Fujifilm 56mm f1.2 vs Tokina 56mm f1.4 vs Viltrox 56 f1.4, which one is better?
Since the announcement if the Viltrox trio of f1.4 lenses for Fujifilm cameras the Fujifilm photographers went into a total frenzy.
I cannot wait for the Tokina version of the lens to become available, a lens that many says that is the same as the viltrox with a better looking design.
I used the fujifilm 56/1.2 for about 3 years and it is a spectacular lens, the equivalent of an 85mm on a full frame, it is fast and bright, superb image quality and very small. However, the Fujifilm 56/1.2 has a few drawbacks, it is not weather sealed and doesn’t work well for video, the focusing motor is not made for video focusing.
The Viltrox and Tokina will have an STM focusing motor which in turn will make them at least better for video focusing; even if the image quality/sharpness of the lens will not be on par with the Fujifilm 56/1.2, the price of the lens from Viltrox and Tokina will be well below the Fujifilm equivalent, the Tokina will probably be around $450 while the Viltrox will be around $320.
I recommend everyone that is a professional photographer to buy the fujifilm lenses and not the third party equivalent, however, not everyone has a budget for the branded lenses and sometimes there is no option to buy a branded lens on a specific focal length, therefore plenty of manual lenses are available.
Also when you start as a photographer, you don’t necessarily have the budget but you still want to get a good fast lens, and because fujifilm 56/1.2 is around $900, I have no other suggestion that go and get the Viltrox 23mm, 33mm, 56mm and 85mm and to this list a Lowa 9mm or a Samyang 12 and you’re set to start almost any photography business from landscape to portrait, weddings events or street.
