Last Updated on 05/02/2018 by Mark Beckenbach
What are the top Portrait Lenses available to photographers in the Fujifilm X-Series?
In the world of digital photography, there are few companies with as high a reputation in terms of lens design as Fujifilm enjoys. The Japanese firm offers its X-series users some of the best performing glass on the market for some of the best prices around. So it should come as no surprise that some of you may be curious as to what the best lenses for portraiture are in the Fuji ecosystem. Today I am happy to oblige those curiosities and offer you my thoughts on the top portrait lenses currently available for the Fujifilm X-series. But we won’t just be looking into this from the perspective of Fujinon-only lenses — no, we will be looking at this from the perspective of the entire ecosystem, including third-party options.
Ready? Great, let’s jump right into it.
Fujifilm 35mm F2
Offering that classic ‘normal’ 50mm field of view, the Fujifilm 35mm f2 gives Fuji shooters a quality compact and fast lens for several hundred dollars cheaper than the f1.4 version of the lens. This lens is incredible for portraiture, and you can’t go wrong here. In our review we said:
“The Fujifilm 35mm f2 R WR is also small and has a low profile build that won’t attract the attention of strangers or other people. Combine that with the fast focusing abilities and you’ll be able to capture that candid photo you want before someone has a chance to break the moment. For these reasons alone, the lens should be highly praised. Indeed, I’m giving it quite high praise. Oh right, and it’s super affordable.” — Read our full review // [amazon_textlink asin=’B016S28I4S’ text=’Buy One’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’f98cb85e-02e3-11e7-be60-337b66fafc45′]
Fujifilm 23mm F2
35mm isn’t quite considered to be a traditional portrait focal length, but as more lifestyle and environmental portraiture has become popular in today’s market, we are seeing this focal length used quite a bit for these sorts of portraits. Fujifilm’s XF 23mm f2 is a 35mm equivalent lens that is fast, weather sealed, and much more affordable than the f1.4 model. In our review we said:
“The speed when focusing with this lens on the X Pro 2 is very impressive. It’s by far the absolute best lens in Fujifilm’s lineup for street photography and candid shooting due to its autofocus speed. When the focusing point is at its smallest, it will be a bit slower. But increase it and what it become a complete speed demon. With that said, let the camera choose its own focusing point and it will seriously surprise you with how fast it focuses.” — Read our full review // [amazon_textlink asin=’B01KNXOCO8′ text=’Buy One’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’8dc65114-02e5-11e7-8b0b-0ba14b381bdd’]
Fujifilm 90mm F2
Sure, at $949 the 90mm is sort of a stretch for the budget category, but it is still under that $1,000 mark and so we will let it slide into this list. The 90mm f2 is a great lens for a variety of purposes, one of those being portraiture. If you are a fan of 135mm DSLR lenses, then this will be a favorite of yours in the Fuji system. In our review we said:
“When it comes to pure image quality, it’s tough to beat a Fujifilm X-Trans Sensor and the company’s lenses. But the 90mm f2 is something many have been dreaming of for a while. Of all the portrait lenses we’ve tested for the system, it’s by far the best. Yes, there is an f1.2 lens out there, but it can’t compare to the pure image quality that the 90mm f2 renders in the best of situations.” — Read our full review // [amazon_textlink asin=’B00XI4PAZ0′ text=’Buy One’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’8ca2754a-02e6-11e7-9d10-139d3097393a’]
Samyang 50mm F1.2
Sure, Fujifilm’s 56mm f1.2 is a great lens, but at about half the price this Samyang matches or beats the Fujifilm lens in many ways. This lens is a dream to focus with the latest Fujifilm focus peaking and advanced focusing aides. In addition, the lens is built well and looks great on Fuji bodies. In our review we said:
“This lens is razor sharp, has a decent build quality, a quite smooth focusing ring, gorgeous bokeh,and has a fantastic price attached to it. If you’re an APS-C camera user, then you’ll be hard pressed to find something better for portraits; but get ready to scale back a bit on post-production.” — Read our full review // [amazon_textlink asin=’B015IUF8DK’ text=’Buy One’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’7528b614-02e8-11e7-b285-7dab751a5611′]
Fujifilm’s 56mm F1.2
Probably THE portrait lens in the Fujifilm X Series system, the 56mm f1.2 offers that classic 85mm field of view while providing everything you want in a stellar portrait offering — beautiful bokeh, sharpness — all of it. The only real downside is the price (compared to other X Series glass) and the size on some of the smaller X Series bodies. But, really, you can’t go wrong with this lens for portraits so long as you have the space.
“Fujifilm’s 56mm f1.2 is the sharpest mirrorless camera lens that we’ve tested. Not only that but it exhibits beautiful bokeh, pretty good color rendition, almost no distortion, focuses quickly, and is built well. It’s a bit expensive though, and for that reason we really only want to recommend it to the creme de la creme of the X series users. Shooting images of your cat or breakfast with this lens is a total waste and will make the theoretical photography gods weep tears of fixer fluid.” — Read Our Full Review // [amazon_textlink asin=’B00HK8Z9AG’ text=’Buy One’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’3b150f17-4cb4-11e8-bab9-47c47d662525′]
Mitakon’s 35mm F0.95
The Mitakon 35mm f0.95 is a really special lens for Fujifilm photographers. It brings with it depth of field and bokeh that rivals that of full frame behemoths and in a small, lightweight package that fits well on a Fujifilm body.
“No doubt, many of you are looking at that F0.95 number and are drooling at the idea of some insane bokeh. But if you are coming from a full frame world I have to tell you that you will be disappointed. However, if you have been with Fujifilm for a while now, this will be some bokeh that will blow your mind. The F0.95 bokeh on this lens is something that I would equate to roughly equal the look of F/1.4 or so on a full frame system – which isn’t bad at all because you have to remember you are getting this lens for significantly cheaper and in a significantly smaller package than a full frame setup.” Read out Full Review // [amazon_textlink asin=’B074RVKNS5′ text=’Buy One’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’9a547f45-4ccf-11e8-b257-83dbd2192f1a’]