Fuji 35mm F/2 WR Review - Ken Rockwell

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Fuji 35mm f/2

Fujinon XF WR X-Mount Lens

Sample Images Introduction

Compatibility Specs   Performance

Compared Recommendations More

Fujinon 35mm f/2 R XF WR (metal 43mm filter thread, 5.8 oz./165g, 1.1'/0.35m close-focus, about $399 in black as shown or in silver.) bigger. I got mine at B&H; I'd also get it at Adorama or at Amazon.

This all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to my personally-approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Fuji does not seal its boxes in any way, so never buy at retail or any other source not on my personally approved list since you'll have no way of knowing if you're missing accessories, getting a defective, damaged, returned, store demo or used camera. Buy only from the approved sources I use myself for the best prices, service, return policies and selection. Thanks for helping me help you! Ken.

January 2020 Fuji   Lenses   Zeiss Sony LEICA Nikon Canon All Reviews

Why fixed lenses take better pictures

Fujinon 35mm f/1.4 review

Sample Images

Top Sample Images Introduction

Compatibility Specs   Performance

Compared Recommendations More

Ryan and Charlie, 01 June 2016. Fujifilm X-Pro2, Auto White Balance (shot under overcast light), Fujinon 35mm f/2 WR, f/2 at 1/125 at Auto ISO 250, Perfectly Clear. bigger or Camera-original © file to explore on your computer; mobile devices rarely display full resolution images at full resolution.

Eucalyptus, 01 June 2016. Fujifilm X-Pro2, 24MP Normal JPG, Fujinon 35mm f/2 WR, f/5.6 at 1/420 at Auto ISO 200. bigger or camera-original © file to explore on your computer (mobile devices rarely display the full resolution data properly).

2013 Mercedes S550 wheel, June 2016. 10 MP Normal square JPG, Fujinon 35mm f/2 WR, f/5.6 at 1/180 at Auto ISO 400. bigger or full resolution to explore on your computer (mobile devices rarely display the full resolution data properly).

Katie, Gumdrop (her Fursian) and Katie's MacBook Air. Fujifilm X-Pro2, 6 MP Normal JPG, Fujinon 35mm f/2 WR, f/2 at 1/125 at Auto ISO 400, Perfectly Clear. bigger or camera-original © file to explore on your computer; mobile devices rarely display full resolution images at full resolution.

Introduction

Top Sample Images Introduction

Compatibility Specs   Performance

Compared Recommendations More

B&H Photo - Video - Pro Audio I buy only from these approved sources. I can't vouch for ads below.

The Fuji 35mm f/2 is a very well made little lens that's ideal for use as your main lens on any Fuji X-series camera with interchangeable lenses.

It's a smaller and less expensive than the original Fujinon 35mm f/1.4, and at least as good.

It's a bargain at $399; you can't get a better lens at any price.

I got my XF 35/2 at B&H; I'd also get it at Adorama or at Amazon.

Compatibility

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Compatibility Specs   Performance

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This is a Fuji X-mount XF lens that works only on Fuji X-mount cameras.

Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 WR. bigger.

Specifications

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I got my XF 35/2 at B&H; I'd also get it at Adorama or at Amazon.

Name

Fujifilm calls this the FUJINON ASPHERICAL LENS SUPER EBC XF 35mm f/2 R WR ∅ 43, or XF35mmF2 R WR.

Fujinon is Fujifilm's brand name for their lenses.

Super EBC is Fujinon's brand of multicoating, standing for Super Electron-Beam Coated.

XF is Fuji's line of good lenses for their X-mount cameras.

R means it has an aperture ring.

WR means weather resistant.

∅ 43 means it takes 43mm filters.

Optics

9 elements in 6 groups.

2 aspherical elements.

2 extra low dispersion elements.

Super EBC multicoating, also Nano-GI coating claimed.

Diaphragm

Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 WR at f/2, diaphragm not seen. bigger.

9 rounded blades.

Stops down to f/16 in 1/3-stop clicks.

Focal length

35mm.

When used on the X-mount cameras with their 1.52x sensors, it sees the same angle of view as a 50mm lens sees when used on a 35mm camera.

When used on the X-mount cameras in their 1:1 square crop mode, it sees the same angle of view as a 120mm lens sees when used on a 6x6cm (2¼"square) medium-format camera.

See also Crop Factor.

Angle of view

44.2º

Autofocus

Internal focus.

