「Preface」
I may be the first person in China to get this lens, but probably the last one to release an article about it. Of course, I have previously posted my photography works with this lens on my social media accounts, and it has even been quoted on foreign photography gear websites.
But I hadn't been eager to write something about it, just like every year when I get a new iPhone, I don't want to write anything prematurely under the domination of enthusiasm. I want to gather more feelings after more experience and photography.
Because the time will give a better answer.
This lens is the 75mm F1.2 from the domestic manufacturer Viltrox. It is an AF lens, which means that it supports autofocus, focus tracking and subject recognition.
It's a new milestone -- the first domestic autofocus lens with F1.2 super large aperture.
- What’s「 TooL 」？
I have used Canon 85mm F1.2L (EF & RF) and also own a EF 50mm F1.2 L USM (RF used as well). I should say, as a photographer, F1.2 has irresistible magic.
Why? Because these super large aperture lenses offer a way of viewing, an extreme shallow depth of field that the human eyes do not have.
Viltrox 75mm 1.2 + Fuji X-H2S
In the past, there have been domestic manual focus lenses in this field, such as Zhongyi, TTArtisan, LAOWA F0.95 (I have also used), but never autofocus lenses. It's obviously quite hard for a novice to focus manually with F0.95 aperture, even for me it takes some time.
That's why I'd like to call the Viltrox AF 75mm F1.2 XF a milestone, because you can buy a new and excellent AF lens with super large aperture at a price far lower than foreign F1.2 lenses, and even lower than most used F1.2 lenses from its release.
Viltrox 75mm 1.2 + Fuji X-H2S
That's my impression and rate of this lens. Of course, this rate needs to be backed up by more photos and experience, and that's what I'll share next.
- How「 Fun 」is it ？
It's certainly interesting, i think we can talk about this autofocus lens with F1.2 super large aperture in three parts.
Before this lens releases, I talked to Mr. Lan, who specializes in portraits, about this lens, and the first question he asked me was not "how is the image quality" of the lens, but "is it AF or MF"?
I think this is the first question many photography amateurs and professional photographers have when they see the 75mm F1.2 specification. As mentioned earlier, for a lens with super large aperture, if it only supports manual focus, maybe people will still buy it, but there won’t be much high shooting efficiency.
Viltrox 75mm 1.2 + Fuji X-H2S
So, how is the focus performance of the Viltrox AF 75mm F1.2 XF? Since I didn't have a screen recording device when I got the latest Fuji camera, so I didn't record video of the focusing process.
In terms of use feeling, this lens performs considerably better on the Fujifilm X-H2S, X-H2 and X-T5 than on a four-generation camera like the X-T4. This is not due to the lens, but to the fact that the latest Fujifilm cameras have greatly improved their focus.
Of course, as a user who also owns Nikon Z and Sony E bodies, I am also looking forward to the future release of Z & E mount versions of this lens by Viltrox.
AF/MF switch&aperture ring helps improve efficiency
Besides autofocus, this lens also has the AF/MF switch key that has been absent for a long time on Viltrox lens, which is more consistent with the operating habits of most photographers, and also suitable for those Fuji models which don't have a focus switch dial.
In addition, this lens also has a clicked aperture ring and dust-proof & sealing design. The use feeling of the aperture ring is the best among Viltrox lenses, and it is also quite good among domestic lenses. But objectively speaking, compared with the Sigma lens I have currently, it is still slightly inferior in the sense of "crispness"
After a snowball fight, the lens works normally after drying
Of course, I think this is also due to the cost. After all, this F1.2 lens is $549, lenses of other brands at the same price do not have such a large aperture, the same aperture will be more expensive.
When it comes to an F1.2 lens, we will ultimately pay attention to the image quality. For Viltrox, the structure of 3 ED lenses and multiple high-refractive index lenses is very sincere. Of course I'm not an expert in optics and I can't give you too many theoretical opinions, so I'll directly show you with real photos.
Let's take a look at the performance at max aperture of the Viltrox AF 75mm F1.2 XF.
Partial zoom
Partial zoom of the edge
Partial zoom
With the zoom-in image, you'll see that the lens is quite amazingly sharp at max aperture and excellent whether in the center of the frame, at the third equivalents, or near the edge of the frame. The uniformity of the entire image is very well maintained. And its shallow depth of field, which is the performance of bokeh, is exactly what you could expect from an F1.2 aperture lens.
In terms of out-of-focus, many people say it's not soft enough and it's a bit sharper in out-of-focus, especially when it's compared to Viltrox full-frame 85mm F1.8. But maybe I prefer the sharper out-of-focus of older lenses (like the Leica Summicron 5cm F2 and MS Optics 50mm F1.0 ISM), so I don't feel any bad about it.
