[Music] Hi I'm Dustin Abbott and I've really Enjoyed my time with the new Fuji xf56mm F1.2 before I've sent it back I wanted To compare it to what is also a really Excellent portrait option that is on X Mount and that is the vrox pro AF 75mm F1.2 now realize the focal length is not The same the aperture is however and in Many ways the performance is the same so I thought that I would kind of do a deep Dive into them and compare them in a Variety of ways to maybe help you make An informed decision if you are looking For what is the better option for you When it comes to your portrait work or For a kind of a short to medium Telephoto lens with a very large maximum Aperture both these lenses are extremely Capable on 40 megapixels zero problems There terms of absolute sharpness you're Not going to have any issue with either One of them the answer as to which one Is better is a little bit complicated First of all as noted these aren't the Same focal length we have what is a an 85 MIM equivalent on full frame and then A unique focal length that is 112.5 MM in the vro and so kind of Splitting the difference between 855 and 135 mm it's actually a really Interesting focal link for portraiture But we'll dive into that in just a Moment both of these have 11 rounded
Aperture blades so do a good job of Keeping a circular shape when they're Stop stopped down both of them have Thorough weather sealing in fact they Have identical nine different seal Points starting with the gasket Throughout the lens itself and then a Special coating on the front to help With finger prints and moisture so in Many ways very very similar lenses in Terms of some of the premium options Here but we're going to break down what Is I think strengths for either lens and Then if you want an optical deep Di Will'll do that at the end so you can See them compared in a variety of Settings side by side so first of all Let's talk about reasons to choose the Vrs which is over here to my left the First reason for that is price you can Get the vtrs for $549 versus on sale right now $899 for The Fuji though there's a discount Coupon code that's in the description Down below where you can get the vrs Even cheaper about 8% off of that price And so you can get a really good value For the V compared to the Fuji so if Budget's an issue the V rocks might be a Compelling Option if it matters to you having an AF MF switch it is something that the vro Has and the Fuji does not now I will say That on a a practical level because Fuji
Designs their lenses to not have an ammf Switch it's not necessarily always Practical to have one for the simple Reason that the most typical way that You're going to control that is through You know the actual switch or Le on the The camera itself and so it is an Alternative but if you customed to Shooting Fuji all the time probably your Muscle memory is to switch through that Camera based switch rather than the lens Barrel itself so but anyway it's Something that the vro has that Fuji Does not I found that in my comparison Test that while both of these lenses are Quite excellent when it comes to Controlling chromatic aberration the vro Is a little better still it is close to Apochromatic levels basically hardly any Any kind of fringing of any kind on it So it's really exceptional in that Regard now when it comes to autofocus This is Fuji after all and so autofocus Is a little bit of a mixed bag as we're Going to see but I would say that the Vro if I'm comparing them side by side I'm going to give a win to the VTR when It comes to quieter autofocus and uh While there is some issues here you can See the vro is pulls back and forth and You can see there is some stepping some Of those things that unfortunately are Pretty common on Fuji at the same time However it is noticeably quieter when
You are actually focusing and I did note When I was doing you know my side by Side a short portrait session to test These two lens and and attempting to get Identical conditions the vro was Perfectly focused every single time Where whereas there was one miss for the Fuji so you just ever so slightly better Focus accuracy in my portrait setting Now because the Focus motor here is Smoother and quieter I also found that I Got a better better manual focus Experience mirrorless lenses use a focus By wire system which means that input on The focus ring is mounted through the Focus motor and so unfortunately the Focus motor really comes into play with That and in this case because the vtr's Focus motor is a little bit smoother and Quieter it's a lead screw type STM Versus a DC motor in the uh in the Fuji Lens it meant that the manual focus Experience here the kind of the Simulation of manual focus was just a Little bit better with the vtrs I also found in terms of some of the Optical strengths that this uh vrox has Slightly softer bouquet it off also has Because of having a longer focal length In a variety of situations it has more Potential to produce a more strongly Blurred background it will allow you to Have more subject separation because of That bit of compression so if your
Preference is shooting more like full Body portraits the vro is going to give You a little bit more distinct images in That setting I also noted that uh when You're shooting at wide apertures it is Slightly sharper in the center of the Frame and in the mid frame and so that Is a again it's not by any kind of Significant margin these lenses are very Close optically but the vro is slightly The winner in those metrics so how about Some reasons to choose the Fuji here now The size of the Fuji is kind of off-put By the fact that it's got a rather huge Lens hood here so particularly if we Eliminate these lens hoods you can see Both here on my table but also in this Comparison shot that the Fuji is Significantly smaller it is 80 mm versus 87 mm in diameter which means we've got A 67 mm front filter thread versus a 77 Uh millim front filter thread so Significant difference there there's Even more significance in the size when It comes to the length the Fuji lens is Only 76 millim in length whereas the Vrox is 101 MIM so that's an additional 25 mm basically 25% long and so Obviously that's going to be significant That also tra kind of carries on to the Weight the Fuji weighs in at 445 G while The viltrox is a fairly Hefty 670 gam And when you're holding these two lenses Side by side you can definitely feel
