I bought the Fujifilm XT-1 for two purposes, street photography and minimalism. The XT-1 is quite small and I wanted to keep the form factor by using smaller and lighter weight lenses. I felt that this would mean using primes. I've always enjoyed using primes more because they force you to think about the image. I started out shooting with nothing but a 35mm lens and am very comfortable with it, but I wanted to try a few different focal lengths before make the decision for suture use. The four lenses that I wanted to try were the Fujifilm Fujinon XF 16mm (24mm) F1.4 R (Weather Resistant) Lens, Fujinon XF 23mm (35mm) F/1.4R Lens, Fujinon XF 35mm (53mm) F/1.4 Lens (not pictured above) and Fujinon XF 56mm (85mm) F/1.2 Lens. Street photography has been dominated by the idea that the 35mm and 50mm focal lengths were the go to, but there's more out there.
Something that I find interesting when I see people compare Fuji lenses is that they always talk about how one lens is heavier than the other and that is a problem. I find this amusing. Sure weight and size should come into consideration since that's the whole reason why I bought this system, but it's not that big of a deal when considering these small primes. The size and weight are so similar between the lenses that it shouldn't even be considered. It is noticeable when you're holding one next to the other, but if you put it on your camera and one lens seriously affects you more than the other, I think you have more serious issues to worry about. Either you really need to invest in a gym membership or consult a doctor. These lenses are tiny compared to their DSLR equivalent! A DSLR's 35mm F/1.4 or a 85mm F/1.2 equivalent is huge and bulky!
I will not get into the technicalities of each lens in this blog. That can be found almost anywhere else. I'm more into the practical use of these lenses in terms of street photography and that's what I will try to express. Fujinon lenses have come to be known for their high quality and great optics. You can examine the images yourself and determine which you think is the sharpest. I personally don't worry about this too much because I see no point in pixel peeping when the XT-1 only has a 16mp sensor. If it were the the Nikon D810, Sony A7r II, or the Canon 5DsR, then it would be a different story.
Along with each lens review will be some sample pictures taken with each.
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Fujifilm Fujinon XF 16mm (24mm) F1.4 R (Weather Resistant) Lens
Prior to taking this lens out on the streets, I could not imagine ever needing a 24mm equivalent prime. I have the 24-70 F/2.8 for the Nikon system and I played around with it at 24mm to see what it would be like. I felt that it was so wide and thought that it would be impossible to get good composition without standing directly next to someone. This was a huge turn off.
In use as a street photography lens, this was actually a very good lens. As previously stated, it is very wide. You have to know this and know that you will have to get close to people. You won't necessarily be face to face, but expect to be within a couple feet of your subject if you expect to fill the frame with the person or subject.
The nice thing about a wide lens like this is that pretty much everything is in focus and because of this and the high quality optics, you will get very sharp images. If you like to shoot from the hip, this is the lens for you. Just point the camera towards the general direction and shoot. It will most likely be wide enough to capture your subject and more, so you'll be able to crop the image and get a favorable composition. Some may consider this as cheating or being sneaky, but I believe that it is a valid technique and there is a place for it. This is perhaps my favorite thing about this lens.
The people that may not like this lens are those who don't like to get up and personal with their subjects. If you want framing to be correct in camera, you have no choice but to get closer. This is meant to be a wide angle lens. Sure you can shoot at the hip and crop down as mentioned, but 16mp only goes so far. Image quality will deteriorate and the image will turn to mush.
Fujinon XF 23mm (35mm) F/1.4R Lens
Good ol' faithful. When I was learning photography, I had no choice but to use a 35mm focal length. This was the only lens that I could use on the cameras in photography class. When I moved on, I kept the habit and bought a 35mm lens for my own personal cameras.
It is arguable to say that 35mm is the new standard focal length. It is considered to be good for pretty much every kind of photography. You can take portraits, landscapes, street photography, pretty much anything. It's not too long and not too wide, it's just right.
