Best Fuji GF lens to walk-around?

[tepatroni]

Coming from a Canon 6D w/ a 24-70mm lens, I'm taking the leap to Medium Format. Initially had my eyes locked on the Fuji GFX 50R, but the opportunity arose to buy the 50S 50% cheaper, making it a lower cost than that of the 50R.

It's a bit hard to describe my photography style, but it's somewhere in the realm of Fine Art and street. You can see some of my images and an overview of my style here .

This being said, I'm quite on the fence on what lens I should get. I kinda dislike the weight that I feel after a day walking around with my Canon (only happens during travels), but I know I'm not going to get a much better outcome with a medium format.

I heard great things about the 32-64mm (which is where I end up the most with my 24-70), but thought about also getting a prime lens that would feel lighter. I've tried the 63mm and liked it, but I was curious about the 50mm or 45mm.

Does anyone have a travel/walk-around experience with the GFX 50S that they could share? The only feedback I've got so far is just to get a smaller body. But the detail, cropping possibilities and printing sizes are really pushing me to medium.

Would appreciate any thoughts really. Thanks!

 

[Greg7579]

You need the 32-64 for sure, especially if you are a 24-70 zoom guy. The 32-64 is one of the very best zooms in the World. Top 2 or so....

But you gotta get the 45 for sure.

 

[Jvlahakis]

If street is a major part of your shooting experience I would highly recommend the 50mm 3.5. It never leaves my 50r for my street shooting. Will make for a nice set up for your 50s. The 32-64mm is a fabulous all around lens. And it too will work well for you, but it is longer and heavier than the 50mm, which is a very sharp optic.

 

[tgltgl]

I have GFX 50R and all 3 of those lenses - GF 45, 50, and 63. I prefer the GF 45 because I think it has the best overall IQ and to me it's not that much bigger/heavier than the GF 50. However, most people who have GF 50 seem to prefer it as walk around lens because it's the smallest and also has fastest AF. Seems to be especially popular combo with the GFX 50R (it's probably the smallest/lightest current MF combo). So you have a nice dilemma and can't really go wrong either way. If you are primarily interested in best possible IQ I rank these 3 lenses GF 45 > GF 63 > GF 50. Also, GF 45 and 63 are F2.8 which can be important as well ...

 

[Greg7579]

If street is a major part of your shooting experience I would highly recommend the 50mm 3.5. It never leaves my 50r for my street shooting. Will make for a nice set up for your 50s. The 32-64mm is a fabulous all around lens. And it too will work well for you, but it is longer and heavier than the 50mm, which is a very sharp optic.

I agree with that comment about the 50. It is so small and light for a GF lens. Very handy for walking around .... no doubt.... And the 40 equivalent is good for street shooters.

 

[Persecki]

Wow. I loved your art. I don't know what you call the pieces on your website, they're beautiful.

 

[Theia]

I have a GFX 50S, which is comfortable to hold (with a wrist strap) for long periods – all day if necessary. Walking around a city I either have the 32-64mm or the 45mm on the camera. Lately, I prefer the simplicity, focal length, and image quality of the 45. It's superb. I don't have the 50mm, but I understand the quality is not as good as the 45mm.

 

[Greg7579]

Teresa, you are an artist.

I love the unusual pastel (?) colors and the subtle sort of haziness..... You also are likely a pro product photographer.

Very unusual stuff and very good.....

Glad you are going to shoot GFX. This is the kind of photography that will benefit from MF. You will see the "Look" when you print and also peep on a 32 inch IPS 4K pro monitor. You will see it and you will feel it and you will benefit from it.

I can tell from your outstanding work.

I love it.

You might want that 32-64. You frame very deliberately and artfully and would benefit from not having to crop as much later.

You are a zoom girl but also love your primes. I can tell....

 

[matteroner]

With your style I think you should use a hasselblad 500 cm and over expose portra 400.

But seriously the 45mm lens will work perfectly in almost all situations.

 

[Votec]

I would also recommend the 32-64mm. If I would only own one lens, this would be the one. I sold the 45mm an 63mm as they did not get much usage. When the 50mm was on sale, I bought it as an additional small walk-around lens.

Damian Lovegrove has a lot of pictures with the 32-64mm online .

Lloyd Chambers likes the 50mm.

 

[Henrik Helmers]

It might be worth waiting a week to see what the upcoming successor, 100S, will cost. Even if you are not in the market for the 100S it could influence the price of the 50S.

