Fujinon XF 90mm F2 R LM WR Review

Table of Contents

Flexibility to take a variety of shots indoors or out, with optical quality so great that you will fall in love with every portrait you create. Its’ bright f/2 max aperture allows for clear, sharp low-light conditions, and creates beautiful bokeh.

At $949 the Fujifilm Fujinon XF 90mm F2 R LM WR is a short telephoto that performs magically, bringing everything from portraits to live-action shots to your fingertips.

Fujinon XF 90mm F2 R LM WR Features

The field of view (fov) matches that of a 135mm prime on a full-frame system.

It focuses quickly, is sealed against dust and moisture, and has a physical aperture ring for f-stop adjustment.

Build

The Fujifilm Fujinon XF 90mm F2 R LM WR is NOT compact. At 4.1” by 3”, without the reversible hood, it weighs in at 1.2 pounds. It’s well built and feels like the premium product it is. The barrel is metal and has six internal seals and a lens mount gasket to make it weather and dust resistant. The only drawback is that you may notice a bit of a loose feel in the mount to the camera.

Aperture

Unlike many of its competitors, the XF 90 comes with an aperture ring with one-third stop clicks. The settings run from f/2 to f/16 and includes a choice for auto (A). It’s a great feature, but it would be even better if the painted and engraved markings were indented deeper and not quite so loose.

The package includes a plastic hood. What’s missing from this lens is image stabilization.

Auto Focus

Lightning-quick, accurate and silent.

The Quad Linear Motor works with four magnets and is all electronic. No more worries about dust or air being sucked in.

A micro-pulse or two, prior to the focus settling, even while shooting video is possible. Stepping is hardly noticeable.

There’s no rotation of the front element or the 67 mm filter thread which is great for those using ND grads and polarizers often.

Manual

The focus ring is moved through the focus motor in this by-wire system. The response is slow and is lacking the tactile signals of a mechanical focus. However, the ring is big, precise, well-damped, and has a ridged rubberized grip for a nice feeling. You have the choice of long turns for linear focus, or quick, non-linear focus action.

Macro

The XF 90 will focus down to 23.6 inches (60cm). That gets close to your subject but isn’t really a true macro. It will produce tightly-framed subjects for your portrait work.

Image Quality

Image quality is what sets the XF 90 apart from the competition.

Go ahead and shoot at f/2, knowing you’ll get outstanding edge to edge sharpness, without distortion, color fringes, falloff or chromatic aberrations.

Ghosting and flares are insignificant, though at f/2 some ghosting may occur. Vignette correction is impeccable. The XF 90 has amazing illumination qualities. Dark areas look darker while light areas are crisper and lighter.

Bokeh quality is defined by each user, but everyone will agree that the 7 rounded blades of the diaphragm create very pleasing bokeh. For a short telephoto prime lens, it’s quite incredible.

There’s a slight drop in resolution at f/8 due to diffraction and you may find some spherochromatism, which you’ll appreciate when shooting outdoor portraits because it makes the out of focus backgrounds even softer.

Sunstars are not impressive as they tend to be quite soft.

Pros

Super sharp from edge to edge
Fast, accurate and quiet focus
Weather and dust resistance
An actual aperture ring

Cons

Manual focus by wire.
Optical image stabilization is missing