No external movement as focussed, so no air or dust is sucked in.

Close Focus

1.1 feet (0.35 meters).

Maximum Reproduction Ratio

1:7.4 (0.135x).

Filters

Metal 43mm filter thread.

Hood

Included Hood, Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 WR. bigger.

Basic bayonet-mount hood included as shown.

An LH-XF35-2 is a bigger, optional hood.

Size

2.31" maximum diameter x 1.77" extension from flange.

58.7 mm maximum diameter x 45.0 mm extension from flange.

Weight

5.815 oz. (164.8 g) actual measured weight, lens only.

Fuji specifies 6.0 oz. (170g) for the lens and 15.2 oz. (430g) as shipped.

Environment

Rated to work down to -10º C (14º F).

Announced

21 October 2015.

Included

Lens.

Small hood.

43mm front cap (p/n FLCP-43).

Rear caps (p/n RLCP-001).

"Lens wrapping cloth."

Warranty & paperwork.

Packaging

Box, Fuji XF 35mm f/2 R WR. bigger.

The box is 5.5 x 5.2 x 4.3."

It weighs 15.2 oz. (430g) as packaged.

In the bottom of the micro-corrugated cardboard box is a gray pulp-formed cardboard holder for the plastic-wrapped lens and hood. A small folded tray of microcorrugated cardboard lies on top to hold the manual and lens wrapping cloth.

Fujifilm Model Number

16481880.

Price

$399, February 2017 ~ January 2020.

$299, June 2016.

$399, October 2015.

Performance

Top Sample Images Introduction

Compatibility Specs   Performance

Compared Recommendations More

Overall Auto and Manual Focus Bokeh

Coma Distortion   Ergonomics Falloff

Filters Color Fringes Macro   Mechanics

Sharpness Spherochromatism Sunstars

I got my XF 35/2 at B&H; I'd also get it at Adorama or at Amazon.

Overall performance top

The Fuji XF 35mm f/2 R WR is optically very good, and there are no better-made lenses from the Orient today. Even Sony's much more expensive made-in-Thailand Zeiss lenses are merely thin metal vanity shells over plastic, and nowhere near as well made as this Fujinon lens.

It's small and useful, making it a favorite for Fuji's cameras.

Auto and Manual Focus performance top

Autofocus is typically fast, no news here.

Fuji's focus system is closed-loop, read directly from the image sensor, so it automatically compensates for any mechanical errors.

Open-loop systems of DSLRs and LEICAs can't compensate for these errors and sometimes have focus errors (offsets) which we don't have in the Fuji system. Bravo!

Bokeh performance top

Bokeh is magnificent, one of the hallmarks of this lens. Backgrounds just go away as they should.

Of course for even softer backgrounds, use a longer lens and get closer.

Davis 6250 weather station at f/2, 06 June 2016. Bigger or Camera-original © file.

Coma performance top

I see a little coma in the corners, which goes away by f/8.

Coma is blurriness in the corners which can make bright points of light turn from points into weird-shaped blobs.

This lens is very, very good, but not perfect. As always, it goes away as stopped down.

Distortion performance top

Distortion, as shot on the X-Pro2 as JPG, is very minor pincushion. It's invisible unless you shoot brick walls for a living.

It corrects completely with a value of -1.0 in Photoshop's Lens Correction Filter for more critical use.

Ergonomics performance top

Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 WR. bigger.

It feels great; it's a real metal lens. The only other real metal lenses made today are almost exclusively from LEICA; Nikon and Canon have been churning out mostly plastic since the 1980s.

Ergonomics are typical for Fuji.

The focus ring doesn't do much of anything. Ignore it. To focus in Manual focus mode, tap your camera's AF-ON button to let the AF system focus and lock.

The dedicated aperture ring is also mandatory for real photography, but absent on most other brands of lenses.

A whine about the aperture ring is that it needs a deeper detent or an easily-released lock at A, otherwise it's easy to knock it to f/16 by accident.

It's silly to have all the third-stop clicks. We need the full stops more deeply detented so we can feel them with our eyes closed. The full stops are only slightly more detented than the thirds.

The quality feels great. The aperture ring turns so smoothly and without play that you'll want to twiddle with it just for fun.

Falloff (darkened corners) performance top

Light falloff is completely invisible, even at f/2, as shot on the X-Pro2 which is probably correcting it automatically.

