Just Another Lens

DSCF8491FUJIFILM X-T1 (56mm, f/1.2, 1/125 sec, ISO1250)

I traded my Fuji X Pro-1 and my Fuji X100 to get a new lens. This lens: The Fuji XF1.2/56mm. An ultrafast portrait lens. And here is what I think about it.

First I have to admit that I wasn’t happy when I saw the announcement of the lens. It looked too big and too heavy. I thought that f2.0 would be better than f1.2. Much more compact and sharper wide open. What’s the use of f1.2 if you have to stop the lens down to f2.0 or even f2.8 to get sharp results?

Of course I was wrong. Totally wrong. The Fuji XF1.2/56mm is a fantastic lens. Yes it is a little bigger and heavier than my other Fuji lenses but it is still small and compact compared to my Sigma 1.4/85mm. And the Fuji 56mm is sharp wide open unlike most of the other ultrafast lenses. It’s fastest aperture is useable – very useable.

DSCF8354FUJIFILM X-T1 (56mm, f/1.4, 1/125 sec, ISO2000)
 DSCF8360FUJIFILM X-T1 (56mm, f/2, 1/125 sec, ISO640)
DSCF8383FUJIFILM X-T1 (56mm, f/1.2, 1/125 sec, ISO4000)

If I would live in sunny California I would have hired a model to go to the beach to test the camera. But I live in Austria and the day I got the lens, the 1st of December, was grey, foggy and cold. And it rained. I know that my Fuji X-T1 is weather sealed but the lens is not and more important I can’t stand the weather anymore. Seems I got used to the hot weather after all my trips to the South West of the USA, India and South East Asia.

So I decided to shoot indoors. The KHM is closed on Mondays so I went to the NHM. Not very creative I know but I know the place. Even though I know the museum very well I had no clear pictures in mind before I went there. I have never shot such a long lens in a museum before. Since I got the Fuji XF14mm I have become a wide angle shooter. I use this lens almost exclusively on my trips to South East Asia. On my last trip I added the Fuji XF23mm. Another fantastic lens from Fuji. Now I have the three main reasons to shoot Fuji: 14, 23 and 56.

DSCF8443FUJIFILM X-T1 (56mm, f/2.5, 1/125 sec, ISO400)
DSCF8405FUJIFILM X-T1 (56mm, f/2, 1/125 sec, ISO5000)
DSCF8397FUJIFILM X-T1 (56mm, f/2, 1/125 sec, ISO2000)
DSCF8442FUJIFILM X-T1 (56mm, f/1.2, 1/125 sec, ISO320)

Back to the museum. It was a dark day so it was dark inside the museum too. There was hardly any light from the windows. A dark museum on a dark day is not the first choice to test a portrait lens but you need to use what you have. The good thing is that if it performs here it will perform everywhere and there is no risk to hit the 1/4000s shutter speed limit when shooting wide open.

How did it work? In the beginning I was a little afraid to shoot wide open. I have seen the reports on the internet but some reviewers are very positive, almost enthusiastic about everything. Some are more critical but I haven’t found one negative review of the Fuji1.2/56mm and you will not hear anything negative from me. I already stated that I was not happy with the size and weight of the lens because the Fuji X was thought as a second light weight system to my Canon full frame gear. It seems that this weight advantage becomes smaller with the newer lenses. Just have a look at the Fuji XF2.8/50-140mm. This lens is much heavier than the Canon 4/70-200 IS.

Fuji targets professional photographers but they made it very smart. “We don’t want you to replace your main system. Just use us as a small and light alternative to your main camera when traveling.” Now Fuji does everything to make photographers switch. They didn’t directly attack Canon or Nikon, they sneaked in through the backdoor.

I still don’t expect professional photographers to run away from there Canons and Nikons because there are still a couple of issues that need to be addressed. Most important thing for Fuji is to get autofocus right. Fuji already improved it a lot via firmware and hardware but if you compare them to other cameras, even mirror less cameras, they are clearly behind. The Fuji X-T1 is better than the X Pro-1 but it is still nowhere close to a DSLR or the newer cameras from Olympus or Panasonic. Once Fuji closes the “AF-gap” their competitors will have a tough time.

But there is one thing where Fuji got it absolutely right: the lenses! And the Fuji XF1.2/56mm is no exception. I think it is their best lens so far. Even better than my beloved XF14mm and even better than the fantastic XF23mm. It lacks their focus clutch but because of it’s focal length zone focus is not an option anyway. Autofocus is reasonable fast and reliable but it can hunt in low light sometimes even on a Fuji X-T1. If you shoot with an older body I recommend to try before you buy. I can’t test it on my Fuji X Pro-1 anymore.

Sharpness is impressive. To give you an idea the image below is close range with the lens wide open. If you click on the image you get the unsharpened full size version:

DSCF8445-1FUJIFILM X-T1 (56mm, f/1.2, 1/125 sec, ISO320)
DSCF8493FUJIFILM X-T1 (56mm, f/1.2, 1/125 sec, ISO1000)

Why fast lenses?

Why should you buy an expensive fast prime when there are IS zooms and when there is excellent high ISO available today? The main reason is the result. Only fast lenses are capable to separate the subject from the background. It helps to declutter images. It helps with busy background. It lets you play with selective sharpness. In short: In many, many cases it simply gives you better pictures.

 

What about the APD version?

Of course I’m aware of the APD version of the lens. The version with an integrated apodization filter to create a smoother Bokeh. I considered it but got the normal version instead because I prefer my fast lenses to be fast. I often shoot in low light and I rather compromise on Bokeh a tiny bit instead of compromising on AF performance and light transmission. The APD acts like a f1.2 lens optically but regarding exposure it is a f1.7 lens so the APD filter eats up almost one stop of light. If you are specialized in portraits and weddings the APD version can make perfect sense though.

 

Conclusion:

A very fast, rather light and compact portrait lens for APS-C sensors that performs excellent even when shot wide open. It’s not exactly cheap but the price is very reasonable for what you get. A lot of Canon and Nikon APS-C shooters would kill for such a lens. They either have to use clearly inferior lenses or the Sigma 1.4/50 Art which is designed for full frame and twice the weight and size of the Fuji.

I love the lens. I think I will trade my beloved Sigma 1.4/85 HSM. I never took it with me when traveling and the Sigma on my Canon 6D doesn’t offer any advantages over the Fuji XF1.2/56mm on my Fuji X-T1. I said it before: Fuji sneaked in through the backdoor. Very smart!

DSCF8497FUJIFILM X-T1 (56mm, f/1.2, 1/125 sec, ISO1250)