This lens is close to perfect for my applications. Even though size was not part of my consideration, I would have to say that this may be the perfect companion for the XT-1. The combination is perfectly balanced that when placed on a table, my XT-1 stands up straight and doesn't tip over as if front heavy. Of course, this doesn't matter to me. What matter was the lens' flexibility. It may be redundant to say, but this lens can do anything. It may look like I really seem to be leaning towards this lens as my favorite, because it is. There's nothing bad that can be said about this lens in my opinion.
Fujinon XF 35mm (53mm) F/1.4 Lens
This was the first lens that I bought for the Fuji X system. It is cheap and effective. There is no 50mm equivalent for the Fuji system so 53mm is as close as you're going to get. 50mm was the old standard and is still widely used today. People consider 50mm to be the closest to the human eye's own focal length. This is arguable for various reasons and a topic of another discussion. Saying this, I personally feel that it 55-56mm is the best representation of the eye so this lens is close to perfect in that regard.
Even though this is one of the cheaper lens from Fuji, it is still very very good. Images are sharp and it produces great bokeh when wide open.
My only complaint is that this focal length is getting towards the longer end of the spectrum. If you know that you're going to be working in very tight spaces, this may not be the lens for you. If your subject is within a few feet from you, forget about getting a body shot. It's just not happening. There's nothing wrong with the lens in terms of image quality or anything of the sort, the lens is beautiful, it's just that the focal length is a bit long.
This lens is not pictured above because it had to be sent back. Not because of quality issues or anything but because my copy did not come with a lens hood cap. I'm contemplating very hard on whether or not to pick up another copy since there is a very good rebate/sale going on that makes the lens very tempting.
Fujinon XF 56mm (84mm) F/1.2 Lens
Maybe it's just me, but I don't think that the Fujinon XF 56mm (85mm) F/1.2 Lens is at the top of Fuji's lens selection in terms of image quality. Don't get me wrong, image quality is great, but I think that the 16mm and 23mm are actually better. This is just my opinion and based on my perception of the images captured by each.
Is it possible to walk around and do street photography with a 85mm equivalent focal length? Of course it is. The reach is nice when your subjects are a bit further away or you just don't feel like getting close. The reach is also a huge disadvantage because it requires you to have a good amount of space between you and your subjects. If your street photography consist of head shots and you are constantly in crowded spaces, this is the lens for you because you won't be able to capture anything but your subjects face or other parts of their body. In my use, I often faced the problem of not having enough room to frame the shot. I just couldn't back up enough to get the shot that I wanted because 85mm is on the telephoto end of the spectrum. Keep this in mind and give yourself some room.
Something to note, I find this lens hard to use wide open just because of the nature of a F/1.2 lens. The depth of field is so shallow that if your subject moves just a bit, that shot is gone. You will miss focus and have to try again.
I've always had a 35mm lens and it was a no brainer to get another since I'm so used to it, but that's also the problem. I'm so used to the 35mm focal length that it gets old sometimes. I wanted to see if there was something better for street photography.
The Fujinon 16mm (24mm) lens is such an amazing lens. I never thought that I would like a 24mm equivalent so much, but this lens has made me a believer.
There isn't much to say about the 23mm (35mm) lens. I see no drawbacks to this lens is overall a great lens. I can walk around all day with this thing and wouldn't have to worry about missing the shot because it isn't wide enough or because I don't have enough reach. The 35mm equivalent allows you the ability to move around and frame the shot much easier than any of the other lenses. Many people consider these things to also be true about the 35mm (53mm). You just have to ask yourself, would you rather have a wide standard lens or a more telephoto standard lens? The two are very close and I believe that you can work with either quite easily.
With the 16mm (24mm) and 56mm (85mm), you can only get so close or backup so far in certain situations. Lenses like the 35mm and 53mm are in the middle of normal spectrum and provides much more usability than the two more extremes of 24mm and 85mm.
For my personal use, I will be keeping the Fujinon XF 16mm (24mm) F1.4 R (Weather Resistant) Lens and the Fujinon XF 23mm (35mm) F/1.4R Lens. Even though the focal lengths are pretty close, I feel like these two lenses provide me with the most usability for my kind of photography.
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