The Unfair Fight - Fujifilm 56mm f1.2 R WR vs Viltrox 56mm f1.4 AF STM

You must have had a poor copy of the original 56mm because mine is optically fantastic right from F1.2, l can't fault it, it's superb. I read a lot of criticism of lenses on this forum based on one copy which quickly seem to become the perceived wisdom. I've only had one Fuji X lens l was disappointed with, the 18-55mm, but l know l must have had a sub par copy as many love it, so l've never generalised about its quality. Every other Fuji X lens l've had has been excellent, the 10-24mm, 16-80mm, 18-135mm etc.

As a general comment, l just wish people wouldn't write off lenses based on a single experience of one lens, this has previously put me off buying lenses l've now bought now l know better not to take forum 'wisdom' as gospel.

Case in point is the 18-135mm l've just received, it's far better than forum curmudgeon's would have us believe. I took a punt on it because l did extensive checking elsewhere, which led me to believe it would be, and it definitely is. I find this to be a regular theme on here, l have no idea why, maybe l'm that lucky guy that almost always gets good copies, but l very much doubt it.

I wonder how many other people have been put off buying lenses they would really enjoy if people didn't adopt this herd mentality of panning a lens based on one copy, or camera, that didn't meet their expectations?

I'll be hanging on to my copy of the 56mm mk1, it's truly outstanding in my experience, l couldn't reasonably expect its image quality to be improved by anything else, it doesn't even sound like the same lens you had based on your description.