{"id":5601,"date":"2015-10-06T18:20:22","date_gmt":"2015-10-06T23:20:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/?p=5601"},"modified":"2015-10-06T19:14:41","modified_gmt":"2015-10-07T00:14:41","slug":"review-fujifilm-fujinon-xf-60mm-f2-4-r-macro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/review-fujifilm-fujinon-xf-60mm-f2-4-r-macro\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Fujifilm Fujinon XF 60mm f\/2.4 R Macro"},"content":{"rendered":"

Continuing with the trend of original Fuji X lenses that I haven’t gotten around to reviewing until now, today I’m taking a long-term look at the Fuji 60mm f\/2.4 Macro, another lens that is original to the Fuji X series system.  The Fuji 60mm has filled a double role since its introduction as both a short telephoto portrait lens as well as Fuji’s only macro lens to date.  The faster than usual f\/2.4 aperture helps separate subjects a bit more than one might expect, while the macro capabilities can come in handy for a wide range of close-up applications. Let’s see how this lens fits into the modern Fuji lens lineup.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Fujinon XF 60mm f\/2.4 R Macro on the Fujifilm X-T1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Construction and Handling<\/h3>\n

Like most of the Fuji X series lenses, the 60mm f\/2.4 is a robustly constructed lens built out of solid metal.  The lens is quite compact for a macro lens, though some of that is helped by the fact that is only goes to 1:2 magnification, or 0.5x life size.  The lens features an extending focus system, so the inner lens focus tube extends around a full inch at maximum magnification.  The lens features a wide ribbed metal focus ring with a nice firm aperture ring.  Both the focus ring and the aperture ring are well damped and provide excellent tactile feedback.<\/p>\n

The lens comes with a round metal lens hood that is very solidly constructed, but is absurdly large given the size of the lens.  When reversed, the hood nearly covers the entire lens, making mounting and especially unmounting the lens very difficult with the hood in this position.  The hood is not only long, but also quite large in diameter, also adding considerably to the space the lens takes up in the bag.  I also am not a fan of the metal hood construction because it makes it quite likely to have metal on metal scraping when reversing the hood for storage, which could potentially scrape the paint off the lens barrel. Because the front element is fairly well recessed into the focus lens tube, I tend to leave the hood at home.  The lens barrel protects the front element and even provides some protection against flare.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The large hood is almost as large as the lens.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Autofocus<\/h3>\n

The autofocus on the 60mm f\/2.4R is a standard micromotor unit, and as you’d expect from an extending macro lens with a micromotor AF unit, it doesn’t focus quickly.  When used with the Fuji X cameras with only contrast-detect AF, focus is quite slow, though usually pretty accurate.  The newer bodies with phase detection enable the lens to focus quite quickly in good light at portrait distances, but focusing into the macro range is always quite slow, regardless of available light.  The latest 4.0 firmware on the X-T1 and the AF on the X-T10 do allow the 60mm f\/2.4 to focus accurately in very dim light, but speed is out of the question at all focus distances once light levels drop.<\/p>\n

It’s not a deal breaker for me, but definitely don’t expect to use the lens for action shots.  For static subjects, the AF doesn’t generally get in the way.<\/p>\n

Continue: Image Quality<\/a><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

Image Quality<\/h3>\n

Upon release, the 60mm f\/2.4 Macro was hailed as the best of the three original lenses, and I think that description is accurate.  The lens has since been surpassed in pure optical quality by some of the more recent Fuji X lenses, but the quality of images that can be produced  by the 60mm are still on a very high level.<\/p>\n

Sharpness<\/h4>\n

The Fuji 60mm f\/2.4 Macro, like most macro lenses, is capable of very high levels of sharpness, right from f\/2.4.  The majority of the frame shows very good resolution at any aperture, with the corners sharpening up by f\/4 or so.  I will say that it does fall short of the very best macro lenses and even the best Fuji lenses with regards to absolute resolution.  It’s just a touch less crisp than something like the 90mm f\/2 or even the 56mm f\/1.2 at smaller apertures.  However, for almost any usage, the lens produces lots of detail.  One thing to be wary of is that the lens seems particularly prone to diffraction softening at smaller apertures.  You’ll really want to keep the lens at f\/11 or larger, as sharpness falls off very quickly at apertures smaller than f\/11.<\/p>\n

\"Ducklings<\/a>
Ducklings – Fujifilm X-E1 with Fujinon XF 60mm f\/2.4 R @ f\/2.4<\/figcaption><\/figure>The lens maintains good resolution throughout the focus range, from 1:2 macro magnification to infinity. The faster than normal f\/2.4 aperture makes it quite a good lens to pull double duty as a portrait lens, and at this distance, the lens really shines in sharpness, keeping eyes beautifully sharp while letting background details fall away to blur.<\/p>\n

Bokeh<\/h4>\n

The Fuji 60mm macro shows quite a beautiful rendering of out of focus areas.  The lens shines close up in the macro range as well as at further distances.  Specular highlights are even and show no obvious outlining.  The falloff is quite natural and beautiful, and it really helps create a nice overall rendering at any focus distance.<\/p>\n

\"Butterfly<\/a>
Butterfly – Fujifilm X-E1 with Fujinon XF 60mm f\/2.4 R @ f\/2.4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Contrast, Color and Chromatic Aberration<\/h4>\n

The 60mm f\/2.4 has a contrast and color profile that fits in well with the rest of the Fuji prime lenses.  Contrast is even and strong without being overly punchy.  Color is rich and vibrant, showing accurate color and a neutral tone. The resulting images almost have a tangible lifelike quality that is gorgeous to my eye.<\/p>\n

The lens is also relatively free of chromatic aberration.  Lateral CA is negligible in field use, and longitudinal CA is also pretty well controlled in most situations and at smaller apertures.  However, some longitudinal CA can be visible in certain circumstances when shooting wide open, which will show up as a greenish fringe on out of focus bright areas in the background or magenta fringes on edges in the foreground.<\/p>\n

Distortion, Flare and Vignetting<\/h4>\n

The 60mm macro is almost completely distortion free when shooting JPEG images or a RAW converter that can read the lens metadata, which is an admirable quality in a macro lens.  However, converters that don’t take advantage of some of the digital correction used for the lens will reveal some notable pincushion distortion.  Since Lightroom automatically corrects the images and is my go-to converter, I really never see the distortion, but it is there in the optical design.  It’s a little disappointing that Fuji wasn’t able to correct the distortion optically, but it may have been a tradeoff made for a more compact lens design.<\/p>\n

The 60mm f\/2.4 does fairly well against bright light.  The lens is well shielded from oblique light rays due to the deeply recessed front element, and even with the sun in the frame, it’s possible to get clean images, as can be seen below.  However, in certain positions, the lens can produce brightly colored flare ghosts and some loss of contrast.  It’s not a common occurrence, though, and is something that you’ll rarely encounter.<\/p>\n

\"Leaf<\/a>
Leaf – Fujifilm X-E2 with Fujinon XF 60mm f\/2.4 R @ f\/4<\/figcaption><\/figure>The 60mm macro shows some mild vignetting at f\/2.4, but it’s not anything that will harm the look of your images. Upon stopping down, vignetting drops to negligible levels.<\/p>\n

Overall, the image quality from the 60mm macro is very good.  It’s a great all-purpose lens that will serve you well for both macro images and shots from further distances. It’s sharp, has very nice bokeh and excellent color and contrast.<\/p>\n

Continue: Conclusion and Image Samples<\/a><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h3>\n

Pros<\/h4>\n