That difference this is a lens that if You're someone that gets fatigued Carrying around a heavier lens vro is Probably not going to be the one for You a huge Improvement to the WR version Of the Fuji here this newest lens is it Has a significant L improved minimum Focus distance and maximum magnification Up to 0.14 times magnification whereas The VR is stuck at a quite poor similar To the old 56 mm lens 0.10 times Magnification so as you can see here you Can get significantly closer with the Fuji lens and you can get a Significantly higher degree of Magnification opens up more versatility For the kinds of shots that you're going To be able to get with the lens now Surprisingly considering it has the Smaller diameter The Fuji lens is actually the one with The the less amount of vignette it's About a full stop difference of vignette In the corners and so this lens gives You less of a heavy vignette and so That's going to impact your image Quality I also found that it was a Little bit sharper in the corners Whereas the vro has more of an advantage In the center and mid-frame definitely When you get out to the corners I favor The performance of the Fuji lens and I Also noted just kind of comparing images Side by side on a global level not the
Micro contrast but on a global level I Felt like the Fuji images had just Slightly more contrast pop to them Compared to the vro lens again both These lenses are fantastic optically Those are just a few kind of subtle Differences between the two so I would Say the both of these lenses are Obviously great portrait options so why Should you choose the vro choose the vro If you're looking for more background Com compression and subject isolation if You particularly if you want to shoot Full length portraits it's a really Tempting option for that because it's Going to behave a lot like 135mm type Lens in that regard particularly when It's paired with such a huge maximum Aperture I think in many ways it is a Superior alternative to a lens like the 90mm F2 obviously for a lot less money The 56mm f1.2 WRR is what I would Consider a more versatile lens it is More versatile in the sense that uh that Shorter focal length you can do more Things with it you need less operating Room to to work with I also find that Because of that close Focus ability it Opens up more options say if you're a Portrait photography that P photographer Or a wedding photographer that likes to Maybe isolate a few details you have More options to do that with the 56 mm Than what you do with the vr's 75 mm at
The end of the day there's also the Consideration of budget and so is the Fuji lens worth about $350 more well Obviously that's something that you're Going to have to to decide for your self Now if you want even more information You can look in the description down Below and I do have linkage to both my Text reviews for either of these lens And also their their individual video Reviews if you'd like to see that and You can stay tuned right now and we'll Do a deeper Optical dive together so you Can really see them side by side so Let's start by taking a look at vignette And Distortion you can see for really Neither of these lenses is any kind of Distortion and issue so that's not Really worth talking about V TR exhibits Just a little bit more vignette than What the Fuji does if there's any plus To the vro you can see here that it is Quite a linear pattern and so it is can Be quite complimentary to Portrait work Uh kind of depending on it the Fuji is a Little bit more concentrated in the Corners and so thus a little bit less Linear in its process but definitely the Fuji has less Distort but definitely the Fuji has less Vignette wide open now for these Comparisons we're going to keep the vro On the left the Fuji on the right this Is a 200% magnification 40 megapixels
Here so obviously lots of resolution so We can see looking in the center of the Frame that there is just a little bit More contrast for the uh vrox lens you Can just see there's a little bit more Texture in the lines here than what you Can see over on that side if you take a Look at here there's uh just a little Bit more Rich details in this area also In the text there if we look at the Mid-frame it's a little bit more obvious A win for the VTR just a little bit Better detail and contrast there moving Down to the corners however we can see The Fuji takes over with the wind Outside of maybe just that last little Bit for some reason the vro kind of Bounces back but overall I would say the Corners look better on Fuji we can see That's true over this side as well where There's definite Improvement here and Then into the Queen's face over on the Of the Fuji side of things we stop both Lenses down to F2 we can see that the Results are largely the same I think That the Fuji has sharp up nicely and so It's more competitive in the center of The frame uh in the mid-frame there's Still a little bit better result for the Vro you can see the vro is looking Stunningly good and down into the Corners however that Advantage Remains The Same as it did looking better for Fuji than what it does for vtrs now
Stopping down a little bit further to F4 We can see that in the middle of the Frame I would say that the Fuji looks a Little bit better to me now it's maybe Pulling off a little bit better a result As it stopped down I think that's true Here as well and if we look into the Corners the vro is obviously looking Better in the corners but I would say That stop down the Fuji is just a little Bit more consistent in terms of its Sharpness now neither one of these Lenses is what you would call a paper Tiger even when you're talking about Real world three-dimensional objects you Can see that both of them hold up really Really fantastic I mean the detail and Contrast here is just fabulous uh just Zero issues with either one of them that Looks for either one of them looks Really really amazing I can't really Pick a winner they both look fantastic To me now as we already noted the amount Of magnification possible here is Exhibiting the maximum magnification for Both lenses and so there's an obvious Win for the Fuji in that regard the Ability to get closer and if we look Here when it comes to the chromatic Aberration here we can see that both of Them are controlling CA really well However the vr's just a little bit Better so just a little bit less Fringing here as opposed to what you're
