Fujinon 56 f/1.2 First Impressions: Bokeh with a Side of Bokeh!

After a two-month long post-pre-order wait, I finally have my Fujinon XF 56mm f/1.2 R… I have barely had time to shoot with it, and am looking forward to a headshot session tomorrow morning and then a wedding next week when I’ll really get to put it through its paces.

As someone who previously owned and loved both the legendary Canon EF 85 f/1.2L and the super-quick Canon EF 85mm f/1.8, all I can say is that I am astonished by the lens. It seems to have all of the strengths of a good wide aperture portrait prime with none of the weaknesses. Yes, the edges are soft at f/1.2, but you’re shooting at f/1.2. And the center is dead sharp.

What makes this lens better than the 85L could ever be–I mean, ignoring that it’s smaller, lighter, and quicker to focus than the 85L–is that the cameras that shoot through it use contrast detect autofocus, which, for reasons that can be better explained elsewhere, means a much higher percentage of in-sharp-focus photos, provided you focused on the right thing.

I’ll have more to say–and many more examples–after I’ve had some extended seat time with this lens. I can already tell, though, that it lives up to the hype and will be a lens I use extensively.