Lens

My Top 5 Lenses So Far in 2023

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

We’re almost done with the first two months of 2023! Time is just flying by—I wish it would slow down a little. Anyway, I thought it would be interesting to look at the lenses that I’m using the most so far this year.

The number-one most used lens is the one permanently attached to my Fujifilm X100V. So far, I’ve been picking up that model more this year than last. I’ve had the X100V for almost three years now, and it remains my favorite camera. For the sake of this article, though, I will only be discussing interchangeable lenses and not fixed, so the one on the X100V doesn’t count.

The methodology of this Top 5 list is simple: I reviewed my pictures captured in 2023, and noted which lenses were used. After tallying the results, I made this list. In other words, this list is simply my most-used lenses, which doesn’t necessarily mean best or favorite, although it certainly indirectly speaks something to that effect—if I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t use it so much, right? With that said, here are my Top 5 lenses so far in 2023!

#5: Fujinon 100-400mm F/4.5-5.6

The Fujinon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 is my most expensive lens, and one of my least used. It comes in handy every once in awhile; however, it’s big and heavy, and not particularly convenient for carrying around, so it often stays at home unused. I’ve made a couple half-hearted attempts to sell it, but (for now) I still own it. I used it a couple of times in January, but on both occasions I switched it out for another lens after only a short while.

Surprising to me, the 100-400mm lens was used more than any of my vintage lenses. I love shooting with old manual lenses, but so far this year I haven’t done much of that; instead, the 100-400mm—despite limited use—was attached to my camera more, and snuck into number five on this list.

Fujinon 100-400mm:  Amazon   B&H   Moment

Don’t Drink the Water – Gilbert, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 + Fujinon 100-400mm – Kodachrome 64
Seed Floaters – Gilbert, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 + Fujinon 100-400mm – CineStill 400D v1
Green Desert Trail – Gilbert, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 + Fujinon 100-400mm – CineStill 400D v1

#4: Fujinon 18-55mm F/2.8-4

The Fujinon 18-55mm f/2.8-4 lens came bundled with my first Fujifilm camera, the X-E1. I used the lens for a few months and then sold it, because I’ve always been a prime lens photographer, and not a zoom. This last November I purchased a Fujifilm X-T5 bundled with the 18-55mm f/2.8-4 lens, and I used this lens a lot for the first five or six weeks, but have since slowed down considerably, choosing prime lenses much more often instead of the zoom. My wife has found that she likes it for video, so she borrows it sometimes.

As far as zooms go, the 18-55mm f/2.8-4 is pretty darn good. I like the lens. I find myself using it at certain focal lengths—18mm, 23mm, 35mm, 55mm—and it’s amazing that one compact zoom can do the work of four primes. But I still prefer primes, so this lens only made it to number four, and a pretty good distance behind the next.

Fujinon 18-55mm:  Amazon   B&H   Moment

Green Hills – Goodyear, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 + Fujinon 18-55mm – Kodachrome 25
Raymond Photographing Flowers – Goodyear, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 + Fujinon 18-55mm – Kodachrome 25
Cholla Arms – Goodyear, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 + Fujinon 18-55mm – Kodachrome 25

#3: Fujinon 35mm F/2

Before I purchased the Fujinon 27mm f/2.8, the Fujinon 35mm f/2 was my favorite and most used lens. It was almost always attached to my camera. But, after the arrival of the 27mm pancake, it got put on the shelf. Then my wife, Amanda, discovered that she really likes the 27mm lens, too, so now we share it. Whenever Amanda is using the 27mm, I’m often using the Fujinon 35mm f/2. Yes, it might be a consolation prize, but it is still a fantastic lens that I like using.

Let me point out something about the Fujinon 35mm f/2 lens that I have noticed: whenever I use it, I seem to have a pretty strong hit rate. I really like the pictures I capture with it. For that reason, there have been a couple of times where the 27mm pancake was available, but I chose the 35mm instead.

Fujinon 35mm:  Amazon   B&H   Moment

Spring is a Dream – Gilbert, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 + Fujinon 35mm – Kodak Ultramax 400
Feeding Ducks – Gilbert, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 + Fujinon 35mm – Kodachrome 64
Fence & Desert – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 + Fujinon 35mm – Vintage Bronze

#2: Fujinon 27mm F/2.8

I have used the Fujinon 27mm f/2.8 pancake lens just barely more often than 35mm f/2 so far this year. I’ve often said that the 27mm f/2.8 is my favorite lens, and it was by far my most used lens in 2022 (even more than the one permanently attached to my X100V). I love the small size, focal length, and image quality. When I purchased this lens, I had no idea that I’d like it so much.

Through the first two months, the Fujinon 27mm f/2.8 not only slipped to number two, but it almost fell one more spot. I do suspect that I’ll continue to use it often, and it is still one of my favorite lenses, but I’m not sure I can confidently state that it is my absolute favorite lens like I have previously. I still love it, though.

Fujinon 27mm:  Amazon   B&H   Moment

Rainy Day Window – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 + Fujinon 27mm – Kodak Ultramax 400
Don’t Climb on the Bikes – Oceanside, CA – Fujifilm X-T5 + Fujinon 27mm – Emulsion ’86
Dreary Beach – Oceanside, CA – Fujifilm X-T5 + Fujinon 27mm – Emulsion ’86

#1: Fujinon 90mm F/2

When I reviewed my pictures from 2022, I noticed that, despite using the Fujinon 90mm f/2 less than some other lenses, many of my favorite pictures were captured through its glass. So, in 2023, I’m trying to use it more. I find the focal length challenging sometimes, but when it does work out, the results are stunning. The 90mm lens is my wife’s other favorite lens, so I share it with her, and it’s not always available when I want to use it.

I hope when I look back at the end of the year, the Fujinon 90mm f/2 will continue to be at the top of this list. The pictures that I capture with it are some of my favorites, so it only makes sense to use it as often as I can.

Fujinon 90mm:  Amazon   B&H   Moment

Sunrise Light – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 + Fujinon 90mm – Kodachrome 25
Flock of Cranes – Gilbert, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 + Fujinon 90mm – Kodak Portra 400 v2
Autumn Reflection – Gilbert, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 + Fujinon 90mm – Kodak Portra 400 v2

This post contains affiliate links, and if you make a purchase using my links I’ll be compensated a small amount for it.

Review: TTArtisan 27mm F/2.8 — A Cheap Fujinon Alternative

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

TTArtisan 27mm f/2.8 on a Fujifilm X-T5

The Fujinon XF 27mm f/2.8 R WR is my favorite lens for Fujifilm cameras. The problem is that it’s also my wife’s favorite lens, and between the two of us we only have one copy. When she’s using it, I typically go with the Fujinon 35mm f/2 instead, which is a really good lens, too, but I like the 27mm just a bit better. The other problem is that the 35mm lens, while small, is bigger than my 27mm pancake, and it doesn’t fit into my travel camera bag (I have it set up where my Fujifilm X100V and Fujifilm X-E4 with the 27mm fit really nicely into a little camera bag—the 35mm lens is just a tad too big). When TTArtisan recently announced their inexpensive 27mm f/2.8 autofocus pancake lens, I thought maybe this could be a good solution to my problem.

The TTArtisan 27mm f/2.8 feels well built. There’s mostly metal in the construction, and at 0.2 pounds, it’s definitely lightweight. It has an aperture ring, with f-stops from f/2.8 to f/16, and third-stop clicks in-between. It has 6 elements in 5 groups, and 7 diaphragm blades. 27mm is full-frame equivalent to 40.5mm, and is pretty close to what they eyes see. The minimum focus distance is about 13.5 inches. It accepts 39mm threaded filters—the lens came with a tiny hood that screws into the threads. The rear cap has a USB dock for firmware updates. Overall, the lens looks and feels pretty good.

TTArtisan 27mm f/2.8 on a Fujifilm X-T5

I really like the manual focus ring. It has the right amount of give, and the amount of focus change per turn is great. I like this lens better as manual-focus than autofocus. Why? Autofocus is loud and slow. Fujifilm’s 27mm isn’t their quickest or quietest, but the TTArtisan is noticeably noisier and slower (I tried it on an X-T5 and X-E4 with the same result on both). It reminds me a lot of Fujifilm’s 18mm f/2 pancake. I said of that lens, “Autofocus is the slowest I’ve experienced in a Fujinon model, outside of macro lenses that have a long range to cycle through. It’s also the loudest.” The TTArtisan’s autofocus performs very similarly. My wife has been around cameras and lenses nearly as much as I have—she shoots with a Fujifilm X-T4. A couple days ago I was playing around with the TTArtisan 27mm and she happened to be nearby, and she asked, “What’s that noise?” I answered, “This new lens, it’s trying to focus.” Her response was, “I’m sorry.” Maybe I just got a bum copy, or maybe they’re all that way—either way, it was a bit disappointing, but not completely unexpected for cheap gear.

The other aspect of the TTArtisan 27mm that’s similar to the Fujinon 18mm is size, as they’re pretty close to the same dimensions—the TTArtisan is just barely smaller. I said in my review of the 18mm, “Whereas the 27mm is a true pancake, the 18mm f/2 is only sort-of one, as it’s a little on the large size for this category. Think of it more of a Japanese pancake than an American flapjack, or maybe it’s a short stack.” It’s definitely smaller than the 35mm f/2, though, and it passed the fit-test in my travel bag. So when my wife is using the Fujinon 27mm, I can choose to attach the TTArtisan 27mm or the Fujinon 18mm to my X-E4, and it will still fit alongside my X100V.

What about image quality? There’s some strong vignetting that never fully goes away—by f/8 it’s extraordinarily minimal, but at f/2.8 it’s very pronounced. You can use the vignetting creatively, or stop down… it’s not too bad at f/4, and definitely not a big deal by f/5.6. It’s pretty sharp in the center at all apertures, but a little soft in the corners wide-open. I think the lens is optically best at around f/8, but certainly acceptably good at all apertures—even f/2.8. Bokeh (which is the quality of the out-of-focus areas of an image and an overrated aspect of image quality) is alright—not bad, but not my favorite, either; can be slightly “swirly” at f/2.8 when close-focusing. I didn’t notice chromatic aberrations or anything like that, but it might be because the camera is fixing it automatically. There is some noticeable barrel distortion. Lens flare is mostly well controlled, and sometimes kind of interesting (I’ve yet to decide if I like it or not). Overall, image quality from the TTArtisans 27mm isn’t as good as the Fujinon 27mm, but still pretty good.

