Fujifilm XF35mmF1.4 R

This Fuji 35mm prime lens for Fuji X-mount cameras takes photos that are just, wow .. AMAZING. It's simply difficult to believe that a smaller format lens like this can hold its own against the larger Nikon and Canon lenses, and not in any way to take away from those, but after shooting for a good deal of time with this lens, I would have to say that it is every bit the peer of its more well-known brethren. The image clarity is simply astounding: sharp, rich photos that can achieve outstanding bokeh due to its very large F/1.4 aperture, and the defocusing effect is really nice due to the number of shutter petals used in its design. But this is a lens that you might just want to beyond portraits: use it outdoors, on the street, really anywhere, because the images are just simply that good. You're not going to have a wide angle capability here because you are working at 35mm (about 52mm equivalent), but once you start seeing how the shots come out, you'll start forgiving that shortcoming. Add to this that the lens is so light that once you've put it on your X-A1, X-E1, X-M1, or X-Pro, and you'll nearly be working at point-and-shoot weights. This lens does not come with built-in image stabilization. But once you see the photos, it likely won't matter to you. And because the Fuji X cameras shoot very low noise at very high ISO levels, coupled with the fact the lens opens up all the way to F/1.4, image stabilization really isn't that important. The lens is a bit pricey, but most reviewers are coming down on the side that some of these Fuji X-mount lenses (and this is one of them) are comparable with professional brand lenses many times their price. This is simply an amazing set of lenses that deserve your investigation if you have not looked into them yet. This lens alone might be all you need to draw you into looking into the Fuji X-mount system. Five stars, and absolutely without hesitation! PLUSSES ++ Very good image quality, with good color and sharpness ++ HUGE aperture allows for low-light shooting and good bokeh ++ Lightweight and generally small ++ "XF" build quality puts it in the league of Fuji's other amazing "XF" lenses MINUSES -- A tad expensive for what it is (but it goes on sale, so keep your eye's peeled) -- Shutter blades pretty "clacky" during autofocus -- Autofocus speed not the fastest -- The newer XF 35mm F/2 is much faster, quieter, smaller, and much cheaper (so if you don't need that extra F/1.4 aperture, go with the newer model) -- No lens case supplied (I know I am harping on this, but all Fuji lenses should come with beautiful Fuji lens cases) Update after shooting with this lens for a month in France: This lens is just crispy good. Images can be so sharp as to be startling. I used this lens in museums, in cathedrals, in train stations, really just about anywhere without thought of low light in the setting, and just knocked off shot after shot of gorgeous images. You have to use your "built-in zoom" (i.e., your feet) when using the lens, but that's just a matter of weening yourself off the convenience that zoom lenses provide (and that also account for their general inability to reach the image quality of primes; the world of camera equipment is a world of trade-offs!). And, because of the very wide aperture (F/1.4), you can pretty much not worry about the lack of image stabilization. Just take time to compose your shot, and the images can be just amazing. Coupled with the high-ISO/low noise performance of the Fuji X cameras, this wide-aperture lens just continues to amaze. After shooting with it for weeks, I can see firsthand why so many people rave about it, as they do for many of the Fuji primes. It's light and small, too, so when you slap it on your X mount camera, you are at near point-and-shoot weight. The aperture blades and the focusing motor are a bit noisy at times (there is a firmware update for many of the Fuji cameras to help reduce this, as well as firmware updates for the lens itself; make sure you have updated both your camera AND your lens to the latest firmware from the Fuji support site), but in most settings, you'll never notice it (also turning off continuous focusing will help with focusing noise will help). But this is an extraordinary lens that I say will compete with the best of the larger brands, and at a fraction of the weight. It's easily a five-star lens on nearly all counts.

This lens is magic. The perfect companion to my X-Pro 1. Image Quality: It's tack sharp at f/1.4 and only gets sharper stopping down. Very minimal chromatic aberration in really high contrast scenes and non-existent in pretty much everything else. Out of focus areas have a very pleasing smoothness. Build Quality: Wonderful. Lightweight yet a fully solid metal construction. The focus ring is drive by wire but on my copy it's buttery smooth. The aperture ring has a pleasing click in 1/3 stops to it. Just the right bit of firmness at full stops and slightly softer in between. Size is just right. Some areas that have bothered others and my take: • the lens is loud... it's not loud but you can certainly hear the feel the motor working. It's not a super silent lens but doesn't kill the moment. • the lens hood makes using it with filters impossible... NO IT DOESN'T. Put the filter on before the hood. All of my Hoya filters work just fine this way • the rubber lens cap is useless... it pretty much is. It's always falling off when I pull my camera from my bag. I don't use a lens cap with this lens anymore, though. I leave the lens hood on and it's always ready to shoot. • the AF is terrible... the autofocus is not terrible. It's mid-range for Fuji. With the current firmware updates, this lens is pretty darn good in good light. Even in bad light you'll get solid focus, but you need some contrast on the subject or something nearby to nail it. It's more the Fuji cameras on this area. As they improve I bet the capabilities of this lens will show more.

