Fujifilm has an excellent reputation with their lenses, and overall their price to performance among other brand name lenses is up there with the best of them. They are so good, in fact, that many times there seems to be no reason to even purchase third-party lenses because the price to performance ratio won’t be much better, if at all. That said, it doesn’t mean there are not some excellent third party lens options out there, some of which do offer things not currently available in Fujifilm’s XF lens lineup.
So, in this roundup today we wanted to highlight our favorite third-party lenses for the Fujifilm X-Series.
Mitakon 35mm F0.95 II
The Mitakon 35mm f0.95 II is a 50mm full frame equivalent lens that has gained a somewhat cult following in Fujifilm circles thanks to its excellent image quality, build quality, and that insane f0.95 maximum aperture. It offer’s Fujifilm shooters the ability to capture some stunning portraits with full frame-like depth of field while maintaining their small and light profile.
In our review of the Mitakon 35mm f0.95 II we said:
“The Mitakon 35mm f0.95 II is a great lens, especially when you consider the price tag of just $599. That is only a little more than the Fujifilm lens offerings and you are getting a lens that gives you a lot more versatility in low light and your depth of field.”
Interested? Buy a Mitakon 35mm f0.95 II on Amazon today!
Samyang 50mm f1.2
Samyang, also branded as Rokinon, have really been stepping up their game in terms of the quality of their lenses across all systems the last few years, and their offerings for the Fujifilm X-Series are no different. This Samyang 50mm f1.2 offers some killer portrait photography potential with a maximum aperture that really allows for some great bokeh and background separation. The only hold up with this lens is it’s proximity to Fujifilm’s killer 56mm f1.2, which has the advantage of autofocus. That said, this lens is still cheaper and offers great overall image quality.
In our review of the Samyang 50mm f1.2 we said:
“This lens is razor sharp, has a decent build quality, a very 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.”
Interested? Pick up a Samyang 50mm f1.2 on Amazon today.
Rokinon 12mm f2
One of our favorite things about the Fujifilm X-Series is it’s ability to provide a quality photography experience in a small and easily portable package. That is especially the case when you take tiny lenses like this Rokinon 12mm f2 lens into account which provide you with roughly an 18mm full frame field of view for some awesome wide angle image potential.
In our review of the Rokinon 12mm f2 we said:
“The Rokinon 12mm f2 is a nice lens. It has good sharpness when stopped down and balances that with a characteristic film softness when shot wide open. Then there’s the small size, effective depth of field scale, and the overall nice feeling in the hand. The build quality could be better, and there are better lenses, but they’re more than twice the price point.”
Interested? Pick up your own Rokinon 12mm f2 lens on Amazon today.
Lensbaby Trio 28mm
Ok, admittedly this is a rather niche choice, but there is something to be said about the unique imaging capabilities of shooting with a lens like the Lensbaby Trio 28mm once you embrace it and use its quirkiness to your artistic advantage. This lens is especially fun on Fujifilm’s X-Series cameras thanks to its small size, which provides an excellent creative platform that is easy to take with you anywhere.
In our review of the Lensbaby Trio we had the following to say:
“I am a MAJOR fan of the Lensbaby Trio. I think it’s fun, it allows you to see and create in a new way, and it’s just so much different than anything else on the market right now. Being able to change the aperture would be a big upgrade, but otherwise you can’t really go wrong here.”
Interested? Pick up a Lensbaby Trio 28mm of your own over on Amazon today.
