I woke up this morning to the news that Fujifilm announced a new lens last night: the Fujinon XF 400mm f/4.5 R LM OIS WR. This is a long-telephoto prime for wildlife, sports, and aviation photography, with a $3,199 MSRP (in America). It has a little less reach but with a 2/3 stop larger maximum aperture than the Fujinon 500mm f/5.6.

I remember when Fujifilm didn’t offer any prime lenses longer than the 90mm f/2. Then, in 2018, the Fujinon 200mm f/2 was released, but it was a big flop—not because it wasn’t good, but because it was so good that not enough people could afford it or wanted to carry such a heavy lens. Funny enough, Fujifilm made this lens because of demand for it from the community, but when it came out, many of those people who insisted Fujifilm should make it disappeared like Homer Simpson into the shrubs. Once bitten, twice shy. The next telephoto prime—the 500mm f/5.6—didn’t come until late 2024 (over six years later!), and that was basically a GFX lens repurposed for X-mount. Now there’s a third option longer than the 90mm, which is the brand-new 400mm f/4.5.

I couldn’t tell you why someone might choose the 400mm f/4.5 over the 500mm f/5.6 or vice versa. They seem really similar. I suppose if your priority is maximum reach, go with the 500mm; if your priority is maximum aperture size, go with the 400mm. Humorously, someone messaged me today wondering why Fujifilm didn’t make it with a larger maximum aperture like f/2.8, or the very least f/4. My answer goes back to the 200mm f/2: people say they want it, but when push comes to shove, it’ll be too heavy and expensive, and few will actually buy it. Those that claim to be an instant day-one buy will disappear like that Homer Simpson meme. A 400mm f/4.5 is much more practical to build and sell than a 400mm f/2.8 would be. It’s the same for the GFX100RF: those that claim they’d buy it if only it was f/2 and IBIS would not buy it if it was, because they’d then claim it was too large, heavy, and expensive. If you don’t put your money where your mouth is, Fujifilm won’t make those things that you claim to want; instead, they’ll make the products that they believe people will actually buy.

Invariably, whenever anything related to Fujifilm is said, someone will bring up autofocus. Fujifilm’s autofocus will never be as good as the Canikony brands because 1) the other brands had a significant head start (Sony through Minolta and Konica going back to the 1970’s; Canon and Nikon going back to the early 1980’s), 2) the Canikony brands (particularly Canon and Sony) have much larger R&D budgets and can better recruit the best talents, 3) the Canikony brands for a long time prioritized AF over image quality improvements and in some cases even to the detriment of IQ, and 4) X-Trans takes a lot more processing power than Bayer, which in and of itself puts Fujifilm at an AF disadvantage. Outside of a paradigm shift, Fujifilm will never have AF that’s as good as those other brands, and anyone who expects otherwise will always be disappointed. Still, Fujifilm’s autofocus in fifth-generation models is already pretty good, likely in the top 2% best of all autofocus cameras ever made (I did the math, I invite you to do the same), and plenty sufficient for most people and circumstances. Yes, there’s certainly room to improve, and I’m sure they will with future releases. If I were Fujifilm, I’d focus (pun intended) on intuitiveness, and not expect users to do so much AF fine-tuning, which many are unaware that they’re expected to do or even which setting combinations would be most appropriate for their specific use-cases. You fix that, and you fix the perception that the AF is no good.

While Fujifilm has added some telephoto primes longer than 90mm, it’s still a weak spot in the lineup. Personally, I would love to see a 135mm f/2.8 or f/3.5. Maybe a lighter and cheaper 200mm option, something like a 200mm f/3.5, would be a good addition. A budget-friendly (sub-$2,000) 300mm, perhaps with a f/5.6 maximum aperture, would be welcomed, I’m sure. Maybe those are being worked on right now, but if not, I would encourage Fujifilm to consider them for future development. In the meantime, if you’ve been hoping for a long-telephoto lens, perhaps this new one is just what you’ve been waiting for.