I bought this lens to go with my Fujifilm XT-2 and I'm really loving it! Other reviews have commented on the outstanding build quality (which it is) so I'll just focus on the image quality. This lens produces standout images. The F1.4 produces a beautiful bokeh and even wide open it produces extremely sharp images. It's a perfect match for the lightning fast 1/32,000 electronic shutter speed on the XT-2 since at F1.4 the lens lets so much light in. I'm used to having to stop my lenses down in broad daylight, but I can shoot wide open at noon if I want on the XT-2. The AF is a tad slow as other reviews have mentioned, but it's certainly fast enough for my needs. I was debating between this lens and the F2.0 and I'm glad I went with the F1.4 for everything that comes with a wider aperture (better low light performance, better bokeh, etc). It's a great companion to the 18-55mm F2.8-4.0 R LM OIS Lens. Negative reviews addressed: AF Noise - The AF noise is not that bad. Based on some of the reviews I thought it was going to be noisy, inaccurate and just all around lousy and this has not been my experience. I can hear it, but it locks on fairly quickly and I hardly notice the little amount of noise it makes (just a faint clicking while it locks on). Now maybe if I was shooting a wedding in a church and I needed absolute silence this might become a factor, but that isn't the case for me. Come on people this is a magnificent lens! Stop giving products 1 star because it isn't 100% perfect (what product is?). This almost deterred me from this lens and I'm glad I went with my gut and purchased it anyways. AF Hunting - The AF does hunt a little (especially in low light), but it's still perfectly acceptable for every day photography. Heck I can get it to lock onto stars in the night sky! I don't have the F2 lens so I can't directly compare, but I really can't complain about it hunting too much. That being said I don't shoot much action photography so that might be an issue for sports and such I just can't say one way or another. Conclusion: If you are on the fence about this lens for everyday photography purposes you won't be disappointed. Quite the contrary, you will be wowed by Fujinon's meticulous attention to detail in all of their products. This lens deserves every single star I rated it.

This is the fastest optic for the X family until the 23mm arrives mid-Oct. This is a great lens with roughly a 50mm field of view on 35mm eqiv. The lens is sharp and I like the aperture ring. The styling is great and the results are top notch. The only downers are the sluggish AF performance and the loudish AF motor. It reminds me of my 50mm D on my Nikon several years ago. Compared to the whisper quiet performance of, say, the 18-55 or even the 55-200, it's noisy. But the images are worth the wait and the audible irritation. I've found it only a nuance when trying not to disturb those around me. It's really not that bad, hence it still having 5 stars due to overall performance with image output. If you're used to the likes of the Nikon AFS, Canon USM or even the Sigma HSM, this well feel slow and loud, but it does deliver on image quality. Bottom line, if you shoot with the interchangeable X series and need/want the 50mm equiv. that so many shooters enjoy, this is the ticket. Nothing else comes close nor is anything else this fast. The 18-55 is good at a similar focal point, but not as sharp in my book, and certainly nowhere near as fast. A great, light, fast (optically) lens for the X system.

So why 5 stars? It's because it's a damn good lens for the money. It's not perfect, but for $600 what can you expect. Sure, I have lenses at similar focal lengths that are superior, but at a much much higher price. It's a very well built lens but also light weight. It has an all metal housing, the hood is also metal but with a plastic connector. The focus is nicely damped with a good feeling metal grip. The aperture ring turns smoothly and clicks at 1/3 stops, although I wish the click was a little more firm. The lens attaches firmly to the body at a very tight tolerance. There's no play at all. The included cap is cheap plastic, but who really cares about the lens cap. The included rubber lenshood cap is a nice touch. Overall a very solid lens that reminds me of my old MF Zuiko glass from the 70's/80's. It's focus-by-wire so it lacks the feel of a true MF lens, but paired with the Xpro1, you're focusing through an LCD anyways, so you're not going to get that feel anyways. The lag is extremely minimal (although the distance scale on the camera has a slight delay). As for AF, it's fast in daylight, but in low light it's a bit on the slow side. I think this is more of a camera than a lens issue so perhaps firmware updates will improve this. Most important is of course image quality. This is where the lens really stands out. Tack sharp, good contrast, nice color, good control of CA and very nice circular bokeh. When it comes to image quality of 50mm & 50mm equiv lenses, this one is up there.

