Introduction

Viltrox has been on a roll lately, releasing new lenses at a rapid pace. One of their latest additions is the APS-C 56mm f/1.2 Pro, equivalent to an 85mm on full-frame—a classic and highly popular focal length for portrait photography. As the name suggests, this lens belongs to the Pro series, following the earlier 75mm f/1.2 and 27mm f/1.2 models. Both of those lenses delivered excellent performance on APS-C cameras, so I’m eager to see how this new release stacks up.

I tested the X mount version of this lens on a Fujifilm X-S10.
You can see this review as a YouTube video here!
Sample images in high resolution here.

Sample Images

Most of the sample images in this review and many more can be found in higher resolution here.

Specifications

Disclosure

Viltrox kindly provided this lens for test and review purposes.

Handling and Build Quality

The first thing you notice when picking up this lens is that it is relatively large and heavy for an APS-C lens. Once you get past that, it gives the impression of a well-built, high-quality lens. The body appears to be made entirely of metal and glass, with a smooth finish. The lens mount is also metal, featuring a substantial rubber gasket for sealing. There is a USB-C port on the mount for firmware updates.

One unusual aspect of this lens is that it seems to have a small rubber ball—or something similar—inside the barrel. When you turn over the lens, you can feel and hear something moving around. While some movement of glass elements is normal in modern lenses, on this one, it is noticeably more pronounced, almost to the point of concern.

On the X version of the lens, which I am testing, besides the large metallic focusing ring in front, there is an aperture ring, which clicks at every third of an f-stop. It can not be set to rotate clicklessly. There is also an “A” position of automatic aperture control from the camera.

On the Sony E version of the lens, there are some additional controls: a switch to set the aperture ring to rotate clicklessly, an AF/MF switch, and a customizable focus-hold button. There’s no information yet about the Z version, as it has not been released.

The autofocus, powered by a Hyper CVM AF motor—previously only available on Viltrox’s LAB series—is silent, accurate, and quick. This is among the more impressive AF performances.

The lens does not feature image stabilisation. Besides the standard front and rear caps, the box also includes a substantial plastic lens hood.

Optical Features

Sharpness (Infinity)

For the infinity sharpness test, we look at three areas of the image, centre, mid-frame, and corner, see highlighted areas in the image below!

Sharpness is excellent wide open at f/1.2 in the centre and very good in the midframe and corners, although the corners are darker due to vignetting. Stopping down improves performance: at f/2, the centre reaches maximum sharpness; at f/4, the midframe catches up; and by f/8, even the corners are excellent.

Sharpness (Portrait)

Let’s look at the points of interest for portraits at the portrait distance: the very centre, the centre’s inner periphery  (1/3 rule intersection), and the centre’s outer periphery (1/4th intersection).

Excellent sharpness at all measured points from f/1.2, but the contrast is only good. Stopping down just one click to f/1.4 makes both the sharpness and contrast excellent everywhere.

Sharpness (Close-up)

At f/1.2, sharpness is good but not excellent, and contrast could use a boost. Stopping down to f/1.4 doesn’t help much, but from f/2 onward, close-up images become super sharp and contrasty.

Lens Distortion

There is a tiny amount of pincushion distortion in the image. For portraits, it’s negligible and can safely be ignored. If you want to correct it, a -4 adjustment in Lightroom or Photoshop will do the trick.

Vignetting

Vignetting at f/1.2 is noticeable in certain scenes, but it is comparable to—or better than—other lenses with similar specifications. It improves quickly when stopping down, and by f/2.0 it is almost negligible. Beyond that, it is not noticeable in real life.

• F/1.2: 2.1 EV
• F/1.4: 1.8 EV
• F/2.0: 1.0 EV
• F/2.8: 0.9 EV
• F/4.0: 0.7 EV
• F/5.6: 0.3 EV
• F/8.0: 0.2 EV

Focus Shift & Aberrations

The lens is free from focus shift, though it shows a slight amount of longitudinal chromatic aberration. It’s not severe, and most of it is gone by f/2.8; by f/4, it disappears completely. It’s not enough to be noticeable in real-life scenarios, though.

Lateral chromatic aberration is very well controlled, with none visible even in the most demanding situations. Below are 100% crops from the image corners.

Flare Resistance

I have to admit, I was shocked when testing this category—even Viltrox’s cheaper, more basic Air series lenses have performed better than this one. Of course, the huge front element could be a contributing factor. I’m also puzzled why only my copy shows such mediocre performance, while other reviewers consistently praise the lens, even in this area. Perhaps my sample has an unusually poor coating, but the results are disappointing.

Coma

There is almost no visible coma—just a tiny trace in the corners at f/1.2, which is negligible. Below are 100% crop examples from the corners at f/1.2 and f/1.4.