After all, it is F1.2, and the equivalent focal length after 75mm multiplies by 1.5 is 115mm, the contrast of the image is quite good.
Since I have make a comparison in out-of-focus, why not find some other lenses and continue to compare. Of course, as I'm not very rich, I find two that may not be very suitable -- Canon EF 50mm F1.2L USM (here after referred to as EF50L), Leica APO-SUMMICRON-M 90mm f/2 ASPH (which is known as 90AA).
Comparing to the EF 50mm F1.2L USM is because I have seen many people say that the EF50L is not sharp enough at in-focus, but the bokeh is beautiful. So I took one to see how beautiful it is. However, I found that after comparison：
Maybe as human technology is constantly improving, neither the in-focus sharpness nor out-of-focus softness, spot roundness and uniformity, the slightly older EF50L is not as good as the cheaper Viltrox 75mm F1.2.
In fact, I read an article on Weibo later by @一亿像素先进机小护法 and realized that the bokeh of the EF50L is just not very good theoretically.
This also makes me understand that rumors are not reliable ......
Another set of comparisons
I would like to compare with other lenses such as EF85L in the future if I have the chance. If you ask why not compare with the 50RF and 85 F1.2. The reason is simple, first of all, the RF F1.2 lens is far more better than the EF version of the same specification, so there is no doubt that it will win in my oponion. Secondly, they can't be adapted to the same camera, and the imaging differences between Fuji and Canon cameras are not small.
After comparing with Canon, I happened to be testing Xiaomi's conceptual camera during that time and was curious what the Viltrox would be like compared to the more expensive Leica lenses. But I didn't have Leica's famous 75mm F2 AA or 75mm F1.4 on hand, only the 90mm F2 AA, which is closer in usage.
In this comparison, I used a fixed color temperature, so you can see not only the differences between the two lenses in terms of sharpness, bokeh, and color dispersion, but also the obvious differences in color performance between the two lenses.
In conclusion, the Viltrox 75mm F1.2 has better in-focus sharpness, better out-of-focus softness and less color dispersion than the Leica 90mm F2 AA. After all, it's more modern and itself is designed to achieve APO levels.
But Leica is Leica, in the same scene, I always find Leica's color tones more elegant, moderately lower color temperature and moderately saturated, which makes me feel more pleasant. The Viltrox, on the other hand, has a slightly warmer color temperature, which is fine for portrait photography, its primary use, but I find the Leica colors more pleasing to the eye.
Two lenses have very different color tendencies under the same setting.
Of course, in the digital age, such differences in color tendencies can be easily smoothed out by editing. Especially on the Fuji X series, if you do some in-camera presets like I did, the immediate results can often be very comfortable:
Well, after the comparison, you can see the performance of Viltrox 75mm F1.2 in terms of in-focus sharpness, out-of-focus bokeh, and color expression. Still, as a domestic AF lens at $549, I think the results are reasonable, or even beyond expectations.
However, I would also like to say that since I started sharing works shot with this lens, I have been subjected to all kinds of mockery about the image quality of the lens (on the premise that the lens is not available in market, which means that these people have not actually used it at all).
I think it is simply strange that as a domestic lens, it has received a lot of criticism in terms of out-of-focus performance, even more of that than the EF 50mm F1.2L USM, which has a worse out-of-focus performance, despite the fact that the Viltrox 75mm F1.2 is obviously better. And I think this is no longer a problem with the product itself, but with the mindset of the viewer. More directly, this is an innate lack of confidence and cowardice, resulting in a greater willingness to doubt domestic lenses, and not will to look directly at the shortcomings of foreign brands.
On the contrary, the foreign media and users' comments are opposed to these comments, i found these two:
"Very nice bokeh” says in Pros
Source：https://dustinabbott.net/2022/12/viltrox-af-75mm-f1-2-review/
You can feel the excitement from the title
Source: https://photofocus.com/found/viltrox-75mm-f-1-2-best-fujifilm-prime-lens-for-bokeh/
「 Fun 3 」
One Lens One World
After talking about the lens itself, I would like to finally talk about why I want to do a "TooL Fun" for the Viltrox 75mm F1.2, not only because of its milestone significance, but also because, as mentioned earlier, the shallow depth-of-field of the F1.2 itself is not directly visible to the human eye, so through this lens, you actually see a world that we usually ignore.
Any object, in 75mm F1.2 lens, can stand out from the background and become the focus of your image.
People, animals, objects, everything.
That's why I've recommended this lens to many of my friends, not only because of its quality and AF performance, but also because I think it allows more people to experience the fun of a F1.2 super large aperture.
That's, actually the joy of photography: Simple, yet beautiful.
【Original©️: Instagram @tuziphoto】