The Fujifilm 30mm f/3.5 is the latest lens in their lineup for the GFX series of cameras. But does it stand up to the test?
The Fujifilm 30mm f/3.5 is a versatile lens, perfect for fashion work, environmental portraiture, and even street. The lens is equivalent to a 24mm lens on a full-frame camera. Thanks to the larger sensor, the depth of field equivalence is akin to an f/2.8 lens. This is my favorite focal length for fashion lookbooks and a favorite among many for street photography. For this review, I did all of my testing on the Fujifilm GFX100 (lens and camera kindly provided by Fujifilm Canada).
To cut right to the chase, if you want a 24mm equivalent lens on the GFX system, this lens is fantastic. But it's not without its faults. There aren't many options for 24mm on the GFX system, so it's a good thing that this lens is so great. One of my favorite things about it is the way it feels in the hand. It's sturdy, not too heavy, and feels perfectly balanced on the GFX100.
Model Emerjade Simms
With an aperture of f/3.5, the lens gives a nice separation from the background for fashion and environmental portraiture. The lens is quite a bit too wide for traditional portraiture, but that's not really when the lens is for, so it's not a huge deal. You cannot have one prime lens for absolutely everything.
Speaking of things the lens is great at, we need to talk about the elephant in the room: vignetting. When shooting wide open, this lens has a vignetting problem. This isn't too much of an issue if you do post-processing, as it's easy to get rid of, but it's still there, and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention it. Corrected and uncorrected samples are below to show off the vignetting:
Now with that out of the way, I can concentrate on all of the good this lens has to offer. It is incredibly sharp, even wide open. Look at this 400% crop photo. Ridiculous.
While I would have liked to see this lens at f/2.8, or even f/3.2, it would end up unwieldy, whereas at f/3.5, it is perfectly balanced for the GFX 100, like a match made in heaven. And without the extra glass to move around with a wider aperture, I found the autofocus was relatively snappy. It's not as fast as, say, one of Fujifilm's APS-C lenses, but plenty fast for a medium format camera where the whole workflow is slowed down a bit.
Overall, I found this lens incredibly versatile, sharp, and a perfect match for the GFX 100.
What I Liked
- It's sharp
- Very well balanced on the camera
- Relatively quick autofocus
What I Didn't Like
- Harsh vignetting wide open
Not for me. On the contrary, I find this view refreshing and powerful.
Show them my comment and they might consider it differently if not already done. Just kidding, I don't think her thighs are huge. But after all, I learned to see the perspective. And I bet, any professional agency would see it this way too.
(Edit): The more I look at this photography the more I like it. The lines, her expression, the pose, the perspective, the colours and light - and surprisingly (not) the thighs as they make a perfect fit with that just said: the lines. I bet you agree here, don't you?
Accepted.
Why is the before/after image on the vignetting example so so different? It's around half to a full stop different in brightness!