XF60mm 2.4 as a Portrait Lens

slimandy wrote:

El Chubasco wrote:

The 60mm lens was designed to be a macro lens. Thus, the lens is not very fast focusing because fast focusing is not crucial when doing macro photography. Another characteristic of a macro lens is that it has to be sharp, and the 60mm delivers sharp photographs as it is supposed to. Now, keeping that in mind, the 60mm lens does an OK job when used for portraits. There are several reviews online, including comparisons with portrait-specific lenses such as the 56mm due to the proximity in focal length. These comparisons show that the 60mm lens can be used for portraits but is not ideal, it was NOT designed for portraits, period. So “the cobbler should stick to his last,” the 60mm is good for macro, the 56mm and now the 90mm will be aways a better option for portraits.

Nice theories but the 60mm is a superb portrait lens regardless. Some users on here have stated they prefer it to the 56. It matches the 56 for IQ but not for max aperture. Focussing is reasonably good since firmware upgrades. The 90 might be better if you have room to use it and the 56 better if you want very shallow DoF (which is not always ideal and gets over used) but the 60 is a superb portrait lens regardless of what it was designed for.

I think we are saying the same think but with different words. You agree with me that the 60mm was designed for something different than portraits. I say it does a OK job you say it does a superb job. That is matter of appreciation and forms of use. I have both lenses, the 60mm and the 56mm (that is why I am not theorizing) and I have been able to spot the strengths and weakness of both.

Fuji has done an excellent job distinguishing each of the lenses they produce giving a personality to each one of them. The 60mm serves a purpose (macro) while the 56mm and 90mm serve another (portrait). "Jack of all trades, master of none,"  I don't think that the 60mm even attempts to be a Jack of all trades, that is not how Fuji positions its lenses in the market.