If you were starting a fresh with Fuji what lenses would you buy and why?
Which would you avoid?
I can only share my journey for you to pick and choose from!
- I started with the 23/1.4 and 56/1.2 which I bought with the XPRO2 camera.
- I added the 90mm next
- I needed something shorter with Weather Resistance as I was doing a shoot in light rain, so added the 35/2
- Then I got fed up swapping lenses so I bought the 16-55 Zoom
- The having been bit by the Zoom bug, I got the 50-140 too with 1.4xTC as I wanted to shots of the Mrs running her marathons.
- At some point in here I swapped the XT2 and XPro2 for the XH1
- Most recently I wanted to try something different - looking for inspiration I suppose so I got the 80mm
At the moment - on the XH1, I've not used the zooms much, in fact I don't think the 50-140 has even been on it. The primes have a new lease of life, especially the 90mm now we have IBIS, and the 56mm now the AF is so good, and the 23/1.4, 56/1.2 and 90/2 have been my go to lenses in my carry bag and I would not hesitate to buy again. They are also relatively small and light, even if they are the 'older' Fuji tech. Its the <2.8 render and the weight that's pulling me towards them at the moment.
I very rarely use the 35mm f2 - Only for the one shoot in the rain (the 23/1.4 and the 56/1.2 are no weather sealed). I would not buy that again, but is it very very small and super fast to focus.
The 2.8 zooms are nice, but hey are heavy. Of the two, the 16-55f/2.8 is the one I will pickup if I need more flexibility and the light is good. I'll only take the 50-140/2.8 if I know I will need the reach. Both are great, I'd buy both again but after the primes.I will at some point flip back to preferring the zooms and then flip back to primes later - it's a never ending cycle for me!
With the 80mm, it's too soon to tell. Great for macro obviously, but big. I can see me using this in the garden / at flower shows, but not taking as a general lens even though it is probably little sharper than the 90mm, it does lose a bit in terms of the render of the 90/f/2 - I'd pick the 90mm over the 80mm if I had to choose.
I also have the obligatory adapted Helios 44/2 and the 8mm Samyang, both of which are cool but of very limited use