Viltrox launches its 75mm f/1.2 autofocus portrait lens for Fuji X cameras

Teased at the end of November with a little bit of a photos leak, Viltrox has now officially announced their new 75mm f/1.2 autofocus lens for Fuji X mirrorless cameras. The new lens adds to Viltrox’s existing 13mm f/1.4, 23mm f/1.4 Mark II, 33mm f/1.4, 56mm f/1.4, and 85mm f/1.8 Mark II but marking a new milestone in maximum aperture at a very bright f/1.2.

It offers a full-frame equivalent field of view to around 112.5mm, with full autofocus support on Fuji X mount cameras. It houses 16 elements in 11 groups inside an aluminium alloy enclosure. The HD Nano multi-layer helps to repel dirt and moisture with low-dispersion elements helping to squash chromatic aberration and other potential issues.

Viltrox boasts “extremely superior high resolution” capabilities that offer edge-to-edge sharpness and consistency. This will remain to be seen once it starts getting into people’s hands, but for an f/1.2 portrait lens at this price ($549), I’m not going to get my hopes too high on this one. Viltrox does typically sit at the lower end of the lens pricing (and quality) spectrum, but they may surprise us. So, I’ll reserve judgement for now until I can see some unbiased sample photos.

As an autofocus lens, Viltrox says it contains their latest STM stepper motor algorithms for fast and precise autofocus and tracking focus. They say it’s precise even when wide open and extremely silent – which should be good for the video fans. What might not be so good for video fans is the clicked aperture. However, it can be rotated manually, or you can control the aperture from the camera body digitally, so you do get multiple control options.

It sports a 77mm filter thread on the front end and has a minimum focus distance of around 88cm. A switch on the side of the lens lets you quickly switch between manual and autofocus, which Viltrox says supports the full array of Fuji focusing modes, including eye, face and animal detection. It also features a built-in Type-C USB port under the lens mount for performing firmware updates as they are released. The aperture is f/1.2 wide open and stops down to a minimum of f/16.

The Viltrox 75mm f/1.2 AF is currently available to pre-order now for $549 from the Viltrox website. No word yet on exactly when it’ll start shipping but I expect we’ll see it fairly soon in the new year.