The nifty fifty is a staple of photography and has been for decades. Fujifilm's version for the APS-C X-Mount might be one of the best, and at a reasonable price.
I've cast aspersions at the 50mm for being somewhat a half measure in focal length. However, this 50mm is for Fujifilm's APS-C mount, meaning its effective focal length is the equivalent to 76mm on a full frame sensor; much better!
The lens has a lot of perks to it, but one of the standout for me is its size and weight which make it a staple of any owner's kit bag by virtue of there being little point not stuffing it into a nook. Also, and this is crucial, if you get it in silver rather than black, it's beautiful!
In this video, photographer Roman Fox gives his review of it while using it for some street photography. It performs excellently, and its aforementioned weight and size in combination with its price of $449.95 which isn't too steep, makes it a great candidate for a Fuji shooters next purchase.
Do you own one of these? What are your experiences?
I don’t use this lens anywhere near enough, something to do when I get back out shooting
How is this lens pocket sized?
It is but the cameras aren't.
I guess it's easier if you carry multiple lenses.
Because it fits in your pocket?
Unless you wear hipster skinny jeans all the time this lens will fit into any loose pocket easily, minus the hood or with it reversed. You know the expression tends to refer to a jacket pocket though right? Nobody is ever stuffing a lens onto their jeans, it'll end bad for something or other
As a hipster skinny jean wearer i can confirm it also fits in there, because they stretch :)
So a lot of lenses are pocket sized. Including my 12-40, 17, 75 and more....
With pocket size it's meant to be with body attached.
LOL, nope. A pocket sized lens is a lens that fits in your pocket. Congratulations on having more pocket sized lenses!
A pocket sized combo/kit would be a camera and lens combo that fits in your pocket. E.g. NEX-5R with 16/2.8, GM-1 with the 20/1.7, X-E3 with Meike 28/2.8.
And yes, there is a measure of subjectivity in what counts as pocket sized. If this is hard to understand, stick to the specs. 😉
I own the Fuji 50mm F2 and it's my favourite X-mount lens. Sure, it's compact, but what this article doesn't mention is that it is SHARP. I think Christopher Frost over on YouTube said that it's the sharpest lens on the Fuji system, and I have to agree. It's stunning.
I can zoom into the tiny catchlights in a subject's eye and see incredible detail of scenes reflected from far off: buildings, trees, etc.
I've attached an example, but I'm not sure how much Fstoppers' image compression will conceal the fine detail. You'll also notice the razor-thin depth-of-field focused on the subject's right eye – demonstrating that you absolutely can do shallow DoF on less than full-frame.
Amazing for when you want to squeeze every detail out of Fuji's sensor.
Erm, nifty-fifty refers to 50mm on a 35mm sensor. That’s the 35mm on the Fuji X.
No, the 35mm for Fuji X is a 35mm, not 50mm. Don't tie yourself up in knots over equivalence. 😆
I understand why you wouldn't want to call this a nifty fifty, but it's certainly a 50mm. Not quite in the range of what I think of as a nifty-fifty in terms of budget, which is more like sub $300.
Maybe we need a new term - the nifty normal? But then we have to debate whether that means actually normal (43mm for FF, 28mm for APS-C, 22mm for MFT) or whether that means a ~47° angle of view.
Nothing to do with equivalence my friend.
The point about nifty fifty is not about the fifty rhyming with nifty, but that it is both a cheap and great allrounder lens which happens to be 50mm on 35 mm sensors/film. And the reason it’s cheap is because so many will buy this lens. It is also nifty because it happens to be the way our eyes see the world. So if you want a cheap f1.x lens that happens to be very useful in many different applications = nifty fifty on “fullframe”.
All these things don’t apply to 50mm on APSC. It’s not even f1.x. That’s the 35 mm f1.4 for Fuji.
Nice piece, but it’s not a ‘nifty fifty’, it’s 76mm. To compare it to the 50mm ‘standard’ focal length used for decades in film photography is inaccurate and misleading. People starting out will think they need one of these lenses, whereas actually on a crop-sensor camera it’s quite a specialist focal length. In the Fuji system the 35mm lenses are the ‘nifty fifties’.
Absolutely right... for pros, sure whatever. If you do portraits the 50 on Fuji can be nifty ... but those starting out could be lead down buying the wrong lens...
How goes the saying?
Not everything that rhymes...
The coolest thing about this lens is the 1ft minimum focusing distance.