XF60mm 2.4 as a Portrait Lens

Hey Guys,

I'm look at the 60mm at the moment as being an addition to my X-T1 bag, but have read some conflicting reviews on it. 
The focal length and price are attractive, and I've heard that the focus speeds have been drastically improved. 
I've seen a few threads with examples on here, anyone have anymore ? Experiences and opinions greatly appreciated.

MasonHoy wrote:

Hey Guys,

I'm look at the 60mm at the moment as being an addition to my X-T1 bag, but have read some conflicting reviews on it.
The focal length and price are attractive, and I've heard that the focus speeds have been drastically improved.
I've seen a few threads with examples on here, anyone have anymore ? Experiences and opinions greatly appreciated.

The 60mm f/2.4 was one of the first three lens Fuji made for the X-series, along with the 18mm f/2.0 and the 35mm f/1.4. Every review I ever seen on the 60mm says it is Fuji's slowest and worse focusing lens. But I've seen more than one post from users who say it's sharper than the 56mm. When I had my X-E1 I bought the 18mm and 35mm but passed on the 60mm because of the bad reviews. When I got my X-E2 last September, I got another 18mm, a Zeiss Touit 1.8/32 and a 60mm in like new condition at a great price. I was more interested in having it as a short telephoto than a portrait or macro lens. I rarely do portraits and don't do macro. The only thing I really didn't like is the ridiculous hood that comes with it and the fact that the inner barrel can extend pretty far out when focusing. I only used it out in the field once and then it just sat in my bag unused for the rest of the year, so I sold it. Here are the only three shots I kept. They all had some cropping and I think I bumped up the exposure compensation a little on the house and tractor but they are ooc jpegs.

I lens I much like. It is designed for close-focusing, so you won't get kit-lens abruptness in autofocus. The focusing range is much greater than non-macro lenses, so it takes a moment more. A fraction of a second more anticipation is needed.

As a portrait lens in a formal studio, manually focus it at the beginning of the shoot, and only touch up the focus if the subject distance changes. I habitually use pre-focus, so it never was a problem here. I have an album of 60 shots that I did for Facebook friends here. It is public.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152133967504838&l=e59e519dca

Here are some samples from it. Note that all are shot with existing light.

Lunchbreak

You can't do sports with an X-Pro1 and 60mm lens.

A super lens and a bargain. Focus speed has been improved with firmware updates (both for lens and camera) but bear in mind it's a macro lens and has a longer focus throw than a standard lens. Don't get hung-up on it though, it works fine.

And it's good for close-up of course!

It is a really nice lens and I use it a lot, mainly for landscapes stitched from multiple frames.  It is optically very good.  AF is much better on my X-E2 with new firmware than on my X-M1.

It's the best value lens you can get especially as a used purchase. It is one of Fuji's sharpest and has wonderful bokeh partly due to its nine-bladed aperture.

Throw away the silly huge lens hood and either use the bayonet fit hood from the 35mm f1.4 if you have one or - buy very cheaply a straight metal hood. To fit this you will need to buy a cheap 39mm filter - push out the glass and fit the filter ring as a spacer to which you add a 39mm to 52mm-ish (up to 55mm is fine) step-up ring for the hood - obviously depending on the hood size.

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.

I don't get all the criticism that some of the early Fuji X primes have gotten. I come from manual focus lenses and I find all the auto focus lenses fast enough. Of course I don't shoot a lot of sports and multiple exposure tracking sequences. I think the 60 is a fine portrait lens, as well as landscape and close up lens.

Famous portrait Fuji photog Damien Lovegrove uses it... Here are XF60mm shots from his gallery...

http://www.lovegrovephotography.com/fujifilm-xf-60mm-pictures/

I think that is overstating the case.  The 60mm is a very good lens optically that is designed to include close focus.  The side effect of this is slower AF (probably, it does focus more slowly, one of the Micro Nikkors is slow too) though on a newer body it is perfectly acceptable and that its AF is unacceptable is a myth.  There are no specific "portrait" features in any lens, just focal length (80-100 on full frame is popular) and aperture (faster for subject isolation).  I am sure that is what you mean, but we are in danger of starting another DPR myth*.