Even shooting white walls wide-open to exaggerate it, it's invisible. I've greatly exaggerated it by shooting a gray plate and showing it against a gray background:

Fuji 35mm f/2 R WR shot on Fuji X-Pro2. f/2 f/2.8 f/4 f/5.6 © 2016 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.

Filters, Use with performance top

There's no problem with vignetting, even with a couple of stacked filters. 43mm is more than enough.

The filter ring does not move.

The all-metal filter ring is a pleasant surprise compared to the plastic rubbish from other brands.

Lateral Color Fringes performance top

There are no lateral color fringes as shot on the X-Pro2. It's probably correcting any that the lens may or may not have.

This is superb performance.

Macro performance top

It doesn't get very close; my iPhone does better:

Mondaine A1323034811SBB at close-focus distance at f/7.1. Camera-original X-Pro2 file to explore on your computer; mobile devises rarely show the full resolution property.

It's sharp as shot here stopped down to f/7.1:

Crop from above image at 100%. If this is about 6" (15cm) on your screen, printing the complete image at this same high magnification would result in a 40 x 60" (100 x 150 cm) print! Camera-original X-Pro2 file to explore on your computer; mobile devises rarely show the full resolution property.

It's not that sharp wide-open at f/2 at macro distances. The Fuji 35/2 has much more spherical aberration at macro distances than at normal distances which leads to this hazy flare effect:

Crop from similar image at 100%. If this is about 6" (15cm) on your screen, printing the complete image at this same high magnification would result in a 40 x 60" (100 x 150 cm) print! Camera-original X-Pro2 file to explore on your computer; mobile devises rarely show the full resolution property.

You can shift the focus slightly to reduce the flare, but it lowers resolution slightly:

Crop from similar image at 100%. If this is about 6" (15cm) on your screen, printing the complete image at this same high magnification would result in a 40 x 60" (100 x 150 cm) print! Camera-original X-Pro2 file to explore on your computer; mobile devises rarely show the full resolution property.

No big deal if you realize that these are extreme magnifications, just know that if you're doing copy work, stop down a little for best results — or use an iPhone.

Mechanics performance top

Fujinon 35mm f/2 WR. bigger.

The Fuji XF 35mm 2 is built much better than anything from Nikon or Canon today. It's built as well as LEICA lenses, with much newer technology.

It's all anodized aluminum, not cheesy plastic.

Included Hood

Plastic.

Hood Mount

Anodized aluminum.

Filter Threads

Anodized aluminum.

Front Barrel

Anodized aluminum.

Focus Ring

Anodized aluminum.

Focus Scale

No.

Depth-of-Field Scale

No.

Aperture Ring

Anodized aluminum.

Third-stop clicks.

Rear Barrel

Anodized aluminum.

Internals

Looks like metal and plastic.

Mount

Dull-chromed metal.

Markings

Aperture ring, index lines and "35" at mount: all engraved and filled with paint, yay!

Identity Ring

Front ring, laser-engraved.

Serial Number

Laser engraved near rear of lens barrel.

Rain seal at mount

Yes.

Noises When Shaken

Very mild clicking, sounds like probably aperture blades.

Made in

Japan.

Sharpness performance top

Warning 1: Image sharpness depends more on you than your lens.

Warning 2: Lens sharpness doesn't mean much to good photographers.

Sharpness is superb. It's super sharp at every setting, although a little blurry in the far corners at f/2. The far corners improve as stopped down, optimum at f/8, but nothing in the corners is usually in focus anyway in photos that matter.

The Fuji XF 35mm/2 is very good in the center even at f/2, but spherical aberration limits contrast at wide-open higher spatial frequencies as seen in the 45 cycles/mm graph. Likewise, sharpness wide-open falls off strongly in the far corners, as seen here in the lab. These curve correlate well with what I've seen in my lens.

Here is its rated MTF at f/2:

MTF at 15 cyc/mm (10 cyc/mm equiv.)	MTF at 45 cyc/mm (30 cyc/mm equiv.)

Spherochromatism performance top

Spherochromatism, erroneously called color bokeh by hobbyists, is mild.

Out-of-focus highlights behind the subject may have green fringes, and out-of-focus highlights in front of the subject may have magenta fringes in some limited instances.

This is put to deliberate advantage in this lens, since it means that green backgrounds (think outdoor portraits) will be even more magically soft.