Sunstars

The Viltrox 56mm f/1.2 Pro seems to have very well-aligned aperture blades, since—even with its odd number of 11 blades—it produces attractive, well-defined 22-ray sunstars. They start to appear around f/5.6 and become very well defined from f/8 onwards.

Focus Breathing

The lens exhibits a small amount of focus breathing which, while minor, is still noticeable.

Bokeh

I suppose most people interested in this lens are eager to see how it handles bokeh. After all, this is what makes or breaks a portrait lens—the smoothness of the blur. Let’s dive in by looking at the bokeh highlights first.

They look really nice—no onion rings, no harsh double lines, and no noticeable colour fringing. Optical vignetting isn’t severe at the edges or corners. The eleven rounded aperture blades also help keep bokeh balls relatively round, even when stopped down a couple of stops, which is very nice.

And now, let’s have a closer look at the background blur at different distances!

Short Distance

At close distances, the bokeh is very creamy and soft, though most decent lenses can achieve this.

Mid-Distance

This is the most important scenario, and likely where the lens will be used most. Anyone buying this lens does so to get a sharp image with beautiful background blur in this range. Success here is crucial.

—and the good news is that at medium distances, the bokeh remains smooth, almost as creamy as at close range. Well done.

Long Distance

At long distances, the background doesn’t dissolve into an indistinct, dreamy blur, yet it remains pleasant. Even at very long distances (as in the last image), the lens still achieves subject separation with a soft background. Overall, while it doesn’t match the creamy bokeh of an 85mm f/1.2 full-frame or its big brother, the 75mm f/1.2 Pro (APS-C), this lens easily stands out in its category.

Conclusion

This is a fantastic lens if you avoid the sun in the frame. Ignore that single flaw, and you have a lens with excellent build quality and outstanding optical performance. Sharpness at all distances, bokeh, chromatic aberration correction, vignetting, sunstars, and coma control are all top-notch. Vignetting wide open is only average, but that’s where the lens is typically used for portraits—where the slight vignetting can actually help with subject separation.

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Alternatives

Off the top of my head, there are only two direct alternatives I know of: the Fujifilm 56/1.2 R WR and the Sirui Sniper 56/1.2. Most other lenses aren’t quite competitors, since they have a maximum aperture of only f/1.4. If you know any others, feel free to mention them in the comments.

Fujifilm XF 56mm f/1.2 R WR
It is smaller and lighter than the Viltrox, but also twice as expensive. Being a brand lens, it’s only available for the Fujifilm X mount.
Buy: Amazon, B&H $1200 (Affiliate links)

Sirui Sniper 56mm f/1.2 AF
This one is available for Sony E, Nikon Z, and Fujifilm X. Unlike the previous alternative, it has a simpler optical construction than the Viltrox and costs less than half the price of the reviewed lens.
Buy: Amazon, B&H, $279 (Affiliate links)

If a Portrait lens is on your wishlist or shopping list and not necessarily a 56mm or f/1.2 lens, there are two honourable candidates.

Viltrox 75mm f/1.2  Pro
This lens gives the absolute best subject separation, and blurriest background, but it is longer (equivalent to 112.5mm), forces you to stay farther away from your subject, and may not be suitable for indoor portraits in smaller rooms. It is also larger and heavier but at about he same pirce as the 56mm Pro.
Buy: Viltrox Store, Amazon, B&H, $580 (Affiliate links)
(If you buy the lens on Viltrox Store using my affiliate link, you’ll get a discount)

Sigma 56mm f/1.4 Contemporary
Same focal length, much smaller and lighter, but about half a stop slower. Extremely sharp, with a nice result. Go for this one if the size and the weight of the lens are the most important for you.
Buy: Amazon, B&H, $529 (Affiliate links)

More Sample Images

Most of the sample images in this review and many more can be found in higher resolution here.

Further Reading

• What camera gear and accessories do I use most frequently?
• Review: Viltrox AF 27mm f/1.2 Pro (APS-C)
• Review: Viltrox 75mm f/1.2 Pro (APS-C)

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Martin

Martin M.H. lives outside Stockholm, Sweden. He is a M.Sc. in Computer Technology but he has been a passionate photographer for over 50 years. He started his photographic adventures when he was thirteen with an Agfamatic pocket camera, which he soon replaced with a Canon rangefinder camera that his mom gave him in his teenages. After that he has been using Canon SLR, Nikon SLR manual focus and Autofocus, Sony mirrorless crop sensor, Nikon DSLR and Nikon Mirrorless. He has photographed any genre he could throughout the years and you can see all kind of images in his portfolio. During the later years though it has been mostly landscape, nature, travel and some street/documentary photography.

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