Hanging Garden Light – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 + TTArtisan 27mm @f/3.2 – Upcoming recipe

The TTArtisan 27mm f/2.8 is only $160, which is an extremely good price. If the Fujinon 27mm f/2.8 is out of your budget or you’re having a difficult time finding a copy, this is a pretty good alternative. If you can afford the Fujinon model, I recommend that instead because it’s better; however, the TTArtisan is pretty good yet very affordable. For those on a tight budget, I don’t think you’ll find a better pancake lens for your Fujifilm camera.

This post contains affiliate links, and if you make a purchase using my links I’ll be compensated a small amount for it.

TTArtisan 27mm f/2.8 Autofocus  Amazon

Fujinon XF 27mm f/2.8 R WR   Amazon   B&H

Example photos, captured with the TTArtisan 27mm f/2.8 lens, all straight-out-of-camera JPEGs:

Early Morning Lamp – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 + TTArtisan 27mm @ f/2.8 – “Superia Xtra 400“
Night Blossoms – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 + TTArtisan 27mm @f/2.8 – “Superia Xtra 400”
Autumn Leaves on a Green Bush – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 + TTArtisan 27mm @f/4 – “Nostalgia Negative“
Lemon Bowl – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 + TTArtisan 27mm @f/4 – “Superia Xtra 400”
Dark Coffee – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 + TTArtisan 27mm @f/2.8 – “Timeless Negative“
Western Boots – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 + TTArtisan 27mm @f/2.8 – “Superia Xtra 400”
Cowgirl Boots – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 + TTArtisan 27mm @f/2.8 – “Kodak Tri-X 400“
Illuminated Branch – Buckeye, AZ Fujifilm X-T5 + TTArtisan 27mm @f/5.6 – “Pacific Blues“
Rose in the Garden – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 + TTArtisan 27mm @f/5.6 – Upcoming Recipe
Afternoon Bougainvillea – Bcukeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 + TTArtisan 27mm @f/4 – “Pacific Blues”
Blue Sky Bougainvillea Blossom – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-T5 + TTArtisan 27mm @f/6.4 – Upcoming recipe

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Lens Review: Fujinon XF 33mm f/1.4 R LM WR

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

Fujinon 33mm f/1.4

Earlier this year Fujifilm sent me an X-Pro3 camera and Fujinon 33mm f/1.4 lens to try for a few weeks. The camera and lens are long gone—of the two, the one I miss the most is the Fujinon 33mm f/1.4 lens. Yes, the X-Pro3 is great and was a lot of fun to shoot with, but that lens is something special!

What I remember about the development of the Fujinon 33mm f/1.4 lens is that the original intention was for it to have an f/1 maximum aperture, but early in the design stages Fujifilm realized that in order to do so the lens would have to be both very large and very expensive, so they scaled it back to f1.4 instead. The 33mm focal length might seem odd until you take into account the APS-C crop factor—it’s full-frame equivalent to 49.5mm, which means it’s a “nifty fifty” lens.

Fujifilm already has a number of lenses that are close-ish to the 50mm (equivalent) focal-length: the 35mm f/2 (actually, there are two) and 35mm f/1.4 are just a little more telephoto, while the 27mm f/2.8 is a little more wide-angle (and is the closest “as the eyes see” lens in the Fujinon lineup). The 33mm f/1.4 seems a bit unnecessary when judged simply on this, but I do think it was a solid addition when Fujifilm released it last September.

The question on everyone’s mind is whether the Fujinon 33mm f/1.4 lens is any good or not. Of course it is—”Fujinon” is printed on it, and that’s an assurance of quality. The lens is super sharp edge-to-edge, even wide open, but especially when stopped down just a little. This lens out-resolves the 26mp sensors found on the current lineup, and I believe is capable of resolving future higher-resolution offerings that are in the pipeline. Fujifilm built this lens with the future in mind, yet in the meantime it allows you to maximize current cameras’ quality potential. Bokeh is beautiful. Aberrations and flare are fairly well controlled. There is almost no distortion. There is a very small amount of vignetting in the corners when wide open, but it is extremely minimal—you’re not likely to notice unless you are looking closely for it. Sunstars are excellent. While I believe that the flaws in lenses are what gives them character, this lens has proven that position wrong, because this is a near-flawless lens that is oozing with wonderful character. Bravo, Fujifilm!

While some might have wished for that f/1 aperture originally intended for this lens, I found f/1.4 to be more than enough. In daylight conditions, it’s actually difficult to use that large of an aperture, but indoors or at night it can come in handy. It’s possible to get a very narrow depth-of-field, especially if you are focused near the minimum distance (about 12″). I find it interesting that the GFX 63mm f/2.8 is basically the same thing for GFX as the 33mm f/1.4 lens is for X-series, with the same equivalent focal-length and same depth-of-field at maximum aperture. Aside from the resolution difference, you’re basically getting “medium format quality” from this lens—I’m not exactly sure what that means, but know that the lens is superb.

Another thing that you probably want to know is that this lens is weather-sealed, so if you attach it to a weather-sealed camera body, you’re good to go out into the elements. While I didn’t find myself in very many situations where this came in handy, it could be important to you, depending on the type of photography that you do, and where you live. Autofocus is super snappy and nearly silent. Build quality is excellent.

The Fujinon 33mm f/1.4 is a little less than 3″ long and weighs about 0.8 pounds. It’s noticeably bigger and heftier than some Fujinon primes, including the 35mm offerings and especially the 27mm f/2.8. I found it balanced really well on the X-Pro3, X-T4 and X-H1, and it balanced moderately well on the X-T30 and X-T1, but it didn’t seem to balance well with the X-E4. If I did own this lens, I would still use it on my X-E4, but I’d likely use the 27mm f/2.8 much more often on that camera. Basically, this lens pairs particularly well with larger X-series cameras.

The Fujinon 33mm f/1.4 lens retails for $799, which is definitely on the higher end. Is it worth quadruple the price of the cheap XC 35mm f/2? Is it worth double the price of the XF 35mm f/2 or 27mm f/2.8? Is it worth 33% more than the 35mm f/1.4? I can’t answer that for you, but if it is a lens you will use often—an essential tool in your kit—then probably yes. If not, perhaps consider one of the other options. If you do buy it, I have no doubts that it will instantly become one of your favorite lenses, and you’ll keep it for many years to come.

This post contains affiliate links, and if you make a purchase using my links I’ll be compensated a small amount for it.

Fujinon 33mm f/1.4 Amazon B&H

Example photographs captured using the Fujinon 33mm f/1.4 lens:

Indoor Blooms – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro3 & Fujinon 33mm f/1.4 @f/8 – “Fujicolor Superia 800”
Sunlit Succulent – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro3 & Fujinon 33mm f/1.4 @f/9 – “Fujicolor Superia 800”
Agave Blue – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro3 & Fujinon 33mm f/1.4 @f/8 – “Fujicolor Superia 800”
Mutual Conversation – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro3 & Fujinon 33mm f/1.4 @f/5.6 – “Agfa Ultra 100”
Red – Salt Lake City, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro3 & Fujinon 33mm f/1.4 @f/5.6 – “Agfa Ultra 100”
Boy With Nerf Gun – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro3 & Fujinon 33mm f/1.4 @f/1.4 – “Vintage Color v2“
Forgotten Post – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro3 & Fujinon 33mm f/1.4 @f/1.8 – “Nostalgic Negative“
February Reaching – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro3 & Fujinon 33mm f/1.4 @f/5.6 – “Vintage Color v2”
Wild Gold – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro3 & Fujinon 33mm f/1.4 @f/10 – “Vintage Color v2”
Desert Snow – Canyonlands NP, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro3 & Fujinon 33mm f/1.4 @f/6.4 – “Old Ektachrome“
End Post – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro3 & Fujinon 33mm f/1.4 @f/1.4 – “Standard Provia“

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Sigma Announces Three X-Mount Lenses

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

Sigma just announced three autofocus lenses for Fujifilm X-mount: 16mm f/1.4, 30mm f/1.4, and 56mm f/1.4. This is a big deal because 1) Sigma lenses are pretty darn good yet typically “affordable” and 2) it’s good to have options, which has been a little missing for Fujifilm photographers. These lenses can be pre-ordered and will ship in April.

I’m sitting here sipping my first cup of coffee, and already there has been plenty of press and early reviews published on these three lenses. What can I add that hasn’t already been said?

I’m glad that Sigma announced these lenses. I think it’s good. But I’m going to give you three quick reasons why you should not buy them. I’ll briefly explain why the similar Fujinon offerings are superior, and you should go with those instead.

First, there are no aperture rings on these Sigma lenses. Sigma literally took three already existing lenses for other mounts and made them compatible with X-mount. These lenses aren’t designed for the Fujifilm experience—they’re designed for Sony, in which you use a command wheel to adjust the aperture (yuck!). It is true that some Fujinon lenses work this same way, but most don’t. Most have an aperture ring, and that’s an important aspect of shooting Fujifilm. Sigma should have redesigned their lenses to include an aperture ring, but they didn’t, and I predict their X-mount lenses won’t sell as well because of this.

Second, behind the scenes, your Fujifilm camera is secretly fixing little flaws in the Fujinon glass. Fujifilm programmed their cameras to do this automatically, so you don’t know that there’s actually a little vignetting or chromatic aberrations or whatever else that doesn’t show in the pictures but is actually there if the camera wasn’t making this adjustment. Your camera won’t do this for third-party lenses. For the greatest optimization, stick with native glass.

Third, these three Sigma lenses are rather plain-looking. They don’t really match the retro-vibes of most Fujifilm X cameras because they look like modern lenses. Not all Fujinon lenses were modeled after vintage designs, but many of them were, and they match the stylings of the body much better than these Sigma offerings.

With all that said, there’s definitely a market for third-party autofocus lenses; however, they must offer something that Fujifilm doesn’t. It could be a focal-length and/or aperture. It could be quality. It could be speed. It could be size and/or weight. It could be price. What do these Sigma lenses offer that Fujifilm doesn’t? Let’s take a look.

