{"id":3188,"date":"2014-03-13T20:01:46","date_gmt":"2014-03-14T01:01:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/?p=3188"},"modified":"2015-08-30T08:23:58","modified_gmt":"2015-08-30T13:23:58","slug":"review-fujifilm-fujinon-xf-56mm-f1-2-r","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/review-fujifilm-fujinon-xf-56mm-f1-2-r\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Fujifilm Fujinon XF 56mm f\/1.2 R"},"content":{"rendered":"

The long-awaited Fuji 56mm f\/1.2 is here. \u00a0Since first appearing on the Fujifilm lens roadmap over a year ago (then as a 56mm f\/1.4), Fuji has upped the speed by a third of a stop, finalized the design and shipped one of the last missing links in the Fuji X prime lens lineup: a fast portrait lens. \u00a0 \u00a0I’ll take an in-depth look in this review of the Fuji 56mm f\/1.2, and see whether Fuji hit the mark.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Fujinon XF 56mm f\/1.2 R<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019re not familiar with my reviews, I review from a real world shooting perspective. \u00a0You won\u2019t find lens charts or resolution numbers here. \u00a0There are plenty of other sites that cover those. \u00a0I review products on how they act for me as a photographic tool in real-world shooting.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Build Quality and Handling<\/h3>\n

The Fuji 56mm f\/1.2 is the largest of the Fuji prime lenses, being roughly the same diameter as the 23mm f\/1.4, but slightly longer.\u00a0 Despite the size the lens is lighter than you might expect and it handles well on my X-E2 (though I do use the MHG-XE grip).\u00a0 The lens is constructed entirely of metal, with a wide ribbed focus ring and the standard Fuji aperture ring at the base.<\/p>\n

The focus ring on the 56mm f\/1.2 is very well damped and generally smooth, though I notice if I turn it enough, the resistance you feel can change, which is a little odd.\u00a0 The aperture ring on my 56mm is a little looser than I’d like, though not loose like the one on my 14mm f\/2.8.\u00a0 Overall, the lens feels reassuringly solid and well put together.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The 56mm f\/1.2 with hood mounted on the Fujifilm X-E2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 56mm f\/1.2 comes with a plastic bayonet mount lens hood that is reversible for storage.\u00a0 While the hood doesn’t exactly feel expensive, I’m fine with a plastic hood, as I don’t need to worry about scraping the lens body like I do with the metal hood used on the 60mm f\/2.4 macro.\u00a0 One nice thing with the 56mm’s hood is that it is interchangeable with the Fuji 55-200mm and vice versa.\u00a0 Either hood mounts securely to each lens and provides good shading with no vignetting.\u00a0 As a result, it’s one less hood I need to have in my bag.<\/p>\n

Focus Performance<\/h3>\n

When Fuji created their X-Trans II sensor in the X-E2 and later the X-T1, they created a focusing paradigm that makes it difficult for us reviewers out there. \u00a0See, in PDAF mode, the 56mm f\/1.2, like most Fuji lenses, focuses extremely quickly. \u00a0 However, when CDAF is used, it’s not nearly as fast. \u00a0In CDAF mode, the 56mm f\/1.2 is an average performer at best. \u00a0It’s not slow to focus, but no one would call it ‘fast’ either. \u00a0Still, for my purposes, it works just fine.<\/p>\n

I did find that when using PDAF for tracking motion with the X-E2, the 56mm f\/1.2 did a very admirable job keeping up with moving subjects. \u00a0I was able to capture a nice shot at f\/1.2 of my son crawling towards me, as well as my daughter riding her bike directly at me. \u00a0Overall, focus accuracy was excellent for me as well.<\/p>\n

While I still wouldn’t count on the Fuji system for dedicated sports shooting, I think for most uses, the focus performance of the 56mm f\/1.2 will work just fine. \u00a0Compared to other f\/1.2 portrait lenses I’ve used, the 56mm falls somewhere in the middle in terms of focus speed. \u00a0It’s notably faster to focus than the Canon 85mm f\/1.2L, and notably slower to focus (except in PDAF) than the Panasonic Leica 42.5mm f\/1.2 (which I am shooting for review at the moment).<\/p>\n

The XF 56mm f\/1.2 focuses down to 0.7m, which is relatively close for a lens in this focal range and speed. \u00a0Similar full-frame lenses usually only focus as close as 0.85m to 1m. \u00a0While it’s not going to get you into extreme closeup territory, it does allow you to frame relatively tight portraits.<\/p>\n

