If you’ve been following along with the Fujifilm X summit, you probably know about some exciting news. For many of us, the XH2s is likely not worth talking about. But, the Fujifilm 56mm f1.2 is getting a revamp. And from what we understand, we can expect it to have the weather resistance it should’ve had in the first place. But there are two other lenses on the map as well. And though Fujifilm has a lot of lens offerings, I still think there’s room for more.
Take a look at the Fujifilm Lens roadmap above. The Fujifilm X series isn’t only getting the new 56mm f1.2 but also a 30mm f2.8 macro and an 8mm f3.5 lens. We’re told that the 8mm isn’t going to be a fisheye, which makes us sad. Consider all the film photos you see online of skaters done with fisheye lenses. Wpuldn’t it be really cool to see it with classic negative or classic chrome? And also, consider that Fujifilm already has a ton of great offerings for wide-angle lenses. So why this one? I’m really not sure. But I’m curious to see how it will perform.
Then Fujifilm will make a 30mm f2.8 Macro lens, which renders a 45mm field of view when you attach it to the camera. This could be fun, but it’s been very tough to beat the 60mm of all of Fujifilm’s macro lenses. However, Hillary has wanted a macro lens for wedding photography. Instead, she just adapts her older Nikon primes. This could be an answer for photographers just like her. And I personally wonder how it will stand out from the other macro lenses that Sony offers.
Lastly, the Fujifilm 56mm f1.2 R lens is being updated. We should probably expect that it will be weather-resistant, but nothing in the roadmap tells us that this will be the case. The original is a lens that’s much loved by Fujifilm shooters. When the 50mm f1 hit the market, there seemed to be little use for the 56mm offering. What I really hope is that the new 56mm f1.2 isn’t just a lens with revamped optics. They have to find a way to make it special and totally different.
What we don’t see here, though are more super-fast prime lenses. Fujifilm made the 50mm f1, and since then, we haven’t heard about anything else like it. However, ultra-fast prime lenses are what Fujifilm really needs since the X mount is an APS-C system. And besides more zoom and prime lenses for wildlife photography, this is where Fujifilm could really grow.
Something else I’ve really wondered is if more pancake lenses could be made. The Fujifilm 18mm f2 was great, but could it be made weather resistant? We already have the 27mm f2.8 R WR, and that works great. However, with a 23mm f2 R WR cannibalize the X100V too much? I mean, Fujifilm can’t really keep the X100V in stock at all.
Crazy enough, I have a feeling that Fujifilm will continue to just make more lenses for content creators instead with powerzooms and more.
What do you want to see from Fujifilm? We’re really curious. Are you excited for these new lenses? Do you think Fujifilm needs to further work on differentiating themselves from others? How could they work with Tamron and Sigma to get different and unique lenses?