Fujifilm offers a 16mm f/1.4 lens already—a high-quality, quick lens that’s smaller than the Sigma offering. The Sigma is less than half the price.

Fujifilm offers a 33mm f/1.4—a high-quality, quick lens that’s a similar size (and focal-length) to the Sigma offering. The Sigma is less than half the price.

Fujifilm offers a 56mm f/1.2—a high-quality, quick lens that’s a similar size to the Sigma offering (but larger maximum aperture). The Sigma is less than half the price.

Now you see why one would choose a Sigma lens over the Fujinon: to save some cash. They’re priced significantly cheaper while offering something similar. If you can afford it, the Fujinon lenses are better, but if not, this is a solid alternative that’s friendlier on the wallet. There are also lesser-expensive Fujinon options worth considering, which maybe don’t have the tech-sheet wow factor, but are otherwise fantastic lenses that you’re sure to be happy with.

This post contains affiliate links, and if you make a purchase using my links I’ll be compensated a small amount for it.

Sigma 16mm f/1.4 $449 — B&H
Fujinon 16mm f/1.4 $999 — Amazon B&H
Fujifilm 16mm f/2.8 $399 — Amazon B&H

Sigma 30mm f/1.4 $339 — B&H
Fujinon 33mm f/1.4 $799 — Amazon B&H
Fujinon 27mm f/2.8 $399 — Amazon B&H

Sigma 56mm f/1.4 $479 — B&H
Fujinon 56mm f/1.2 $999 — Amazon B&H
Fujinon 50mm f/2 $449 — Amazon B&H

My Current Fujinon Lenses

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

After my Why I Love… series, which included the Fujinon 18mm f/2, Fujinon 27mm f/2.8, Fujinon 35mm f/2, and Fujinon 90mm f/2, I’ve been asked a few times which Fujinon lenses I currently own. I have a few third-party lenses and a number of vintage lenses, too, but the questions were specifically which Fujinon lenses are in my collection, so I’ll just talk about that.

My favorite Fujinon lens is the 27mm f/2 (read my review here). Because this is also my wife’s favorite lens and we share it, I often use the Fujinon 35mm f/2 (read my review here) as an alternative that is a close second-favorite. When I want to go wide-angle, I use the Fujinon 18mm f/2 (read my review here), and when I want to go telephoto, I chose the Fujinon 90mm f/2 (read my review here). This is actually a really good wide-standard-telephoto setup, and if I wasn’t sharing lenses, I’d only need the 27mm or 35mm and not both.

Some of you might be surprised to learn that I have other Fujinon lenses (and I’m not talking about the one permanently attached to my Fujifilm X100V). I own a Fujinon 100-400mm telephoto zoom (read my review here) that I occasionally use when I need something longer than 90mm. It’s the most expensive lens that I’ve ever purchased, and for how much it cost, I don’t use it nearly as much as I should. My wife owns three Fujinon lenses (that I have access to): the Fujinon 10-24mm f/4, the cheap kit Fujinon 16-50mm (read my review here), and the Fujinon 50-230mm (read my review here). The 10-24mm lens is the most used of those three, and I do borrow it occasionally, but if my wife isn’t using the 27mm f/2.8, then she’s using the 10-24mm f/4 (especially for video), so it’s not always available. The 16-50mm lens is almost never used by either of us, although it has been attached to a camera for video a few times. I borrowed the 50-230mm lens occasionally before I purchased the 100-400mm, but now it’s pretty much never used, except by my wife every once in a long while.

In order of most used to least used by both my wife and I combined: 27mm f/2.8, 35mm f/2, 90mm f/2, 10-24mm f/4, 18mm f/2, 100-400mm, 50-230mm, 16-50mm.

Now it’s your turn! Which Fujinon lenses do you own? Let me know in the comments!

This post contains affiliate links, and if you make a purchase using my links I’ll be compensated a small amount for it.

Fujinon 10-24mm f/4 B&H Amazon
Fujinon 18mm f/2 B&H Amazon
Fujinon 27mm f/2.8 B&H Amazon
Fujinon 35mm f/2  B&H  Amazon
Fujinon 90mm f/2   B&H   Amazon
Fujinon 100-400mm B&H   Amazon
Fujinon 16-50mm B&H Amazon
Fujinon 50-230mm B&H Amazon

Why I Love The Fujinon 18mm F/2 Lens

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

Fujinon 18mm f/2 lens attached to a Fujifilm X-T30 camera.

I’ve done several of these “Why I Love The Fujinon…” articles—including the 90mm f/2, the 35mm f/2, the 27mm f/2.8—but I’ve been putting this one off. If you’d read my review of the Fujinon 18mm f/2, you might already know that I have a love/hate relationship with it. I called it “the strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” because it is simultaneously wonderful and disappointing—wonderful image quality, disappointing performance. I don’t want to rehash what I already stated in the review, so I’ll approach this a different way.

For a long time I shot 35mm film. I had a Canon AE-1 camera and a 50mm f/1.8 lens, and that’s it—one camera and one lens. After awhile, though, I began to collect gear. I acquired more cameras and more lenses. One lens was a Canon 24mm f/2.8. Coming from 50mm, the 24mm focal-length lens seemed to be extremely wide-angle to me. I found it challenging to use, but also highly rewarding, because the focal-length can make a scene much more dramatic. Below is a picture from the first roll of film where I used the 24mm focal length. For Fujifilm cameras, 16mm is full-frame-equivalent to 24mm, not 18mm (which is 27mm full-frame-equivalent), but the difference between 16mm and 18mm isn’t huge. I actually like 18mm more because it is a bit less extreme yet still very dramatic.

Canon T70 & Canon FD 24mm f/2.8 – Ilford Delta 400 film

The 18mm focal-length is very useful for landscape or cityscape photography. It wouldn’t be my first choice for portrait photography, but it is great for when you want to exaggerate the space in the frame. It can turn a rather ordinary scene into something more extraordinary through embellishment. I think everyone should own a lens with this or a similar focal-length, and challenge themselves to use it—and it alone—on occasion, just for practice.

The 18mm f/2 is Fujifilm’s second smallest lens, so it is especially great for travel or walk-around photography. It’s a lens that you can leave on the camera all day, or have as a second lens, perhaps kept in a jacket pocket. The size and weight advantage of this near-pancake lens cannot be understated!

Fujifilm X-H1 & Fujinon 18mm f/2 – “Kodak Gold 200“

Ultimately, though, it comes down to the pictures, and it’s easy to love how the Fujinon 18mm f/2 lens renders images. When the pictures look as good as they do, it’s not hard to ignore the flaws (such as a slow and loud focus system). For this reason, the Fujinon 18mm f/2 lens is an essential tool in my kit. Yes, I do have a love/hate relationship with this little lens, but I lean much more closely towards the love side.

This post contains affiliate links, and if you make a purchase using my links I’ll be compensated a small amount for it.

Fujinon XF 18mm f/2 R Amazon  B&H

Example photographs captured with the Fujinon XF 18mm f/2 R lens:

Fujifilm X-H1 & Fujinon 18mm f/2 – “Ilford XP2 Super 400“
Fujifilm X-H1 & Fujinon 18mm f/2 – “Ilford XP2 Super 400”
Fujifilm X-H1 & Fujinon 18mm f/2 – “Ilford XP2 Super 400”
Fujifilm X-H1 & Fujinon 18mm f/2 – “Kodak Gold 200”
Fujifilm X-E4 & Fujinon 18mm f/2 – “Fujicolor Superia 800“
Fujifilm X-E4 & Fujinon 18mm f/2 – “Fujicolor Superia 800”

Why I Love The Fujinon 35mm F/2

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

Chair & Pillow – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 35mm f/2 – “Ilford Delta Push Process“

The Fujinon 35mm f/2 was once my most-used lens. It was what you would typically see attached to my Fujifilm X-T30, or sometimes my Fujifilm X-T1. There’s a lot to love about this lens, but I don’t use it nearly as often as I once did, and it has absolutely nothing to do with image quality.

You can read my full review of the Fujinon 35mm f/2 lens here. I don’t want to rehash what I’ve already stated, but simply tell you why I love this lens (and also why I don’t use it much anymore).

The 35mm f/2 is a lovely little lens that’s super sharp, has nice bokeh, has a pretty good maximum aperture of f/2, is fast, small and lightweight. It captures wonderful pictures! There’s not much at all that can be said negatively about it. It’s a solid prime with a very useful focal length. It’s a great example of the Fujinon quality that Fujifilm has become known for, and I would recommend it to anyone.

If it’s all sunshine and lollipops, why don’t I use this lens much anymore? It has to do with the focal-length. Earlier this year I got the new Fujinon 27mm f/2.8, which has a full-frame-equivalent focal-length of 40.5mm—nearly “standard” (as the eyes see), and only barely wide-angle. The 35mm lens is 52.5mm full-frame-equivalent, which is also in the range of “standard,” but is a little telephoto. (For those wondering, roughly 30mm on a Fujifilm camera, or 45mm on full-frame, is neither telephoto nor wide-angle). So these two lenses—27mm f/2.8 and 35mm f/2—are similar and in many ways redundant. The 27mm lens isn’t necessarily “better” but it is my preference because I like the focal-length just a little more. They’re both excellent options, but I only need one.

I do still use the 35mm f/2 sometimes. If I want just a little more reach, or if I need a little larger maximum aperture (such as for low-light photography), the 35mm lens is the one to grab. However, the number one reason why I choose it over the 27mm is because my wife often has the 27mm lens on her camera, so the 35mm—being a close second pick—is what I use on my camera instead. Of course, I have many other lenses to choose from, so sometimes I use the opportunity to try something completely different. In any event, I would be a little sad parting ways with the Fujinon 35mm f/2, but it wouldn’t really change much for me.

If you are looking for a standard prime lens that’s not too big or expensive and just captures wonderful pictures, the Fujinon 35mm f/2 is one to strongly consider. I like the 27mm f/2.8 just a little better, but the new one (with the aperture ring) is tough to find at the moment, so if you are impatient, this is an excellent alternative. The 35mm f/2 is such a good lens that it just seems “wrong” to give it a silver medal instead of gold, but when there are multiple options that are exceptional, things like that happen. Beside, you might prefer it over the 27mm, because you like the focal-length or larger aperture better. Maybe the Fujinon 35mm f/2 would suit your photography just a bit better.

