It’s been nearly 5 years since I’ve done my review of the Fujinon XF 56mm F1.2 R lens, which was regarded as one of the classic portrait options due to its large maximum aperture (F1.2) and classic 85mm equivalent angle of view (56mm x Fuji’s 1.5x crop factor = 84mm). My conclusion was that while the lens had some nice optics (more in the overall rendering rather than great sharpness at large apertures), the clunky focus motor, lack of weather sealing, and high price ($999 USD) left me somewhat underwhelmed. My conclusion was that this lens was only competitive on Fuji only because (at the time) Fuji was a closed platform, and Fuji XF shooters didn’t really have options. Thankfully, that is no longer true, as since that time Fuji has opened up their platform to alternatives, and at this point you can get half a dozen 56mm autofocusing third party lenses in X-mount, including two from Viltrox (56mm F1.4 reviewed here and newer 56mm F1.7 reviewed here), TTArtisan (AF 56mm F1.8, reviewed here), Sigma (56mm F1.4, reviewed here on Sony), Sirui, (Sniper 56mm F1.2, reviewed here), and one from Tokina (56mm F1.4) that I haven’t reviewed. Add the two Fuji options, and you’ve definitely got options. Fuji now has to compete on merit, and the new Fujinon XF 56mm F1.2 R WR has a lot of merits…but also still have a few flaws. Find out my full thoughts in my video review or by reading my text review here.

Fujinon XF 56mm F1.2 R WR (40MP Review): Worth the Premium Price?

Thanks to Fujifilm Canada for sending me a review copy of this lens. As always, this is a completely independent review. All opinions and conclusions are my own. I’m doing this review on a 40MP Fujifilm X-H2 camera.

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The plethora of new 56mm options show how important this focal length is as a portrait lens and short telephoto general purpose lens. 85-100mm is my favorite portrait range, and having that massive F1.2 aperture really allows for beautiful background separation even when shooting fuller length portraits. As we’ll see in this review, the Fuji 56mm WR remains the premium priced lens in the comparison. It’s full retail is $999 USD (as before), though the lens is currently on sale for $899 (at the time of this review) on a sale price. That’s more than double the price of any of competing lenses on the platform. But in some ways the price tag, while high, feels a little more justified this time around, as this is genuinely the premium option among the many alternatives that I’ve reviewed. It still has some flaws, but its ability to really perform at F1.2 for portrait work makes it special.

There have been some really competitive lenses recently release with smaller maximum apertures (the TTArtisan AF 56mm F1.8 and the Viltrox AF 56mm F1.7 are the standouts due to being both strong performers AND costing less than $160 USD!), but neither one of them can provide the kind of subject separation that the Fuji and its F1.2 aperture can.

Here’s an example: with both lenses stopped down to F2, I felt the Viltrox F1.7 lens did a shockingly good job of providing similar sharpness and contrast for portrait work.

But where the 56mm WR showed the clear advantage is if you look at the backgrounds. Look at how much creamier the background is from the Fuji (on the right).

The difference would be even more pronounced if the subject was closer to the background.

There are two ways to view this:

“A lens like the Sigma 56mm F1.4 is close enough at half the price. The Fuji isn’t worth the premium.”
“Like a performance car, you pay for that last little extra bit of performance, but that can be the different between winning and losing.”

I think both perspectives are valid. Where I have an issue is when something has both a premium price and a less than premium performance (which is what I felt about the previous 56mm F1.2 from Fuji), but in this case I do think this is a premium lens in the class on X-mount. Let me put another way: in 2019 I sent the XF 56mm F1.2 R back after my loaner period without a moment’s regret; with the XF 56mm F1.2 WR I’m scheming of a way to add one to my own kit.

Sound interesting? Let’s break things down in detail…

Images of the Fujinon XF 56mm F1.2 WR

Images taken with the Fujinon XF 56mm F1.2 WR

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GEAR USED:

Purchase the Fuji 56mm F1.2 WR @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Nuzira | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

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Purchase the Fujifilm X-H2 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

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Purchase the Fujifilm X-T5 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Find it Used at KEH

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Purchase the Fujifilm X-S20 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany |

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Keywords: Fuji, Fujinon, XF, AF, Autofocus, 56mm, F1.2, R, WR, Weathersealing, Fuji 56mm F1.2 WR Review, f/1.2, Fuji X, Fujifilm, X-mount, APS-C, Review, Telephoto, Action, Tracking, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, Fujifilm X-T5, Fujifilm X-H2, let the light in, #letthelightin, DA

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