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Fuji XF 90mm f/2

R LM WR (135mm equiv.)

Sample Images   Intro   Specs   Performance   Recommendations   More

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Fuji 90/2 front

Fujifilm Fujinon XF 90mm f/2 R LM WR for X-mount cameras (metal 62mm filter thread, 18.9 oz./536g, 2'/0.6m close focus, $699). bigger.I got mine at Adorama. I'd also get it t at Amazon and at B&H are also great places to get it.

This all-contenrt, no junk website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Fuji does not seal its boxes, so never buy at retail or any source not on my personally approved list since you'll have no way of knowing if you're missing accessories, getting a defective or damaged customer return or a used product. Buy only from the approved sources I use myself for the best prices, service, return policies and selection. Thanks for your support! Ken.

 

March 2019    Fuji Reviews  X-Mount Lenses   All Reviews

 

Sample Image Files (more throughout the review)        top

Sample Images   Intro   Specs   Performance   Recommendations   More

 

Fuji 90mm f/2 shot wide open

Wide-open at f/2, 03 September 2015. Fuji X-T10, XF 90mm f/2 R LM WR at f/2 at 1/3,800 at Auto ISO 200, Perfectly Clear V2. bigger or Full resolution (of course almost nothing is in focus at f/2).

 

Fuji 90mm f/2 shot wide open

Crop from above at 100%. Superb performance for f/2! bigger or full resolution (of course almost nothing is in focus at f/2).

 

Fuji 90mm f/2 shot wide open

Palm, wide-open at f/2, 28 July 2015. Fuji X-T10, XF 90mm f/2 R LM WR at f/2 at 1/1,600 at Auto ISO 200, Perfectly Clear V2. bigger or full resolution (of course almost nothing is in focus at f/2).

 

Introduction       top

Adorama Pays Top Dollar for Used Gear

B&H Photo - Video - Pro Audio

Crutchfield

I buy only from these approved sources. I can't vouch for ads below.

Sample Images   Intro   Specs   

Performance   Recommendations   More

This is a fast telephoto for Fuji's X-mount cameras. It's optical perfection in an all-metal body. Bravo!

It's ultrasharp even at f/2 in the far corners, devoid of color fringes or distortion as shot on Fuji's X-mount cameras, and has ultrasmooth bokeh.

Like all Fujinon XF lenses, there is no mechanical manual focus. It's all electronic.

Most newer Fuji X cameras offer an AF+MF mode option in their AUTOFOCUS SETTING menu, in which case you have instant manual focus override so long as you're holding the shutter halfway. Otherwise you have to move an AF mode switch on your camera to swap between auto and manual focus.

Fuji has for many decades, just like Canon and Nikon, also made far more advanced optics, like binoculars for the military and for use in space, as well as lenses for motion pictures and television with six-figure price tags even at discount. Unlike mud brands like Sigma and Tamron (or even LEICA), Fujinon has loads of experience actually supplying optics that cost more than some people's houses, and puts that same know-how into these lenses.

This Fujinon 90mm is exquisitely made out of metal, and has superlative optics that are super-sharp edge-to-edge even wide open at f/2.

This is a superb portrait or astronomy lens for Fuji cameras.

WR stands for weather resistant.

 

Compatibility       intro      top

This is a Fuji X-mount XF lens that works only on Fuji X-mount cameras.

 

Fuji 90mm f/2 R LM WR XF

Fujinon XF 90mm f/2. bigger.

 

Specifications        top

Sample Images   Intro   Specs   Performance   Recommendations   More

 

Name

Fuji calls this the Fujinon Lens Super EBC XF 90mm f/2 R LM WR, or XF90mmF2 R LM WR.

Fujinon is Fujifilm's brand name for their lenses.

Super EBC is Fujinon's brand of multicoating, standing for Super Electron-Beam Coated.

XF is Fuji's line of good lenses for their X-mount cameras.

R means it has an aperture ring.

LM means Linear (focus) Motor.

WR means weather resistant.

∅ 62 means it takes 62mm filters.

 

Optics

Fuji 90mm f/2 R LM WR internal diagram

Fuji XF 90/2 internal diagram.

11 elements in 8 groups.

3 extra low dispersion elements.

Internal focussing.

Super EBC multicoating.

 

Diaphragm

Fuji 90mm f/2 R LM WR internal diagram

Front, Fuji XF 90/2; diaphragm not seen.

7 rounded blades.

Stops down to f/16 in 1/3-stop clicks.

 

Focal length

90mm.

When used on the X-mount cameras with their 1.52x sensors, it sees the same angle of view as a 135mm lens sees when used on a 35mm camera.

When used on the X-mount cameras in their 1:1 square crop mode, it sees the same angle of view as a 325mm lens sees when used on a 6x6cm (2¼"square) medium-format camera. This is about the same as a 170mm lens sees when used on a 35mm camera.

See also Crop Factor.

 

Angle of view

17.9º

 

Autofocus

Fujinon quad linear motor

Quad Linear AF motor.

Internal focus.