Even though I don’t use it much anymore, I still love the Fujinon 35mm f/2, and would be plenty happy if it were the only lens I owned.

This post contains affiliate links, and if you make a purchase using my links I’ll be compensated a small amount for it.
Fujinon 35mm f/2 (Black) B&H Amazon
Fujinon 35mm f/2 (Silver) B&H Amazon

Man in Red – Fujifilm X-T1 & Fujinon 35mm f/2 – “Kodacolor”
Pigeons Over A Roof – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 35mm f/2 – “Kodachrome 64“
Mitchell Mesa – Fujifilm X-T1 & Fujinon 35mm f/2 – “Kodak Portra 160”
Palm Tree Bees – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 35mm f/2 – “Kodachrome 64“
Bright Spikes – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 35mm f/2 – “Kodachrome 64“
Saguaro In The City – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 35mm f/2 – “Agfa APX 400“
Dramatic Desert Sky – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 35mm f/2 – “Agfa APX 400“
Dike Road – Fujifilm X-T1 & Fujinon 35mm f/2 – “Monochrome“
Reflection on a Dirt Road – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 35mm – “Dramatic Monochrome“
Terrible Ford – Boulder City, NV – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 35mm f/2 – “Agfa APX 400“

Fuji Features: Fujinon 70-300mm Reviews

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

Welcome to the second Fuji Features post! Each article in this series will have a different theme. The first one featured the Fujifilm X-E4. This one is is all about the Fujinon 70-300mm lens.

I badly want the new Fujinon 70-300mm zoom lens!

You see, I have the 100-400mm (review here), which is great, but it’s so big and heavy that I hardly ever use it. When I do use the 100-400mm, I really enjoy the pictures that I capture with it, but sadly most of the time it sits on a shelf. My thoughts are, since the 70-300mm is roughly 40% smaller and about half the weight, I’d likely use it more often. The problem is that I have to sell the 100-400mm first (if you’re interested, hit me up) in order to afford it.

Anyway, I searched the web and found a whole bunch of Fujinon 70-300mm reviews and videos. I hope that they’re helpful to some of you, or at least entertaining. It’s hump day, so maybe this will help you get through it.

This post contains affiliate links, and if you make a purchase using my links I’ll be compensated a small amount for it.

Fujinon 70-300mm Amazon B&H

Below are the Fujinon 70-300mm reviews that I found on the web.

DPReview

5050Travelog

Photography Blog

Imaging Resource

The Phoblographer

Fstoppers

Fuji X Passion

Fujilove Magazine

Jonas Rask

Bjorn Moerman

Alan Hewitt

Plus some videos! Lots and lots of videos….

Fujifilm Lens Stories, too!

Lens Review: Fujinon XF 18mm f/2 R

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

The Fujinon XF 18mm f/2 R lens is the strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This is a lens that I want to love because of its small size and very useful focal-length, but I don’t love it because its way overpriced and has a disappointing focus system. I’m getting a little ahead of myself, though; I have plenty that I want to discuss about the Fujinon 18mm f/2 before giving my conclusion.

This is one of two “pancake” lenses offered by Fujifilm; the other is the 27mm f/2.8. Whereas the 27mm is a true pancake, the 18mm f/2 is only sort-of one, as it’s a little on the large size for this category. Think of it more of a Japanese pancake than an American flapjack, or maybe it’s a short stack. The 18mm f/2 is compact glass for when you want a little less girth and weight, but it’s not quite as small as one might hope for.

In this lens are eight elements in seven groups with seven semi-rounded blades. You won’t get great sunstars. Bokeh is pretty good, although not something you’ll experience much because it’s a wide-angle lens. The 18mm focal-length is full-frame equivalent to 27mm. The minimum focus distance is about seven inches, which is pretty good. The maximum aperture is f/2 and the minimum is f/16, with 1/3-stop intermediate clicks. The lens accepts 52mm threaded filters.

The Fujinon 18mm f/2 lens is sharp in the center at all apertures. It’s slightly soft on the edges at all apertures, but more so when wide-open, so it’s best to stop down to at least f/2.8 or f/4 if you can. I didn’t notice any vignetting. There’s not much distortion, and I didn’t notice any chromatic aberrations; I wonder if it’s because the camera is correcting this—as you probably know, I shoot JPEGs, and I didn’t inspect the RAW files. Image quality from this lens is clearly Fujinon, and I’m quite happy with how it renders pictures.

This is one of Fujifilm’s oldest X-series lenses, and it shows. It’s in desperate need of a refresh. Autofocus is the slowest I’ve experienced in a Fujinon model, outside of macro lenses that have a long range to cycle through. It’s also the loudest. I found manual-focus, which is focus-by-wire, to be somewhat unpleasant. The focus system on this lens is disappointing, but ultimately it is sufficient for most situations, so you just have to put up with it. Hopefully at some point Fujifilm makes a new version with a better focus motor.

The 18mm f/2 is quite prone to lens flare, which you might love or hate depending on how you feel about it. Fujifilm does provide a lens hood that’s highly effective, but it adds significant length, which defeats the point of it being a pancake lens—with the hood it makes this lens the same size as the 16mm f2.8. I’m personally okay with the flare, so I don’t use the hood.

Fujinon 18mm f/2 flare example.
Fujinon 18mm f/2 flare example.

The Fujinon XF 18mm f/2 R lens isn’t weather-sealed (which only matters if your camera is), it doesn’t have any image stabilization (which isn’t a big deal on a wide-angle lens), and it’s slow and loud compared to other Fujinon lenses. Yet it retails for $600! The only thing special about the 18mm f/2 is that it’s small and lightweight, which is why I bought it and why I plan to keep it, but I wouldn’t pay $600 for it.

If you can find one for a good price, it might be worth owning. Otherwise, there are better options to consider, including the 14mm f/2.8, 16mm f/2.8, 16mm f/1.4, 8-16mm f/2.8, 10-24mm f/4, 16-55mm f/2.8, 18-55mm f/2.8-f/4, 16-80mm f/4, and 18-135mm f/3.5-f/5.6. Heck, the 15-45mm f/3.5-f/5.6 and 16-50mm f/3.5-f/5.6 might even be better options! Pretty much any Fujinon lens that covers this or a similar focal length will have some advantages over the 18mm f/2. The one and only reason to buy the Fujinon 18mm f/2 lens is if you need a small pancake-like wide-angle lens to attach to your camera. If you need that, this lens is your best bet because it’s your only option.

Ah, but the pictures captured through this lens are quite nice, even if the experience of capturing them is less than ideal. That’s why I said this is the strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. You have to know this going into it, or you’ll likely be disappointed. If you can put up with the quirks and can get it for a good price, you’ll find glass capable of capturing beautiful images, and that’s what matters most. I don’t love the lens, but I do like it and plan to use it frequently.

This post contains affiliate links, and if you make a purchase using my links I’ll be compensated a small amount for it.

Fujinon XF 18mm f/2 R Amazon B&H

Example photographs captured with the Fujinon XF 18mm f/2 R lens on a Fujifilm X-T30:

Shallow Lake – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 18mm f/2
Calm Canal – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 18mm f/2
Farmington Bay Reeds – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 18mm f/2
Sky Reflections in the Water – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 18mm f/2
International Fence – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 18mm f/2
Red Steel Pile – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 18mm f/2
Dirty Shore & Reflections – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 18mm f/2
Algae & Broken Reeds – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 18mm f/2
Puddle in the Path – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 18mm f/2
Still Water Reeds – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 18mm f/2
Seagull Over Reeds – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 18mm f/2
Wetlands Under Pastel Sky – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 18mm f/2
Structure Abstract – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 18mm f/2
Bucket in a Basket – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 18mm f/2
Sidewalk Intersection – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 18mm f/2
Three Seagulls – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 18mm f/2
Tree & Reflection – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 18mm f/2
Dramatic Sky Over Shallow Lake – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Fujinon 18mm f/2

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Lens Review: Pergear 50mm f/1.8

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

I get asked frequently, “How can I make my digital pictures look more like film?”

My film simulation recipes—made possible by Fujifilm’s commitment to the camera-made JPEG and their long history with film—are a great start for achieving a film-like look. Another step that can go a long way towards achieving an analog aesthetic is the lens that’s attached to the camera. You see, most modern lenses are precision engineered, designed to eliminate flaws as much as possible. They score well on test charts, but often at the expense of character. Modern lenses render photographs differently than vintage lenses; old lenses have flaws, as they weren’t designed with today’s technology or for today’s standards, and these flaws are why they render images uniquely. For (typically) not very much money you can buy antique lenses intended for film cameras, and mount them to your Fujifilm X camera with an adapter—something that I love to do! Cheap third-party lenses often accomplish the same thing, but you’re buying something that’s new (instead of old) and you don’t need an adapter. The Pergear 50mm f/1.8 lens is an inexpensive option for your Fujifilm X camera, and it indeed has character similar to a vintage lens!

I get gift cards sometimes, usually for my birthday or Christmas, and it can be hard to know what to buy myself. In the past I have purchased a Meike 35mm f/1.7 lens and a 7artisans 25mm f/1.8 lens—both are under $100, which is the right price range for those gift cards that I don’t know what to do with. The Pergear 50mm f/1.8, with an MSRP of $79, is in that same category. The Pergear lens has other things in common with the Meike and 7artisans models: click-less aperture rings, seemingly good build quality, similar flaws, and lots of character. You’d almost think that they were made by the same company, but apparently they’re not.

The Pergear 50mm f/1.8 is a 75mm-equivalent manual-focus, manual-aperture prime lens from China. It has 10 rounded aperture blades, 6 elements in 4 groups, a maximum aperture of f/1.8, a minimum aperture of f/16, a minimum focus distance of about 15 inches, and accepts 43mm threaded filters. The aperture and focus rings are both smooth. I do wish that the aperture ring had f-stop clicks, but it doesn’t—not a big deal, though.

Center sharpness is pretty fantastic on the Pergear 50mm f/1.8 lens at all apertures. Corner sharpness is decent-enough when wide open and noticeably improves when stopped down to f/4. There’s some minor vignetting when wide open; it improves when stopped down, yet it never fully goes away, although it’s hardly noticeable at apertures smaller than f/2.8. There’s some noticeable chromatic aberrations in extreme high-contrast light, but is otherwise well controlled. There’s almost no distortion. Bokeh is pretty good thanks to those rounded blades.

