Introduction

The Viltrox AF 56mm F1.2 Pro is a short telephoto prime lens for Nikon Z APS-C sensor mirrorless cameras where it provides an 85mm equivalent focal length. It can also be used on full-frame sensor cameras using the DX crop mode.

The optical construction is comprised of 13 elements in 10 groups including one extra-low dispersion elements to help reduce chromatic aberrations and color fringing, one ultra precision asperical elements and three high refractive index elements.

It offers a minimum focusing distance of 0.50m / 1.64ft with a maximum magnification of 0.13x and has an 11-blade circular aperture which creates an attractive blur to the out-of-focus areas of the image.

There’s also a manual aperture ring that can be de-clicked for silent video shooting, a customisable Function button, a HyperVCM motor for fast auto-focusing, a USB-C firmware update port, a protective front coating and built-in dust and moisture resistance.

The Viltrox AF 56mm F1.2 Pro lens is available now priced at around £530 / $580 in the UK and the US, respectively. This lens is made in China. It is also available in Sony E and Fujifilm X mounts.

Ease of Use

Weighing in at 570g and measuring 78.4mm in diameter and 94.1mm in length, the all-metal bodied Viltrox AF 50mm F1.4 PRO is about par for the course in terms of its size and weeight for such a fast lens.

Its overall dimensions and weight make it well-suited to a camera like the Nikon Z8 that we tested it with, as shown in the photos below, even with the supplied hood attached.

In terms of its main rivals, there is no comparable APS-C DX format lens available from Nikon.

The Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DC DN Contemporary is much smaller and lighter than the Viltrox AF 50mm F1.4 PRO, but it has a slightly slower maximum aperture, a plastic build and lacks any external controls.

The Viltrox 56mm f/1.7 Air is even smaller and lighter than the Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DC DN Contemporary, but it also has a slower maximum aperture, a plastic build and lacks any external controls.

The build quality is of this lens excellent, with the all-metal magnesium-aluminium alloy barrel construction and matte black finish adding to the premium feel.

It has a sealed dust and moisture resistant design, although Viltrox stops short of saying that it’s 100% weather-proof, and the front element features a water and smudge-resistant coating.

There’s also a coating on the front lens element to help repel water, oil, and any other contaminants, as well as making it easier to clean.

This lens has a metal lens mount. It accepts 67mm filters via plastic threads.

There is a fairly wide, ridged focus ring. Manual focusing is possible by using the focus mode switch to toggle between AF and MF.

There are no hard stops at either end of the range, making it a little more difficult to set focus at infinity. Polariser users should be pleased that the 67mm filter thread doesn’t rotate on focus.

The lens utilizes an Hyper Voice Coil Motor to provide quiet and smooth auto-focusing, making it very well-suited to shooting video.

When it comes to auto-focusing, the Viltrox AF 56mm F1.2 Pro proved to be an almost silent, quick performer on the Nikon Z8 camera that we tested it with.

We didn’t experience very much "hunting", either in good or bad light, with the lens accurately focusing almost all of the time.

This lens features an aperture ring that has 1/3EV stops ranging from f/1.2 to f/16 and an Auto setting.

There is a Click switch on the bottom-right of the lens barrel lets you select whether the aperture ring clicks into place at each aperture stop or rotates smoothly for silent operation during movie recording.

There is a round, clicky, unmarked customisable Function which can be programmed to quickly access various functions from within the camera.

This lens does not feature optical image stabilisation, so it relies on the camera body’s own built-in stabilisation system.

One other significant feature is the USB-C Firmware Upgrade Port which as the name suggests allows you to update the lens directly using Viltrox software, rather than via a camera body.

This lens is commendably supplied with both a soft case and a good quality plastic petal shaped lens hood (PL-37A).

Focal Range

The Viltrox AF 56mm F1.2 Pro’s focal length provides an angle of view of 28°.

Chromatic Aberrations

Chromatic aberrations, typically seen as blue or purple fringes along contrasty edges, were not readily apparent in our test shots, only appearing in very high contrast areas.

Vignetting

With the lens set to its maximum aperture of f/1.2, there is some obvious light fall-off in the corners, requiring you to stop down by at least 3 f-stops to completely prevent it.

Distortion

There’s virtually no pin-cushion distortion evident in either the RAW files or the JPG files, with near-identical results.

Sunstars and Flare

The Viltrox AF 56mm F1.2 Pro is capable of producing quite nice sunstars when stopped-down to f/16, as shown below. Flare is well-controlled when shooting directly into the sun, even without the supplied lens hood fitted.

Macro

The Viltrox AF 56mm F1.2 Pro offers a minimum focusing distance of 50cm with a maximum magnification of 0.13x. The following examples demonstrate how close you can get to your subject.

Bokeh

Bokeh is a word used for the out-of-focus areas of a photograph, and is usually described in qualitative terms, such as smooth / creamy / harsh etc.

In the AF 56mm F1.2 Pro lens, Viltrox have employed an iris diaphragm with 11 rounded blades, which has resulted in very nice bokeh in our view.

We do realise, however, that bokeh evaluation is subjective, so we’ve included lots of examples below for your perusal.

Sharpness

In order to show you how sharp the Viltrox AF 56mm F1.2 Pro lens is, we are providing 100% crops on the following page.

1. Ease of Use
2. 56mm
3. Sample Images
4. Lens Specs
5. Rating & Conclusion
6. Main Rivals
7. Review Roundup