Chasing bokeh: Fuji 50/2

Sorabhs wrote:

deednets wrote:

Last night I read a blog/article about the rendering of a variety of lenses, comparing a few Zeiss, Voigtländer, Leica lenses. There was also an emphasis on bokeh rendering. Aperture blades were mentioned and how those were positioned and shaped e.g. rounded, but inward pointing, straight etc. Also the fact that sunstars work in a peculiar way, creating even numbers on lenses with an even count of aperture blades, but doubling the sunstars when an uneven number is picked.

The review(s) is/are of little importance to Fuji lens owners, but the blog made me re-visit some photos that I had taken lately with the 50/2. Hardly a contender for the royalties that were reviewed in that blog.

But then I thought: hang on, the 50/2 is a remarkable lens, incredible value with excellent bokeh even in scenarios where the background, straight lines etc can look a tad nervous on occasion, but the 50/2 I think gets away with a lot.

What's your take on this lens compared to the usual suspects?

Not a lot of distance between the bells and the wall

Again not a lot of space behind the Buddha

Not a flat surface behind the focal plane this time

Some transition and some flatness in the background

Another transition with more space between objects

Some straight lines typically hot contenders for a nervous bokeh

And the lot: foreground and background blur plus some straight lines

The last one is possibly the most challenging as it has strong foreground blur plus background blur and straight lines. But I think that the lens is doing remarkably well here.

And here is one as a little teaser, taken with the 75/1.8 Olympus. I found that I started looking at the nervous bokeh almost straight away, have plenty of examples but this one example will do. I found that when I had the 75/1.8 - a MUCH longer focal length compared with the 50/2 - I had to be far more careful when I chose the background.

The 50/2 is far more forgiving and possibly a true steal for the price!

Deed

Lovely pictures! I’m sure not just the 50mm but the photographer behind the lens both worked together to create a beautiful set of photographs.

I’m torn between getting either the 60mm f2.4 or the 50mm f2. I used to have a 50mm on my Nikon but I found the 75mm length a little impractical. Either too long or too short. The bokeh wasn’t as natural as the one Fuji produces though so I may need to reconsider.

Definitely don’t want to buy a 56mm as they’re just too heavy!

A couple of extras thrown in by Fuji here: 1. closest focusing distance is I believe 38cm, a tad longer than an A4 page 2. fast focusing: the 60/2.4 is slower, imho MUCH slower as I had this lens for a while.

The 50/2 also has 9 aperture blades and is one of the sharpest lenses in the Fuji selection:

https://www.lenstip.com/499.4-Lens_review-Fujifilm_Fujinon_XF_50_mm_f_2_R_WR_Image_resolution.html

Deed