The Fujifilm Fujinon XF 56mm F1.2 R WR ($999.95) is an all-around upgrade to the original version of the lens, the XF 56mm F1.2 R. The new edition comes with the same focal length and aperture, but has a completely redesigned optical formula that delivers clearer results on high-pixel sensors, as well as weather sealing to protect your gear when taking photos on location. Unfortunately, the 56mm F1.2 focuses slowly and audibly, enough to limit its appeal for event photography and video. Because of this we, recommend creators instead pick up our Editors' Choice Sigma 56mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary. Even though it's not fully weather-sealed, the Sigma lens focuses faster, captures images with a similar feel, and costs just $529.
Design: A Mid-Sized Prime With Weather Sealing
At around 3.1 by 3.0 inches and 15.7 ounces, the XF 56mm F1.2 R WR is on the large side for a prime lens. Its optical formula, which gathers an additional 50% light compared with an F1.4 lens at maximum aperture, has a more complex design versus the smaller Sigma 56mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary (2.3 by 2.6 inches, 9.9 ounces).
Both the Fuji and Sigma 56mm lenses are tailor-made to project a picture onto an APS-C format sensor, the size used exclusively by the Fuji X camera system. The focal length is a short telephoto for the sensor size, with an angle of view that's just about the same as an 85mm full-frame prime. It's a favored focal length for portraiture, and with the f/1.2 optics you can realize softly defocused backgrounds even when backing up to capture a full-body image of a model.
The Fujinon XF 56mm F1.2 R WR enjoys a significant update in build quality versus the original. Exterior materials are the same as the original 56mm, its APD filter variant, and this R WR version all use aluminum materials for their exterior. The difference maker is weather sealing—the WR version of the lens includes internal seals that protect it from dust and splash ingress, and includes a fluorine coat on the front element that makes the glass easier to clean. As such, fingerprints wipe away without smudges, and water beads off without leaving a mark. A 67mm filter thread is included if you want to use a protective or creative filter.
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The lens ships with the standard accessories: front and rear caps, a reversible hood, and a carrying pouch. The hood is on the large side, and using it nearly doubles the XF 56mm's length, but it provides ample protection from flare and physical dangers. There's no risk of an accidental scratch, fingerprint, or bump when using the hood.
Controls and Focus: Autofocus Performance Disappoints
The XF 56mm F1.2 R WR keeps things pretty basic for controls. The lens includes a manual focus ring, an aperture control ring, and nothing else. Aperture control is as expected, the ring turns from f/1.2 through f/16 at third-stop increments, and has an A position to cede control to the camera body. A push button lock keeps the ring to either its manual range or A setting. The lock is slightly raised so it's easy to find by touch, and it does double duty as a finger rest for using the aperture ring in general. One downside, the XF 56mm does not support smooth, clickless aperture control.
The XF 56mm F1.2 R WR's autofocus is its weakest area of performance. Focus is slow in general—the lens often shows a slight delay when driving from one subject to another and whirs loudly enough to hear in a quiet room. I clocked a delay of about a half second when driving focus from far to near at best and closer to 0.8 seconds at worst. Granted, this is a charge we'll also levy on Fuji's other bright portrait prime, the XF 50mm F1.0 R WR. In contrast, the Sigma 56mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary focuses very quickly and without much noise.
The manual focus experience is equally disappointing. There's a slight delay between ring movement and focus response, and the focus moves in a staccato rhythm rather than smoothly and gradually. It's far too hard to focus precisely and far too easy to overshoot the mark. The focus motor is just as noisy when working manually as it is in auto.
Overall, the focus performance is serviceable for portraits but falls short of the requirements for video, at least video that incorporates focus racks. The optics show some breathing, too, which means the angle of view blooms and shrinks during focus shifts, an effect that can be distracting for video.
Broadly speaking, bright portrait lenses are not good for macro shots due to the relatively long minimum focus distance that goes hand in hand with this particular type of optical formula. The XF 56mm F1.2 refuses to rock the boat with a 1.6-foot (0.5m) minimum focus distance and maximum 1:7.1 reproduction ratio. I took the lens to a botanical garden for some photos and got some good-looking images of larger flowers, but the lens won't hone in on very small subjects like a true macro lens. If you're interested in macro photography, take a look at the XF 30mm F2.8 Macro or the XF 80mm F2.8 Macro instead, both of which support 1:1 life-size magnification.
Image Quality: Tip-Top Results
I tested the XF 56mm F1.2 in the lab with the 40MP X-H2 and Imatest software, and also used the lens with the X-T5 and X-M5 in the field. There's no doubt that the XF 56mm F1.2 is capable of capturing sharp, detailed images. It scores in the excellent range (3,600 lines) at f/1.2-1.4, and crosses into outstanding territory from f/2-8 (4,500 lines) before starting to show the softening effects of optical diffraction at f/11 (4,000 lines) and its minimum f/16 aperture (3,200 lines).
The optics show a vignette effect at f/1.2-1.4, and without correction, the corners and edges of photos are about half as bright as the center. In-camera corrections compensate for the effect when taking photos in JPG mode, while creators who use a camera for Raw format capture will want to apply a correction profile to compensate for the effect. I couldn't spot any signs of distortion in either JPG or Raw images.
The lens does a very good job controlling flare against a backlight, a strong point in its favor for portraits. Photographers can freely frame a model or subject against a backlight for creativity without having to worry about flare or ghost color detracting from the image.
Background blur is an especially important aspect of performance for an f/1.2 lens. After all, one of the reasons photographers will pick a prime over a more versatile zoom option like the XF 16-55mm F2.8 R WR is its brighter, background-blurring aperture. Generally speaking, the XF 56mm F1.2 snaps photos with a shallower depth of field for blurrier backgrounds when compared with a zoom lens.
The blur itself is exceptionally clean and free of distractions, I couldn't spot any signs of false color (longitudinal chromatic aberration) in the transitions, nor is there any sign of onion skin texture. I note slightly bright edges around highlights, a characteristic that lends itself to busier-looking backdrops in scenes with tree branches, foliage, or other complex patterns in the background. However, the lens blurs backgrounds so heavily at f/1.2 and f/1.4 that it's an infrequent and decidedly minor issue.
In all, I have few complaints about the bokeh and am pleased enough with the look of the backgrounds to understand why Fuji opted to release just one version of the updated lens. The first edition of the XF 56mm F1.2 was offered in two versions, one with standard optics and a second with an internal apodization (APD) filter for highlights with even softer, feathered edges. There's no APD edition of this lens, so if you want an even softer look to backdrops you'll need to track down a used copy of the 56mm F1.2 R APD, just keep in mind that it focuses even more slowly than the R WR.
Verdict: Gorgeous Portraits If You're Patient
The Fujinon XF 56mm F1.2 R WR improves upon the original XF 56mm lens thanks to upgraded optics that deliver crisper photos with beautiful background blur and adds the weather sealing absent from Fujifilm's first swing at the concept. That's good news for photographers who want to capture pictures with a shallow depth of field on location, but we wish Fujifilm had done more to better the first edition's autofocus, as the R WR's slow, audible autofocus is out of step with modern standards. We continue to recommend the Sigma 56mm F1.4 Contemporary as our Editors' Choice for creators in the X system seeking a background-blurring lens for portraits; it may not be fully protected from weather, but it focuses quickly, captures pleasing images, and costs about half price of the XF 56mm F1.2 R WR.
The Fujifilm Fujinon XF 56mm F1.2 R WR lens captures gorgeous images with soft backgrounds and is fully weather-sealed, but its slow autofocus is limiting for event photography and video.
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