XF 90mm f/2 Review by Jonas Rask

Reviews of the forthcoming XF 90mm f/2 → are few and far between right now. Fuji clearly hasn’t made as many pre-production units of this pro-focused lens as they did the consumer-focused X-T10. Jonas Rask has the best write-up I’ve seen to date.

... and it has a 62mm filter size just like the XF56mm f/1.2 (and the XF23mm f/1.4). By placing the 56mm and 90mm side by side it’s quite apparent that they are the same width, and and what differs is only the length of the lens.

This is a really smart move by Fujifilm. Three extraordinary, fast lenses covering a wide range of focal lengths, one set of filters. If only they were able to keep the XF 16mm f/1.4 at the same filter thread.

Compare it to an equally spec’ed full frame or even APS-C lens, the XF 90mm will still be one of the smaller options to carry around.

Jonas is right, it is one of the smaller options, but as Jonas alluded, it will depend a great deal on how you arrive at 135mm, and which of the other big guys you compare against. Here’s how things stack up against full frame Canon and Nikon lenses.

Fuji 90mm vs. DSLR 135mm, lens only

Canon actually has a really small and lightweight option at this focal length. I can’t speak to its quality, however. When it comes to Nikon, the DC-Nikkor 135mm is conspicuously absent from the US site, but is still available on nikon.ca. At f/2 on full frame, it will deliver a stop’s worth of shallower depth of field, but it will cost you in weight. Those figures do not account for body weight.

Things change when APS-C is included for either Canon or Nikon, depending on how exact we’re being with our focal lengths. 90mm is really closer to a 137mm equivalent, whereas a full frame 85mm will get to pretty close at around 129mm on Nikon’s version of APS-C (1.52x multiplier) and real close with Canon’s (1.6x mulitplier). That means you can get a lens that’s close to 135mm with an f/1.8 lens from either company for less weight than Fuji’s 90mm f/2, but what it doesn’t account for is body weight.

Fuji @ 137mm vs. APS-C DSLR kit

So going mirrorless gets you a reduction in weight, albeit a smaller one.

Finally, in an effort to be a completionist, let’s compare a Fuji X-T1 kit, with the closest we can get from Olympus, the OM-D E-M1 and M.Zuiko 75mm f/1.8 lens.

Fuji @ 137mm vs. Olympus @ 150mm

Sadly there doesn’t seem to be a 135mm equivalent in the M/43 world, Still, if you want the lightest way to 135mm and beyond, Olympus is the way to go, if you ignore the whole f/1.8 on a Micro Four Thirds thing.

I had intended this to be a quick piece pointing you to a great review, so I’ll leave you with a final word from Jonas before you checkout the rest of his review:

OH MY DEAR LORD! THE IMAGE QUALITY OF THIS LENS!

I get the feeling he likes it.

New 90, “Old” Stephani→

Bert Stephani has a nice impressions video on the XF 90mm f/2 →. My favourite part is at 0:29, but keep watching until around the 4 minute mark, where Bert takes the lens outdoors to shoot, and provides some great sample images.

The 90mm f/2 looks like it will have no trouble creating separation for your subject, and rendering busy backgrounds as creamy, blurry, bokeh backdrops. Wedding photographers are going to be all over this thing.

The Fuji XF 90mm f/2 WR

The other big news along with the X-T10 was the official announcement of the XF 90mm f/2 WR.

WR FTW

The 90mm marks the the fourth officially announced XF lens from Fujifilm in a row that is weather sealed.¹ I really hope this is a sign of Fuji’s intentions going forward; that every new lens will be weather sealed. Based on the mockups we’ve seen, we can be pretty sure the yet-to-be-officially-announced XF 35mm f/2 and XF 120mm Macro will also be weather sealed.

Quad Linear Motor

It seems like it was just yesterday that Fuji announced the “The World’s First” Triple Linear Motor in the XF 50-140mm. That lens is pretty swift already when it come to AF speed, so this Quad LM ought to help the 90mm focus quickly. Going by Fuji’s own numbers, which rank the 90mm at 0.14 seconds, it won’t be quite as quick as the XF 16-55mm f/2.8, at a mere 0.06 seconds.

Close Focus

There were some rumours that the 90mm f/2 would get us to 1:2 macro levels like the 60mm f/2.4, but it turns out 0.3x magnification is as close as we’ll get. Pairing the 90mm with either of the extension tubes will help, but I still have every intention of waiting for the XF 120mm Macro for my serious close-up needs.

Compact and Lightweight?

I suppose compared to other ways of getting to 90mm it’s reasonably small and light, but this will be Fuji’s heftiest prime to date. Fuji’s reported weight is 540g without the caps. That makes it heavier than even the 10-24mm f/4 and 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6.

Bokeh

I’ll wait until I can do some testing with my own copy before I weigh in on this, but it’s bound to be great. The first comparison will be how it fairs next to the 56mm f/1.2. It may have a shorter focal length, but that extra stop+ of aperture on the 56mm just might even things out.

APD?

During Photokina, I tweeted this:

Interesting tidbit in Fuji’s marketing materials: This [APD] filter has been introduced to the 56mm f/1.2 ahead of others in the line.”

— Fuji vs. Fuji (@FujivsFuji) September 17, 2014

Fuji advised that I not look too far into it, but if there’s another lens that an APD filter might make sense for, it’s the 90mm f/2. I suppose the only trouble is that with a maximim aperture of “only” f/2, the drop off in light gathering might slow the lens down too much for it to be as useful.

Conclusion

This is a focal length I was on the cusp of buying in my DSLR days many times. With the 90mm f/2, I’ll finally have it. At $950 USD, it’s going to make the choice between it and the 56mm a tough one. Look for a Versus comparison article after its release.

1. The last 3 being the XF 16-55mm f/2.8, XF 50-140mm f/2.8, and XF 16mm f/1.4.↩

16mm f/1.4 and 90mm f/2 WR

Big Head Taco has written a nice piece about his time with both the President and Vice President of Fujifilm Canada. His impressions of the imaging leadership is certainly of interest¹ but this is the bit that really caught my attention.

I asked Greg why no prime WR lenses and he said they are coming soon. He mentioned the new 90mm f/2 and the 16mm f/1.4 are going to be WR lenses, but the lens roadmap doesn't mention it.

This is fantastic news. Weather sealing is the one thing I find lacking with Fujifilm lenses. I suppose the question now is, how does Fuji go about re-issuing WR versions of existing lenses? There aren’t many I wouldn’t like to see WR appended to their model names.

1. And I happen to share a lot of his opinions whole-heartedly, ↩