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The Fujifilm XF 56mm f/1.2 R lens is phenomenal, offering extremely fast aperture performance with beautiful bokeh and a 7-blade, rounded aperture at f/1.2.
The lens is optically nearly perfect and well-built, featuring an all-metal barrel. It has a somewhat high element count as a tradeoff for excellent corner-to-corner sharpness and chromatic aberration control, producing a slightly more ethereal bokeh compared to a lens like the 34mm f/1.4. Additionally, it is somewhat softer in terms of micro-contrast. Due to the 7-blade aperture, bokeh may appear slightly busier compared to a lens like the Fujifilm 60mm f/2.4, which features a 9-blade aperture.
The only real drawbacks are the fly-by-wire autofocus and plastic lens hood.
Fujifilm XF 56mm f1.2 R Lens Key Features
Field of View: 56mm (85mm equivalent field of view)
Max Aperture: f1.2, minimum f16.
Aperture Blades: 7-blade rounded aperture.
Element Count: 11 elements in 8 groups – 2 ED – 1 double-sided aspherical
Filter Size: 62mm.
Fast Contrast AF Micro Processor: No
Fujinon XF 56mm f1.2 R – Amazon
Fujinon XF 56mm f1.2 R APD – Amazon
Fujifilm XF 56mm f1.2 R Lens First Impressions
What I Love About This Lens
This lens is fantastic. The images it produces are made with magic. Sharpness is fantastic, corner to corner, with no optical flaws like chromatic aberrations or color shifts. It’s great for street photography, where you want some distance, or it’s just great for traveling and landscape photography. If you’re a prime lens shooter, this lens is a must-have and was the first Fujinon prime I purchased when I switched to Fujifilm. Zero regrets.
Things I Don’t Love
The lens is pretty heavy compared to other Fujifilm lenses. When combined with a Fuji X-T2, you have a compact camera that’s slightly front-heavy.
The 56mm lens is hard to stabilize and requires always shooting at a slightly faster shutter speed. I have trouble getting tack-sharp images at 1/60th of a second shutter speed due to motion blur. If you’re on a tripod or shoot with strobes, this won’t be a problem.
As mentioned earlier, the lens is completely fly-by-wire. You don’t get the same sense of control when using manual focus as you would with a Leica or a manual Zeiss lens. That’s just how Fujifilm designs their lenses, so we can’t complain.
I wish the aperture clicks were a little tighter, as I’m constantly adjusting the aperture when my hand accidentally hits it or when the camera hangs from my neck strap. I think it’s something Fujifilm could work on.
Fujifilm XF 56mm f1.2 R Technical Review
The minimum aperture is f/16, and the maximum is f/1.2, making this lens a fantastic low-light tool for street photography or ideal for shallow depth of field when shooting portraits.
I’m assuming they stop the aperture at f16 because you don’t need to go any more than that. At that point, we are well beyond the diffraction limit of any of the Fujifilm cameras, and shooting any smaller would significantly degrade image quality, as shown on the diffraction chart. See the diffraction chart below.
Fujifilm XF 56mm f1.2 R Diffraction Chart
This diffraction test will appear differently when Fujifilm’s newer, higher-megapixel cameras become available. Diffraction will become more apparent early on, and the 100% crop will appear slightly larger. Resolution and lens IQ will be the same regardless of the number of megapixels. The sweet spot appears to be between f/4 and f/8.
F2 looks a lot nicer than f1.2, so when I don’t need an extremely shallow depth of field, f2 is usually a better option for general shooting. At f1.2, the aperture blades become completely round, which I’ll cover in a bit.
This is shot with Lens Modulation Optimizer turned on
Fuji XF 56mm f1.2 R Vignetting
There is no noticeable Vignetting when shooting RAW or JPEG, except at f1.2 and maybe a little at f2.
Lens Detail and Sharpness
You can click this image and view it at 100%. I’ve also spared you the trouble and posted 100% of the crops below.
These images were RAW files saved out of Lightroom. You can get sharper images out of Iridient, but I did not use Iridient because the point is to see changes in sharpness between the center, edges, and corners, which is very little. I think most people are still using Lightroom and Photoshop anyway.
Center Sharpness
100% crop of the center sharpness.
Edge Sharpness
100% crop of the left edge.
Corner Sharpness
100% crop of the bottom left corner.
Chromatic Aberrations & Color Cast
Not seeing any color cast. Chromatic aberrations are also non-existent.
Focus Shifts
No focus shifts.
A focus shift is when your focus changes slightly between aperture adjustments.
Aesthetics
The 7 Blade Aperture And Bokeh
This lens and a lot of the Fujinon lenses have a 7-blade aperture setup. When not completely wide open there will be some geometry to your out-of-focus highlights. At lower apertures, around f2 to f1.2 the aperture blades become nearly round, and at f1.2 your out-of-focus highlights will be almost perfectly circular. I really like this design, and the 7-blade bokeh just feels right to me.
Depth Of Field
Both shots here were taken at f1.2. The depth of field is extremely shallow. When it’s wide open, sharpness falls off towards the edges.
These photos also illustrate front bokeh vs rear bokeh. Either way, it looks nice.
In the right conditions, you can actually get a little bit of swirl in the bokeh. It’s not as much as the 35mm f2 or some of those retro lenses, but it still has a very nice effect, especially considering how nice the bokeh renders with this lens.