The Pergear 50mm f/1.8 has a weird flaw, which can be stunningly beautiful or terribly awful, depending on your tastes and the exact situation: the center of the frame can get a warm haze. It seems to become more pronounced when the aperture is (roughly) f/5.6 and smaller, and when there’s a bright light source somewhere in front of the camera (it can be outside the frame). Sometimes I really love this haze, and it’s almost like having a diffusion filter built into the lens, and sometimes it’s just too pronounced and essentially ruins the picture. Opening up the aperture seems to reduce the effect in those situations where it might be too pronounced. This strange haze is both the reason to buy this lens and the reason not to, depending on your opinion of it. I personally really like it, although I’m happy to have it limited to one lens, which I can choose to use when I want this character in my pictures. To be clear, this haze won’t show up in every picture—there are many situations where it won’t, either because the aperture is too large or because the light isn’t right, and even when it does appear, it’s often very subtle, which is great.

The Pergear 50mm f/1.8 is a good, sharp lens, producing lovely images in most situations. It has character that you just won’t find in most modern lenses. It has quirks, which can be good or bad, depending on the situation and your tastes. It’s all manual, which I like, but can take some practice to get good at if you’ve only ever used auto lenses. The Pergear 50mm f/1.8 lens, when used in conjunction with the Fujifilm JPEG settings, can help you achieve a much-sought-after film-like look from your digital camera. It’s not for everyone, but, for the price, it’s worth a try, especially if you are unsure what to buy with that gift card in your wallet.

This review contains affiliate links, and I will be compensated a small amount if you make a purchase using my links.
Amazon $79

Below are camera-made JPEGs that I captured using the Pergear 50mm f/1.8 lens attached to my Fujifilm X-T30. For the color pictures I used my new Kodak Portra 400 v2 recipe (available on the Fuji X Weekly App for iOS), except for the the top picture, which was captured with Velvia, and the two night pictures below that, which were captured with Porto 200 (also available on the app). For the black-and-white pictures I used my Kodak Tri-X 400 recipe. The photographs of the lens (above) were captured with a Fujifilm X100V using my Superia Premium 400 recipe.

Piano Abstract – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Pergear 50mm f/1.8
Train at Night – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Pergear 50mm f/1.8
Windshield Bokeh – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Pergear 50mm f/1.8
Red Berry Tree – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Pergear 50mm f/1.8
Resting Girl on Chair – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Pergear 50mm f/1.8
Handicapped Parking – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Pergear 50mm f/1.8
Trash, Truck – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Pergear 50mm f/1.8
Rural Trash Can – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Pergear 50mm f/1.8
Dam & Bridge – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Pergear 50mm f/1.8
Water Under The Bridge – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Pergear 50mm f/1.8
Cold Country Road – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Pergear 50mm f/1.8
December Reeds – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Pergear 50mm f/1.8
Hunting Journey – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Pergear 50mm f/1.8
Winter Sunflower – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Pergear 50mm f/1.8
Reed by a Frozen Lake – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Pergear 50mm f/1.8
Cattails – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Pergear 50mm f/1.8
Pole Cone – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Pergear 50mm f/1.8
Duck Hunters – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Pergear 50mm f/1.8
Grass in the Cold Water – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Pergear 50mm f/1.8
Motor Vehicles Prohibited – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Pergear 50mm f/1.8
Steel – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Pergear 50mm f/1.8
Barren Landscape – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Pergear 50mm f/1.8
Grass in the Frozen Marsh – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Pergear 50mm f/1.8
Storm Over Frozen Marsh – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X-T30 & Pergear 50mm f/1.8
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My Fujifilm X Camera Lens Recommendations, Part 2: Third Party

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

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Part 1: Fujinon

I listed my recommended Fujinon lenses for Fujifilm X cameras in Part 1. In this second segment I will give my recommendations for third party lenses. Like in the previous article, I will be focusing on what I’ve actually used, because I prefer to talk about what I have experience with. My opinions are based off of my own use of these different lenses.

Let’s jump right in!

Rokinon/Samyang 12mm f/2 NCS CS

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Salt & Stars – Bonneville Salt Flats, UT – Fujifilm X-E1 & Rokinon 12mm

The 12mm f/2 NCS CS ultra-wide-angle lens, which is sold under both the Rokinon and Samyang brands (it’s the exact same lens), is a great manual focus lens. It’s sharp with surprisingly little distortion and few flaws. Since it is so cheap, it’s a great budget-friendly alternative to the Fujinon 16mm f/1.4, or even a companion to it. Not everyone needs a lens as wide-angle as this one, but it’s a fantastic option for those who do. If you need something ultra-wide for astrophotography or dramatic landscapes, this is a must-have lens!

Meike 35mm f/1.7

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Securely In Father’s Arms – Mount Rushmore, SD – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & Meike 35mm

The Meike 35mm f/1.7 is a “nifty-fifty” standard prime lens on Fujifilm X cameras, and if you don’t mind an all-manual lens, this is a great budget-friendly option. In fact, it’s probably the best $80 you’ll ever spend on new camera gear! It’s not without flaws, though. You can read my review of the lens here. For the cheap price, I wouldn’t be afraid to try the Meike 28mm f/2.8 or the Meike 50mm f/2, either. In fact, you could buy all three for less than the cost of one Fujinon lens! The 7Artisans 25mm f/1.8 is a good alternative, which I reviewed here. I’ve never tried the 7artisans 35mm f/1.2, which is an intriguing option but a little more expensive.

There are, of course, plenty of other third-party lenses, of which I’ve tried zero. I know that the Mitakon 35mm f/0.95 II is highly regarded, yet it’s also on the expensive side of things. The Rokinon 50mm f/1.2 and Rokinon 100mm f/2.8 are two lenses that I’ve seen highly recommended by others, and, based on my experience with their 12mm lens, I’d definitely believe it. However, I don’t want to spend much time on lenses that I have no experience with. Instead, let me offer one other alternative: vintage lenses.

You can typically buy old film lenses for very little money. Since most people don’t shoot film any longer, these lenses are cheap, yet many of them are exceptionally good in quality. You will need an adapter to mount them to your Fujifilm X camera, since they’ll have a different mount. Just make sure you know which mount the lens is so that you buy the right adapter. Thankfully most adapters are pretty inexpensive. Below is a video that I made on this topic.

My Fujifilm X Camera Lens Recommendations, Part 1: Fujinon

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

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Perhaps you got a new Fujifilm X camera for Christmas, or maybe you’ve had one for awhile now, and you are considering the purchase of a new lens. What options do you have? Which ones are good? What should you buy? You probably have a lot of questions, and you’re hoping to find some sound advice. Well, my goal is to give you sound advice! I’m hoping that this article will be helpful for those who are in the market for a new lens for their Fujifilm X camera.

There are tons of great lens options, most of which I’ve never owned. You could spend a small fortune collecting camera lenses. I certainly don’t have that kind of money lying around, so I’ve only owned a handful of different Fujinon lenses. I’m not going to talk much about the camera lenses that I’ve yet to use, and concentrate on the ones that I have firsthand experience with. I want you to know that the lenses listed below are ones that I have owned and used, and my opinions are based on my experience of capturing photographs with them.

Just so that you are aware, I am providing links to Amazon where you can purchase these lenses if you want to. If you do, I will receive a small kickback from Amazon for referring you, which helps to support this website. Nobody pays me to write these articles. If you happen to decide that you want to purchase a certain lens that I have linked to, and if Amazon is the seller you would normally use, it would be great if you used my links to do so. I certainly appreciate it!

Now let’s talk about lenses!

Zooms

Zoom lenses are popular because you can cover a large range of focal-lengths without carrying three, four or five different prime lenses. It simplifies things and allows you to have a smaller and lighter camera bag. It might make your camera kit more affordable, too. Zoom lenses are versatile, but there’s always a trade-off, which might be sharpness, distortion or maximum aperture. While I prefer prime lenses instead of zooms, Fujifilm offers many compelling zoom choices that are worth considering.

Fujinon XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LM OIS

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Mirrored Mountain – Mirror Lake, UT – Fujifilm X-E1 & 18-55mm

The first lens that I want to talk about is the Fujinon XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LM OIS, which is one of Fujifilm’s best zooms, available at Amazon for about $700. If you have the cheap kit zoom that came with your camera, this lens is similar but better–definitely an upgrade! It has a larger maximum aperture and produces results more in line with what you’d expect from a fixed-focal-length lens. There are some professional photographers who use this as their primary lens because of its size, quality and versatility. If you want something better than your cheap kit zoom lens but still want the convenience of the standard zoom, this is a very good option that you should strongly consider. Alternatively, the Fujinon XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR lens is even better, but will cost you several hundred dollars more.

Fujinon XC 50-230mm f/4.5-6.7 OIS II

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Clouds Around Timpanogos – Heber City, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 50-230mm

If you have a standard zoom lens but would like an option with more telephoto reach, the Fujinon XC 50-230mm f/4.5-6.7 OIS II is a good lens that won’t break the bank, and it’s available at Amazon for about $400. This lens is surprisingly lightweight for its size and surprisingly sharp for the price. If you are a wildlife or sports photographer, you might not find this lens to be sufficient for your needs, but for those who only need a longer lens occasionally, this is your best bet because of its excellent value. Alternatively, the Fujinon 55-200mm f/3.5-4.8 R LM OIS is a better lens for a few hundred dollars more, or for about $1,600, which is a steep price, the Fujinon 50-140mm f/2.8 R LM OIS WR is the best quality option.

Primes

I prefer prime lenses over zooms. Since the focal-length is fixed, the optics can be more precisely engineered, often resulting in sharper glass with fewer flaws. Often prime lenses have a larger maximum aperture than zooms. The disadvantage is that you will likely need three, four or five different prime lenses, which can cost a lot of money and add significant bulk to your bag, while one or two zoom lenses might cover all your focal-length needs. There are pluses and minuses to both routes. Still, I’d rather have several prime lenses than one or two zooms, but that’s just my personal preference.

