I’ve been meaning to do a review of the 35mm f2 for a while, but it keeps getting getting lost amongst all the other new stuff I’m testing ( like the xpro2 and the Godox 360 flash ). I used to own the 35mm 1.4 and loved it, but it was very noisy and was not exactly a speed demon in the focussing department. So what does this newer version bring to the table..
Well, it’s a lot faster to focus, no doubt about that. When it does hunt ( which is when you get a bit close to the subject in low light I’ve found ), its still very smooth and does eventually lock on. That hunting happens far less frequently than on the 1.4 and only in extreme low light or back light conditions, where I would expect any lens to struggle.
The weather resistance is a big deal to me, I shot in Iceland last year and I’m often out shooting in the wet in the UK, this lens just adds to the growing number of fuji lenses I can use confidently in these conditions.
Bokeh is lovely, as was the 1.4.
Sharpness..the sharpness is right up there with all the other fuji lenses, it’s as sharp as you could wish it to be, like all my other fuji glass, I no longer really bother sharpening images in post. I’ve read some more technical reviews of this lens and it’s been very highly praised for sharpness, lack of chromatic aberration and all that technical jazz that really is of minimal importance to me. I look at images taken with this lens, and they have that magical quality the 1.4 had..punchy, sharp and beautiful.
The lens is also pretty much designed to work with the xpro2 and its OVF..it lives on my camera pretty much and is such a useful focal length that its become my go to combination since I got the xpro2. I like the look and feel of it, and it’s a great all rounder. I do miss that extra stop of light though, if I still owned the 1.4, I’d probably hang on to it for when I need that extra light. For the price, either the 1.4 or this f2 are both stellar lenses. Some more images now..
