One lens one story #7

XF56mmF1.2 R is the game changer.
Perhaps this lens is the most important lens for the X-mount.
After the release of XF56mm, we no longer heard criticism that “the APS-C has deep depth of field and not enough bokeh”. Instead, we heard praises that “the lens is sharp wide open. It is nothing like other mid-telephoto lens on the market.”
The secret to this is”the focal length of 56mm” and “the elimination of color aberration”.
We have previously mentioned the advantage of not using the electronic correction for the distortion. Not only does the XF56mm eliminates the use of electronic correction for the distortion, it also eliminates the use of electronic correction for the color aberration. The lens corrects the color aberration only by optical design. Even in our XF lineup, the XF56mm is the only lens that does this.
The effect of ED lens is to correct the color aberration. The two large diameter ED glass lenses handle the job nicely. And they do so at the front end of the lens.
They are the two elements that are close to the front end, so naturally they become large in size. And the ED lens is difficult to manufacture, so they are not cost-friendly. But as far as the image quality is concerned, they are top-notch.
To achieve higher image quality for mid-telephoto lens, the correction on the color aberration is a must. The two ED glass lenses realize the characteristics of the XF56mm; the lens is sharp even with aperture wide open.
“Two ED lens is not that many” some of you might say.
“The XF50-140mm uses 5 of them!”
This is true. So here, another secret “focal length of 56mm” plays another important role.
56mm is 84mm angle of view in 35mm format equivalent. It would be categorized under mid-telephoto lens, but the aberration is that of the actual focal length 56mm.
If the light ray is of the 56mm focal length, then the color aberration is not as apparent as longer focal length that is over 100mm. In fact if you look around, you will notice that there is barely any lens with 50-60mm focal length that use two or more ED glass lenses.
And those that use the ED glasses at the front end? They are almost non-existent. The unprecedented lens was born with an unique lens configuration.

Continue to read Episode 8
One lens one story – Episode 8: XF56mmF1.2 R Part 2