit guise, and have given it a full review where it scored very well. The E-mount lens we sampled was extremely sharp, across the entire image frame, even wide open at f/1.8. Fringing and distortion proved to be exceptionally low, while the premium build quality is every bit a match for an own-brand Sony lens.
Nikon shooters should therefore be in for a treat. The E-mount AF 125mm F1.8 LAB currently retails for $899, which is a steal when you consider that its closest rival lens from Nikon is the Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena, which is around 2.5x more expensive. The Viltrox lens can't quite match the Plena's outright center-frame sharpness, but it's sharper in the corners, while also controlling fringing just as well as the Nikon optic, plus it produces even less distortion. It used to be that choosing a cheaper, third-party lens meant compromising on image quality, but that's far from true with the AF 135mm F1.8 LAB.
If the Z-mount edition goes on sale at the same $899 price point as its E-mount equivalent, it'll be an absolute bargain for Nikon users that want a super-high-quality portrait lens that won't break the bank.
