Great Walk Around Lens

It was a toss-up between this lens, and the XF35mm f/1.4, for my new Fujifilm X-Pro2.  I watched several YouTube videos on both lenses, and read all of the reviews I could find, and finally settled on the XF35mm f/2 WR lens, because of its speed, sharpness, image quality, and size.

This is a great walk-around lens for the X-Pro2.  While the bokeh might not be as good as with the XF35mm f/1.4, it's certainly good enough for what I use it for.  I'm working on my street and candid photography, and this kit, along with my X100T, work very well in this respect.

Here's one of my recent candid shots, taken at a Panera Bread:

Thanks for sharing. I have the 1.4 and have been thinking if it is worth to switch to the 2.0 because of AF speed and WR. What would you say? Is it worth to try the 2.0?

El Chubasco wrote:

Thanks for sharing. I have the 1.4 and have been thinking if it is worth to switch to the 2.0 because of AF speed and WR. What would you say? Is it worth to try the 2.0?

For anyone coming into this thread looking for opinions on a 50 equivalent prime, I have both the 35/1.4 and the 35/2. Although not as sharp, performance and convenience-wise the f/2 beats the older, bigger sibling hands down. For me the 50 is one of my street musts, coming from film Leicas M. It sits almost permanently in my X-Pro2 and totes along my X100T. I also have the 23/2 but it's faster to change cameras than lenses.

I use the 27 for walkabout, but for wr the 35f2 is great. I tried both 35s and kept the 1.4 as wr was not a factor for me.

Sorry - I don’t get the point. When using a big Cam instead of a let’s say RX100 for example or even just an iPhone, I want „special“ results. The 35/2 doesn’t give this to me! The 1.4 is a class of its own - so why not give this lens the preference?! 
The shot you posted is nice - no question! But I ask myself: Do you need a big rig for it? Modern smartphone or handsome 1“ cam would deliver the same I guess!

Hope this was not too offence?! Just wanted to point out, why I would go for the 35/1.4

Troubleshooter wrote:!

Hope this was not too offence?! Just wanted to point out, why I would go for the 35/1.4

Then don’t be offensive, there are good use cases for the f2, I too chose the f1.4 over the f2, but that is no reason to assume it is correct for everyone else.

Troubleshooter wrote:

Sorry - I don’t get the point. When using a big Cam instead of a let’s say RX100 for example or even just an iPhone, I want „special“ results. The 35/2 doesn’t give this to me! The 1.4 is a class of its own - so why not give this lens the preference?!
The shot you posted is nice - no question! But I ask myself: Do you need a big rig for it? Modern smartphone or handsome 1“ cam would deliver the same I guess!

Hope this was not too offence?! Just wanted to point out, why I would go for the 35/1.4

I get the 35/1.4 love, but I also appreciate a good morning chuckle.

Fun fact - did you know most of the f/1.x Fuji's apertures are so wide as to let water in? That's why it's advisable only the f/2 primes  be used in inclement weather (16/1.4 being the exception).

But the f/2 does not have the magic - the f/1.4 has the magic. 

I guess many old timers shot Nikon film SLR's and also a good deal of them had both the 50/1.8 and the 50/1.4 AiS. I did and I remember perfectly that the 1.8 was better at 1.8 to 11 than the half a stop sibling. In my Leicas, the Summicrons 35 and 50 allowed me to shoot handheld at f/2 without problem. Never felt the need for the more expensive & heavier Summiluxes with the extra stop.

Perhaps I lacked the taste for murky situations. Please remember the fastest film (save for press) were ISO 400. Now that the X sensors give us ISO 6400 images vurtually noise free, what's the purpose of a humongous lens that is slow in acquiring focus to boot?

I've got both versions of the 23 and 35, since the f/2 ones came late into the lineup, and keep the older ones (not worth the hassle of putting them on the block) but the ones that I carry on the camera bag are the newer f/2's. Much better ergonomics and that translates to keeper shots.

Best,

Jorge.

As many people already said, different needs different lenses.

I currently have the 23mm f2 for two reasons:

1 - I like the focal lenght (influenced by when i had a X100S)

2 - it has faster AF, specially until the previous generation cameras (X-T20, etc...)

I didn't care much about WR but nice to have, although my X-T20 wasn't WR neither is my X-T30.

Because of the faster AF i got some shoots i would probably have missed with the 35mm 1.4 or the 23mm 1.4 (this one has a problem for me, size / weight).

Now i have 5 reasons to sell the 23mm f2 and buy a 35mm f1.4:

1- My son is now 6 and stands still more times

2 - I don't need so many photos, but i can use better low light performance from the 1.4

3- I'm going to do portraits, and the 35mm 1.4 is more adequate to join a Viltrox 85mm (i have the 18-55 if i need very wide environmental portraits)

4 - 35mm is better as a do it all lens, portraits and street.

5 - AF is now very close according to user reports and reviews on 3rd generation cameras

Its my needs that changed, not the lens that got better....

frez wrote:

I use the 27 for walkabout, but for wr the 35f2 is great. I tried both 35s and kept the 1.4 as wr was not a factor for me.

Same here... Until Fuji makes a smaller body that's WR, I won't be interested...

If they make the XE 4 WR, I'd get a 23 f2 or 35 f2 to go with it.

It seems silly that Fuji has all these WR small primes now like the 16/23/35/50 but the XT ** line and XE * line aren't WR... only the bulkier X Pro and XT lines.

I realize these were intended to not block the OVF of the X Pro...but come on Fuji, give us a small WR camera...

jjz2 wrote:

I realize these were intended to not block the OVF of the X Pro...but come on Fuji, give us a small WR camera...

Yeah, a small WR body with IBIS would be my ultimate choice (IBIS for the 90mm that will likely be my next purchase). The X100V is tempting for WR but I don't really need two cameras so I'll hold out to see what the XT40 brings.

double00 wrote:

But the f/2 does not have the magic - the f/1.4 has the magic.

Yeah... the f/1.4 has the magic.

And the sun is blue.

And I can run a 1 minute mile.

(I bought the f/2 version, and sold the f/1.4 that wasn't getting much use.)