Love this lens. Great review. Something I don't see talked about a lot with this lens is just how fast it focuses and how accurate it is in continuous. It's the most accurately focusing and fastest focusing Fuji lens I've used. Perfect for indoor sports or any action where 135 would serve you well.
Thanks for the video. On a full-frame camera, the 135mm focal length was never a big favorite of mine as a head & shoulder portrait lens. I prefer to use the 85mm and the 105mm. However,, I have a 90mm f/2 Summicron for my Leica rangefinders that I think I will try on my Fuji X-Pro2 mirrorless to see how much I like it.
Yeh give it a whirl. Really the point about this video was how I had an odd relationship with this lens, that in personal life and at home I rarely reach for the lens, but for WORK... it is a serious workhorse and all those negatives of being too long bla bla are actually now pros not cons. I thought that was noteworthy. It feels like no one is pointing out the focal length is a plus in certain domains, its always criticized and I would argue that the focal length is something that is more controlled by the scenario than the user per se.
135mm equivalent lenses are oddly missing from a bunch of mirrorless mounts at the moment, so it's nice to see Fuji have a really nice one. I've turned into a bit of a fan of 85mm for a lot of stuff recently but haven't really had a chance to play with anything between that and 200mm yet 🤔
Yeh, and when I went to Fuji is when I really started to do much more event work, and that's where I really appreciated this additional reach. I can completely understand why 56 (or 85mm) is the standard favourite for portrait work, I think events are a little different in that a lot of the brief requires shots that you kinda need to be a bit inconspicuous. I would like to try the 50-140, it might dethrone by 50/2 and 90/2...
Well, Olbermann was on point tonight...I have the lens, but living where I do in San Francisco and maybe because of my age, I'm now reticent to go walking around with the pricey stuff. I no longer drive. I have missed focus when shooting around 6 feet away indoors with it. Right now, the detail of your catalogue looks soft, so that may be because of it being a recent upload. It may be a lot sharper in 24 hours. I'll come back manana.
The catalogue section is not really to be judged on sharpness per se, it's just an OBS upload at 2k upscaled to 4k for YT, so it'll not be great in that regard. That section piece was more about discussing the lens usage, the types of shots it can be responsible for. Generally speaking I would not rely on anything on YT to judge an optic in terms of IQ/Sharpness, its just not the right platform (try Flickr and some pro accounts where pixelpeeping is possible). For proper technical review go to Dustin or Christopher, you will find a repeating theme that the 90/2 is probably Fuji's sharpest lens. AF wise as it sports LM it is also extremely capable.
Kinda wish you’d gone into how it renders, since you done that so well on other lenses. Maybe less relevant for lenses that aren’t ‘character lenses’, but would still be interesting. Still, informative video. So thank you!
If i'm not really mentioning rendering per se then I would take from this that the lens has a more modern characteristic trait, nothing really that stands out or is unique. You'll prolly find a tun of other lens reviews where they will test things like contrast, flare resistance, notable star bursts etc, I try not to add on too much from what is already out there and tested better than I. For me the lens is very sharp, it's a good performer for AF and results, its hard to be disappointed. But really the biggest complaint people have about this lens is working distance, but here I found it more of a pro than a con, and that was the real message I wanted to drive home. I hardly use it for personal work, documenting family life etc, but for events it's been an absolute workhorse (and I think people seldom think of lenses in this regard). Cheers.
I sold my 90mm 3 days ago, but my buyer brought it back saying when he moved the spot focus to areas other than center, he got out of focus shots. Face/eye detection off, etc. I now have the lens, testing it with the spot focus dead center, first setting it to manual, defocussing and then flipping it to S and letting the lens change focus, and got fine results. My top dial is in S mode. No issues with ibis, tripod, etc. But moving the spot focus to upper left and using the same technique, I got poor focus. Face Eye detect off, boost mode on, etc., etc. Any ideas?
Possibly the lens is slightly decentered. There is a little Q&A issue with Fuji stuff I find. My XF50-140 was perfect from the get go, a friend of mine had a problem and nothing was sharp like it was supposed to be. Best take it to Fuji to get fixed, they seem to be really quite reasonable in this regard.
@@SummersSnaps Thanks. We've lost so many camera stores in San Francisco I wonder what's left besides the tourist shops in.Chinatown, and of course, the cost.
@@SummersSnaps I've been testing the auto focus by putting the lens in M manual mode, defocussing and then flipping it back to S. Fine, some misses, some hits. But while in Manual mode, and defocussed, I pressed the shutter button half way and the lens changed focus. Somewhat. What reason would it do that while in Manual focus? Face/eye detect off, spot meter in center... not in any custom mode... that seems to be an error in the firmware of the body...
Nope, not yet and it's a lens I'd like to try. But I have to be honest, I have not been completely enamoured with the oof rendering of this lens yet. Call it snobbery but a few shots I have felt things feel very squashed and flat. Of course no client would notice or care and that f1.2 would sure be handy in some of my low light venues! But I think my future is going to go a different way. I'm getting a little sick and tired of carrying primes around on my jobs and lens swapping, I think I would like to try some special zooms such as the Sigma 18-35/1.8 and 50-100/1.8. Or maybe the native Fuji 16-55 and 50-140... ahh... decisions decisions!
Great insight into your work and your way of thinking with the lens selection. Thanks!
Thank you!
The 90 and the 50f2 are so incredibly good optically I will never sell them. They are the best lenses I have ever used
They are fantastic, you're not wrong.
