The Fujifilm mirrorless camera system is built around a strong library of lenses—we've yet to use one that could be considered a bad buy. But there are still lenses that stand out from the crowd, and the Fujifilm Fujinon XF 90mm F2 R LM WR ($949.95) is one. It's a short telephoto design, matching the field of view of a 135mm prime on a full-frame system, and captures images with edge-to-edge sharpness, even at its maximum f/2 aperture. It also focuses quickly, is sealed against dust and moisture, and has a physical aperture ring for f-stop adjustment—it's an easy pick for our Editors' Choice.
DesignThe XF 90mm isn't the smallest lens in the world, especially when paired with a mirrorless camera. It measures 4.1 by 3 inches (HD) without the included reversible lens hood—the hood adds about 3 inches to the height. It's on the heavy side at 1.2 pounds, and has a front element that supports 67mm filters. The lens is solidly built, with a metal barrel and a gasket around the lens mount—when paired with an all-weather body like the X-T1 you can shoot in inclement weather without worry.
The physical aperture ring sits just ahead of the lens mount. It can be set from f/2 through f/16 in third-stop increments, and also has an A setting for automatic control. The manual focus ring occupies the bulk of the barrel. It's metal, with a knurled texture. The manual focus experience is one disappointing aspect of handling. Turning the ring doesn't physically move the lens elements, as is the case with most SLR lenses. Instead, the focus by wire system activates the internal focus motor to adjust focus. There's a lag in response, and you don't have the tactile feedback that you get with mechanical manual focus. This is an issue with most mirrorless system lenses, and can be a turn-off for fans of manual focus. But if you're an autofocus fan, be happy to know that the XF 90mm is very quick to focus.
There's no image stabilization system. Fast prime lenses like this aren't often stabilized, but there are exceptions. The Zeiss Batis 85/1.8, which is exclusively available for the Sony mirrorless system, does feature in-lens stabilization.
The Fujinon focuses to 23.6 inches (60cm). That will let you frame subjects tightly for portraits with ease, but doesn't let the 90mm do double-duty as a macro lens. At its closest focus distance it projects images at one-fifth life-size onto the image sensor. If you want a macro lens for the Fuji X system, consider the Zeiss Touit 2.8/50M, which supports 1:1 magnification, or the Fujifilm Fujinon XF 60mm F2.4 R Macro, which captures images at half life-size.
Image QualityI tested the XF 90mm along with the 16-megapixel X-T10. Imatest shows that it's an incredible performer. At f/2 the lens manages 2,607 per picture height on a center-weighted test, exceeding the 1,800 lines we look for in a photo by leaps and bounds. Impressively, image quality is very strong right up to the edge of the frame—the outer third shows a strong 2,450-line score. Stopping down offers modest improvements. The score improves to 2,725 lines at f/2.8, jumps to 2,861 lines at f/4, and peaks at 2,959 lines at f/5.6. There's a slight drop in resolution at f/8 due to diffraction, but the lens still shows 2,898 lines there.
Distortion is a complete non-issue. The lens is also a strong performer in regards to even illumination. I used an ExpoDisc to capture a flat gray frame and analyzed it using Imatest's Uniformity tool. At f/2 there is just a half-stop decrease in brightness at the corners of the frame when compared with the center—that's barely noticeable in real-world conditions. Corner illumination drops by just a quarter-stop at f/2.8 and by less than one-tenth of a stop at f/4 and beyond.
ConclusionsThe Fujifilm Fujinon XF 90mm F2 R LM WR delivers fantastic optical performance, a strong build with weather sealing, and a short telephoto reach that is a popular choice for portraiture. There aren't any major weakenesses here, aside from the lack of tactile feedback when focusing manually. That's going to be an issue for manual focus fans, but that's true of the other autofocus lenses available for the Fuji mirrorless system as well. In all, the XF 90mm is a standout lens, and an easy pick for Editors' Choice.
Source: Fujifilm Fujinon XF 90mm F2 R LM WR
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