Of course there are no fringes at all when things are perfectly in focus; spherochromatism is what happens to things that are out of focus.

Sunstars performance top

The rounded 9-blade diaphragm probably won't make much in the way of sunstars.

Compared

Top Sample Images Introduction

Compatibility Specs   Performance

Compared Recommendations More

I got my XF 35/2 at B&H; I'd also get it at Adorama or at Amazon.

Versus the Fuji 35mm f/2 XC

XC 35mm f/2. bigger.	XF 35mm f/2. bigger.
4.6 oz. (130g)	5.8 oz. (165g)
$199 (01/2020)	$399  (01/2020)

This XF 35mm f/2 is an older, more expensive metal version. This XF version is much more durable and has the luxury of a real metal aperture ring.

Each should take the same pictures. Both take 43mm filters, have the same 1.1'/0.35m close-focus distance, the same macro reproduction ratio, the same rounded 9-blade diaphragms stopping down to f/16 and both have 9 elements in 6 groups, with two aspherical elements each. This XF version also claims two ED elements, and for all I know could be the exactly same optics.

Versus the Fuji 35mm f/1.4

The Fujinon 35mm f/1.4 is bigger and more expensive.

Both are ultra sharp and handle well.

The real difference is size, weight, expense and filter size.

This f/2 is smaller, lighter, less expensive, has slightly better bokeh and is rated as water resistant, however it takes weird-sized 43mm filters. It's unlikely you have any 43mm filters, so you will need an adapter ring or a separate set of filters to integrate this into the rest of your system — but that's only if you use filters. I rarely use filters with digital, and I have no problem holding a bigger filter over this lens if I needed to.

The f/1.4 is bigger, heavier, and has bokeh almost as good, and has a standard 52mm filter size.

f/1.4 isn't important for digital, where crazy high ISOs let us shoot with pretty much any lens in any light. f/1.4 was important in the days when ISO 800 literally was pushing it with Tri-X, but today f/2 is more than fast enough to shoot hand-held outdoors at night with digital.

If you want shallow depth of field, there is little difference between f/1.4 and f/2. For shallower depth of field, use a longer lens like a 50mm or longer, not a 35mm lens.

Versus the SUMMICRON

Nothing beats a LEICA SUMMICRON, the world's sharpest lenses.

While this lens imitates the exterior appearance of a 50mm LEICA SUMMICRON-M, it has nothing in common with it.

The SUMMICRON has much simpler optics, and still outperforms this Japanese lens. The SUMMICRON is sharper, sharper in the corners, sharper at f/2 and has less distortion.

Of course each lens must be used on its own brand of cameras; the Fuji won't work on LEICA, and even with an adapter the LEICA lenses become quite primitive on Fuji.

Recommendations

Top Sample Images Introduction

Compatibility Specs   Performance

Compared Recommendations More

This is a fantastic normal lens for the Fuji X system. It's a toss-up with the also superb 35mm f/1.4.

I prefer this lens because it's smaller and less expensive. I don't need f/1.4, and this little lens is easier to carry and has better bokeh and claims water resistance

The very best protective filter is the Hoya multicoated HD3 43mm UV which uses hardened glass and repels dirt and fingerprints, and is also multicoated.

For less money, the B+W 43mm 010 is an excellent filter, as are the multicoated version and the basic multicoated Hoya filters, but the Hoya HD3 is the toughest and the best. Filters last a lifetime, so you may as well get the best. The Hoya HD3 stays cleaner than the others since it repels oil and dirt.

Where to Get Yours

I got my XF 35/2 at B&H; I'd also get it at Adorama or at Amazon.

This all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Fuji does not seal its boxes in any way, so never buy at retail or any other source not on my personally approved list since you'll have no way of knowing if you're missing accessories, getting a defective, damaged, returned, store demo or used camera. I use the stores I do because they ship from secure remote warehouses where no one gets to touch your new camera before you do. Buy only from the approved sources I use myself for the best prices, service, return policies and selection.

Thanks for helping me help you!

Ken, Mrs. Rockwell, Ryan and Katie.

More Information

Top Sample Images Introduction

Compatibility Specs   Performance

Compared Recommendations More

I got my XF 35/2 at B&H; I'd also get it at Adorama or at Amazon.

Fuji's pages on the 35/2 WR.

Fuji's press release for the 35/2.

© Ken Rockwell. All rights reserved. Tous droits réservés. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

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