Fujifilm’s latest entry in the X-mount lineup is the Fujinon XF 30mm f/2.8 LM WR Lens, a compact and lightweight lens that’s perfect for a wide range of photography genres, including close-ups, portraits, and portraits. street. With a fast maximum aperture of f/2.8, it also delivers excellent performance in low light. Yes, there are wider apertures in the Fujifilm range, but I wouldn’t expect none to be able to get close to a subject and still deliver a highly detailed image like this one.
When I first received this lens, I was curious to see how close it could actually get to the subject, as I had read earlier that the closest focusing distance is 10 cm. With macro photography being relatively new to me, it will be interesting to see how the lens will perform for newbies. The lens came up close, very close, and in fact, I had to remove the lens hood to take most of the shots, as the subject was inside the hood that shielded the light.
Macros aren’t the only use of the lens, but it was my first initial setup and it worked great. It’s so compact, I was able to use it in a variety of positions when trying out macro shots, and to be honest, the tripod really got in the way of getting close to me than the lens. For the rest of my tests, I tried out quick portraits and landscapes, where I was wearing the lens while walking the dog and took some hand-held street and architecture shots, and each time, I am fascinated with the level of detail of the returned images.
Quality build
Compact and lightweight at just 195 g, the Fujinon XF 30 mm R LM WR Macro offers a 1:1 magnification, equivalent to a full-frame 46 mm. The lens is made up of 11 elements in 9 groups and is housed in a metal and plastic body with a filter size of 43mm and finished with a plastic lens hood. The lens feels solid in the hand and is fun to use, whether for macro, portrait or street photography.
The lens doesn’t have any stabilization, which I wouldn’t expect for its size and weight as the camera’s IBIS takes care of it. There is good separation between aperture and focus ring and good distance from camera body to aperture ring. Due to the lens’ ladder design, you won’t make any mistakes between the two when working with the viewfinder only.
The aperture ring ranges from f/2.8 to f/22 and rotates smoothly as you’d expect from original Fuji lenses. Small indentations can be felt when rotating between apertures, and the notch of both the aperture and the focus ring is well defined. The focus ring is smooth and precise, supporting small movements for macro work.
The lens excluding the lens hood is 70 mm and with the included lens hood is 95 mm. However, if you are shooting macro, you may want to remove the lens hood as the minimum focusing distance is 10 cm.
Performance and handling
For me, the lens worked flawlessly in every situation that I tested it on. The autofocus is really fast and accurate. Depth of field is actually quite narrow at f/2.8. I never noticed any fringing from the lens, and image quality is generally excellent, producing sharp, detailed images with accurate color rendering.
For portrait work, I photographed subjects at close range, within 4 feet, and the lens captured subjects with great detail, as you can see in the gallery images under. The sharpness of the lens also enables close cropping without affecting the image. Due to the compact size of the lens, it is also well suited for natural photography, as it is less intimidating than some of the larger lenses, and with an aperture of f/2.8 it will be suitable in low light. .
Light in weight, this lens is easy to carry all day, and due to its size, it can squeeze into the tightest areas for close-up photography. I only recently started trying out close-ups, so I have a long way to go, but using this lens has helped me see its more artistic expression.
pros
- Price
- macro results
- Focus distance
- focal distance
Defect
- Remember to remove the lens hood if you want to achieve the minimum focusing distance.
Conclusion
The Fujifilm XF 30mm f/2.8 R LM WR . Macro Lens is an exceptional choice for macro photography, it also fills the gap in Fuji’s macro and focal range, with its larger and more expensive brethren, XF 60mm f/2.4 R Close-up and XF 80mm f/2.8 R LM OIS WR Macro. Compact design, light weight, wide maximum aperture, close focusing distance and sharpness make it an extremely versatile lens that can produce stunning close-ups and portraits. in a variety of settings. For an everyday carry lens, you really can’t go wrong. It’s sharp, light, unobtrusive, and fun to use in many situations.
I have really enjoyed my time with the lens and for me it has opened up new photographic avenues that I would like to try to improve. Photography has to be fun and this lens really does.
