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Lenses

Lens Comparison: Zeiss 32mm f1.8 vs Fujifilm 35mm f1.4 (X Mount)

Chris Gampat
No Comments
05/23/2013
2 Mins read

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Fujifilm vs Zeiss comparison product shots (3 of 3)ISO 4001-500 sec at f - 2.8

We’ve been playing with the Zeiss 32mm f1.8 for a little while now on the Fujifilm X Pro 1 and it dawned on us from the comments that it could perhaps be a competitor to the Fujifilm 35mm f1.4. The lenses share many similarities but also have a couple of key differences.

So which one comes ahead of the curve?

Gear Used

We tested the Fujifilm 35mm f1.4 and Zeiss 32mm f1.8 on the Fujifilm X Pro 1.

Ergonomics and Build Quality

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Fujifilm vs Zeiss comparison product shots (2 of 3)ISO 4001-170 sec at f - 4.0

Both lenses feature aperture rings and focusing rings to work with Fujifilm’s system. However, the Fujifilm’s rings are metal while Zeiss’s are rubber. Zeiss did this to prevent your fingers from touching a cold ring in freezing weather. Both lenses also have a metal exterior, though Fujifilm’s feels better in the hand.

Fujifilm’s lens is also just a bit smaller than Zeiss’s offering.

Ease of Use

Both lenses operate the exact same: they are primarily autofocus lenses and neither have a depth of field scale for manually focusing.

Autofocusing Speed

We put the lenses in a head to head test. Zeiss’s lens seemed to be a bit better when focusing using ambient lighting in my apartment and overall, it will still focus faster than the Fujifilm in most situations.

Image Quality

For this test, we put the each lens on the camera, focused on the same spot, and change the aperture throughout the range from f1.8 to f16. Fujifilm’s lens only goes this far while Zeiss only opens up to f1.8. Here are the results.

Zeiss 32mm f1.8

Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Zeiss 32mm comparion for x pro (1 of 7)ISO 2001-950 sec at f - 1.8
f1.8
f2.8
f2.8
f4
f4
f5.6
f5.6
f8
f8
f11
f11
f16
f16

Fujifilm 35mm f1.4

f1.8
f1.8
f2.8
f2.8
f4
f4
f5.6
f5.6
f8
f8
f11
f11
f16
f16

In our eyes, the Zeiss lens took the lead. What do you think?

Conclusions

While both lenses are quite good, Fujifilm has a major advantage with a more affordable offering while also retaining a better build quality. However, Zeiss has faster focusing and better image quality. This is kind of a tough test to consider but we should all take comfort in knowing that both lenses are excellent.

But on a personal scale, I’ve always had a love for Zeiss products the same way that Steve Huff loves his Leicas. And in the end, I’ll have to give the win to the Zeiss despite owning Fujifilm’s lens.

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autofocus build quality comparison ergonomics fujifilm image quality review speed x pro 1 zeiss
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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