Conclusion
Pros
- Well constructed and compact lens
- Fast f/1.4 aperture provides versatility
- Good sharpness over the central part of the frame wide open and excellent cross-frame sharpness stopped down
- Beautiful bokeh
- Pleasing contrast profile
- Good control of chromatic aberration
- Very low distortion
- Beautiful overall rendering
Cons
- Autofocus is noisy and slower than other Fuji primes
- Aperture ring could be a bit stiffer
- Lens hood design is non-reversible and frustrating in use
- High vignetting
- Edges are soft at wide apertures
The XF 35mm f/1.4 isn’t a perfect lens. It’s definitely got some edge softness at wider apertures, the focus motor is a bit loud and pokey and the lens hood stinks. It’s also one of my favorite lenses for the X-Series. It’s probably not my most used lens. It’s not even my most used prime in the system. But when I take the 35mm for a spin, I remember why I have it: beautiful images with a unique look. The smooth bokeh, gorgeous falloff, good sharpness and correction of most lens aberrations give the lens a rendering that is hard to beat.
Fuji is said to be working on a version 2 of this lens, with an improved focus motor and some other improvements. I wouldn’t mind some minor improvements to sharpness, but I hope that whatever optical changes are made retain the special magic present in this lens. The Fuji 35mm f/1.4 is a modern classic.
Image Samples
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