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 p.1 #13 · Quintessential Fujifilm (and 3rd party) lenses? | |
mjeffv2 wrote:
I just snagged my first digital Fujifilm camera and would love some good lens options for it! It's quite the contrast to my main setup, a Sony a7rV, so I'm very unfamiliar with the offerings. I snagged an XT50 body with the TTArtisans 27mm f2.8 pancake to start with since I'll have a month to return that lens. What are some really good "bang for the buck" and maybe slightly higher end but not particularly top shelf lens options?
I started off doing automotive photography (stills and action) but have really moved into city/street, nature, close ups/macro, and landscape type stuff lately. Basically a little bit of everything except portrait. I decided to snag a Fuji in hopes that I could get a bit more creative with my photos, with my Sony I want everything to be very sharp and clinical, almost always searching for that "perfect" photo. I know Fuji is basically on the opposite end of the spectrum (still capable of sharp pictures, but I feel like its not the main goal) so this should be a lot of fun!...Show more →
With a preamble reminder that the most important factor when choosing lenses is matching their objective characteristics to your specific needs, here are some lenses I’ve owned or currently own and my experience with them. Also, keep in mind that there really aren’t any really bad lenses from Fujifilm and they generally are quite good. I don’t use third-party lenses in my system, so all of the following are from Fujifilm. Ask me for more details about any that interest you.
14mm f/2.8 — I have had this lens since I first started using the x-trans system a dozen years ago. It is a really great lens, and of Fujifilm’s “sleeper” lenses that many people don’t know about.
23mm f/1.4 — This lens has been superseded, I believe, by a newer model, but mine has served me well. I often use it for night street photography in urban environments.
27mm f/2.8 — This is one of Fujifilm’s most interesting lenses if you are a street/travel photographer who likes to use primes. It is the lens that is most often on my XT5… and was on my XPro2 and (a long time ago) my XE1. Optical quality is excellent and it is tiny.
35mm f/1.4 — This was the very first Fujifilm lens I purchased and its performance sold me on the system. I would not trade mine away for newer alternatives. (I actually tested it against the fine f/2 version that I had for a couple of weeks. I kept the f/1.4 because I can use the larger aperture, but the f/2 is a good alternative, too.) For a f/1.4 lens with the same angle-of-view coverage as a full-frame 52.5mm lens, this thing is quite small.
60mm f/2.4 macro — This lens is a mixed bag. Optically it is absolutely first class. The 60mm focal length can be quite useful for all kinds of photography, not just macro. It has a few oddities though. The hood is ridiculously huge. (I replaced mine with a tiny screw-in third-party alternative.) It is more of a “close focus” lens than a true macro, which may or may not be enough. It is a slow focusing lens, though it is accurate.
80mm f/2.8 macro — This is an outstanding lens. It gives up nothing to my Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L macro — to the point that I choose the Fujifilm over the Canon for almost all macro photography. It also makes a fine 80mm general prime, and can be used for things like portraits wide open. It is a big, heavy, and expensive lens.
90mm f/2 - Another outstanding lens. It competes with the 135mm f/2 lenses on full frame. I used to use the Canon 135mm f/2.8L for some event and occasional portrait photography, and the Fujifilm 90mm gives up nothing to the Canon. I carry it for travel as part of a small set of primes.
18-55mm f/2.8-f/4 “kit” lens — This is the old “kit” lens, currently replaced by a 16-50mm lens with which I have no experience. I used this older version a few times for travel and for a “happy snap” camera when doing backcountry landscape photography with my big full-frame rig. I was expecting much from it, but it really performs beautifully.
55-200mm variable aperture lens — I had this lens years back, and I carried it for travel photography along with a few primes. It was my one long lens for that purpose. On the plus side its optical performance was pretty good, and it packs very small since the zoom is the extending type. On the down side, I did not find the AF to be reliable enough at the long end (albeit on an older cameras), and the f/5.6 aperture at 200mm is limiting. It can be a useful lens for certain purposes — like travel — but mine eventually suffered a mechanical breakdown that did not give me confidence in its build quality.
16-55mm f/2.8 — This lens is in the same category as the classic 24-70mm f/2.8 lenses on full frame. It performs very much like my Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II — in other words, a solid, reliable, and overall prograde lens. It is big, and many users might be better served by one of the smaller “kit” zooms.
50-140mm f/2.8 — Another absolutely first class lens, with performance in he same range as that of the various Canon 70–200mm f/2.8L and f/4L lenses that I have owned and still own. As you would expect, it is large and expensive, but if you need what it provides…
100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 — For me, the jury is still a bit out on this lens. I got it last year to see how it would compare to using my Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L. (Notably, it arguably gives more reach at 400mm given the 1.5x crop factor on Fujifilm.) In many situations it works very well — certainly when manually focusing with the system on a tripod as you might do for landscape photography, or when using AF with subjects that aren’t moving a lot. I’m not yet fully convinced that it is up to the performance level I want for moving subjects — e.g. wildlife.
I’ve used these cameras and lenses to do a very wide range of photography, and most people don’t need anything like this number of lenses.
Questions?
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