Fujinon XF 16mm f/1.4 R WR

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Night Sky Over Needles Highway – Hill City, SD – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 16mm

The Fujinon XF 16mm f/1.4 R WR, which is available at Amazon for about $1,000, is an excellent wide-angle prime lens. It is sharp and fast and quite wide, which makes it particularly great for dramatic points of view and astrophotography. Not everyone needs a lens that’s as wide-angle as this one, but for those who do, this is a superb choice. Alternatively, the Fujinon XF 14mm f/2.8 R, which doesn’t have as large of a maximum aperture as the 16mm, is slightly wider and cheaper, and overall an excellent option.

Fujinon XF 23mm f/2 R WR

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Starry Nights – Park City, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 23mm

Everyone should have a walk-around prime lens, and the Fujinon XF 23mm f/2 R WR, which is available at Amazon for about $450, is a great choice for that role. This lens is superb, small and lightweight, and the focal-length is good for everyday shooting. If you’ve never owned a prime lens before, this is an excellent one to start with. There are several good alternatives, including the more expensive Fujinon XF 23mm f/1.4 R, the more wide-angle Fujinon XF 18mm f/2 R, the more telephoto Fujinon XF 35mm f/1.4 R and the more compact Fujinon XF 27mm f/2.8, all of which are quality lenses that are worth having. Pick one, as you should definitely own one.

Fujinon XF 60mm f/2.4 R Macro

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From Dust To Dust – Great Sand Dunes NP, CO – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 60mm

One of my favorite lenses is the Fujinon XF 60mm f/2.4 R Macro, which is available at Amazon for about $650. This lens is a short telephoto (in other words, telephoto but not too telephoto), which gives you a little more reach than the kit zoom, and is great for portraits or landscapes. It’s a macro lens, if just barely, which allows you to focus closer to the subject than many other lenses. I find it to be quite versatile. The quality is exceptional, and it’s pretty small and lightweight for what it is. If there is one complaint it’s that autofocus is a tad slow, which is typical of macro lenses, but it’s not that big of a deal. Alternatively, the Fujinon XF 56mm f/1.2 R, which some consider to be the very best Fujinon lens, is a similar focal length, but it’s about $1,000, and the Fujinon XF 80mm f/2.8 R LM OIS WR Macro, which also gets brought up in the “best Fujinon” conversations, might be a better macro lens, but it costs about $1,200.

Fujinon XF 90mm f/2 R LM WR

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Great Salt Lake Evening – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X-T20 & 90mm

A great portrait lens, which is also a great landscape lens when you are a distance from the subject, is the Fujinon XF 90mm f/2 R LM WR. It’s available at Amazon for about $950.  This lens is a bit big and heavy, but it’s super sharp and captures lovely images. Because of its focal-length, it can be tough to use at times, but in those situations where you can use it, the lens delivers stunning results! As far as image quality is concerned, this is my favorite Fujinon lens. Alternatively, the Fujinon XF 80mm f/2.8 R LM OIS WR Macro, which is more expensive and not quite as telephoto, is really your only other option (outside of a telephoto zoom lens), but it’s also an excellent choice.

The list of Fujinon lenses above, plus the alternatives mentioned, are only some of the lenses available for your Fujifilm X camera. There are other great Fujinon options, plus third-party lenses, that you might also consider. These lenses have worked well for me and my photography, and I believe that they will do well for others, as well. If you do go with my suggestions, know that I am sincere in my recommendations, but that doesn’t mean that those lenses are necessarily the right ones for you and your photography, because I don’t know what your exact needs are. These are definitely generalized suggestions, and it’s a good idea to consider what would be the best options for what you will be capturing. Anytime you see someone recommend a certain camera or lens or other gear, it’s smart to do your own research to better understand what your needs are and how to best meet those needs. I hope that this article has been helpful to you in some way in your search for a new lens for your Fujifilm camera!

Part 2 – Third Party Lenses For Fujifilm X

Lens Review: 7artisans 25mm F/1.8 for Fujifilm

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch


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Fujifilm X-Pro2 with 7Artisans 25mm f/1.8 lens

There are a number of inexpensive prime lenses coming out of China. After purchasing the Meike 35mm f/1.7 and, for the most part, really liking it, I thought I’d try the even cheaper 7artisans 25mm f/1.8 for my Fujifilm X-Pro2. Can a low-end lens be any good?

7artisans was founded by seven photographers who wanted to make lenses, so they did. They have several different offerings, all of which are very inexpensive yet intriguing. The 25mm lens for Fujifilm has an equivalent focal length of 37.5mm, which is slightly less wide-angle than the X100F, but a similar focal-length.

Despite the fact that they are two different companies, there are a lot of similarities between the Meike and 7artisans lenses that I own. They both have solid build quality, they are both manual-focus only, they both have click-less apertures, they both are super sharp in the middle, they both are super soft in the corners wide-open, they both have significant vignetting wide-open, they both have noticeable pincushion distortion, they both produce nice bokeh, and they both are at peak performance between f/2.8 and f/8. It’s almost as if the same people designed both lenses, although, supposedly, that’s not the case.

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7artisans 25mm f/1.8

One difference that I found is Meike controls lens flare better, which is not necessarily saying much. If you like flare, both of these lenses are for you. The 7artisans lens produces lots of flare whenever there is a bright light source nearby. It’s almost a bit over-the-top, and if you don’t like lens flare, be sure to buy a hood for this lens (something that I did after a couple weeks of use). I like lens flare sometimes, but it was much too much with this 7artisans lens.

What you get with the 7artisans 25mm f/1.8 is a new lens that looks and feels vintage (maybe early-1980’s-ish), and produces results that have a vintage quality. It’s not precision engineered like most modern glass, so it has flaws, and those flaws give your photographs character, something that’s missing from most modern lenses. Whether or not that character is something you want for your photographs is for you to decide. I personally appreciate it. I also appreciate manual-focus, and those not used to it might not care for it.

I like the Meike 35mm f/1.7 slightly more than the 7artisans 25mm f/1.8, but it also costs a little more, too. At just $70, the 7artisans offering is $20 cheaper, and for that price, it’s pretty darn fantastic. It’s possibly the least expensive lens option for your Fujifilm X camera, as I don’t know of any that are cheaper; however, this is a lens that you could capture some great pictures with because it has very sharp glass. It does have some faults and quirks, but, considering how little it goes for, it’s easy to overlook those issues, and perhaps even embrace them. If you have a limited budget but would like to add some quality glass to your collection, the 7artisans 25mm f/1.8 is a good option that you should consider.

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Succulent Abstract – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro2 &  7artisans 25mm

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Succulent Monochrome – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 7artisans 25mm

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Vase On A Dark Table – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 7artisans 25mm

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Window Reflection Sunset – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 7artisans 25mm

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Red Shed & Lens Flare – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 7artisans 25mm

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Evening In The Urban Garden – Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 7artisans 25mm

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Rainbow Over The Green Mountain – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 7artisans 25mm

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Drops of Water Lily – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 7artisans 25mm

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Yellow Tipped Peddle Bloom – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 7artisans 25mm

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Picked Flowers In The Window – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 7artisans 25mm

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Lens Review: Meike 35mm f/1.7 for Fujifilm

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch


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Meike 35mm f/1.7

I had a birthday a few weeks ago. I also had an Amazon gift card. So I browsed Amazon for something to buy myself in celebration of becoming older. I was looking through Fujifilm accessories when I stumbled across a cheap $90 prime lens, the Meike 35mm f/1.7. A prime lens for less than $100? I added it to the cart, proceeded to the checkout and submitted the order.

And I immediately regretted it.

I mean, I’m older and supposedly wiser. What kind of piece-of-junk lens am I going to get for so little money? It will, most assuredly, be poorly made with subpar optics and I’ll never use it. I had wasted my money, no doubt about it, I thought. I should have purchased something else. Oh, well. The order had already been placed.

A couple of days later a package arrived at my door. Inside was a box that contained the Meike 35mm f/1.7 lens that I had ordered. I opened it up with low expectations. It felt plenty hefty, though, and not lightweight like something made from cheap plastic. I removed the lens from the box and it looked and felt solidly built, mostly made of metal. My senses were telling me that I had ordered a vintage lens from the film era, perhaps the 1960’s, and not a brand-new lens made for digital cameras.

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Meike 35mm on Fujifilm X-Pro2

The Meike 35mm f/1.7 lens looked good and seemed like a quality item, but what about the optics? Was it going to perform well? Why was it so darn cheap?

I attached it to my Fujifilm X-Pro2 and immediately noticed a quirk. The aperture ring is smooth and doesn’t click at the different f-stops. That’s a little odd. I have a Helios 44-2 lens that has two aperture rings, one that clicks and one that’s smooth, and so it’s not a new concept, but it is an unusual choice.

Another quirk is that the spaces in-between the f-stops, marked by numbers on the lens, are far apart when the aperture is large and close together when the aperture is small. For example, it takes quite a turn to get from f/1.7 to f/2 but going from f/8 all the way to f/22 is a tiny turn, and trying to stop on f/11 or f/16 is a tough task.

This is a manual focus lens and the focus ring is smooth. It seems to have the right amount of give, not too firm and not too loose. There is a focus distance scale on the lens, something that is too often missing today. The front element doesn’t rotate and it has 49mm threads.

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Meike 35mm on Fujifilm X-Pro2 with coffee

I was shocked when I reviewed some frames that I had captured with the Meike 35mm lens on my X-Pro2 and saw how crisp they were. It’s sharp. Very sharp, in fact! I would expect this sharpness out of a lens that costs much more, but not out of budget glass. From the perspective of creating crisp images, this lens is right up there with the best. And it looks good attached to the X-Pro2.

I was then shocked by the amount of vignetting and the soft corners when using a large aperture. This is why the lens is so cheap. When wide open the Meike 35mm is almost unusable. I say almost because you could use the flaws as an artistic tool to give your images character. Things noticeably improve at f/2, but it’s still pronounced. By f/2.8 I would say that the vignetting and soft corners are minimal enough that you could live with them, but they don’t fully go away until f/8. Apertures smaller than f/8 suffer from diffraction. There is a small amount of chromatic aberrations that can be found when the aperture is f/4 and larger, but overall it’s well controlled. There’s a fairly pronounced pincushion distortion, which you’ll notice if you photograph a brick wall.

Bokeh, which is the quality of the out-of-focus area of an image, looks very good with this lens. When wide open there is a slight swirly effect, similar to the Helios 44-2 but less pronounced. When the aperture is large the subject separates nicely from the background.

