Fujifilm X Lenses - The 1.4s vs the F2s. Which are better?

FUJIFILM X - LENSES

Fujifilm XE-1 and Fujifilm 23mm 1.4

I've shot the Fujifilm system since 2016 now.   I converted from Canon Full Frame.  However, I recently sold my Fujifilm XT3 and got a Canon EOS R, however repurchased a Fuji XT20 to stay in the Fuji system. I cannot sell my Fuji glass. It's just too good.  But I couldn't keep all my Fuji glass. I'll elaborate more.

Since my time using the Fujifilm X system, I have owned the following at least once.  Some lenses twice indicated by "x2."

XT1

XT2

XT3

XT20

XE1

X100 x2

X100S x2

X100T x2

X100F x2

XPRO 1

23 F2 x2

23 1.4

27 2.8

35 1.4 x2

35 F2 x2

56 1.2

50 F2

90 F2 x2

So, yes.  I've owned plenty of Fujifilm X gear.  I am very picky with lenses, lens performance.  So don't take my review with a grain of salt. Take it as fact in terms of objective findings based on my experience.  Good glass is very important to me and it's not worth owning if it doesn't perform spectacularly. There's lots of mediocre glass out there so let me save you the time and all weed through some of the HYPE around SOME of these lenses. 

RANKING SYSTEM

So here is my ranking system for these lenses.  All Fujifilm lenses are built excellent so there's no need to include things such as build, feel, weathersealing.  To me, the end-all-be-all is the final image.  I will comment on character but I won't include character as part of the ranking unless it's a serious detriment to the image--newsflash--none of the above lenses have poor character. It's Fujifilm we're talking, afterall.  Keep in mind that you are the ultimate limiter of your images, not any gear or lenses. However, a great performing lens makes your images that much better all things being equal.  If you are lacking in skill and technical know how, I would recommend you practice first as no amount of gear will make your images better without actual skill.  Positioning your subject, light, composition, subject arrangement, time of day are far more important than a lens selection.  Nuanced criteria as below is only helpful for you if you've got the skill and technical know-how honed through years, even decades of experience.  

***Good technique and light with a poor lens beats poor technique with a good lens ANY DAY.***

EXTREME - The image quality here is as good as it gets.  Supreme corner to corner sharpness and smooth separation.  Only reserved for the highest praise. These lenses have to perform supremely wide open.

• Fujifilm 90mm F2 WR

This lens is absolutely jaw-dropping spectacular. Equivalent in all aspects to a 135mm F/2.8 on full frame. This is one of those lenses that has pixel-level sharpness wide open and that does NOT benefit by stopping down.  Some online tests that this lens actually slightly loses performance when stopped down. That's how supreme it is wide open.  This is the ultimate Fujifilm portrait lens, and I might even argue ultimate portrait lens period.  This lens is critically good in all regards. Absolutely supreme.

VERY VERY GOOD - Only slightly below "Extreme," this rating is still very highly regarded and isn't taken lightly. These lenses in this category have to perform very highly wide open.

• Fujifilm 23mm 1.4 R

This lens is spectacular.  Equivalent in all aspects to a 35mm F2 on full frame.  This lens has lots of glass. Lots of glass typically means fantastic image quality.  Eyelashes are very very detailed at close to medium distances wide open.  To top it off, this lens has fantastic looks.  Ridiculously sharp wide open at 1.4 NEARLY out to the extreme edges.  Stunning wide open. No haze.

• Fujifilm 35mm 1.4 R

This lens almost never goes on sale. Equivalent to a 50mm F2 on full frame. The first Fujifilm X lens to arrive for the X mount, this lens has reached legendary status.  Fujifilm engineers said this was a special project that was not designed for test charts, but for unique magical rendering.  No wonder I bought two copies.  Super super sharp wide open with smooth transition to out of focus.  This lens just has a look that cannot be matched.   Stunning wide open. No haze.

GOOD - Lenses in this category should still be taken seriously even though they are not in the two higher categories above.  Lenses here are still very very capable of a fine result.  It just takes a little more work as they are not excessively brilliant wide open.  If viewed at medium to smaller resolutions, photos from these lenses will look brilliant. But when viewed larger, such as 1:1, there is more to be desired.

• Fujifilm 35mm F2 WR

I bought this lens twice.  50mm 2.8 full frame equivalent on full frame.  This lens has produced some great looking images for me.  But when used back to back with the 1.4 version, it's obvious this lens has some compromises.  It's not tack sharp wide open. But is tack sharp stopped down to 2.8. Both my copies performed identically.  For me, a lens has to perform brilliant wide open in order to receive high praise. Still a great lens and if you have to have weather sealing and silent focus, this is the obvious "50" to get.

• Fujifilm 56mm 1.2 R

A Fujifilm fan favorite. An 85mm 1.8 equivalent on full frame.  Everyone seems to love this lens more than they should.  The truth is it can produce stunning images, but viewed 1:1 wide open, the images are not tack sharp. There's some ghosting and low contrast.  A bit of lightroom and a lot of sharpness can be brought back.  The background separation is beautiful.  Overall I'd still recommend this lens.  But I can't give it a higher mark than this.

• Fujifilm 50mm F2 WR

Very sharp wide open, though not tack sharp.  Very good performer and smooth separation.  

• Fujifilm 27mm 2.8 R

A very simple lens.  40mm F4 full frame equivalent in all aspects.  One of Fujifilm's sharpest. but it's a bit boring so it's basically an extra to carry around when you need to go stealth.  Very sharp wide open.  

• Fujifilm X100/S/T/F

I've owned two each of these cameras so I'm very familiar with their performance.  Up close, these lenses are soft wide open.  At normal distances, they are sharp to very sharp. But 3/4th the way outward and it's soft.  Stopping down to F8 sharpens it up quite a bit but the center is still noticably sharper.  Overall a great street lens and i've made great images at all apertures on all these cameras.  This lens prioritizes stealth to outright IQ.  The sweet spot is 2.8 to F8.

FAIR - These lenses are weak wide open and  OK to weak stopped down. Great for object shots or people shots with isolated backgrounds. But anything where the object is consistent across the frame in the same plane of focus, I'd avoid them.

• Fujifilm 23mm F2

I've owned two of these.  35mm 2.8 full frame equivalent.  I want to like this lens, I really tried.  The image quality is OK at best.  It's soft wide open at center, and very very fuzzy on the edges (mostly left and right).  Stopping down to F8 and the sides are still very noticably fuzzy.  Don't believe me?  Fujifilm doesn't even include this lens on their lens test website where you can test their lenses at all apertures.  It's that bad.   Both my copies were identical.  This lens has nice character though, despite the lack of sharpness and soft sides.  This lens is good for objects with a clear distant background.  Shoot anything with foliage or where something at distance is all within the same focal plane, you will notice the sides get soft even at F8.  It does not perform as good as the 23mm F2 on the X100 cameras.   That lens has some of the "soft sides" characteristics, but not nearly as bad. 

Some samples below. Same frame. One is center, second is left side.  Shot at F8 in bright light.  From raw file, no editing or sharpness applied.  Shot at F8. Both of my copies performed the same between hundreds of shots on different cameras with excellent technique. I know how to take a sharp photo. 

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