Viltrox launches the second of its Pro XF series of f/1.2 lenses, which becomes its eighth prime for the Fujifilm X-mount
The Viltrox AF 27mm F1.2 Pro XF lens uses a responsive STM stepping motor enables fast and accurate autofocus.(Image credit: Viltrox)
Viltrox has just launched the second of its autofocus prime lenses for the Fujifilm X mount. The Viltrox AF 27mm F1.2 Pro XF offers an effective 40mm focal length, when the crop factor is taken into account, making this a fast standard prime that is suitable for big-bokeh portraits, or for shooting in lowlight. It will provide a faster alternative to Fujifilm's own Fujinon XF33mmF1.4 R LM WR lens at a slightly lower price.
The new lens is faster than practically anything in the Fujinon range except for the XF 50mm f/1 and the XF 56mm f/1.2 R WR. The rest of the fast primes from Fujifilm are f/1.4 lenses or compact f/2 optics.
Viltrox already make an AF 75mm F1.2 Pro XF in the Fujifilm mount - which has now recently been released for Nikon Z and Sony E APS-C camera mounts too.
The company says the AF 27mm F1.2 Pro XF delivers soft and "charming" out of focus areas, sharp in-focus areas and a smooth transition between them. It's designed for high performance wide-open with edge-to-edge sharpness. It has a minimum focus distance of 0.28m and Viltrox says focus breathing is 'insignificant'. This could make this a popular lens for filmakers looking for a shallow cinematic effect – the best Fujifim cameras such as the Fujifilm X-H2S and Fujifilm X-S20 are very effective filmmaking tools.
The AF 27mm F1.2 Pro XF has a click-stop aperture ring in keeping with Fujifilm's own primes, it has electrical contacts for EXIF information transfer to the camera body. (Image credit: Viltrox)
The 27mm f/1.2 is constructed from 15 elements in 11 groups, including two extra-low dispersion lens elements, and one aspherical element, and five high-refractive elements.
The lens features an 11-blade aperture diaphragm, and offers a 67mm front filter ring, as well as a USB-C connector to allow firmware updates. The all-metal housing features all-weather sealing to keep out moisture and dust, and weighs in at a meaty 560g (19.75oz).
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The Viltrox AF 27mm F1.2 Pro is available to order from today for $549 / £579, and comes supplied with a petal-shaped lens hood, and a pouch bag.
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Rod is an independent photography journalist and editor, and a long-standing Digital Camera World contributor, having previously worked as DCW's Group Reviews editor. Before that he has been technique editor on N-Photo, Head of Testing for the photography division and Camera Channel editor on TechRadar, as well as contributing to many other publications. He has been writing about photography technique, photo editing and digital cameras since they first appeared, and before that began his career writing about film photography. He has used and reviewed practically every interchangeable lens camera launched in the past 20 years, from entry-level DSLRs to medium format cameras, together with lenses, tripods, gimbals, light meters, camera bags and more. Rod has his own camera gear blog at fotovolo.com but also writes about photo-editing applications and techniques at lifeafterphotoshop.com
