The Fujinon XF 56mm f/1.2 R WR and its predecessors have been the undisputed kings of the medium tele class in Fujifilm X mount. However, their reign is now being challenged by a new contender – the Viltrox AF 56mm f/1.2 Pro XF (also available in E- and Z-mount). The Viltrox lens has a suggested retail price of $580 USD (599 EUR, 530 GBP, 840 CAD, 97500 JPY), which undercuts the price of the Fujinon by almost half. The question is, of course, whether there’s more to the lens than just an attractive price tag, so let’s see how it goes.
Mechanically, the Viltrox AF 56mm f/1.2 Pro XF feels great. The lens body is made of metal, and this includes the smooth focus ring as well as the dedicated aperture ring. This does, however, also mean that the lens is comparatively heavy at 575g. The lens features sealing against dust and moisture. The X-mount version is slightly simplified compared to the E- and Z-mount versions. The latter also offer an AF/MF switch, a customizable Fn button, and a declick mode for the aperture ring. A petal-shaped lens hood is part of the package. New firmware can be uploaded via a USB-C port.
The AF is driven by a HyperVCM (voice coil motor), which is very fast and silent. Manual focusing works “by-wire” and is very precise (which can’t be said about the Fujinon XF 56mm f/1.2 R WR…).
Note: 2-3x times our camera (X-H2) locked up with a warning message just after mounting the lens. This disappeared after cleaning the contacts.
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Optical construction | 13 elements in 8 groups (1x UA, 1x ED, 3x HR) |
| Number of aperture blades | 11 |
| min. focus distance | 0.5m (max magnification 0.13x) |
| Dimensions | φ78.4x92mm |
| Weight | 570g |
| Filter size | φ67mm |
| Hood | petal-shaped (bayonet mount, supplied) |
| Other features | X-mount: – aperture ring – USB-C port for firmware updates The E- and Z-mount versions also add: – AF/MF switch – Fn Button – De-click switch |
Distortions
The Viltrox AF 56mm f/1.2 Pro XF produces a slight to medium amount of pincushion distortion in RAW images. Auto-correction is not available in the X-mount version.
Vignetting
Ultra-large aperture lenses tend to produce high vignetting at max aperture. The Viltrox lens is no exception here. At f/1.2, the vignetting is quite noticeable at just over 1.4 EV (f-stops). Stopping down reduces the issue gradually. It’s still present at f/1.6 and well managed from f/2.8 onward.
Once again, auto-correction is not available in the X-mount version.
MTF (resolution) at 26 megapixels
The Viltrox AF 56mm f/1.2 Pro XF produced pretty impressive resolution figures in our lab. At f/1.2, the center quality is very good to excellent, and the outer image field makes it across the very good mark (just). Stopping down to f/1.6 doesn’t do much in terms of image quality, but there’s a boost at f/2 with the broader center lifted to excellent levels and a slight increase in the border/corner quality. The peak performance is reached between f/2.8 and f/4, with very good quality now also reached in the outer image field. As usual, diffraction is a limiting factor beyond. Stopping down to f/11 is usually not recommended anymore (that’s generally so for all APS-C lenses).
The field curvature is low. The centering quality of the tested sample was good.
Please note that the MTF results are not directly comparable across the different systems!
Below is a simplified summary of the formal findings. The chart shows line widths per picture height (LW/PH) which can be taken as a measure of sharpness. If you would like to know more about the MTF50 figures, you may check out the corresponding Imatest Explanations.
Chromatic Aberrations (CAs)
Lateral CAs have an average width of around 0.5px at the image borders and max aperture. This is almost negligible, even without auto-correction.
Bokeh
Sharpness is one thing, but that’s not a reason for purchasing such a lens. Almost more interesting than this is the quality of the bokeh – and the Viltrox lens doesn’t disappoint here.
Out-of-focus highlights are nicely rendered with a very smooth inner zone of the discs and barely any outlining effect. The circular shape of the discs remains intact even at f/2.8 – thanks to the 11 rounded aperture blades.
When looking at the highlight rendering across the whole image field, we can spot a deterioration towards “cat-eyes” from roughly the near mid-field into the corners. As usual, stopping down will broaden the zone showing circular discs, and the corner discs are restored at f/2.8.
The rendering quality in the focus transition zone is very smooth in the image background – shown to the left below. The foreground blur (to the right) is somewhat harsh with distinctive “edge shadows.”
Bokeh Fringing / LoCA
LoCAs, or bokeh fringing, is a color fringing effect on the Z-axis. It shows up with a purplish tint in front of the focus point and a greenish tint behind – and it’s nearly impossible to fully correct in post.
The Viltrox lens struggles a bit at f/1.2, which isn’t all that surprising at this speed. You can spot quite some fringing here. This doesn’t change much at f/1.6. The effect decreases at f/2, and there are only traces left at f/2.8.
You may also notice that there’s a marginal focus point towards the rear (RSA). However, this has no practical impact because the focus point remains sharp due to the increased depth-of-field.
Competition
As mentioned in the introduction, the Fujinon XF 56mm f/1.2 WR is the main competitor. Optically, there isn’t much between this and the Viltrox lens. However, the Viltrox lens does certainly have the superior AF and manual focusing – which is unusual. Typically, third-party lenses are worse in this respect. Another competitor is certainly the slightly slower Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DC DN Contemporary, which is about as good and may give you the reassurance of a better-known brand. Both the Sigma and Fujinon are more lightweight and compact.
Sample Images
Given all the recent lens releases (and more to come this year), it's safe to state that Viltrox is on fire. How many Viltrox lenses have we tested this year? 5-6? Anyway, the Viltrox AF 56mm f/1.2 Pro XF (also available in E- and Z-mount) is certainly another very welcome addition - especially given the high prices that Fujifilm is asking these days. Optically, the lens is excellent with a few caveats. The sharpness is generally very good to excellent. Lateral CAs are very low. Two compromises that you'll have to live with are the lack of auto-correction for image distortions and vignetting. However, both aspects are reasonably well managed, and removing/reducing this manually shouldn't be a big deal if at all required. The all-important bokeh is very pleasing in terms of background and out-of-focus highlight smoothness. Axial CAs can be visible in certain scenes, though.
The weather-sealed all-metal construction feels superb, although the downside is a comparatively heavy weight. The control ring action feels great. Funnily, both AF and manual focusing are better than on the Fujinon XF 56mm f/1.2 R WR. Videographers may be disappointed by the lack of a clickless aperture ring option in X-mount. This is available in the E- and Z-mount versions.
Overall, we really liked the handling and the quality of the image that we've taken with the Viltrox AF 56mm f/1.2 Pro XF.
Viltrox lenses are available from the usual suspects, such as Amazon or B&H. If you are interested in this lens, you could get 5% off via the Viltrox store for a little while.
The Good
- Sharp
- Superb build quality
- Snappy and precise AF
- Very pleasing bokeh
The Bad
- Some LoCAs (axial CAs)
- Comparatively heavy
- No auto-correction (in X-mount)
- No de-clickable aperture ring (in X-mount)
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Optical Quality
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Build Quality
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Price / Performance