Fujinon 56mm f1.2 R vs APD
There are two versions of this lens: the one I have, the standard R, and the APD version with different coatings for “enhanced bokeh.” I don’t think the difference is worth the extra price. It’s a different look; it has pros and cons. Neither is a better lens. They do things slightly differently, so I don’t understand why the APD costs more. With the APD, you lose phase detection autofocus and about a quarter stop of light until f5.6.
When looking at bokeh, the APD makes the difference. It’s not a huge difference, but it does help feather the edges of the highlights. It doesn’t feel like it’s making the image look better; it’s just a different look.
How the APD lens works has Fujifilm added a filter on the rear of the lens that works like a circular gradient filter.
If you want a fairly in-depth comparison, check out the 56mm vs. 56mm APD at fuji vs. fuji.
Fujinon 56mm f1.2 R Review Conclusions
The lens is solid. It is very well built, but the fly-by-wire controls need more stiffness. Aside from that, I’m loving this lens.
If it goes on sale again, Get It!
Fujinon 56mm F1.2 R Sample Images
These images were all shot with the Fuji X-T1. Some were shot RAW, and some were JPEG. When I shoot RAW, I use VSCO or RNI film simulators, or I’ll do something custom.
ISO 200, f6.4, 1/8
ISO 200, f1.2, 1/1250
ISO 200, f1.2, 1/1900
ISO 200, f1.4, 1/160
ISO 250, f5.6, 1/60
ISO 320, f5.6, 1/60
ISO 640, f8, 1/60
ISO 200, f3.6, 1/140
ISO 800, f1.2, 1/60
10 comments
Alik, did you use vsco on the image with the motorcycle and also bicycle on the crossing, both at f1.2?
I like how they look. A bit like Classic Chrome but even more filmic.
Hey Domi, yes those were VSCO.
Hey Alik,
Thank you for all these great reviews. I’m kinda stuck between XF35mm F1.4 and XF56mm F1.2, and have a budget enough for only one of them for now. In the meantime, I see a lot of people ending up selling their XF35mm F2 to get F1.4, and people trying to sell their XF35mm F1.4 to buy XF56mm F1.2. This scares me. I am not sure as to whether I will reach a point where I will have to sell my XF35 F1.4 for a XF56mm to satisfy myself furthermore. Of course, in the end, it depends on personal preferences. However, both lenses seem to be quite versatile even tough XF56mm is famed as being a portrait lens. When it comes to these two, which one do you use more often?
I prefer the 56mm. But I like running a 23mm + 56mm setup or in full frame terminology 35mm and 85mm. If you like more the 16mm + 35mm ( 24mm 50mm) setup then the 35mm is a nice option.
If you love shooting 23mm APS-C then grab the 56mm. Since you won’t need a 23+35mm+56mm. But if you love the 16mm then grab the 35mm.
That’s assuming you like run with just 2 lenses. For me I keep an X100V + 1 other camera / lens and I feel like i can do just about everything with that setup, minus ultra-wide landscapes.
Just my opinion on how I like to shoot. Sort of skipping the in-between lenses for the ranges I like and the 35mm is kind of an in-between lenses from what I like. Just because if you have a 23mm the 35mm isn’t that much different, same if you have a 35mm then a 56mm isn’t that much different.
Thank you for your detailed answer. It has helped me comprehend the situation conveniently.
I think every true Fuji X lover end up having this lens. I sold some things and was looking for longer portrait orientated lens. Samyang 75, Sigma 56 was on my mind, while being compact and modern. But now Fujinon 56r is arriving to my home.
I am thinking now how my kit will change whit it. I am “two lens carry” man and i love my current 18f2 plus 35f1.4 combo. Maybe it will change to 18+56 combo and 35 will be one lens “do it all”. I am very curious 🙂
With the 50mm f1 out would you still recommend the 56mm f1.2 or should I go for the 50mm? I have no past experience with 85mm. I currently have two lenses, the 23mm f2 and the 16-55mm. I usually shoot street but now have a new born that I’d like to capture and these two lenses are on my radar.
From the comparison that I’ve seen I do like how tight the 56mm can get, so I’m leaning that way. Just not sure if I would be missing anything from the newer tech asides the WR.
hello Alik,
did you try new WR one?
lot of people say that they are just better, does the new one have the same micro-contr like old one?
thx, have nice day
I don’t actually use those. I love the 56mm f1.2 original for the classic look and feel. The WR lenses from Fujifilm have a more modern take, with all the latest optical designs, coatings, and focus chips. The new WR won’t have as good of micro-contrast, but they’ll have a more even field curvature and a more modern bokeh and focus falloff, which also looks really cool. There is no way to get both amazing looks simultaneously, so you have to choose which you like more.
If you want to see how modern lenses work compared to classic lenses, check out the Nikon 35mm f1.8 vs. 35mm f1.4 article. The Fujifilm lenses will obviously be a little different, but that modern field curvature can look really cool and 3D in its own way. In Nikon’s case, they both use the same elements and have similar micro-contrast, except Nikon S lenses have better coatings, and it helps.
I never really went into the Fuji WR lenses because I already had the Nikon S lenses for full frame. There is just too much overlap there for me to justify the price, but they all look really good as perfect workhorse lenses.
thx, for replay. I just bought old one at mpb 🙂