PROS: -Awesome image quality -Well built -1.4ness? yes please -Small, light and nice looking -Smooth focus and aperture rings, but with enough resistance CONS: -Slow autofocus performance -Noisy Autofocus -Slow manual focus performance To start with the positives, I would say that this is one of those must have lenses if your only camera system is the Fuji X system; its light, it has amazing image quality, and it looks very very nice (I do factor this into my scoring, but it does not affect it by much). The 1.4ness is really a wow factor with this lens, as it has pleasing (not perfect, but pleasing) bokeh. The lens is also very very sharp, but I will admit, sharpness is not the thing that makes this lens awesome, the 1.4ness and its overall performance is. On the negative side, we have the issues that commonly plague the Fuji X system and that this lens compounds; its focus performance. This lens is SLOW to focus. This is something that everyone with a fuji knows, but they should still take it into consideration when buying lenses. Furthermore, not only is the AF slow, but also very very noisy... I am talking about mechanical whirring akin to point and shoot zooms. This is really a pain; not only does the lens constantly remind you that it is slow, but does so visibly and audibly. This should be fine for manual-focus type of people no? not really, as turning the AF ring has a noticeable delay between the turn of the focusing ring and the focus action.. To clarify, this lens does not have focus issues in the sense that it does acquire focus, albeit slowly. Lastly, this lens is expensive... yup, it might be a 1.4, but $600 for a lens that is not that enjoyable to use is a bit too much. So would I recommend this lens? Absolutely. The image quality is just that good. However, that being said, I actually returned mine and do not plan to buy one soon or at this price point. Why? the main reason for doing so is because I already have the Nikon 35mm 1.8 G DX and a Nikon APS-C system. I am also not particularly a fan of shooting at 50mm equivalent. Furthermore, the Nikon has such nice AF performance (nearly silent, very quick, and the manual focus performance is superb) that it makes this lens feel slow and cumbersome. It is not as nice optically, but it still gets the job done, and it is not much bigger or heavier than this lens (Yes, my D7100 is big and heavy, but I don't have to wait for it to auto focus, not do I have to listen to its whining). If this lens was a joy to use, I would have kept it; however, it is really cumbersome to use compared to my other lens, and it makes no sense to keep such an expensive lens when I already have one in the same focal range. Final verdict: 4 stars if you only own a Fuji X camera (or if you buy it at $450), 3 stars otherwise (I gave it 4 stars in the Amazon rating system because most people looking to buy this probably don't care about it comparatively).

I've had this lens for 30 mins and WOW!! It's really stunning and for the price with Fuji's current rebate it's a great buy. (thru March 24ish, check internet) . I've never had a FAST lens and just that alone is great. Indoor photos usually don't need a flash but that's just for starters. The center sharpness is unreal, even wide open this lens is sharp. I haven't stopped it down yet but I'd imagine that it will get even better. The bohken is new to me, and it really makes photos look professional. The subjects have great isolation from the background. I can't really talk technical here but wow, go buy this lens. I'm seriously considering selling my 27mm pancake as this is so much better and while it's more than twice the size it's not very big or heavy. The build is very good and everyone talks about how loud it is. Frankly on my XT1 it's not loud at all. (I don't have the best hearing...) The focus is quick and precise. I would imagine that firmware has been updated since when I mounted the lens it came right up with no mention of updates. Great lens, buy one...

Very sharp in the center wide open, very sharp across the frame even by f/2.8. Bokeh is a little harsh at f/1.4 in some circumstances (mainly small out of focus objects), but much improved even by f/2. Focus is a little slow even with all focus updates. The lens is very well built with knurled metal focus ring and excellent overall feel. Manual focus feel is not great, but it is fine for small adjustments after initial autofocus. I recommend this lens for available light shooting, or excellent performance stopped down. There is always the question whether or not to buy a large aperture prime or a standard zoom. This lens will shine in that f/4 and wider range that is not covered by the zoom. If you never shoot at larger apertures you will likely not notice a big difference between the two. This lens is a great classic standard for the Fuji X system.