Fujifilm XF 35mm F1.4 Lens

by Fujifilm

• 35mm F1.4 Lens (53mm Equivalent)
• 8 Elements in 6 Groups (Inc. 1 Asph. Element)
• Angle of view - 44.2 Degrees
• Filter Size 52mm

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 4.4 x 3.8 inches ; 14.4 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B006UL00R6
• Item model number: X-Pro1 35mm F1.4 Lens
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #85 in Camera & Photo > Lenses > Camera Lenses
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 9, 2012

Product Description

X-Pro1 35mm F1.4 Lens

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

85 of 97 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Stellar image quality but some lens design quirks March 17, 2012

By Parka TOP 50 REVIEWER

I've no idea why Amazon want to lump the reviews for the lens together. Anyway, my review will be about the 18mm, 35mm and 60mm lens. In the comments section are links to photos and videos I've made.

- - - - - FUJIFILM 35MM F/1.4 LENS REVIEW - - - - -

+ Solid construction
+ Light weight at 187g.
+ 52mm thread (same as 18mm lens)
+ Lens hood included with rubber cap
+ Convenient external aperture ring
+ Manual focus ring well damp
+ Reasonably sharp wide open, sharper when stopped down
+ Stellar image quality, colours
+ Beautiful bokeh
+ No strong vignetting
+ Reasonable AF speed
- Lens cap difficult to pinch
- Rubber lens hood cap easy to drop off when knocked
- Slight chromatic aberration (purple fringing) at wide open
- Slight glow to edges at wide open. Visible at 100% only.
- Noisy focusing mechanism, video picks it up slightly
- Minimum focus distance of 28cm
- Have to use EVF when shooting at minimum focus distance. OVF will not focus.
- OVF framelines covers less than 100%. Photos will be larger
- OVF parallax adjustment of close subjects is significant, but not as drastic as 60mm lens

I love the quality of this lens. It makes beautiful pictures with the X-Pro1. Colour and sharpness are close to perfection. The depth of field is also rendered beautifully.

The AF speed is reasonable. However, it's challenging to take photos of people at walking speed. Most negative points are not related to the optical quality of the lens.

5 stars for image quality, probably 4 stars for other issues.

COMPARED TO THE PANASONIC LEICA 25mm f/1.4 MICRO FOUR THIRDS LENS

Performance is very similar. The main difference is the sensor that the lens is used with. The X-Pro1 with its larger sensor has slightly shallower depth of field. I'm surprised and impressed that the depth of field difference isn't much more. Someone obviously picked the right sensor size for Micro Four Thirds. Link to comparison photos are in the comments section below.

- - - - - FUJIFILM 18MM F/2 LENS REVIEW - - - - -

+ Solid construction, but aperture ring is slightly looser than 35mm lens.
+ 116g, light
+ 52mm thread (same as 35mm lens)
+ Lens hood has rubber cap
+ Convenient external aperture ring
+ Manual focus ring well damp
+ Reasonably sharp wide open, less sharp than 35mm lens.
+ Great image quality, colours
+ Beautiful bokeh but not much for a wide angle lens
+ No visible vignetting
+ Reasonable AF speed, faster than 35mm lens
- Dust gets inside the lens easily
- Lens cap difficult to pinch
- Rubber lens hood cap easy to drop off when knocked
- Noisy focusing mechanism, video picks it up slightly but less so than 35mm lens.
- Slight chromatic aberration (purple fringing) at wide open
- Easy to flare
- Manual fly-by-wire implementation has lag, impaired by EVF low refresh rate
- Minimum focus distance of 18cm
- Have to use EVF when shooting at minimum focus distance. OVF will not focus.
- OVF framelines covers less than 100%. Photos will be larger
- OVF parallax adjustment not that significant for wide angle lens

In terms of optical quality, the 35mm lens is one notch better. However, I still find it a joy to use on the X-Pro1 because that sensor is just too good.

I actually use this lens more often than the 35mm lens because I prefer a wider view.

4 stars for image quality, probably 4 stars for other issues.