The Meike 35mm f/1.7 is an excellent budget standard prime lens option for your Fujifilm camera. It’s all manual, which I like but some people might not. It has lots of character, something that’s often missing from modern lenses. It certainly has plenty of flaws and there is a reason why it’s cheap, but overall it performs much better than the price point would indicate. Even if the MSRP was $150 (instead of $90) it would still be an intriguing option. If you don’t already own a standard prime lens for your Fujifilm camera, this is one that you should consider, and, because it’s very inexpensive, it should fit into everyone’s budget.

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Securely In Father’s Arms – Mt. Rushmore, SD – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & Meike 35mm

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Conoco – Edgemont, SD – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & 35mm

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Sinclair – Edgemont, SD – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & Meike 35mm

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Big Cookie, Little Girl – Custer, SD – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & Meike 35mm

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Camping Face – Custer, SD – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & Meike 35mm

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Campfire – Custer, SD – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & Meike 35mm

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White Flower Blossoms – Bountiful, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & Meike 35mm

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Green Hills Under Grey Sky – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & Meike 35mm

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State & Federal Symbols – Mt. Rushmore, SD – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & Meike 35mm

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Monumental – Mt. Rushmore, SD – X-Pro2 & Meike 35mm

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George – Mt. Rushmore, SD – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & Meike 35mm

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Mount Rushmore Monochrome – Mt. Rushmore, SD – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & Meike 35mm

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Ominous – Custer, SD – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & Meike 35mm

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Flowers & Rail – Edgemont, SD – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & Meike 35mm

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Getting Ranger Badges – Mt. Rushmore, SD – Fujifilm X-Pro2 & Meike 35mm

See also: Fujinon XC 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS II lens review

Help Fuji X Weekly

Nobody pays me to write the content found on fujixweekly.com. There's a real cost to operating and maintaining this site, not to mention all the time that I pour into it. If you appreciated this article, please consider making a one-time gift contribution. Thank you!

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Lens Review: Fujinon XC 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS II

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch


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I purchased a used Fujifilm X-A3 camera for $400 a few months ago with the intentions of using vintage lenses on it. The camera, which, by the way, is a great bargain, producing image quality that fits somewhere in-between X-Trans II and X-Trans III, came with the cheap kit 16-50mm lens attached. I was planning to sell this lens to bring the cost of the camera to somewhere near $275-$250 (figuring that I could get around $125-$150 for the lens). I had no intentions of keeping the kit zoom, but after capturing a few images with it, I decided not to sell it after all.

The lens, official called Fujinon Super EBC XC 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS II, is Fujifilm’s bottom end zoom lens that usually comes paired with their cheaper cameras. In fact, starting with the X-A5, it’s actually been replaced by a new kit zoom. By all means this lens should be garbage. It’s meant for beginners. It’s meant for amateurs. It’s meant for cheapskates. It’s not meant for serious photography. Or is it?

There are some reasons why the lens is cheap. It’s mostly made of plastic and feels like it wouldn’t take a whole lot to break it. On the flip side of that coin, it’s very lightweight, which is a significant plus. The lens lacks an aperture ring like most other Fujinon lenses. The largest aperture, available only at the widest focal length, is f/3.5, which isn’t particularly fast. At the telephoto end the largest aperture is f/5.6, and there’s nothing impressive about that.

To make matters worse, there’s some significant corner softness at f/3.5, and it doesn’t completely go away until f/8. Diffraction begins at f/11, although it’s not really a problem until f/16, so the range where this lens is at peak sharpness is quite narrow. Thankfully, vignetting and chromatic aberrations are very minimal and there’s only a tiny amount of distortion, even at 16mm.

So what is there about this lens that convinced me to keep it? Three things: focal length, close focusing and sharpness.

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The focal length of 16-50mm, which, because this is an APS-C lens, is equivalent to 24-75mm in full-frame terms, is just about perfect for an everyday walk-around lens. Almost-but-not-quite ultra-wide angle at one end, and portrait-length short-telephoto at the other end. It’s a very versatile range of focal lengths. Even though it seems like there’s no real difference between 18mm (the typical kit zoom wide-angle focal length) and 16mm (the wide-angle focal length of this lens), it’s actually quite significant, and 16mm is noticeably more dramatic.

I was surprised at the close focus distance of the 16-50mm lens. At the wide-angle end, the closest focus distance is a little less than 6″. At the telephoto end, the closest focus distance is a little less than 14″. What this means is that it’s not quite a macro lens, but it is not far from it, and it is possible, with a little cropping, to do some borderline macro photography. It also means that if you place the subject as close as possible to the end of the lens (but where you can still focus on it), it’s possible to achieve a narrow depth-of-field and separation from a blurry background. And the bokeh on this lens is actually pleasant.

The biggest surprise for me with this lens is the sharpness. I was shocked, really. When in the sweet spot, which is roughly f/6.4 to f/10, the lens is crisp edge-to-edge, with sharpness that’s on par with a lesser prime or higher-end zoom. It’s definitely sharper than one would expect for an inexpensive zoom! At f/5.6 center sharpness is still very good, but the corners are just a tad soft; however, it’s still an excellent aperture. As you open up the aperture from there (which become increasingly available as you zoom out) the corners become softer, as does the center, and by f/3.5 you get mediocre (but still usable) results. Diffraction begins at f/11 but it isn’t really noticeable until f/16, and even then it’s not a huge deal.

The Fujinon XC 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS II lens has an MSRP of $400 brand new, and I would never pay that amount for it. You can find the lens used pretty easily for under $200, and I’ve seen them as cheap as $100. I was planning to sell mine for somewhere around $150-$125, and for that price it’s well worth having, even if you only use it occasionally. It’s inexpensive, lightweight, has a great focal length range, can focus close and is quite sharp when in a narrow range of apertures. It has some flaws, but they can be worked around. It’s certainly possible to capture great photographs using this cheap zoom. While Fujifilm made this lens cheap, they didn’t sacrifice on the optics, and it becomes obvious in use that this is indeed a Fujinon lens.

Example photos:

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45 MPH Road – Wendoever, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm @ 16mm f/10

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Kids At The Salt Flats – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm @ 16mm f/11

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Welcome – Lake Point, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm @ 16mm f/4.5

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Dry Brush – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm @ 50mm f/5.6

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Red Tree Berries – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm @ 50mm f/5.6

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Sky’s The Limit – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm @ 16mm f/10

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Stark Salt – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm @ 16mm f/9

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Pyramid – Antelope Is. SP, UT – Fuji X-A3 & 16-50mm @ f/10

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Ivy Leaves – Ogden, UT – Fuji X-A3 & 16-50mm @ 50mm f/8

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Penned Horse – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm @ 50mm f/5.6

Help Fuji X Weekly

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Fujifilm X-A3 & Soviet Lenses, Part 3: Industar 61

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

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Fujifilm X-A3 & Industar 61 – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Part 1 – Helios 44-2  Part 2 – Jupiter 21M

The Industar 61 is another vintage Soviet Union lens that I’ve paired with my Fujifilm X-A3. This lens came attached to a FED 5c 35mm rangefinder that I purchased for $40 a decade ago. I really appreciate the photographs that I’ve captured with it on the film camera. I used to also pair it frequently with an X-E1 that I once owned. It’s an excellent lens with plenty of character.

My Industar 61 was made in 1983. It has an M39 screw mount (some were made with a M42 screw mount) and a focal length of 55mm (some versions have slightly different focal lengths). Because of the crop factor, it has an equivalent focal length of about 82mm on the X-A3. Even though it was intended as a “standard” lens it’s more of a “portrait” lens on the Fujifilm camera. The maximum aperture is f/2.8.

This lens is a German knockoff. It’s basically a modified Leitz Elmar 50mm f/2.8. It is very sharp but with some significant pincushion distortion. It’s known for “soap bubble” bokeh, which is highly sought after by some photographers. There is a radioactive coating on the lens, and that might frighten some people, but it’s safe to be around, since only a tiny amount of Lanthanum was used in the production. I find that it delivers a slightly warmer tone than other lenses, even on digital cameras.

What’s great about pairing the Industar 61 with the X-A3 is that it’s a small and lightweight setup. The lens is smaller than the kit lens that came with the camera. It sticks out about as far as the X100F lens does with a lens hood. It can fit into a large pocket. I’ve carried the X100F in one jacket pocket and the X-A3 with the Industar 61 in the other. It’s great for travel or street photography.

You can find Industar 61 lenses for next to nothing (and the adapters are usually about $10), and for very little money you can add a quality manual-focus prime lens to your camera. No doubt about it, I’ve gotten my money’s worth out of this lens and then some. While the Industar 61 isn’t my favorite lens to attach to my X-A3, it’s still a good lens that certainly has its place.

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Patio Lights – Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Industar 61

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Red Knobs – Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Industar 61

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Be Careful – Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Industar 61

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Industrial Patriots – Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Industar 61

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Coffee & Paper – Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Industar 61

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To Go Cup – Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Industar 61

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9 – Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Industar 61

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SP & UP Railroad – Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Industar 61

Fujifilm X-A3 & Soviet Lenses, Part 2: Jupiter 21M

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

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Fujifilm X-A3 & Jupiter 21M – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Part 1 – Helios 44-2

The Jupiter 21M is the lens that I bought the Fujifilm X-A3 for. Yes, I purchased the camera with this specific lens in mind. I wanted a quality yet inexpensive long telephoto option, and I was hoping that this lens/camera combination would provide me just that. I was excited to put them to use and see what I could capture.

The first Jupiter 21 was introduced in 1959 in the Soviet Union. Over the years some modifications and improvements were made to the lens. The Jupiter 21M, which is one of the latest models, was manufactured beginning in 1973. My copy was made in 1983. I’ve heard that manufacturing of the Jupiter 21M continued well into the 2000’s, but I haven’t been able to verify this.

The Soviet Union acquired Carl Zeiss lens designs (and even some parts) at the end of World War II, and they made some direct copies of Zeiss lenses. The Jupiter 21 isn’t a direct copy of any particular German lens, but a Soviet “original” based on the Zeiss Sonnar design. The 21M model has an automatic aperture option, which allows the aperture to remain wide open for focusing but close down automatically whenever the shutter release is pressed. It’s not a particularly useful feature on the X-A3, but thankfully the lens has a switch to turn it off.

