If you’re looking for a genuine film look though, theFujifilm 50mm f2 R WR pairs best with the Fujifilm X Pro 1 over the X Pro 2. The Fujifilm X Pro 2 is better with colors when you’re talking about the digital world, but not so much with tones. I’ve done some pretty extensive comparisons after reviewing lots of Fujifilm film emulsions and the only thing the X Pro 2 gets pretty perfect is Acros. X-series users aren’t short of choice when it comes to buying a fast mid-telephoto prime, but this lens has some key advantages. It’s a convenient size for travelling and feels just as good on smaller X-series camera bodies such as the Fujifilm X-T20 as it does with the more advanced Fujifilm X-T2 and Fujifilm X-Pro2 models. I’ve pictured the XF 50mm f2 alongside the XF 56mm f1.2 above, without their lens hoods, and it’s clear how much heftier the latter is in comparison – it’s not so much the length you notice but the girth and the weight. When I was testing these lenses, I also had the XF 23mm f2 and XF 23mm f1.4 in my bag, and the difference in heft between the f2 models and the earlier brighter aperture alternatives was quite striking. If you’re happy with the f2 focal ratio, you really can build a comfortably smaller and lighter kit with these new lenses, while also enjoying faster focusing, closer focusing and weather-sealing. Above left: XF 50mm f2 at f2. Above right: XF 56mm f1.2 at f1.2. At closest focusing distance of each lens.

The Fujifilm 50mm f2 R WR is the third lens addition to the f2 weather sealed compact prime offerings from Fujifilm–and in many ways it’s an excellent portrait lens. But it’s also great for much more than that. You see, Fujifilm developed the Fujifilm 50mm f2 R WR lens to be pretty versatile. It can focus fairly close and it has weather sealing built into the design. Combine this with naturally sharp optics, fast autofocus performance, and the not too large size and you’ve got yourself a pretty powerful, compact longer focal length. Shallow depth-of-field effects can also be beneficial on close-up shots, and this is where the closer focusing distance of the XF 50mm f2 can work to its advantage. More about that in a moment, but first here’s a composition where I could again match the subject size with both lenses. Here the beer bottle (a Vleteren for Belgian beer lovers out there) was close to the minimum focusing distance of the XF 56mm f1.2, but easily within range of the XF 50mm f2; as before, I positioned the camera a tad closer for the XF 50mm f2 shot to roughly match the subject size on the frame, hence the slightly different perspective as a result. In the example above, both lenses deliver attractive bokeh blobs with no onion-ringing, typically turning to cat’s eye shapes towards the corners, but it’s clear how the XF 56mm f1.2, above right, is delivering larger bokeh blobs than the XF 50mm f2 on the left. That said, the XF 56mm f1.2 is rendering its blobs with quite clear outlines in comparison which may or may not be to your taste. Once again though, at least there’s no onion-ring patterns within the blobs on either. So far, outlining on the blobs aside, a decisive lead for the XF 56mm f1.2 in terms of rendering and potential for blurring, but this isn’t the end of the story. As noted earlier, the XF 50mm f2 enjoys a comfortably closer minimum focusing distance compared to the XF 56mm f1.2 of 39cm vs 70cm – that’s almost twice as close, so even with the slightly shorter focal length, you can produce larger magnifications with the XF 50mm f2. In turn the closer focusing accentuates a shallow depth-of-field, so to illustrate this in practice I reshot the ornament at the closest focusing distance of each lens.

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Mounted on an X body, the XF 50mm f2 delivers a 75mm equivalent field-of-view, providing short telephoto coverage that’s perfect for portraits, but also useful for slightly tighter than average urban and landscape shots. Meanwhile the fairly bright f2 focal ratio allows you to easily isolate a subject with a shallow depth-of-field effect. Turning to a closer focus distance of about 1 meter, we see a slightly different trend develop. Reference image Besides being an extremely handsome lens, the Fuji XF 50 mm f/2 is solidly built and feels great in the hand. I particularly like its size and scale. With my left palm cradling my X-T2, my thumb and middle finger can conveniently adjust the aperture ring, and I can comfortably use my thumb and index finger to focus the lens manually when needed. The tension on the focus ring is very smooth. There is also a noticeable distance when you rotate the aperture ring from f/16 to A. This helps avoid accidentally shifting the camera into fully automatic mode from aperture priority or to manual mode from shutter priority.

find it at a good price (it is the oldest lens and is more likely to be discounted or found second-hand)I would normally use the 23mm 1.4 or 23mm F2 lens for this segment of the day, but for my last two weddings I have used the 50mm and really enjoyed it. It gives me a slightly different viewpoint and also allows me to have more depth of field (compared to the 23mm) without the need to get so close.

