Fuji 56mm -- the perfect portrait lens

The portrait focal length for a full frame lens is considered to fall between 75mm and 105mm because is provides the least amount of perspective distortion on a face. Wider than that and excessive rounding occurs. Longer than that and telephoto compression begins. The ideal portrait lens would sit right in the middle at 85mm, or 56mm on an APS-C sensor. Of course, this is all a rule of thumb and also depends not only on the distance from the subject, but also on the desired subjective effect.

The Fuji 56mm is not only tack sharp, but maintains its sharpness even at its widest aperture of f/1.2 where it also delivers the sweetest bokeh effects of any lens out there. This series of photos was taken with filtered daylight and the lens aperture either wide open or close to it.  One nice thing about this mid-range portrait length is that it allows you to come in close to fill up the frame with just the head, or pull back to include more of the body, while still maintaining an ideal perspective.

Here is the link to my complete hands-on review of the Fuji 56mm f/1.2 lens.

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The Fujifilm XF 56mm f/1.2 R lens is available for ordering at:   BH-photo  Amazon