Over the last year I started to shoot more on telephoto primes such as the 50mm and 90mm, however when Viltrox offered to send me the 75mm f1.2 prime I was extremely curious and wanted to try it. All my telephoto primes are f2 and the difference between f2 and f1.2 is pretty substantial when shooting at night. At f2 you’re really pushing the ISO to values between 3200 and 6400. Also you don’t have the luxury of dropping the shutter speed down due to the increased focal length, so getting a faster prime is pretty much the only solution if you wish to work with lower ISO values and higher shutter speeds. This lens is 75mm f1.2 on the Fuji APSC sensor so translating to full frame this is around 112mm f1.8.

First I want to start by saying that Viltrox gave me this lens in exchange for writing this blog and sending them back some sample photos. Although I get to keep the lens no money changed hands, they have no input regarding the talking points and they will not see this blog until after it has gone live. All opinions are my own with no influence by anyone else.

Build Quality

The build quality is fantastic. It’s built like a tank and the all metal body feels like it will last for years. The aperture dial feels nice to turn with subtle clicks for each aperture value. The focus dial feels well damped and accurate and the focus switch is solid with no play. The lens does come with weather sealing and the gasket around the mount is quite beefy. Using this lens, it feels solid with no rattles, play or anything else. It very much feels like a pro product. The only downside that is also shared by the 27mm f1.2 from Viltrox are the lens caps which feel like they are made from a cheap plastic. The caps do their job but they don’t feel as premium as the lens. Of course this isn’t a big deal, just something to note. One thing I did notice is very abrupt changes in exposure when using this lens with my XH2s. This is something I didn’t experience with the Fuji 90mm f2 or the Viltrox 27mm f1.2 however I’m sure these small things can be ironed out with firmware and it didn’t have any negative impact on the photos.

Ergonomics

This is where this lens might not be for everyone because it’s big and it’s heavy. I spent a day walking round London shooting and by the end of it, my arm definitely felt tired. The closest lens weight and size wise I have is the 16-55 f2.8 from Fuji. This lens will feel the best on an XH due to the larger grip and body. On the XT cameras this will feel front heavy but still usable, however on anything smaller like an XE or an XT30, you will not enjoy it as much.

If the size and weight is not an issue, the rest of the ergonomics are awesome. All the aperture values are clearly labelled and the dial is easy to use. A welcome addition is the focus switch that allows you to quickly throw it into manual focus. I’m not sure why they put it on this lens and not on the 27mm f1.2 however it’s a welcome addition as It can come in handy when you’re shooting abstracts, diffusions or reflections. Finally to update the firmware on this lens you need to go via the USB-C port on the mount. This is a neat implementation.

Image Quality

This lens is extremely sharp and the image quality is top notch. I was genuinely blow away by how sharp it is even wide open. Of course shooting at f4 will give you sharper results but even at f1.2, the image was tac sharp. The colour rendering is great too. Honestly there isn’t much else to say here, from what I’ve seen it’s as good as any Fuji lens I used. Overall very impressed.

Autofocus

This lens uses an STM motor and when coupled with the huge piece of glass it has to move, it’s to be expected that it won’t be the fastest system. This isn’t the lens I would personally use for professional sports or wildlife purposes as it can be a little slow to focus. However for general walk about, landscape, still life and street photography, the AF system is good enough. Personally I stuck the camera in single autofocus mode and it worked well. However it is noticeably slower than the closest competitor which is the Fuji 90mm f2.

Summary

To summarise this is a good high quality fast prime with amazing image quality, however it’s big and it’s heavy. When coupled with an XH body you do start to wonder what the advantage of APSC is when an equivalent Sony full frame is probably smaller and lighter. However if you’re already in the Fuji ecosystem, love to shoot telephoto and shoot mostly at night, then this lens is the only real option you have. If you couple it with the 27mm f1.2, you have an awesome night photography kit. For the money I would recommend this lens to almost everyone. The only people I wouldn’t recommend it to are those with small camera bodies, people who don’t shoot in low light and photographers who need the fastest AF system. One final and important point to mention is value for money. This lens is half the price of the equivalent Fujifilm prime.

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