XF50mmf/2

So, I just bought this lens and have been shooting with for the last few days.

Some initial thoughts:

• I love how light and compact the lens is. It fits perfectly on the X-Pro2 and looks fantastic. Build feels great too.
  
• The lens is really sharp. Certainly sharper than the 35mm f2.
  
• Focus is quick on the X-Pro2, but not as quick as some reviews make out...perhaps this is because I was using quite a small focus point. 
  
• The focal length will certainly take some practice with, but I love the versatility and looking forward to getting on the streets with it once this is all over. I do think this will make a fantastic street portrait lens.
  
• Bokeh is very creamy and I am perfectly content with it at f/2. I like a bit of environmental context in my shots.
• The close focusing is a really appealing aspect of this lens for me, and it does a great job. Of course, at f/2 you lose some sharpness but it is still perfectly acceptable.
• In black and white, this lens produces some really lovely tones.
  
• Having this lens has made me consider whether I should ditch the 35mm f2. Initially I thought that I would keep both the 35 and the 50, but now debating whether it would be better for me to get rid of my 16 and 35, buy a 23 and have the 23 and 50 covered. Still thinking about this...

All in all, really happy with the lens and looking forward to using it some more in my more favoured scenarios. 5 starts so far from me. Anyway, here are some samples which I hope illustrate the above points!

Instagram: isaac.a.q

Personal site: isaacqureshi.com

ISQ1993 wrote:

Absolutely love the colors and rendering of this photo. A lot of lenses/cameras are ultra sharp and digital... this one is organic and smooth.

I bought one today. New for only €359. I did not have time to really try it, but I am looking forward to it.

I like your pics.

Miguel-C wrote:

ISQ1993 wrote:

Absolutely love the colors and rendering of this photo. A lot of lenses/cameras are ultra sharp and digital... this one is organic and smooth.

Thanks a lot for your kind words. I try to keep things looking natural!

Great lens and a good purchase choice too!

I have one, but use my third party manual lenses more often.  The AF is a feature my third party manual lenses can't match though, for quick family shots and so on.

Looks like you are getting the best out of it so far!

Tom Schum wrote:

Great lens and a good purchase choice too!

I have one, but use my third party manual lenses more often. The AF is a feature my third party manual lenses can't match though, for quick family shots and so on.

Looks like you are getting the best out of it so far!

I too love throwing on manual glass. I’ve been toying with getting the Fuji 50 f2, but I’m afraid it won’t hold a candle to my Zeiss Planar 50 f2 zm, which puts my Fuji 35 f2 to shame.

Mikeywcu wrote:

Tom Schum wrote:

Great lens and a good purchase choice too!

I have one, but use my third party manual lenses more often. The AF is a feature my third party manual lenses can't match though, for quick family shots and so on.

Looks like you are getting the best out of it so far!

I too love throwing on manual glass. I’ve been toying with getting the Fuji 50 f2, but I’m afraid it won’t hold a candle to my Zeiss Planar 50 f2 zm, which puts my Fuji 35 f2 to shame.

Maybe the optical quality is not the main thing. With the Fuji 50mm F2 WR, you get good optical quality and seamless integration with the camera: auto focus and auto aperture, things that the best manual lenses can't provide.

Maybe something like the Zeiss Touit would be more to your liking:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/970841-REG/zeiss_2030_681_touit_50mm_f_2_8_macro.html

This would be something like your excellent Zeiss Planar 50 f2 zm but with macro capability, auto focus, auto aperture, a Fuji x mount, and Zeiss optics.

I like to use the Fuji M adapter for the Leica M lenses I have, but these lenses in my small collection are not very good so I seldom go to the trouble.  I have a surprisingly good Opteka 50mm F2 manual lens instead. It is small and light and has an X mount.  No adapter is required, and it cost me $98 at B&H.  A little bit too labor intensive for quick family shots though.

Mikeywcu wrote:

Tom Schum wrote:

Great lens and a good purchase choice too!

I have one, but use my third party manual lenses more often. The AF is a feature my third party manual lenses can't match though, for quick family shots and so on.

Looks like you are getting the best out of it so far!

I too love throwing on manual glass. I’ve been toying with getting the Fuji 50 f2, but I’m afraid it won’t hold a candle to my Zeiss Planar 50 f2 zm, which puts my Fuji 35 f2 to shame.

The 50 mm lens is a sweet spot for lens designers.  The 50 f2 is a significantly better lens than the 23 f2. I have both - the 23 is not bad but the 50 is better. I’ve seen a number of reviews and reports of the 3 Fuji compact f2 lenses, the 35 f2 is the weakest and the 50 the best. The 50 is not the 56, but it is a good lens.

Truman Prevatt wrote:

Mikeywcu wrote:

Tom Schum wrote:

Great lens and a good purchase choice too!

I have one, but use my third party manual lenses more often. The AF is a feature my third party manual lenses can't match though, for quick family shots and so on.

Looks like you are getting the best out of it so far!

I too love throwing on manual glass. I’ve been toying with getting the Fuji 50 f2, but I’m afraid it won’t hold a candle to my Zeiss Planar 50 f2 zm, which puts my Fuji 35 f2 to shame.

The 50 mm lens is a sweet spot for lens designers. The 50 f2 is a significantly better lens than the 23 f2. I have both - the 23 is not bad but the 50 is better. I’ve seen a number of reviews and reports of the 3 Fuji compact f2 lenses, the 35 f2 is the weakest and the 50 the best. The 50 is not the 56, but it is a good lens.

