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Review: Fujifilm Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR

Posted on November 30, 2015March 11, 2016 by Jordan Steele

Contents

  • 1Construction and Handling
  • 2Autofocus
  • 3Image Quality
  • 4Conclusion
  • 5Image Samples

Conclusion

Pros

  • Wonderfully constructed and compact lens – feels like a high-end rangefinder lens
  • Beautiful haptics on the aperture ring and focus ring
  • Fast, silent and accurate autofocus
  • Sharp over almost the whole frame right from f/2
  • Good resolution into the corners stopped down
  • Very pleasing bokeh
  • Excellent color and contrast that renders like the other excellent Fuji primes
  • Good control of chromatic aberration
  • Good flare control

Cons

  • High native barrel distortion that is digitally overcorrected to pincushion distortion
  • Included lens hood provides only minor shading of the front element and feels cheaper than the rest of the lens; the optional bayonet mount hood costs $60
  • Some softness at the corners when focused at infinity, even stopped down
  • Blurred specular highlights are distorted away from the center (which may or may not matter to you)

The XF 35mm f/2 R WR is a lens that makes life difficult for Fuji users, because it provides better optical quality, better autofocus and better construction than the more expensive f/1.4 lens, but loses a stop of light.  Deciding between the very good 35mm f/1.4 and the slower, but overall better 35mm f/2 is going to give some people fits.

The 35mm f/2 R WR is a very good lens. It doesn’t quite measure up to Fuji’s top optics such as the 90mm f/2, 16mm f/1.4 or 14mm f/2.8, but it does a nice job balancing small size with very good performance.  It’s sharp across almost the whole frame right from f/2, has very pleasing bokeh, good chromatic aberration control, a very fast and dead silent focus motor and has the added benefit of weather sealing as well.

On the down side, the high native distortion requires digital correction that by default is actually too strong, resulting in some pincushion distortion in the JPEGs and RAWs for converters that support the correction metadata.  This leads to some loss of resolution in the corners, preventing truly tack sharp images across the entire frame. Also, the included screw-in lens hood, while very small and discreet, doesn’t provide too much shading for the lens and feels flimsy compared to the rest of the package.  It’s frustrating that the higher-end metal bayonet mount hood is an extra purchase, and a pricey one at that.

Still, I feel the lens gets so much more right than it gets wrong, and I think for most people will be the smarter choice for a normal prime on the Fuji X cameras.  If you really need that extra stop of light, though, the original 35mm f/1.4 is also a good performer with a wonderful rendering. The choice is yours!

Image Samples

Click on an image to enlarge

Columbus Reflected - Fujifilm X-E2 with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR @ f/11
Columbus Reflected – Fujifilm X-E2 with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR @ f/11
Sundial - Fujifilm X-T1 with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR @ f/2
Sundial – Fujifilm X-T1 with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR @ f/2
Piano - Fujifilm X-E2 with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR @ f/2
Piano – Fujifilm X-E2 with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR @ f/2
Lips - Fujifilm X-E2 with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR @ f/2
Lips – Fujifilm X-E2 with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR @ f/2
Renaissance Reflected - Fujifilm X-T1 with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR @ f/5.6
Renaissance Reflected – Fujifilm X-T1 with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR @ f/5.6
At River Level - Fujifilm X-T1 with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR @ f/5.6
At River Level – Fujifilm X-T1 with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR @ f/5.6
Blocks - Fujifilm X-T1 with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR @ f/2
Blocks – Fujifilm X-T1 with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR @ f/2
Third and Broad - Fujifilm X-T1 with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR @
Third and Broad – Fujifilm X-T1 with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR @
Chilling with Grandpa - Fujifilm X-T1 with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR @ f/2
Chilling with Grandpa – Fujifilm X-T1 with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR @ f/2
Moon over Columbus - Fujifilm X-E2 with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR @ f/8
Moon over Columbus – Fujifilm X-T1 with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR @ f/8
Trinity Church - Fujifilm X-T1 with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR @ f/8
Trinity Church – Fujifilm X-T1 with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR @ f/8
Snacktime - Fujifilm X-E2 with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR @ f/2
Snacktime – Fujifilm X-E2 with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR @ f/2
Dispatch - Fujifilm X-T1 with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR @ f/8
Dispatch – Fujifilm X-T1 with Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR @ f/8
Pages: 1 2 3

15 thoughts on “Review: Fujifilm Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR”

  1. Michael says:
    November 30, 2015 at 3:14 pm

    thx Jordan. Useful stuff.

    Reply
  2. Noncho says:
    December 1, 2015 at 1:24 am

    Nice results and overall impression, but such barrel distortion leave some bad taste for 35mm lens …

    Reply
  3. Pingback: Review: Fujifilm Fujinon XF 35mm f/2 R WR | Jordan Steele
  4. Theo van der Elst says:
    December 2, 2015 at 1:57 pm

    Thx Jordan for again a nice review. What is your opinion about the rendering of this lens in comparison with the 35 f1.4? You appreciate the rendering of the latter very much, but I couldn’t find anything about it with regard to the f2.0 lens.

    Reply
    1. Jordan Steele says:
      December 2, 2015 at 2:00 pm

      They are very similar. The 35/1.4 obviously can blur the background a fair bit more, which changes the look a little, but the overall rendering is nearly identical, with a few minor differences. If you haven’t already, take a look at the comparison I did between the two last week.

      Reply
      1. Theo van der Elst says:
        December 2, 2015 at 2:49 pm

        Thx Jordan!

        Reply
  5. Pingback: XF35mmF2 Review at admiringlight + Capture One 9 Released | Fuji Rumors
  6. Ehsan Dav says:
    December 4, 2015 at 4:25 am

    Thanks for your great review,
    Have you tried the 35mm f2 WR with the Fujifilm extension tubes? I am not able to mount it on any of them.

    Reply
    1. Jordan Steele says:
      January 21, 2016 at 2:01 pm

      I just got my personal copy of the 35/2, and I tried it with my Fuji MCEX-11. It mounted fine (not sure what issue you’re having there), but it is not a good lens to use with extension tubes. All of the Fuji lenses experience some falloff in sharpness as you radiate from the center with the extension tubes, but with the 35/2, it’s an extreme falloff. Only the center is sharp, while the outer 50% of the frame is a complete blur. Stopping down doesn’t improve things.

      Reply
  7. Sebi says:
    December 10, 2015 at 3:51 am

    Amazing review, like always. I strongly rely on your assessments, so this was was too, a great and truthful review. Thanks!

    Reply
  8. Peter says:
    March 9, 2016 at 7:09 am

    Hello Jordon, do,you know if there’s been any firmware update to correct the distortion profile? Overcorrection seems to me to be a major mistake. Thanks. Peter

    Reply
  9. Chris says:
    April 16, 2016 at 11:17 pm

    Thank you for discussing the pincushion distortion of this lens after digital correction. I got a copy of this lens recently, and if I hadn’t read your review, I wouldn’t have known what was going on. This isn’t an exotic focal length, and I’ve never seen anything like it on a “normal” lens.

    I love the rendering of this lens overall, but for me, the pincushion distortion is just too noticeable in urban photography. I’m going to return mine.

    Reply
  10. Peter Gabriel says:
    June 10, 2016 at 4:09 am

    Great review. Anyone know if the distortion correction has been fixed?

    Reply
  11. Pingback: The Fujifilm Designer Series XF50/35/23 f/2 R WR | Fuji Addict
  12. Pingback: ???? ????????? XF35mmF2 R WR??????? | ?????????????

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