This is an in-depth review of the Fujifilm XF 50mm f/2 R WR lens. Announced in January 2017, the lens is the third in the line of compact, and weather-sealed f/2 lenses made for Fuji’s line of X-series cameras. It joins its XF 23mm and 35mm cousins. This short telephoto (76mm full-frame equivalent) is about half the size and weight of Fujifilm’s 56 mm f/1.2 R lens, and also half the cost! This versatile lens focuses extremely fast so it is excellent not only for portraits and landscapes but also for wedding and street photography. There is something beautiful about the images rendered by the 56mm, especially wide open, that simply can't be emulated. Those that love to emphasise and use that narrow depth of field are likely to remain true to the 56mm. During the parade, I used theFujifilm 50mm f2 R WR and it simply kept working reliably. The camera and lens weren’t as soaked as I’ve gotten the 23mm f2, but they were both pretty thoroughly drenched from the NYC coastline shower. In fact, I wouldn’t call it a shower, more like a downpour.Distortion isn’t a cause for concern on this lens either, and users should be aware that Fujifilm delivers correction for raw files via lens-specific metadata. This is accessed automatically by the Raw converter you use to correct or mitigate common optical phenomena. It’s the reason you won’t find Fujifilm lenses listed under lens profiles in Camera Raw or Lightroom. Resolution Despite having similar focal lengths, the XF 50mm, 56mm and 60mm have each been designed for different purposes. The quality of the images created using this lens don’t disappoint, and by opening the lens to its widest aperture setting of f/2 it’s possible to create a pleasing separation between near and far subjects. In SINGLE (S) autofocus mode (selected on-camera) the focus ring works only if you have the shutter half-pressed. It's ignored if you aren't half-pressing the shutter. In a word: "wow." The images that come out of this lens are sharp, contrasty, and have smooth out of focus areas. In my testing, it was equally as sharp as the 35mm f/2, and sharper than the 56mm f/1.2 at f/2. Edge-to-edge performance seems to be excellent in my tests. Even the corners look quite good wide open, and excellent by f/2.8.

However, for me, the only need I have now for the 56mm is when I need that extra stop of light. I can't see me using the 56mm 1.2 at all during weddings before the first dance. It’s tough to test for vignetting with Fujinon lenses since the RAW files and jpegs are processed with a built in lens profile that removes it. I’ve read that you can remove these profiles with editors like Iridient Developer. As a photographer that is already using Lightroom and Capture One, I’m going to pass on a third piece of software and just live with the built in corrections. Autofocus The performance of all three lenses improves as you stop down, especially that of the 60mm. By f/5.6, they all perform in a very similar manner once again. If this 1,200×900 pixel crop is about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 42 × 62" (3.5 × 5.2 feet or 1.05 × 1.6 meters). The 56mm is well-known as one of the go-to portrait lenses for the X series because of its beautiful bokeh, so let’s see if the 50mm and 60mm can stand up to their formidable rival!Both lenses are pretty well-behaved in both regards, at least for the out-of-camera JPEGs. The only thing to note is a minor difference in geometry, with a small pincushion from the XF 50mm f2 and a small barrel from the XF 56mm f1.2 – certainly nothing to be worried about. Sharpness in the centre improves by stopping the lens down from f/2 to f/4, and there’s a very gradual improvement in corner sharpness from f/2 to where it peaks at f/8. To preserve optimum sharpness, users will ideally want to shoot between f/4-5.6 on this lens. When the XF 50mm F/2 is attached to any Fujifilm X Series camera body, it instantly feels at home. Fujifilm X Series camera bodies are neat and more compact than most camera brands. Placing a small lens like the XF 50mm F/2 on such a camera just makes sense. To find out I shot two compositions at dusk which included some bright, distant lights. First a view of The City of London from the South Bank. Here’s the full composition below and below that I’ve cropped and enlarged a portion from just below right of centre which featured the best-defined diffraction spikes. I shot both lenses at their minimum apertures of f16. In essence, I need both of them, but the Fujifilm 50mm F2 has actually opened up a couple of new angles for me. I find it much easier to shoot from the hip, and for those that use the XT-2 / 20 and the tilt screen, you will notice a huge difference using this lens to shoot through subjects to tell a story compared to the 56mm F1.2