Continue: Image Quality<\/a><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

Image Quality<\/h3>\n

Sharpness<\/h4>\n
\"Close<\/a>
Close Up – Fujifilm X-E2 with Fujinon XF 56mm f\/1.2 @ f\/1.2 (click to enlarge)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One thing that is generally compromised on ultra-fast lenses is wide-open sharpness. \u00a0The Fuji XF 56mm f\/1.2 bucks that trend rather convincingly. \u00a0The lens is surprisingly sharp across the frame right from f\/1.2. Even the very corners are quite sharp at this wide aperture when focused closer up. \u00a0At further focus distances, the corners show some softness at\u00a0f\/1.2, possibly due to field curvature, but the lens still performs brilliantly\u00a0overall\u00a0here for such a fast lens. \u00a0 Take a look at the image to the right to see how sharp the 56mm can be wide open (click on the image then on the green arrow at the bottom to view larger).<\/p>\n

Stopping down brings images into razor-sharp territory across the entire frame at all focus distances. Images have great cross frame sharpness by f\/2 and stopped down to f\/4 the lens is absolutely tack sharp from extreme corner to extreme corner.<\/p>\n

Bokeh<\/h4>\n

With a fast portrait lens, bokeh is one of the primary considerations in evaluating image quality. \u00a0While the XF 56mm f\/1.2 doesn’t produce ‘perfect’ bokeh, I quite like the overall rendering of the out of focus areas. \u00a0For the most part, backgrounds are rendered softly and quite smoothly. \u00a0Specular highlights can show a slight bright outlining, however. \u00a0This can lead to a somewhat busier background than some of the other Fuji lenses under the right circumstances. \u00a0While some may find any sort of bright outlining objectionable, in this case I find it gives the lens a bit of character. \u00a0However, you must be the judge.<\/p>\n

\"Tea<\/a>
Tea – Fujifilm XE-2 with Fujinon XF 56mm f\/1.2 @ f\/1.2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Color, Contrast and Chromatic Aberration<\/h4>\n

Overall, the Fuji XF 56mm f\/1.2 renders colors naturally and neutrally. \u00a0At smaller apertures, saturation is increased. \u00a0At wide apertures, the contrast curve straight out of camera is relatively gentle, leading to lower contrast images that still provide a pleasing look. \u00a0Stopped down beyond f\/2, contrast picks up quite a bit, providing a lot of punch and high contrast results at smaller apertures. \u00a0If you want a punchier look at wider apertures, the images out of camera respond well to added contrast in these situations.<\/p>\n

\"Adding<\/a>
Adding Caramel to the Crepe – Fujifilm X-E2 with Fujinon XF 56mm f\/1.2 @ f\/1.2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the XF 56mm f\/1.2 shows minimal lateral chromatic aberration, it does exhibit some visible spherochromatism, which displays as a magenta fringe on objects out of focus in the foreground and a green fringe on objects in the background. \u00a0Overall, though, even this is relatively well controlled for an ultra-fast lens, and is essentially eliminated by stopping down a stop. \u00a0In most situations, it’s not going to pose a problem.<\/p>\n

Distortion, Flare, Vignetting and other Aberrations<\/h4>\n

Like most short telephoto lenses, the 56mm f\/1.2 is essentially free of distortions, as straight lines are kept straight throughout the frame. \u00a0What is somewhat unusual is the very low levels of vignetting at wide apertures. Even at f\/1.2, corner shading is relatively low, and it’s negligible by f\/1.8.<\/p>\n

Against bright light, the 56mm f\/1.2 works very well, maintaining good contrast even in heavily backlit situations, such as the image to the left. \u00a0 The XF 56mm does show some spherical aberration at wide apertures, though you’ll likely only notice it when shooting at f\/1.2 or f\/1.4 with white detail on a dark background. \u00a0By f\/1.8, any remaining spherical aberrations are gone.<\/p>\n

The overall rendering of the Fuji 56mm f\/1.2 is beautiful to my eye. \u00a0There’s a richness to the images and a lovely look for portraits with good resolution and tons of background separation at wide apertures while allowing for biting sharpness and high contrast by stopping down just a bit.<\/p>\n

Continue: Conclusion and Image Samples<\/a><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h3>\n
\"Fujinon<\/a>
Fujinon XF 56mm f\/1.2 R<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pros<\/h4>\n