Back in late 2011 I was sent a pre-production Fujifilm X-Pro1 and Fujifilm’s first three x-mount lenses. The diamond of the trio was easily the Fujinon / Fujifilm 35mm F1.4. I have always loved the 50mm focal length on my film and full frame bodies. The Fujfilm X-Pro1 cropped sensor partnered with the XF 35 F1.4 made the perfect everyday ‘nifty fifty’ combination.
I love the look of a shallow depth of field particularly in documentary photography. The F1.4 maximum aperture allows this classic lens to really blow out the background while keeping the focus pin sharp. The following 35mm images were captured with the same Fujinon XF35mm F1.4 lens and a range of bodies from the Fujifilm X-Pro1, X-T2, X-E2 or X-Pro2. (See Ten Years of the X-Pro1).
35mm Photography Gallery
The autofocus is famously quick and reliable making the lens great for live music photography. See Wolf Alice. Despite the relatively tight field of view of 50mm (full frame) I still used the lens to capture a range of long exposure images. I used the same Lee Filters system for the 35mm as I do for X100V long exposure photography.
Over the last decade I have used the Fujinon 35mm F1.4 lens for documentary, long exposure photography, documentary music photography , portrait and even landscape photography.
The black and white portraits on this post were processed using the FlixelPix Grit Lightroom Preset or the Black and White Photography Preset collection.
See the oil terminal long exposure images and the Kyle John Suckling Outtake posts.
Fujifilm 35mm F1.4 Bokeh
With an angle of view equivalent to 52mm it really is a modern day nifty fifty. The lens always managed to be pin sharp at the centre creating stunning bokeh backgrounds. Yes, compared to newer lenses the original 35mm may be a little noisy but it constantly delivers on image quality.
If you want to learn more about creating bokeh backgrounds see Shooting Shallow, Understanding Depth of Field.
The next chapter in the 35mm journey is the Fujfilm XF33mm F1.4 LM WR and the Fujfilm X-T5… I look forward to sharing 35 images with the true 50mm equivalent in the next few years. If you have experience of any of the Fujifilm 35mm lenses, please share below.
The Photography eBook and Lightroom Bundle
This bundle includes both the Long Exposure eBook and the Understanding Depth of Field eBook. Also included are all the premium presets (This includes the preset bundle and the black and white preset pack). See full description (below).
Links
Ten Years of the X-Pro1
First Impressions of the X-Pro2
How to Capture Long Exposure Photos
Understanding the Creative Photography Concepts