No external movement as focussed, so no air or dust is sucked in.

 

Close Focus

2 feet (0.6 meters).

 

Maximum Reproduction Ratio

1:5 (0.2x).

 

Filters

Metal 62mm filter thread.

 

Hood

Fuji 90mm f/2 hood

Fuji XF 90mm f/2 hood.

Plastic bayonet-mount hood included.

 

Size

2.95" diameter x 4.13"long.

75.0 mm diameter x 105.0 mm long.

 

Weight

18.890 oz. (535.6g) actual measured weight, lens only.

Fuji specifies 19.0 oz. (540g).

 

Environment

Rated to work down to -10º C (14º F).

 

Announced

18 May 2015.

 

Shipping Since

July 2015.

 

Included

Lens.

Hood.

Front and rear caps.

"Lens wrapping cloth."

Paperwork.

 

Packaging

Fuji XF 90mm f/2 R LM WR

Box, Fuji XF 90mm f/2 R LM WR.

Inside the micro-corrugated cardboard box are black pulp-formed cardboard holders for the plastic-wrapped lens and hood. A small folded tray of microcorrugated cardboard lies on top to hold the manual and lens wrapping cloth.

 

Fujifilm Model Number

16463668.

 

Price

$699, March 2019.

$949, September 2015.

$1,049, February ~ September 2015.

 

Performance       top

Sample Images   Intro   Specs   Performance   Recommendations   More

Overall   Auto and Manual Focus    Bokeh   Coma   Distortion

Ergonomics  Falloff  Filters  Flare & Ghosts  Color Fringes    Macro

Mechanics    Sharpness   Spherochromatism   Sunstars

 

Overall      performance      top

The Fuji XF 90mm f/2 R LM WR is optically perfect. As shot on Fuji's cameras which compensate for everything, it's as perfect as I can measure.

It's ultrasharp and has no falloff or distortion at any setting, and is also made extremely well.

 

Auto and Manual Focus      performance      top

Autofocus is surprisingly fast for a tele. Fuji is playing some sort of tricks internally; you can feel half the lens' guts wiggling around inside when it's not on the camera, and I assume that this means that the innards are driven by voice coils to move super-fast for focus.

Fuji's focus system is closed-loop, read directly from the image sensor, so it automatically compensates for any mechanical errors.

Open-loop systems of DSLRs and LEICAs can't compensate for these errors and sometimes have focus errors (offsets) which we don't have in the Fuji system. Bravo!

 

Bokeh      performance      top

Bokeh is magnificent, one of the hallmarks of this lens.

Fujinon 90mm f/2 bokeh

Fujinon XF 90mm f/2 bokeh at f/2. bigger or Camera-original © JPG.

Notice also how the spiderweb is deadly sharp at f/2 in the one section front and center that's actually in focus.

 

Coma       performance     top

I see no coma, which is excellent.

 

Distortion      performance      top

Distortion, as shot on the X-T10 which is probably correcting it automatically, is completely invisible.

 

Ergonomics      performance      top

Fuji XF 90mm f/2 R LM WR

Fuji 90mm f/2 R LM WR XF

Fuji XF 90mm f/2. bigger.
Fuji XF 90mm f/2. bigger.

Ergonomics are great! Grab and go. Most of the lens is the metal focus ring.

It feels great; it's a real metal lens. The only other real metal lenses made today are almost exclusively from LEICA; Nikon and Canon have been churning out mostly plastic since the 1980s.

The dedicated aperture ring is also mandatory for real photography, but absent on most other brands of lenses.

A whine about the aperture ring is that it needs a deeper detent or an easily-released lock at A, otherwise it's easy to knock it to f/16 by accident.

It's silly to have all the third-stop clicks. We need the full stops more deeply detented so we can feel them with our eyes closed.

 

Falloff (darkened corners)      performance      top

Light falloff is completely invisible, even at f/2, as shot on the X-T10 which is probably correcting it automatically.

Even shooting white walls wide-open to exaggerate it, it's invisible. I've greatly exaggerated it by shooting a gray plate and showing it against a gray background:

 

Fujifilm XF 90mm f/2 R LM WR as shot on Fuji X-T10.

f/2
f/2.8
Fujifilm 90mm f/2 falloff
Fujifilm 90mm f/2 falloff
Fujifilm 90mm f/2 falloff
Fujifilm 90mm f/2 falloff
f/4
f/5.6

© 2015 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.

 

Filters, Use with      performance      top

There's no problem with vignetting, even with a couple of stacked filters!

The filter ring does not move.

The all-metal filter ring is a pleasant surprise compared to the plastic rubbish from other brands.

 

Flare and Ghosts     performance      top

Ghosts

Flare, 03 September 2015. Fuji X-T10, Auto ISO 400, 200% Dynamic Range, XF 90mm f/2 R LM WR, f/8 at 1/750. bigger.

There's no significant flare or ghosting.

If you really go out of your way to excite it, there is a slight green ghost opposite the sun.

See also Sunstars for more samples.

