Sigma 20-200mm 3.5-6.3 DG Contemporary on Sony A7rII
You haven’t seen (m)any reviews of superzoom lenses on this blog so far, because traditionally many of those ~10x zoom lenses were either lacking in terms of optical performance (e.g. Sony FE 24-240mm 3.5-5.6 OSS) and/or I personally didn’t find the focal length range particularly useful, often starting at 28mm (e.g. Tamron 28-200mm 2.8-5.6 Di III RXD). Furthermore, if you want to review such lenses properly, it takes a lot of time and effort, equal to reviewing several prime lenses.
With its unique focal length range this Sigma 20-200mm 3.5-6.3 DG Contemporary intrigued me though, but can the performance of such a bold design be any good? I ultimately decided to buy one and see for myself how it performs, so here we are.
By mid 2026 we have seen a lot of lenses from the Chinese manufacturers: some with class leading optical performance, some with unique specifications, some very affordable. There is one thing we haven’t seen yet though (at least not that I can recall): an autofocussing zoom lens. I would have first expected a lens like that from Viltrox, Laowa or 7Artisans, but it is Thypoch – so far specialized in all manual M-mount lenses – bringing a lens like this to the market: the Thypoch 24-50mm 2.8 Voyager. Did they succeed in designing a lens like this, or was it too ambitious? Let’s find out together in this review!
Since its release in 2019 I have been using the Sigma 35mm 1.2 Art DG DN as my main lens for any kind of reportage work. It took until 2025 for another manufacturer to challenge Sigma by releasing a 35mm 1.2 lens with autofocus of their own. Actually, there were two at almost the same time: Nikon with their Nikon Z 35mm 1.2 S and Viltrox with this Viltrox AF 35mm 1.2 FE LAB. As the Nikon lens sells for 3 grand it is out of reach for most people. This Viltrox lens is way more attractively priced, so let’s find out if it is time to retire my Sigma 35mm 1.2 Art DG DN after 6 years of usage. Last Update May 2026: information on new “N” version added
Sample Images
Sony A7III | Viltrox AF 35mm 1.2 FE LAB | f/1.2Sony A7III | Viltrox AF 35mm 1.2 FE LAB | f/1.2Sony A7III | Viltrox AF 35mm 1.2 FE LAB | f/1.2Sony A7III | Viltrox AF 35mm 1.2 FE LAB | f/1.2Sony A7III | Viltrox AF 35mm 1.2 FE LAB | f/1.2Sony A7III | Viltrox AF 35mm 1.2 FE LAB | f/1.3Sony A7III | Viltrox AF 35mm 1.2 FE LAB | f/1.2Sony A7III | Viltrox AF 35mm 1.2 FE LAB | f/1.2Sony A7III | Viltrox AF 35mm 1.2 FE LAB | f/1.2Sony A7III | Viltrox AF 35mm 1.2 FE LAB | f/1.2
Released in 2007, the Nikon AF-S 14-24mm 2.8G was the first ultra wide angle zoom combining a 14-24mm viewing angle with a maximum aperture of f/2.8. Coming in at almost 1 kg, many people considered it to be too heavy to carry around all day and that bulbous front element didn’t help either. Almost two decades later Samyang decided to show us what the advantages can be, designing a lens with the same specifications, but for today’s mirrorless cameras. Let’s have a look together at the smallest and lightest 14-24mm 2.8 lens – that even comes with a standard 77mm filter thread – the Samyang x Schneider Kreuznach AF 14-24mm 2.8 FE.
Sample Images
Sony A7III | Samyang AF 14-24mm 2.8 FE | 14mm | f/2.8Sony A7III | Samyang AF 14-24mm 2.8 FE | 14mm | f/2.8Sony A7III | Samyang AF 14-24mm 2.8 FE | 14mm | f/5.6Sony A7III | Samyang AF 14-24mm 2.8 FE | 14mm | f/4.0Sony A7III | Samyang AF 14-24mm 2.8 FE | 18mm | f/2.8Sony A7III | Samyang AF 14-24mm 2.8 FE | 18mm | f/2.8Sony A7III | Samyang AF 14-24mm 2.8 FE | 24mm | f/2.8
Not that long ago we reviewed the Viltrox AF 85mm 2.0 Evo – the first lens of the Evo series – and it turned out to be a very compelling lens; correcting most optical aberrations very well in a compact, affordable package. It didn’t take long for Viltrox to extend the lineup, so here is the Viltrox AF 35mm 1.8 Evo and this time Viltrox even added an “Apo” tag, hinting at even better optical performance. Did they design the ideal compact autofocussing 35mm lens? Let’s find out in this review. Update May 4th: new sample pictures added
Sample Images
Sony A7III | Viltrox AF 35mm 1.8 FE Evo | f/1.8Sony A7III | Viltrox AF 35mm 1.8 FE Evo | f/1.8Sony A7III | Viltrox AF 35mm 1.8 FE Evo | f/1.8Sony A7III | Viltrox AF 35mm 1.8 FE Evo | f/1.8Sony A7III | Viltrox AF 35mm 1.8 FE Evo | f/1.8Sony A7III | Viltrox AF 35mm 1.8 FE Evo | f/1.8Sony A7III | Viltrox AF 35mm 1.8 FE Evo | f/1.8
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