This is quite helpful because while I enjoy the 35 f2, in all honesty I’ve felt let down at times by its rendering and sharpness. I actually thought at first that something was wrong with my XPro3...surely this thing can take sharper photos? Then I threw on some Zeiss, Voigtlander, and Leica glass...oh no, the camera was not the issue at all.

Tom Schum wrote:

Great lens and a good purchase choice too!

I have one, but use my third party manual lenses more often. The AF is a feature my third party manual lenses can't match though, for quick family shots and so on.

Looks like you are getting the best out of it so far!

Thanks Tom. Yes, really like the lens.

I use the Meike 35mm 1.4 which is pretty great and that’s principally why I’m considering ditching the 35mm f2, so I would have some like 16, 23 (would need to buy), 35 1.4 manual, 50 f2, which to me seems better balanced!

Truman Prevatt wrote:

Mikeywcu wrote:

Tom Schum wrote:

Great lens and a good purchase choice too!

I have one, but use my third party manual lenses more often. The AF is a feature my third party manual lenses can't match though, for quick family shots and so on.

Looks like you are getting the best out of it so far!

I too love throwing on manual glass. I’ve been toying with getting the Fuji 50 f2, but I’m afraid it won’t hold a candle to my Zeiss Planar 50 f2 zm, which puts my Fuji 35 f2 to shame.

The 50 mm lens is a sweet spot for lens designers. The 50 f2 is a significantly better lens than the 23 f2. I have both - the 23 is not bad but the 50 is better. I’ve seen a number of reviews and reports of the 3 Fuji compact f2 lenses, the 35 f2 is the weakest and the 50 the best. The 50 is not the 56, but it is a good lens.

Very interesting, thanks. I am still considering the 23mm but I have an X100F, so should probably avoid the duplication. It’s odd I feel there should be a non-pancake 27mm f2. That would be a killer lens IMO!

Mikeywcu wrote:

Truman Prevatt wrote:

Mikeywcu wrote:

Tom Schum wrote:

Great lens and a good purchase choice too!

I have one, but use my third party manual lenses more often. The AF is a feature my third party manual lenses can't match though, for quick family shots and so on.

Looks like you are getting the best out of it so far!

I too love throwing on manual glass. I’ve been toying with getting the Fuji 50 f2, but I’m afraid it won’t hold a candle to my Zeiss Planar 50 f2 zm, which puts my Fuji 35 f2 to shame.

The 50 mm lens is a sweet spot for lens designers. The 50 f2 is a significantly better lens than the 23 f2. I have both - the 23 is not bad but the 50 is better. I’ve seen a number of reviews and reports of the 3 Fuji compact f2 lenses, the 35 f2 is the weakest and the 50 the best. The 50 is not the 56, but it is a good lens.

This is quite helpful because while I enjoy the 35 f2, in all honesty I’ve felt let down at times by its rendering and sharpness. I actually thought at first that something was wrong with my XPro3...surely this thing can take sharper photos? Then I threw on some Zeiss, Voigtlander, and Leica glass...oh no, the camera was not the issue at all.

I've been doing business at my local camera shop since 1985. I know the owner quite well.  His son (who I used to refer to as "snot nose kid" ) runs the business now.  When I bought my Pro2, the 35 f2 had just come out.  When I asked the difference between the 35 f2 and 35 f1.4, he handed me both lenses and the Pro2 and told me to take then out and have fun and come back and we'd put them up on the monitor.  There was no contest.  The rendering of the f2 lacked - especially in the OOF areas.  The f2 also produced onion rings in backgrounds it should not have been.  Onion rings are to eat, not be a distraction in your images.  In certain conditions the f2 produced concentric onion rings- yuck.

The 23 f2 has much better - not 23 f1.4 better - rendering.  You can for the most part avoid gnarly background rendering but you need to use some care since an onion ring can popup from time to time.  The 23 f2 works really nicely on the XPro OVF.  The 50 f2 was the third in the series and I read reports that Fuji had a better design for the lens and a 50 is the sweet spot for lens design (why so many of the early lenses from Zeiss and Leica were 50 mm or 5 cm at the time).

I picked up the 50 f2.  It is not the 56 - no lens is the Fuji line up except maybe the 90 f2.  Some swear by the 16 f1.4 but it's too wide for my taste so I've not used it.  But the 50 f2 has a little better rendering than the 23 f2.  It is compact, light and a very good value and it works nicely on the XPro. It's probably worth a try.

Charles_S wrote:

I have used it a lot too on my X-Pro2 for portraiture. After getting it I ditched the 35mm and went with a 23 /50 combo

This is certainly food for thought...

Miguel-C wrote:

ISQ1993 wrote:

Absolutely love the colors and rendering of this photo. A lot of lenses/cameras are ultra sharp and digital... this one is organic and smooth.

+1 A real photograph.

freyabo wrote:

P@ wrote:

I bought one today. New for only €359. I did not have time to really try it, but I am looking forward to it.

I like your pics.

Where did you buy it, excellent price. Cheers.

I bought it in Amsterdam. There is an extra discount of 10% if you buy it in the store and not online.

https://www.photobrandstore.nl/objectieven/fuji-objectieven/fujifilm-xf50mm-f2-0-wr

There is still one at the shop. The owner told me he was quitting with digital. He sells a lot off second hand analog stuff.