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Our market is full of 1.8/35 lenses equipped with autofocus and covering full frame sensors so we didn't have any problems with compiling the following chart.

Looking at this groups you find out that the Viltrox is a quite big and heavy lens. In these two categories it is defeated only by the Nikkor. It becomes understandable up to a point when you examine its optical construction, the most complex of all lenses, presented here. The Viltrox lags behind with the longest minimum focus distance, but when it comes to other parameters, it presents itself similarly to its direct rivals.

In the photo below, the Viltrox AF 35 mm f/1.8 EVO is positioned between two 1.4/35 Sigma models. On the left you get the new Sigma A 35 mm f/1.4 DG II, and on the right the older, reflex camera Sigma A 35 mm f/1.4 DG HSM.

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The tested lens starts with a metal mount with a USB-C port that allows you a quick software upgrade. The mount surrounds contacts and a plastic frame with rounded corners as big as 26 × 19 mm inside which there is a rear element of the lens, 28 mm in diameter. From this side everything looks very well.

A black ring made of metal that increases its diameter is the first part of the proper barrel of the Viltrox 1.8/35 EVO. On this ring you can find a red dot, making an alignment with a camera easier, a serial number, information about the place of production, China this time.

Then you find a metal, ribbed aperture ring, 14 mm wide. On the ring you find aperture markings ranging from f/1.8 to f/16 (every 1/3 EV step) and an automatic A value. The ring can be clicked or declicked, it moves properly well.

Further on, you find an inscription, 'AF 35/1.8 II FE' surrounded by an EVO badge on the one side and the logo of the producer on the other. On one side there is also an AF/MF switch and, below, a round function button. On the other side you see a CLICK ON/OFF switch that allows you to control the aperture ring modes (from clicked to declicked).

Then you see a manual focus ring, as wide as 24 mm, almost completely covered by fine ribbing. You won't find any distance or depth of field markings on it. The focus throw amounts to an angle of over 300 deg even if you move the ring fast, a significant value, allowing you very precise settings.

Then you see a metal ring that increases its diameter and ends with a hood mount.

The front element of the lens doesn't move, is slightly convex, 29 mm in diameter. It is surrounded by a part of the casing with inscriptions and a non-rotating filter thread, 58 mm in diameter. Among inscriptions that run around the front element, you also find one informing you about the filter diameter, minimum focusing distance, (0.34m/1.12ft), and the next one stating the basic parameters of the lens and abbreviations concerning different technologies used in the construction.

In this case it's STM, meaning a stepping motor, used in the lens's autofocus, ED concerning special glass elements inside; IF, meaning focus is set internally; and APO, suggesting perfect correction of chromatic aberration. Additionally, there is a 'Full Frame' inscription, informing you that the lens was designed to cooperate with full frame cameras.

When it comes to optical construction, you deal here with 13 elements positioned in 10 groups. Inside you can find two elements made of low dispersion ED glass, three made of glass with a high refraction index (HR), and one aspherical element. As you see, the producers weren't skimpy when it comes to special elements, a fact worth mentioning when it comes to a lens model with a very affordable price, reaching almost $400. Along with all these elements, there is also a round aperture with 9 diaphragm blades that can be closed to a value of f/16 at the maximum.

Buyers get in the box along with the lens: both caps, a hood and a soft pouch whose protective properties are rather mediocre.