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What is your favorite prime lens, and why?

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jonikon said:
All my current lenses are zoom lenses, ( I just sold my Samyang 12mm f/2), and I'm looking to add a prime lens now that I have a camera with IBIS. I'm curious what others consider their favorite prime lens and why. I'm particularly interested in micro-contrast , good color, and resistance to flare, ( including veiling flare). I'm open to any focal length at this time since my zooms cover 10-230mm already. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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The one that is mounted to my camera that is also appropriate for the subject in front of me, which is almost never. I've been migrating back to zooms for this reason.

Three months ago I owned 6 primes and two zooms. Today I have three zooms and two primes. Those two primes don't see much action as they fill niche proposes.

It's been a fairly expensive lesson. Especially with the addition of my failed forays into the X100 series cameras.
 
silversportsman said:
Because it is a way better lens than I am a photographer, so I feel like I always have room to grow.

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Great response. It's exactly how I feel about the xf 200mm. Nice pics also.
 
a_c_skinner said:
I wonder what application you have in mind for a lens when focal length is unimportant. To me that makes no sense as FL is the single most important factor in choice by a country mile.

The 60mm macro was mine, since replaced with a 50mm Zeiss macro. It was small, light, sharp and not that expensive. Good for portaits.
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As I stated, I have all the focal lengths covered with my zoom lenses, but I eventually I want to have at least three larger aperture prime lenses to use as well that can give me a special look I can't get with my zoom lenses. I haven't yet decided on my first prime, so I haven't limited my inquiry to any particular focal length. No doubt I will be referring back to this post in the future as I have found the responses enlightening and encouraging.
 
Probably the 50mm f2, it seems to work really well for street photography whilst being small, well built, WR, nice aperture ring etc... the perfect Fuji lens.
 
35mm 1.4. Yes, the old one. I had a newer 33 1.4 but I found it to be too large and awkward to handle so I sold it and bought the 35 1.4. It has since become my most favorite Fuji lens in my kit. It's small, light, renders beautifully, and with modern bodies it focuses fast and accurate. I have it on the X-T5 and can't ask for a better lens.
 
jonikon said:
All my current lenses are zoom lenses, ( I just sold my Samyang 12mm f/2), and I'm looking to add a prime lens now that I have a camera with IBIS. I'm curious what others consider their favorite prime lens and why. I'm particularly interested in micro-contrast , good color, and resistance to flare, ( including veiling flare). I'm open to any focal length at this time since my zooms cover 10-230mm already. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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Based on your zoom range, I'm going to best guess that you have the 10-24, the 50-230 and some sort of intermediate lens serving as your kit lens. So, where - in terms of focal length - are you finding the greatest need to satisfy the need for those priorities?

I say this because I would say that pretty much all of the Fuji prime lenses will give you very good results in all those priority areas. Contrast and color saturation are fairly consistent between the various prime lenses. What is less consistent among the Fuji primes has more to do bokeh rendering, corner sharpness (general due to the need to correct distortion), vignetting / corner noise (again, related to software correction), and some lenses having issues with field curvature - which is mostly a concern for landscape and architectural photography.

In any event, among my Fuji prime lenses the best overall is the 50 f/2 which is a particularly versatile, sharp lens with no significant weaknesses. Honorable mentions go to the 27/2.8 (original version), 16/2.8 and 23/2. As you can see, compactness is a major priority for me.
 
Right now it's the Fuji 27mm f2.8 WR. Like someone else already said it's not a standout lens with that 'special' something the 35 f1.4 has - it's a small lens that pairs nicely with my X-Pro 3 to give me a brilliant every-day take-anywhere camera combo.
 
Gary Martin said:
The 35/1.4, because it delivers beautiful images while weighing less than 200g.
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This is also my favorite prime. My first Fuji lens and as long as I'm shooting with a Fuji camera it will remain with me.
 
The new Viltrox 75mm f/1.2 is just insane. Sharpness wide open is not of this earth and to make it more unbelievable, it has a classic rendering with some nice swirly (and smooth) bokeh. Yes it's big, yes it's heavy, but it's so worth it.
 
biza43 said:
From the many primes I have used, my favorites are:

Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 (version 1)

Nikkor AIS 85mm f/1.4

Zeiss C Sonnar 50mm f/1.5 ZM

Voigtlaender 35mm f/1.2 X

All of them share a common trait: they are under corrected for aberrations wide open to near wide open, which produces a special look that I like. Stopped down, they are like modern lenses. So you get two lenses in one.

--
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I have the Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L and I’ve noticed the same thing. Wide open it has a distinct character, but stopped down and you get great performance, like having 2 lenses in one.
 
DJ STU-C said:
Probably the 50mm f2, it seems to work really well for street photography whilst being small, well built, WR, nice aperture ring etc... the perfect Fuji lens.
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Pocket Lint said:
DJ STU-C said:
Probably the 50mm f2, it seems to work really well for street photography whilst being small, well built, WR, nice aperture ring etc... the perfect Fuji lens.
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The 50mm f/2 is an amazing lens for street photography, especially if you want to get candid portraits of people without getting right up in their face. It’s also just a great little portrait lens overall to keep in your bag all the time.
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Fully agree, even in the narrow streets of Durham and York it seems to work well.
 
I think my favorite is the XF 30mm F2.8 macro which is all seasons lens almost good for any situation.
 
Patrick Lowe said:
I think my favorite is the XF 30mm F2.8 macro which is all seasons lens almost good for any situation.
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Rod McD also mentioned the XF 30mm f2.8 and to my embarrassment I did not even know this lens existed! It's an intriguing option that doubles as a regular lens and a macro as well and faster than anything I currently have. Definitely worth considering for my first prime lens. I'll have to check out the reviews first though.
 
A Nikkor 180mm ED F2.8 on a Lumix GX85. The 360mm effective focal length is perfect for driving around with my dog and talking pictures of wildlife. I live in the middle of no where so this actually works. The GX85 IBIS works very well at this focal length. I used to use a Nikkor ED 300mm F4.5 on a Sony A7R3 and sometimes still do on bright days, but the hit rate of the 180mm on micro 4/3 is better.
 
Then any of the recent primes will fit the bill and you can go with the FL you would use most.

To be honest none of the Fuji primes will disappoint except possibly the 18/2 but it takes better images than the reviews suggest. The 35/1.4 is not strong away from the centre.
 
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