Fujifilm XF Fujinon 50mm f/1.0 R WR Lens

The fastest, brightest AF lens for mirrorless cameras has arrived, in the guise of the new Fujinon XF 50mm f/1 optic. Intended for the Fujifilm range of APS-C format cameras it joins an illustrious set of fine lenses, giving us an equivalent of a 76mm f/1.4 lens on full-frame. In other words, in terms of depth of field we get an enhanced ability to throw backgrounds out of focus and in terms of focal length we get a field of view equivalent to a 76mm lens on full-frame. Normally I would consider the equivalent to be that of 75mm f/1, and in terms of exposure that is so. But in this case, the lens is clearly aimed at offering reduced depth of field as a short telephoto portrait lens, so the depth of field question may be more important. However we view it, it remains the fastest AF mirrorless lens, so let’s see how it performs with the 26.1MP

There is a wide manual focusing ring that operates electronically and is utterly smooth in operation. It is conceivable that when activated the MF operation could be accidentally nudged, depending on the photographer’s hold on the lens, so some may decide to leave the camera switched to AF only. Focusing is down to 0.7m, or 28 inches, giving a maximum magnification of 0.08x. It is a pity that the lens does not focus closer, but to be fair this is probably the case for most short telephoto lenses. Really close focus is the purview of zoom lenses or macro prime lenses.

The aperture ring is the usual beautifully designed feature that we find on Fuji lenses, but here not as over-engineered as on some. There is an A setting to refer control to the camera body, but the lens design seems to favour using the aperture ring for its intended purpose. It would be useful to have a lock button for the A setting, both to keep it engaged if required and to keep it from being accidentally engaged if the ring is being used manually. In any event, it operates lightly put positively in one-third of a stop increments.