Love this lens. Great review. Something I don't see talked about a lot with this lens is just how fast it focuses and how accurate it is in continuous. It's the most accurately focusing and fastest focusing Fuji lens I've used. Perfect for indoor sports or any action where 135 would serve you well.
Another very useful video, Eddy!
Thanks Joni! 135mm has become very indispensable to me!
Thanks for the video.
On a full-frame camera, the 135mm focal length was never a big favorite of mine as a head & shoulder portrait lens. I prefer to use the 85mm and the 105mm. However,, I have a 90mm f/2 Summicron for my Leica rangefinders that I think I will try on my Fuji X-Pro2 mirrorless to see how much I like it.
Yeh give it a whirl.
Really the point about this video was how I had an odd relationship with this lens, that in personal life and at home I rarely reach for the lens, but for WORK... it is a serious workhorse and all those negatives of being too long bla bla are actually now pros not cons. I thought that was noteworthy. It feels like no one is pointing out the focal length is a plus in certain domains, its always criticized and I would argue that the focal length is something that is more controlled by the scenario than the user per se.
135mm equivalent lenses are oddly missing from a bunch of mirrorless mounts at the moment, so it's nice to see Fuji have a really nice one. I've turned into a bit of a fan of 85mm for a lot of stuff recently but haven't really had a chance to play with anything between that and 200mm yet 🤔
Yeh, and when I went to Fuji is when I really started to do much more event work, and that's where I really appreciated this additional reach. I can completely understand why 56 (or 85mm) is the standard favourite for portrait work, I think events are a little different in that a lot of the brief requires shots that you kinda need to be a bit inconspicuous.
I would like to try the 50-140, it might dethrone by 50/2 and 90/2...
Well, Olbermann was on point tonight...I have the lens, but living where I do in San Francisco and maybe because of my age, I'm now reticent to go walking around with the pricey stuff. I no longer drive. I have missed focus when shooting around 6 feet away indoors with it. Right now, the detail of your catalogue looks soft, so that may be because of it being a recent upload. It may be a lot sharper in 24 hours. I'll come back manana.
The catalogue section is not really to be judged on sharpness per se, it's just an OBS upload at 2k upscaled to 4k for YT, so it'll not be great in that regard. That section piece was more about discussing the lens usage, the types of shots it can be responsible for. Generally speaking I would not rely on anything on YT to judge an optic in terms of IQ/Sharpness, its just not the right platform (try Flickr and some pro accounts where pixelpeeping is possible).
For proper technical review go to Dustin or Christopher, you will find a repeating theme that the 90/2 is probably Fuji's sharpest lens. AF wise as it sports LM it is also extremely capable.
The 90mm rocks!
Love the beard, Eddy!
Kinda wish you’d gone into how it renders, since you done that so well on other lenses. Maybe less relevant for lenses that aren’t ‘character lenses’, but would still be interesting.
Still, informative video. So thank you!
If i'm not really mentioning rendering per se then I would take from this that the lens has a more modern characteristic trait, nothing really that stands out or is unique. You'll prolly find a tun of other lens reviews where they will test things like contrast, flare resistance, notable star bursts etc, I try not to add on too much from what is already out there and tested better than I. For me the lens is very sharp, it's a good performer for AF and results, its hard to be disappointed.
But really the biggest complaint people have about this lens is working distance, but here I found it more of a pro than a con, and that was the real message I wanted to drive home. I hardly use it for personal work, documenting family life etc, but for events it's been an absolute workhorse (and I think people seldom think of lenses in this regard).
Cheers.
@@SummersSnaps That makes sense. Thanks for answering! ☺
I sold my 90mm 3 days ago, but my buyer brought it back saying when he moved the spot focus to areas other than center, he got out of focus shots. Face/eye detection off, etc. I now have the lens, testing it with the spot focus dead center, first setting it to manual, defocussing and then flipping it to S and letting the lens change focus, and got fine results. My top dial is in S mode. No issues with ibis, tripod, etc. But moving the spot focus to upper left and using the same technique, I got poor focus. Face Eye detect off, boost mode on, etc., etc. Any ideas?
Possibly the lens is slightly decentered. There is a little Q&A issue with Fuji stuff I find. My XF50-140 was perfect from the get go, a friend of mine had a problem and nothing was sharp like it was supposed to be. Best take it to Fuji to get fixed, they seem to be really quite reasonable in this regard.
@@SummersSnaps Thanks. We've lost so many camera stores in San Francisco I wonder what's left besides the tourist shops in.Chinatown, and of course, the cost.
@@SummersSnaps I've been testing the auto focus by putting the lens in M manual mode, defocussing and then flipping it back to S. Fine, some misses, some hits. But while in Manual mode, and defocussed, I pressed the shutter button half way and the lens changed focus. Somewhat. What reason would it do that while in Manual focus? Face/eye detect off, spot meter in center... not in any custom mode... that seems to be an error in the firmware of the body...
What filmsimulation do you typically use for indoor photography/people filming?
ClassicChrome
Out of interest have you tried the Viltrox 75 f1.2 ?
Nope, not yet and it's a lens I'd like to try. But I have to be honest, I have not been completely enamoured with the oof rendering of this lens yet. Call it snobbery but a few shots I have felt things feel very squashed and flat. Of course no client would notice or care and that f1.2 would sure be handy in some of my low light venues! But I think my future is going to go a different way. I'm getting a little sick and tired of carrying primes around on my jobs and lens swapping, I think I would like to try some special zooms such as the Sigma 18-35/1.8 and 50-100/1.8. Or maybe the native Fuji 16-55 and 50-140... ahh... decisions decisions!