 

Lateral Color Fringes      performance      top

There are no lateral color fringes as shot on the X-T10. It's probably correcting any that the lens may or may not have.

This is superb performance.

 

Macro      performance      top

It gets very close:

macro

Mondaine A132.30348.11SBB at close-focus distance at f/14. bigger or full-resolution.

 

It's super sharp:

crop

1,200 x 900 pixel crop from above image at 100%. If this is about 6" (15cm) on your screen, printing the complete image at this same high magnification would result in a 25 x 16" (60 x 40 cm) print, and If this is about 12" (30cm) on your screen, printing the complete image at this same extreme magnification would result in a 50 x 32" (125 x 85 cm) print! bigger or full-resolution.

 

Mechanics      performance      top

Fuji XF 90mm f/2 R LM WR

Rear, Fuji X-mount XF 90mm f/2 R LM WR. enlarge.

The Fuji XF 90 2 is built much better than anything from Nikon or Canon today. It's built as well as LEICA lenses, with much newer technology.

It's all anodized aluminum, not cheesy plastic.

 

Hood

Plastic.

 

Hood Mount

Anodized aluminum.

 

Filter Threads

Anodized aluminum.

 

Front Barrel

Anodized aluminum.

 

Focus Ring

Anodized aluminum.

 

Focus Scale

No.

 

Depth-of-Field Scale

No.

 

Mid Barrel (between focus and aperture rings)

Anodized aluminum.

 

Aperture Ring

Anodized aluminum.

Third-stop clicks.

 

Rear Barrel

Anodized aluminum.

 

Internals

Looks like all metal.

 

Mount

Dull-chromed metal.

 

Markings

Aperture ring, index and "90" at mount: all engraved and filled with paint, yay!

 

Identity Ring

Front ring, laser-engraved.

 

Serial Number

Laser engraved on rear of lens barrel.

 

Rain seal at mount

Yes.

 

Noises When Shaken

Something is flopping around in there. It sounds like the focus group wobbling around. I'd go easy on letting your kids shake this too much, but this is normal.

 

Made in

Japan.

 

Sharpness      performance      top

Warning 1: Image sharpness depends more on you than your lens.

Warning 2: Lens sharpness doesn't mean much to good photographers.

With those caveats, the Fuji XF 90/2 is essentially perfect: ultra sharp at all settings everywhere in the image. Bravo!

Here is its rated MTF at f/2:

MTF at 15 cycles
MTF at 45 cycles
MTF at 15 cyc/mm (10 cyc/mm equiv.) at f/2
MTF at 45 cyc/mm (30 cyc/mm equiv.) at f/2

 

Spherochromatism       performance     top

Spherochromatism, erroneously called color bokeh by hobbyists, is common in fast long lenses.

As expected, the Fuji 90 has spherochromatism visible to the expert observer. This means out-of-focus highlights behind the subject may have green fringes, and out-of-focus highlights in front of the subject may have magenta fringes.

This is put to deliberate advantage in this lens, since it means that green backgrounds (think outdoor portraits) will be even more magically soft.

Of course there are no fringes at all when things are perfectly in focus, spherochromatism is what happens to things that are out of focus.

 

Sunstars      performance      top

Sunstars

Sunstars, 03 September 2015. X-T10, Auto ISO 400, 200% dynamic range, XF 90mm f/2 R LM WR, f/16 at 1/320. bigger.

The rounded 7-blade diaphragm doesn't make much in the way of sunstars.

The best you can hope for is soft sunstars like this at f/16.

 

Recommendations       top

Sample Images   Intro   Specs   Performance   Recommendations   More

This Fujinon XF 90mm f/2 R LM WR, along with the 50-140mm f/2.8 at 140mm, is Fujifilm's best portrait lens for their X-series of cameras. This 90/2 has flawless optics, great mechanics, super-close focussing and super-fast autofocus!

This is a tough all-metal lens, almost as well built as Nikon's world-leading 135mm f/2 DC, which also has superlative optics.

If you don't already have the 50-140mm f/2.8 and/or if you need an astronomy lens, this is Fuji's best.

This all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you get yours at Adorama, at Amazon or at B&H, or when you use any of these links to approved sources when you get anything. Please always use these links when getting anything so I can continue to share what I know. If you take the chance of buying elsewhere (or especially at retail), remember that Fuji doesn't seal its boxes. Unlike a bottle of milk or a CD which are sealed, buy your 90mm lens elsewhere or at retail and you'll not only cheat me out of the work I've done here to help you, you take the significant risk of getting a customer return, a dropped lens, you might be missing accessories or get a sample used for store demos. Never buy at retail; all of my approved sources ship your lens from secure warehouses far away from customers or sticky-fingered salespeople.

Thanks for helping me help you!

Ken.

 

More Information        top

Sample Images   Intro   Specs   Performance   Recommendations   More

Fuji's 90/2 R LM WR pages.

Fuji's 90/2 R LM WR press release.

 

© Ken Rockwell. All rights reserved. Tous droits réservés.

 

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26 March 2019, 03 September 2015