Together with the Fujifilm X-T10, Fujifilm Middle East also provided me a pre-production model of their 90mm f2.0 lens, and here are my first impressions:
Size Comparison
One of the key component of a mirrorless lens is its size, and being a prime lens, that makes it more interesting to check how it fares up with the other fujinon primes.
Here’s the 35mm f1.4, 56mm f1.2, 16mm f1.4 and the 90mm f2.0
As you can see, it is quite a big lens compared to the other Fujinon primes. This is the biggest fuji prime yet and probably the heaviest too. However, it is still smaller compared to its DSLR equivalent, like the Canon 135 f2.0L
Here’s another comparison to the 18-55mm f2.8-4 kit lens; it dwarfs the 18-55mm.
If you have a 10-20mm f4.0 lens, here it is next to the 90mm lens, still smaller in comparison.
The 16-55 f2.8 WR lens is probably the closest size for the 90mm. It’s a little thinner than the 16-55 but its very close in terms of overall dimensions.
Focusing Speed and Focusing Distance
I only had this lens less than 48 hours, but during my testing, I didn’t notice any lag in terms of its focusing speed. I would say, this is fast as the 56mm f1.2 lens. This is a pre-production lens so the performance might improve in the final version. I was surprised with the focusing distance, it is very similar to the 56mm f1.2 lens, for a 135mm equivalent the focusing distance is quite good in my opinion.
Bokeh Quality
I added this portion because as a 90mm f2.0, this lens produces a very shallow depth of field, thus the importance on the quality of the out of focus parts. Well, it is superb! If you want to see the samples, I have used it on my review for the X-T10, I shot the size comparisons of the cameras with the 90mm, you can view it here.
Here’s one sample:
Here’s a bokeh shot at f2.0
I find the out of focus bits is very creamy and really excellent. This is the bokeh quality I am looking for, this is far superior compared to the 56mm f1.2 (non APD). It is a shame that I was not able to get some portrait shots during my testing, I am 100% sure that it will blow me away. Well, I did some test with my friends but they won’t let me post it here though, but it looks great! This is the ultimate portrait lens in my opinion. I am really sorry I am not able to show the true potential of this lens 🙁 But I’ll post them once I purchased this lens, yes, I am getting one as soon as it comes out!
Overall Impression
My main gripe on this lens is the size, I find a bit bulky and heavy compared to the other primes. I would forgive the size if it has and image stabilizer (IS); which it doesn’t have. But despite of that, I still love this lens, I think this is the portrait lens I am waiting for. I still like the 56mm f1.2, but I am not fond of the bokeh quality of that lens, I feel that the 35mm f1.4’s out of focus is better compared to the 56mm; It is also a very sharp lens. I will update this blog post, once I get some portrait shots from this lens.