- - - - - FUJIFILM 60MM F/2.4 LENS REVIEW - - - - -

+ Solid construction
+ 215g, light to moderate weight
+ 39mm filter thread
+ Huge lens hood included. About the size of the lens itself
+ Convenient external aperture ring
+ Manual focus ring well damp
+ Sharp wide open, quality comparable to 35mm lens or better
+ Stellar image quality, colours
+ Beautiful bokeh
+ No visible vignetting
+ OVF frameline box covers 100%, but box is smaller, like 20% of the whole viewfinder.
+ Non-macro AF speed is near that of 18mm and 35mm lens
- Macro AF speed is much slower.
- Lens cap difficult to pinch. Doesn't seem tight even when fixed on
- Slight chromatic aberration (purple fringing) at wide open
- Noisy focusing mechanism, video picks it up slightly.
- Minimum focus distance of 26cm
- Macro magnification of 0.5x
- Have to use EVF when shooting at minimum focus distance. OVF will not focus.
- High tendency for background focus when using OVF mode
- OVF parallax adjustment is drastic for close subjects. Use EVF
- AF Point selection box is bigger than frameline box

There's a higher tendency for this lens to hunt for focus, especially so for close subjects. Without the macro mode engaged, it's difficult to grab focus near the minimum focus distance of 26cm.

Background focus is an issue with OVF mode. The frameline box seems to be only around 20% of the viewfinder. And the focus box is larger. That could be the cause of background focus. You have to shoot EVF to do away with background focus.

One major issue I have with this lens is the AF point selection box. The AF point selection box is much larger than the frameline box. When you select a crosshair, that location is mapped to the focus box inside the frameline box. Say you're shooting a portrait with the AF crosshair selection on someone's left eye, the focus box will map nearer to the nose in the frameline box, and that is before the adjustment for parallax. Other lens also use the same AF selection box, but there's no such issue because their frameline box are bigger. Fuji should make the AF point selection grid the same size as the focus box grid for the 60mm lens.

I find that the minimum focus distance for macro mode to be around 20cm in actual use. If you're shooting a sensor-size butterfly at 20cm away, you can still fill the whole frame with the butterfly. If you're shooting something smaller, like a spider a quarter the size of the sensor, then it's going to be just 25% of the frame, you can't move closer to fill the frame. Just for comparison sake, the Panasonic 45mm macro M4/3 lens is 1:1 and has a minimum focus distance of 15cm.

This lens works well when you're shooting far subjects. For nearer subjects, using the EVF is highly recommended, not just because there's no parallax, but also because of the issue with the AF point selection box.

5 stars for image quality, probably 3.5 stars for other issues.

Update 24 April 2012:
Firmware 1.01 removed the noise from chattering aperture blades

Update Sep 2012:
Firmware 2.0 made manual focus more responsive, and improved the speed of AF.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Lens, extremely sharp June 1, 2012

By Richard Plecker

Amazon Verified Purchase

I remember not liking 50mm (35mm) lenses back in the 1970's because it was the only lens I could afford. Today, it seems that we get these kit zooms that are pretty crappy when compared to primes and I had forgotten what a great overall length 50mm is. This compact prime from Fuji is a solid performer. It is tack sharp and pretty fast in good light, it actually isn't as bad as you might read in low light,just take your time. Macro mode, even though you can't really get all that close, works well.

Beware, as I shot some candid portraits goofing around that at 200% magnification showed the individual whiskers (blazingly sharp) on my subject. Yes, the lens is that sharp so any skin flaws and blemishes are readily visible; luckily, this is easily fixed. I didn't detect any distortion or fringing and the bokeh is gorgeous. If you can only get one lens of the three, this is the one. I can't wait for the 14mm ultra wide that is supposed to be coming.

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Value and a very nice lens April 10, 2012

By mr moonlight

Amazon Verified Purchase

So why 5 stars? It's because it's a damn good lens for the money. It's not perfect, but for $600 what can you expect. Sure, I have lenses at similar focal lengths that are superior, but at a much much higher price.

It's a very well built lens but also light weight. It has an all metal housing, the hood is also metal but with a plastic connector. The focus is nicely damped with a good feeling metal grip. The aperture ring turns smoothly and clicks at 1/3 stops, although I wish the click was a little more firm. The lens attaches firmly to the body at a very tight tolerance. There's no play at all. The included cap is cheap plastic, but who really cares about the lens cap. The included rubber lenshood cap is a nice touch. Overall a very solid lens that reminds me of my old MF Zuiko glass from the 70's/80's.

It's focus-by-wire so it lacks the feel of a true MF lens, but paired with the Xpro1, you're focusing through an LCD anyways, so you're not going to get that feel anyways. The lag is extremely minimal (although the distance scale on the camera has a slight delay). As for AF, it's fast in daylight, but in low light it's a bit on the slow side. I think this is more of a camera than a lens issue so perhaps firmware updates will improve this.

Most important is of course image quality. This is where the lens really stands out. Tack sharp, good contrast, nice color, good control of CA and very nice circular bokeh. When it comes to image quality of 50mm & 50mm equiv lenses, this one is up there.