I remember when I was briefed about the Fujifilm 33mm f1.4 that it wasn’t an update to the incredible 35mm f1.4. That lens, which I reviewed back in 2012, is a Sonnar type design that autofocuses slower. As it so happens, slow and Fujifilm are two words that we constantly think of in the same sentence together. The company often says that users should slow down to make their photos — but the users say that they often miss the shots they want. If you, like me, miss the glory days of the old look of Fujifilm X trans sensors back when they were lower resolution and still looked more like film, then know that you also need a special lens for it too.
The Fujifilm 35mm f1.4 isn’t all that expensive these days, and still delivers the classic look that so many of us crave and wish for. Looking back at the old reviews I did, I’m amazed at how beautiful the images are even today. If anything, this lens helped prove to me that sometimes it’s not the gear, it’s the photographer.
When the Fujifilm XH2 came out, the company didn’t recommend using older lenses like the 35mm f1.4 with the camera. The reason: they claimed that it wouldn’t fully resolve the sensor’s resolution. But the truth is that the image quality that it can deliver is still really gorgeous. There has been a similar argument over the years with Nikon users and Leica users — who are all told that they’ll really not like the image quality of their older lenses. But the truth is that on higher resolution sensors, you end up enjoying what they can do even more.
Really, it’s not about the sharpness. Fujifilm has always been about the character.
While some folks like the Zeiss 32mm f1.8 Touit lens more, I could never get into it as much.
If you want the real, signature look of older Fujifilm cameras, get yourself an older camera and an older lens of some sort. Another great one is the original Fujifilm 23mm f1.4 X.