*The Nikon DC lenses might make a claim to being specifically meant for portrait.

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.

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.

So why does the Fuji website description of the lens say (and note that the macro - close-up - capability comes second). The lens also has nine bladed aperture blades which are also rounded - built for bokeh.

• This is a mid telephoto lens with the bright aperture of f/2.4 despite its compact size.
  It uses a glass molded aspheric lens at the 7th element to prevent field curvature,
  and places an ED (extra-low dispersion) glass lens at the 6th element to contain chromatic aberration.
  The lens is ideal for portraiture because of its beautiful blur and high-definition description.
• At the minimum working distance of 26.7cm, the lens delivers the maximum magnification of 0.5x for macro photography.

It is also an astoundingly good (and compact) general purpose lens and great for picking out detail especially architectural and small details at close distance. Its max 2.4 aperture is perfect for portraiture unless you only want one eye sharp. I have the 90mm f2 but I still keep and use a lot, the 60mm f2.4.

http://www.dslr-forum.de/attachment.php?attachmentid=3520461&stc=1&d=1460631912

https://flic.kr/p/B4Gab2

Sorry- the first Link was a mistake

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.

El Chubasco wrote:

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.

That's not what I said at all.

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.

If you want to know how Fuji positions this lens in the market just look at their website. They start their description thus....

"Providing all round versatility, the XF Macro 60mm lens (135 equivalent: 91mm) is perfect for a wide range of applications from portraits to 0.5x magnification macros. "

https://www.fujifilm.eu/uk/products/digital-cameras/fujinon-x-mount-lenses/model/fujinon-xf60mm-f24-r-macro

slimandy wrote:

If you want to know how Fuji positions this lens in the market just look at their website. They start their description thus....

"Providing all round versatility, the XF Macro 60mm lens (135 equivalent: 91mm) is perfect for a wide range of applications from portraits to 0.5x magnification macros. "

https://www.fujifilm.eu/uk/products/digital-cameras/fujinon-x-mount-lenses/model/fujinon-xf60mm-f24-r-macro

Nothing to add...

(the 0.5x magnification ratio is a clear indication that this lens isn't a true dedicated macro lens which nowadays are 1:1)

MasonHoy wrote:

Hey Guys,

I'm look at the 60mm at the moment as being an addition to my X-T1 bag, but have read some conflicting reviews on it.
The focal length and price are attractive, and I've heard that the focus speeds have been drastically improved.
I've seen a few threads with examples on here, anyone have anymore ? Experiences and opinions greatly appreciated.

Get one Mason. You won't regret it.

If you've only found a few threads with examples here you haven't looked very hard. It might be the single most discussed/argued about lens tha Fuji has given us.

I have almost all of the Available Fuji glass but if I had to trim back to three the 60mm would be one of them (with 35mm, 10-24mm).

94 wrote:

MasonHoy wrote:

Hey Guys,

I'm look at the 60mm at the moment as being an addition to my X-T1 bag, but have read some conflicting reviews on it.
The focal length and price are attractive, and I've heard that the focus speeds have been drastically improved.
I've seen a few threads with examples on here, anyone have anymore ? Experiences and opinions greatly appreciated.

Get one Mason. You won't regret it.

If you've only found a few threads with examples here you haven't looked very hard. It might be the single most discussed/argued about lens tha Fuji has given us.

I have almost all of the Available Fuji glass but if I had to trim back to three the 60mm would be one of them (with 35mm, 10-24mm).

Hey 94,
Would you pick it over the 56? Obviously the difference in price is ridiculous, I get the impression that a lot of people don't rate the 60mm highly is because of the 56.
Thanks!