Seeing on the uh the Fuji side of things Again neither one of them is bad but There's just a little bit more showing On the Fuji side now obviously if you Take the minimum Focus distance out of The equation and you shoot from the same Distance the vro is going to have some Advantage it's going to have the Advantage in a higher magnification of The subject and thus more defocus on the Background and so you know there's some Give and take when it comes to this That's a bit more obvious in this Particular uh comparison in that you can See that I did move a little bit closer For the Fuji shop but that the ability Of the vrs to really compress the Background means that as you can see Here there's just a softer overall Background compared to the Fuji has a a Slight bit more busy business here than What the vro does it can make that Background just a little bit creamier Again both of them do a great job on the Actual subject subject looks fantastic But the background does slightly favor The vro you can see in this shop I've Worked a little bit harder at equalizing The overall size of the object in the Frame and it's hard to do with different Focal links to get it it perfect because It never quite lines up perfectly but You can see the way that they're going To render a background is different as a
Byproduct there's more compression Involved even moving the Fuji ahead the Vrox has more compression thus the Background is more strongly defocused And so that's just a consideration you Have to take in mind looking at the two Images side by side both of them have Really great looking contrast for an F1.2 lens there's something about the Fuji's rendering that maybe is just Slightly better though again if you look Up close you can see that the micro Contrast on the viltrox lens is really Fantastic and so I'm looking more at Maybe the global uh contrast here now I Was shooting this particular image to Try to evaluate color between the two And I would say that I I do very Slightly kind of instinctively favor What comes from the Fuji but at the same Time you can see with them side by side There's really not much of a difference Very very slight differences of color Tone in the greens the uh we're going to See here in a moment with skin tones the Vrox is slightly cooler than what the Fuji lens is but there really isn't a Radical difference in their color now Both lenses are good with their micro Contrast and we can see here composed Out towards the edge both of them look Good I will say that the vro looks a Little bit better they're you know near Apochromatic design here looks really
Fantastic in these fine details but uh Neither image is falling apart as far as The fringing in these high contrast Areas so a good job from both of them so We'll take a quick look at a series to Evaluate the bouquet quality here to Just give you an idea of how it plays Out and so as far as the wide open look And thus the geometry here you can see That the vro is very slightly rounder Than what the Fuji is the Fuji has a Little bit more of a cat ey shape Towards the edge of the frame however What also see is that where it's nearly Perfectly round the Fuji has a little Bit rounder a shape whereas you can see Even at f1.2 you can see a little bit of The uh aperture Irish shape there from The vro so a little bit of give and take Between the two now you can see by F2 That both lenses are capable of Producing very round specular highlights Across the frame so that's not an issue What we can also see is that even when I Try to you know kind of equate for the Size difference you're always going to Get very slightly and bigger bouquet Specular highlights out of vro lens Because of that longer focal length thus A little bit more compression now our Final comparison is a couple of portrait Side by-side shots and so here taking a Look at them globally at f1.2 you can See the background is going to be a
Little bit more defocused even though I Moved in to try to get the same kind of Framing with the vro or excuse me with The Fuji you can see that again the vro Is capable of just slightly more Background blur now if we jump in and Take a look at our faces here you can See that as I noted skin tones are a Little bit uh cooler and a little on the The vro a little bit warmer on the Fuji Now as far as the amount of contrast That is there there there is a little Bit more from the vrs wide open I would Say if you look at the area around the Eyelashes you can see that there's just A little bit more contrast here than What there is here in both cases I would Say that the skin tone Look nice it really comes down to a Taste if you like a little bit warmer The Fuji nicer if you like a little bit Cooler the vrs and nicer both of them Doing are doing a fabulous job here one Thing I will point out is that if you're Looking in tight like this there is Obviously just a little bit more blur From the vro looking towards the Background compared to the Fuji but I Mean again without seeing them without Them being side by side like this you Probably wouldn't notice it so finally Let's take a look at an F2 two Comparison so stop down a little bit More you can see once again the viltrox
Background is going to be a little bit More blurred for the reasons we've Already discussed one other thing I will Also point out is the difference in the Focal length here so you can see that The 85 mm equivalent here gives a little Bit narrower a face shape than what the Vro does it's a little bit more Compression so the face looks a little Bit rounder and so just maybe something To consider if you are a portrait Photographer something to play with There so again we can see skin tone Difference here it also kind of plays Out in the hair you can see where the Hair looks a little bit lighter and a For the Fuji and a little bit darker for The V TRS um again this this is really Down to taste at this point technically Both of these lenses are doing a really Really great job hopefully however this Does help you to get a better sense of Which you prefer optically so hopefully This Optical review has helped you to Decide which one of these lenses appeals To you more or maybe neither one of them And that's fine too thanks for watching Have a great day and let the light in [Music]
