Believe it or not, some of the best lenses aren’t the super expensive ones. For years, photographers have used more affordable lenses and loved the results they could produce. Luckily, Fujifilm makes a whole swathe of affordable Fujinon lenses. So, we’re rounding up the best affordable lenses for Fujifilm cameras. Check out our list below!
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How We Test and Choose the Best Affordable Lenses for Fujifilm Cameras
- The Phoblographer’s various product round-up features are done in-house. Our philosophy is simple: you wouldn’t get a Wagyu beef steak review from a lifelong vegetarian. And you wouldn’t get photography advice from someone who doesn’t touch the product. We only recommend gear we’ve fully reviewed in these roundups.
- If you’re wondering why your favorite product didn’t make the cut, there’s a chance it’s on another list. If we haven’t reviewed it, we won’t recommend it. This method keeps our lists packed with industry-leading knowledge. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
- When we test lenses, we’ve got various things in mind. First off, we consider who might want to buy the lens and what they might do with it. With that in mind, we try to tackle at least three genres of photography with that lens in a variety of situations. If the lens has weather resistance, then we’ll test it accordingly with a weather-resistant camera. We also test the autofocus of the lens in continuous mode, single mode, with exposure preview effects, without those effects, and then with all the major image quality parameters. These days, no one really makes a bad lens — but some are far better than others.
- In this specific roundup, we’re basing our findings on the reviews that we’ve done. We’re choosing a favorite, but we’re also giving photographers a bunch of others that they might like, depending on how they shoot.
Our Choice for The Best Affordable Lens for FUJIFILM Cameras: FUJINON XF23mm f2 R WR
There’s a lot to love about the Fujinon XF23mm F2 R WR. So many photographers love it first off for the small size. If your heart belongs to the more analog-style cameras that Fujifilm makes, then you’ll also love these. The small size meshes perfectly with those cameras when holding and using the overall package. You’ll also appreciate things like the smooth bokeh, the sharpness, the fast focusing performance, and the overall versatility of the focal length. It delivers a 35mm field of view equivalency on full-frame cameras.
Why It’s Great
- Good image quality
- Seriously and surprisingly fast focus. This lens is officially Fujinon’s fastest.
- Fast focus on Fujifilm’s cameras.
- Nice colors
- Compact size
- Weather resistance
- Turning the aperture ring feels nice and smooth when the clicks come in. It’s a tactile experience that’s just lovely.
- Sharp images
- Fairly nice bokeh
- Affordable price point
What We Think
Here’s what we said in our full review:
The best thing about this lens has to be the color rendition. As always, Fujifilm’s color rendition is second to none in part from the Fujifilm film profiles built into the camera. But then consider that this is a high quality lens and you’ve got a winning combination.
You Might Love These Other Choices for the Best Affordable Lenses for Fujifilm Cameras
While we love the 23mmF2 R WR, it may not be the right lens for you. Our Editor in Chief owns the 27mmF2.8 R WR for example because he loves how compact it is and how it reminds him of the lens on the X100V. Others might just want something lightweight, and not intrusive. Whatever your needs are, here are some of the best affordable lenses that we think you’ll love.
FUJINON 27mm f2.8 R WR
In a Nutshell
- Compact
- Weather-sealed
- Great bokeh, when you get in close
- Good center sharpness
- Great price
What We Think
Here a quote from our full review:
The Fujinon 27mm f2.8 R WR is an excellent lens — but it still has merit as a great, compact walk-around lens. For $400, you get a tiny, weather-sealed lens with some soft bokeh and a sharp center. That’s an excellent deal.
FUJINON 35mm F2 R WR
In a Nutshell
- Great sharpness
- Nine aperture blades make the bokeh as good as it can be
- Small size
- Weather resistance
- The fastest focusing lens that Fujifilm has offered when we reviewed it in 2015
What We Think
Here is a quote from our full review:
Let’s start these conclusions with the absolute truths about this lens. It is the fastest to focus Fujifilm lens to date and finally makes candid street photography with a Fujifilm camera really viable when it comes to using autofocus. For this reason alone, many photographers will greatly, greatly appreciate this lens and just how quickly it can perform.
FUJINON 50mm F2 R WR
In a Nut Shell
- Weather resistant
- Fast autofocus performance on the newer cameras
- Sharp optics and image quality
- Nice bokeh
- Only gets sharper when you use a flash
- Pretty compact
- Nice build quality
What We Think
Here’s an essential quote from our full review:
The Fujinon 50mmF2 R WR has fantastic image quality that really, truly speaks for itself. There isn’t a single reason for photographers to complain. It’s sharp, has nice bokeh,and most importantly it’s got great colors. When using the Fujifilm system, it’s honestly tough to complain about the colors anyway.
What to Know About The Best Affordable Lenses for Fujifilm Cameras
- Fujifilm X Mount (which we’re focusing on here) has many lenses available. And so, we’re choosing the best lenses for street photography with Fujifilm Cameras from the ones that we’ve reviewed. Luckily, we’ve reviewed the vast majority of lenses for Fujifilm X Mount. You can find them in this guide here.
- In the affordable category, you’re really looking for something that will satisfy your needs. The company makes great portrait lenses, general lenses, and landscape lenses if you’re looking for something around a few hundred bucks. Truly, the best affordable lenses for Fujifilm cameras are also some of the most beloved.
- Lots of these lenses have apertures often considered to be slower. But what you get is a smaller size and a more affordable lens. Consider this if you don’t mind cranking up your ISO.
- We’ve reviewed nearly all of Fujinon’s X series lenses. You can take a look at this guide.
Picking the Right One For You
If you’re still a bit confused as to the right lens for you, here are some questions to ask yourself
- What’s your budget?
- How will you use the product?
- What lighting situations are you in, and how will that affect what you’re doing? Our reviews hyperlinked in this article can help with that.
- Are you traveling a lot with it?
- Will you be using it in a situation that’s a bit rougher?
- Who else uses this product? How are they using it?
- What’s so appealing about this product that I can’t get from what I have already or something else?
- When will I really have time to use this product?
- Where will I bring this product?
- How will this product help bring me joy and joy in my photography?
These are just a few of the questions that we ask ourselves, but we think that you should ask yourself these for sure.