 

[tepatroni]

Thank you so much for your insights guys! And to the nice compliments as well : )

So I'm definitely going to get the 32-64, and I'll sleep on the 45 vs 50mm dilemma. As I have a nice relationship with Fuji here in Portugal I'm going to try and ask to test out both, and see which one feels right to me.

Also, nice tip about the wrist strap. I prefer walking with my current camera on the wrist as well, so it makes perfect sense to me.

Thanks again!

 

[tepatroni]

It might be worth waiting a week to see what the upcoming successor, 100S, will cost. Even if you are not in the market for the 100S it could influence the price of the 50S.

thanks for the tip! Will wait for sure.

 

[spilla]

Thank you so much for your insights guys! And to the nice compliments as well : )

So I'm definitely going to get the 32-64, and I'll sleep on the 45 vs 50mm dilemma. As I have a nice relationship with Fuji here in Portugal I'm going to try and ask to test out both, and see which one feels right to me.

Also, nice tip about the wrist strap. I prefer walking with my current camera on the wrist as well, so it makes perfect sense to me.

Thanks again!

great plan. you’re going to have to report back on your thoughts after trying!

 

[Theia]

Thank you so much for your insights guys! And to the nice compliments as well : )

So I'm definitely going to get the 32-64, and I'll sleep on the 45 vs 50mm dilemma. As I have a nice relationship with Fuji here in Portugal I'm going to try and ask to test out both, and see which one feels right to me.

Also, nice tip about the wrist strap. I prefer walking with my current camera on the wrist as well, so it makes perfect sense to me.

Thanks again!

The Peak Design/Joby wrist strap setup I often use is shown here (with thanks to Left Eye):

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4291094

I've tried others, but this is minimal enough to not get sweaty and restrictive, while providing a tripod mount in emergency. Too bulky to easily use on the tiny Peak Design tripod head though.

 

[Greg7579]

No wrist straps allowed with GFX cameras!

WTH is wrong with you people?

Ken uses a wrist strap on his favorite camera in the world, which is the GFX 50r. He has it sitting there on the table for about half of his hilarious rants and you can see that damn wrist strap on the beautiful 50r. It looks like wrapping a flower with strands of dried horse turd.

I keep shouting at the screen, Ken, what is with the frikin' wrist strap on the 50r?

You are guaranteed to be ridiculed on the street using a wrist strap with GFX gear, and deservedly so.

You also will be 200 times more likely to drop the camera.

You guys are lucky I'm not the Moderator.

This kind of crazy talk would not be allowed....

 

[Hondo Lane]

I just got a 50R and I'm loving it! I haven't purchased a lens yet as I'm waiting for a rumored Fuji lens sale. That said I borrowed a friends 32-64mm lens for testing my camera. I am a landscape photographer and I have to admit a get a bit anal about edge to edge sharpness, so I was expecting OK results with this zoom, but not great. But boy was I wrong!! At f/11 this lens is tack sharp edge to edge at all zoom points. I have never tested a zoom that is so good. So it is on my list to purchase someday. Right now I have my eye on either the 50mm or the 45mm. That 50mm is enticing for its size, but I would like to see good comparison of these 2 lenses for IQ before making a decision. I also have an adapter coming for using my old Mamiya 7 lenses which in theory has huge potential.

 

[debo]

depends on your personal choice. For me it’s 63.

 

[Theia]

No wrist straps allowed with GFX cameras!

WTH is wrong with you people?

Ken uses a wrist strap on his favorite camera in the world, which is the GFX 50r. He has it sitting there on the table for about half of his hilarious rants and you can see that damn wrist strap on the beautiful 50r. It looks like wrapping a flower with strands of dried horse turd.

I keep shouting at the screen, Ken, what is with the frikin' wrist strap on the 50r?

You are guaranteed to be ridiculed on the street using a wrist strap with GFX gear, and deservedly so.

You also will be 200 times more likely to drop the camera.

You guys are lucky I'm not the Moderator.

This kind of crazy talk would not be allowed....

To each his/her own. I can understand using a neck strap if you like damaging your neck and are constantly changing lenses from a bulky overweight backpack, setting up a tripod, etc. But if you travel fast and light and want to focus on the art, then a wrist strap is the way to go. I even carry my GFX50S with a wrist strap on the L-bracket when it's attached to the RRS TFA-32 tripod.

 

[avisualnovel]

I would actually consider the 45-100mm as well, and pair it with something like the 30mm.