News: Viltrox 56mm 1.2 Pro – Now available in Nikon Z mount – quick first impressions

Viltrox have today announced the availability of the 56mm 1.2 Pro Lens for apsc cameras in Nikon Z mount.

As you might have noticed, I have been playing with a few Viltrox lenses recently – this 56mm is the latest they have sent me. It is an APS-C lens meaning its 56mm focal length translates to around 85mm when mounted on the cropped-sensor cameras it’s designed for. With 85mm lenses providing my favoured field of view, I couldn’t help be intrigued to see what this wide-aperture lens was capable of.

Obviously being someone who shoots a full frame Nikon Zf, this lens isn’t entirely designed for me, but when Viltrox got in touch to ask if I would like to try it, I was as intrigued enough by the lens to see if I could get my hands on a Nikon APS-C camera to try it. Thanks at this point go to LCE in Worcester as they agreed to loan me a Nikon Zfc, the junior version of my Zf to help enable me to review this lens… and review it I will, but for now this little post is just to announce its release and share a couple of initial impressions.

First off, this is the first “Pro” lenses I have tried from Viltrox. My expectations were high as their non-pro lenses are already extremely impressive. Unfortunately my first experiences weren’t great – mounted on the Zfc it didn’t seem all that special in terms of its autofocus capabilities. With this being the main area I expected it to shine, I was initially a little confused. I then realised that I could just shoot it on the Zf in DX (crop) mode, and in doing so, every tiny bit of concern was immediately replaced with awe. In short, the less good AF performance was the problem of the Zfc camera and not the lens.

To be fair, I had suspected the AF performance of the Zf might be spoiling me – I’ve mentioned as much in previous reviews. This camera really seems to get the best out of the lenses mounted to it, and the best of this new 56mm really is very impressive indeed.

The key comparison I have made between the lenses I have been trying recently and my previous experiences is with the Sony 24-70 GMii. The two 85mm lenses I have tried from Viltrox have definitely not been as fast as the GMii which by comparison is almost immediate when it comes to its AF speed.

This new 56mm Pro lens from Viltrox with its HyperVCM AF system really significantly closes that gap. I have even gone as far to say previously that for the most challenging of my professional photography jobs (shooting stage performances), I wouldn’t be happy with the Viltrox lenses I have been reviewing, but for everything within my personal photography, they are more than capable enough. This 56mm is a different beast. my initial tests on the Zf have demonstrated to me that Viltrox’s pro-line lenses are potentially exactly what they report to be. That is to say, I am almost certain that the AF speed and accuracy wouldn’t let me down were I to use one within my professional stage performance photography.

Of course, AF performance isn’t everything. But initial tests have also shown of incredible optical performance even wide open at f/1.2. It’s also very well built, and has all the features I have started to seek in AF lenses for my Zf.

In fact, the only question I have found myself wondering about this lens is if Nikon themselves even make an APS-C camera that’s good enough to get the most out of this lens. Having spoken LCE, it seems that main contender is the Z50ii, though unfortunately they don’t have a secondhand one of those that I can borrow. I’m going to see if I can shoot the lens on their display model, but aside from that, my full review will mostly rely on the Zf so as the camera isn’t the bottleneck.

Here’s some sample shots – first from the Zfc…

… and the Zf

More shots here too

As I have said, I will be sharing more thoughts as part of a full review soon, but in the meanwhile, to say I am impressed would be an understatement!

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