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Bottled Blossoms – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Jupiter 21M

There aren’t many flaws found on the Jupiter 21M, which is an f/4 200mm M42-mount manual-focus telephoto lens (that’s a mouthful). It’s very sharp corner-to-corner. There’s very little vignetting. Bokeh is quite nice. Chromatic aberrations are a small issue but only when wide open. It does have some pronounced hazy lens flare, which could be considered good or bad, depending on one’s tastes. The maximum aperture of f/4 is not particularly large but certainly sufficient. The lens is fantastic from an optical quality point of view.

The one big flaw with the Jupiter 21M is that it’s a tank. It’s big and heavy! It weighs a little over two pounds, so it’s not something you want to walk around with. This is a lens to use for specific photos, and then put away otherwise.

I also have a Kohbeptep K-1 2x teleconverter lens that I sometimes pair with the Jupiter 21M. It turns the 200mm focal length into 400mm. Because of the APS-C crop factor, it’s equivalent to having a 600mm lens on a full-frame camera. The Kohbeptep K-1 is another Soviet product, and it’s actually pretty darn good when using an aperture that is f/8 or smaller. There is a tiny loss in overall sharpness, but not much. When the aperture is wide open there’s noticeable corner softness and chromatic aberrations, but stop down a little and it goes away. The K-1 can be found for pretty cheap, mine came with a camera that was a gift.

I paid less than $100 for my Jupiter 21M lens, and I’ve heard of people finding them for under $50. As with all vintage Russian camera gear, there’s a chance you might get a dud because their quality control was particularly poor. Mine works perfectly fine, and it’s especially nice with my Fujifilm X-A3. I’m very satisfied with it. I look forward to capturing even more images with it.

Example photos, all straight-out-of-camera JPEGs:

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Winter Shrub – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Jupiter 21M

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Three Bottles – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Jupiter 21M

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Monochrome Flower – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Jupiter 21M

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Tired Boy – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Jupiter 21M

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Things I Don’t Understand – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Jupiter 21M

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Red Shed – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Jupiter 21M

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Winter Wasatch – Riverdale, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Jupiter 21M

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Last Light Wasatch – Riverdale, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Jupiter 21M

Jupiter 21M with Kohbeptep K-1 2x teleconverter:

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Winter Ridge – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Jupiter 21M

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Mountain Evergreens – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Jupiter 21M

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Train In Winter – South Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Jupiter 21M

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Rising Heat – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Jupiter 21M

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White – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Jupiter 21M

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White Ridges – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Jupiter 21M

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Rocky Hillside – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Jupiter 21M

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Snowy Slope – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Jupiter 21M

Part 3 – Industar 61

Fujifilm X-A3 & Soviet Lenses, Part 1: Helios 44-2

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

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Helios 44-2 & Zenit-E – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-E1

I love pairing old Soviet Union lenses to Fujifilm cameras because it’s a great combination. It’s tons of fun and the results can be magical. I’m just thrilled to do this, and I hope that you appreciate the posts and pictures, even though they are off-topic slightly.

Why Soviet Union lenses? They’re cheap yet great. They often have exceptional image quality with unique characteristics. You can pick up a bunch of different ones for not much money. Really, there’s not much to dislike about them.

The history of Soviet lenses goes back to World War II. It actually goes back further than that, but the good part begins as the war ends. You might remember that the Russians were part of the Allies, united against Germany. As part of the spoils of being on the winning side, the Soviets acquired blueprints and designs for Leica and Zeiss cameras and lenses. They took this home and began making cameras and lenses nearly identical to the famed German brands.

None of this was well-known because the Russians were communists, and they were secluded from the western world. They exported very little. It wasn’t until the end of the Cold War that people began to realize that Russia was full of Leica and Zeiss clones. And these products could be had for a fraction of the price of the real thing.

There are a few reasons why Russian camera gear is so cheap. First, they developed very little of the technology they used, as they had inherited most of it from Germany. Next, they used cheap labor, including sometimes child labor, to build the cameras and lenses. Also, most Russians were quite poor, and very few could afford anything that wasn’t cheap. Finally, being communists, they didn’t have a profit model, so things were sold at a price point that was near the cost to manufacture.

The are a couple of downsides to this. One is that quality control was a major issue. There were many defective products made, and it’s not uncommon to find them still floating around. Similarly, there were discrepancies in the quality of the same product, with obvious deviations to the standards. Another downside is that they did very little to advance the technology. Even deep into the 1990’s the Russians were basically using 1950’s camera technology, with a couple 1960’s and 1970’s innovations sprinkled in. As far as camera gear goes, they were way behind the times.

Still, at the core of the gear were designs by some of the greatest engineers in the camera business. At the heart of Soviet Union cameras and lenses are found the handiwork of brilliant German minds. While inexpensive, Soviet camera gear is often marvelous, just as long as you can put up with the occasional dud.

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Tricycle In The Woods – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-E1 & Helios 44-2

My favorite Russian lens is the 58mm f/2 Helios 44-2. The lens is a clone of the 58mm f/2 Zeiss Jena Biotar, which was manufactured throughout the 1940’s and 1950’s, and is known for its swirly bokeh and fantastic image quality. The Helios 44-2 was manufactured until 1992 (with some limited runs of the lens after that). Because of the crop factor, the lens has an equivalent focal-length of 87mm when attached to my Fujifilm X-A3.

The Helios 44-2 is an M42 screw-mount lens. Mine came attached to a Zenit-E 35mm SLR. I use a cheap M42-to-Fuji-X adapter to mount it to my X-A3. The lens is manual focus and manual aperture. If you’ve only used auto features before then it might seem foreign to use manual functions, but with practice it shouldn’t be too hard to master. I grew up using manual-only cameras, so it’s no big deal for me to use.

An interesting Helios 44-2 feature is that it has two aperture rings, one with clicks and one that’s smooth. This makes sense when using it on a camera like the Zenit-E, because you want to open up the aperture for a bright viewfinder, which assists in accurate focusing, and the duel rings make it simple to do so. On a digital camera it doesn’t do a whole lot for you. It’s a quirk of using the lens, and takes a little practice to get used to.

The Helios 44-2 is always tack sharp in the center. Wide open there’s significant softness in the corners, but by f/5.6 it’s sharp all across the frame. There’s also some minor vignetting when wide open and I’ve noticed some purple fringing. Close the aperture a little and those issues are gone. Barrel distortion is very minor.

The Helios 44-2 has some design flaws, but these are actually assets. With the right conditions it’s possible to achieve a swirly bokeh effect. The lens is prone to some unusual lens flare that can be quite beautiful. An example of both of these can be seen in Tricycle In The Woods. The flaws are what give the lens its unique character, something that’s missing in today’s precisely-engineered modern lenses.

My Helios 44-2 was a gift, and it came attached to a Zenit-E camera. You can typically find it for less than $50 online. An adapter can usually found for about $10. That’s a small investment for a fantastic prime telephoto lens!

Below are photographs that I’ve captured with my X-A3 & Helios 44-2, all straight-out-of-camera JPEGs. I love how this combination renders photographs! There is a quality that’s seemingly magical. Enjoy!

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First Light Over Ridge – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Helios 44-2

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Strawberry Peak Morning – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Helios 44-2

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Clouds Over Strawberry Peak – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Helios 44-2

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Wasatch Ridge View – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Helios 44-2

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Wasatch Drama – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Helios 44-2

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Last Leaf – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Helios 44-2

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Morning Stripes – S. Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Helios 44-2

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f/4 – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Helios 44-2

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Escalate – Draper, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Helios 44-2

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Patio Lights – Draper, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Helios 44-2

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Bolsey & Ektachrome – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Helios 44-2

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Flower Bird – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Helios 44-2

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Shopping For Something New – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Helios 44-2

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Eating Lunch – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Helios 44-2

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Flower In Glass – S. Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Helios 44-2

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A Short Tale – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Helios 44-2

Part 2 – Jupiter 21M  Part 3 – Industar 61

Fujifilm X100F & Lens Flare

Posted on by Ritchie Roesch

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Lens flare is something you either love or hate. People who love it seek it out and purposefully include it in their images. People who hate it use a lens hood. Lens flare occurs when there is a light source in front of the lens that is much brighter than the rest of the scene (such as the sun).

The lens on the X100F is “Super EBC” (Electron Beam Coating), which is a fancy way to say that Fuji uses a crazy-looking machine that has a vacuum chamber and electron gun to apply 11 layers of coating onto the lens. This coating is supposed to minimize lens flare.

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Looking At The Sun – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X100F – ghosting flare

Modern lenses are precision engineered to maximize sharpness and minimize flaws. The less distortion the better. Lenses today are superior to older lenses if pure image quality is the goal.

I loved pairing my old Fujifilm X-E1 with vintage glass. Modern lenses are great, but in their precision they lack character. It’s the flaws that make a lens unique, that give your pictures that extra something that new glass simply cannot.

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Orange Leaves – Lehi, UT – Fujifilm X100F – veiling flare

Modern lenses will give you the greatest pure image quality, but in a cold and clinical way. Think of music. A digital song lacks flaws, but it also lacks the warmth found on analog vinyl. Using a vintage lens is like listening to a song spun on a record.

One complaint that I had read about the X100F prior to purchasing it is lens flare. There are some people who think it flares too much and that it’s kind of weird looking (not the typical lens flare that one would expect). An easy fix is a lens hood, but that makes the camera much less pocket-sized.

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Tricycle In The Woods – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X-E1 & Helios 44-2 – veiling flare

I don’t want to get too technical here, but there are different types of lens flare (and different lenses will render the same type of flare differently). What I find most prevalent on the X100F is called “veiling flare” which is more of a hazy flare. The lens controls what is known as “ghosting flare” (which is probably what most people picture when they think of lens flare) really well, but it can still be found if you point the lens towards the sun. There is also a little bit of “sensor flare” which is caused by the light reflecting off the sensor and back onto the lens (a side effect of the lens element being so close to the sensor), but it’s also controlled well.

I can definitely see why people might not like how the X100F handles lens flare, but I actually appreciate it. It reminds me a lot of how the Russian-made Helios 44-2 renders lens flare. It’s a flaw, no doubt, but it gives photographs character. It’s an unexpected uniqueness. It’s not so cold and clinical and precise. It’s almost as if Fujifilm attached a vintage lens to the front of the camera (except they didn’t). So I like it. You might not, and that’s OK.