Amateur photographer starting here. This lens is magic, easy to use, 16-1.4 apeture, and has a nice weight to it. Use it with a XT-30 ii Fujifilm and it does wonders, very fun even for the unskilled.
I fought the urge to buy this lens for a couple of years. I didn't need it as I already have the very fine performing 35mm f/2 "Fujicron", but I keep seeing this lens being praised even in 2020 on numerous sites as well as YouTube, with terrific images. I kept saying that my f/2 version was just fine, and it probably is if you only use measurements that can be read on charts and graphs. You can't quantify a "look" or "magic", but these attributes are mentioned over and over for this lens on websites where Fujifilm gear is discussed.
I got my lens, put a fresh card in my XPro2 and made a self imposed test: 1000 images with only this lens. No test charts or brick walls, just actual photographs that I would make with this focal length. My first fear was squelched immediately when my lens focused quickly on anything that I aimed at in my low light living room. This was on my XPro2, so the "slow to focus" attribute that was often mentioned in the first generation Fujifilm bodies did not manifest on my camera. I'd guess that cameras that came out after the XPro2 would be even better.
So, can I see the benefit of this f/1.4 lens over the f/2?... I'd say yes. Again, you can't measure it, but it just creates images that look terrific. I use my cameras with a combination mechanical and electronic shutter (after 1/8000th, the shutter goes electronic) which means that I can shoot at f/1.4 in broad daylight, which can give images that can't be replicated by any cellphone shooter that thinks their phone is all the camera that anyone needs.
I will keep the Fujicron for times I need the weather resistance, or when I know that I'll be shooting in the middle of the aperture ring. But, I'm glad that I finally pulled the trigger on this purchase. I'm well past my 1000 photos and I'm not changing lenses anytime soon.
4.0 颗星，最多 5 颗星Excellent lens, with a few draw-backs.
2013年8月27日 - 已在美国亚马逊上发表
款式: 镜片已确认购买
PROS: -Awesome image quality -Well built -1.4ness? yes please -Small, light and nice looking -Smooth focus and aperture rings, but with enough resistance
To start with the positives, I would say that this is one of those must have lenses if your only camera system is the Fuji X system; its light, it has amazing image quality, and it looks very very nice (I do factor this into my scoring, but it does not affect it by much). The 1.4ness is really a wow factor with this lens, as it has pleasing (not perfect, but pleasing) bokeh. The lens is also very very sharp, but I will admit, sharpness is not the thing that makes this lens awesome, the 1.4ness and its overall performance is.
On the negative side, we have the issues that commonly plague the Fuji X system and that this lens compounds; its focus performance. This lens is SLOW to focus. This is something that everyone with a fuji knows, but they should still take it into consideration when buying lenses. Furthermore, not only is the AF slow, but also very very noisy... I am talking about mechanical whirring akin to point and shoot zooms. This is really a pain; not only does the lens constantly remind you that it is slow, but does so visibly and audibly. This should be fine for manual-focus type of people no? not really, as turning the AF ring has a noticeable delay between the turn of the focusing ring and the focus action.. To clarify, this lens does not have focus issues in the sense that it does acquire focus, albeit slowly. Lastly, this lens is expensive... yup, it might be a 1.4, but $600 for a lens that is not that enjoyable to use is a bit too much.
So would I recommend this lens? Absolutely. The image quality is just that good. However, that being said, I actually returned mine and do not plan to buy one soon or at this price point. Why? the main reason for doing so is because I already have the Nikon 35mm 1.8 G DX and a Nikon APS-C system. I am also not particularly a fan of shooting at 50mm equivalent. Furthermore, the Nikon has such nice AF performance (nearly silent, very quick, and the manual focus performance is superb) that it makes this lens feel slow and cumbersome. It is not as nice optically, but it still gets the job done, and it is not much bigger or heavier than this lens (Yes, my D7100 is big and heavy, but I don't have to wait for it to auto focus, not do I have to listen to its whining). If this lens was a joy to use, I would have kept it; however, it is really cumbersome to use compared to my other lens, and it makes no sense to keep such an expensive lens when I already have one in the same focal range.
Final verdict: 4 stars if you only own a Fuji X camera (or if you buy it at $450), 3 stars otherwise (I gave it 4 stars in the Amazon rating system because most people looking to buy this probably don't care about it comparatively).
