I’m using this lens for at least two weeks. I’ve used it for street photography, macro photography shots, and family photography.
This lens is Fujifilm 30 millimeters F 2.8. I bought this lens recently (get it from Amazon with my affiliate link) because I wasn’t convinced that the image quality, performance, and ergonomics of this lens justify the price tag.
I used this lens on Fujifilm X-T5, X-T30 II and X-PRO3. So I’ve formed a good opinion about the overall kit, portability, and image quality on the X-TRANS V 40MP sensor but also on X-TRANS IV 26MP sensor. Can this lens replace the Fujifilm 35mm f2? We will discover in this review.
What attracted me to Fujifilm XF 30mm f/2.8 R LM
First, the field of view is equivalent to 45mm full-frame field of view. This is a great field of view for everyday photography, for portraiture, for street photography but also for general close-up macro photography.
Also, this lens is a macro lens with 1:1 macro capabilities and has a great minimum focus distance of 10cm (3.9”). Add to this that the lens is weather resistant and very light 195 gr (6.9 oz).
Also, add 9 rounded aperture blades (for creamy bokeh) on top of all these good things! Of course, one more thing remained to be discovered by me – how good is the image quality and how this lens performs in real world photography.
So… I decided to pay the price.
My review is ongoing so be sure to bookmark this page and come back for more updates, because at the moment of writing this (spring 2024) my kids got the flu and I wasn’t able to do as many street photography shots as I would have wanted.
I’ve used the Fujifilm 30mm f2.8 on Fujifilm X-T5, X-T30 II and just tested the handling on Fujifilm X-PRO3
The everyday lens
Before entering in the details of this review, I just want to underline that this is a great lens for any situation. The only downside for some user could be the field of view. But this field of view I think it’s the sweetest spot between 35mm and 50mm field of view. With this lens you can do great compositions in almost any situation! So this why you really need to consider this lens.
This lens is great for:
- street photography
- portrait photography
- product videography and photography
- detailed shots
- family photography
- flower photography
Also is great for hip shooting with the tilt screen of X-T5, X-T30 II or X-PRO3.
🛒Get it from Amazon with my affiliate link.
Fujifilm 30mm f2.8 Sepcifications That Matters
- Focal Lenght – 30mm
- Max Aperture – f/22
- Min Aperture – f/2.8
- Filter Size – 43mm
- Stabilised – no
- 35mm equivalent – 46mm equivalent according to Fujifilm
- Angle of view – 50.7°
- Internal focusing – yes
- Maximum magnification – 1x
- Min Focus Distance – 0.10m
- Lens structure – 11 elements in 9 groups
- Aperture Blades – 9 rounded diaphragm opening
- Weight – 195 g
- Weather sealing – yes
- Other tid bits: it makes a sound when it’s not connected to the camera and when the camera is not opened. This is happening of the floating element of the lens.
Handling of Fujifilm 30mm Macro on Fujifilm X-T5
The lens is a match made in heaven on Fujifilm X-T5. I’ve always complained about the size of the Fujifilm X-T5 paired with the new Fujifilm WR f1.4 lenses.
Now this lens is resolving this problem. I think the Fujifilm team thought well when they designed the lens and listened to their customers. Why is that? Because the new Fujilm WR f1.4 lenses paired with Fujifilm X-T5, X-H2, X-H2s and so on contradicted what was Fujifilm all about – a small system with great image quality.
Now this lens is here to save the day! On Fujifilm X-T5 it’s a great pair regarding size, weight and handling.
It focuses blazing fast, it’s not front heavy and the package is perfectly balanced in hand.
Handling of XF 30mm Macro on Fujifilm X-T30 II
This lens is also great news for Fujifilm X-T30II because the small X-T30 II it’s perfectly balanced with this light lens. The combo is very light in the camera bag and for me is a joy to use this camera especially when I’m with my family. Having this amazing kit with great image quality and AF it ensures me that I’ll get very good pictures in any situation.
And the best thing is that I can take it with me – alongside other baggage.
Handling of XF 30mm Macro on Fujifilm X-RPO3
From the moment I bought Fujifilm XF 30mm f2.8 macro lens I was very curious how I would like it on my Fujifilm X-PRO3.
Unfortunately, as my first impression (this could change in the feature) I do not like it as much as on Fujifilm X-T5 and X-T30 II. It has to do with the design of the camera but also with the OVF of the X-PRO3.
On FujiFilm X-PRO3 you have some OVF blockages – I would say 7% without the lens hood and 15% without the lens hood in the right corner. Anyway the blockage is sufficient to make you not want to shoot with the OVF.
I think without a lens hood, it could work out for some users…
Build Quality Fujifilm XF 30mm f2.8 R LM WR
🛒Get it from Amazon with my affiliate link.
I was worried before buying because the reviewers said that the barrel is made from plastic and just the mount is made from metal. From how it feels at touch my fidings are the following:
- the lens mount is made from metal
- the aperture ring it feels very metal like at touch
- the focus ring sounds metal but at touch is not clear
- the front element were the printed inscription marked are feels plastic
So overall is a metal and plastic build.
The aperure ring of this 30mm macro lens is ok regarding clicks (not somehting to be WOWed) and also it has an A lock switch.
The lens hood is pretty long and it will cast a shadow for macro work.
The focus ring is wokring fine in manual mode.
So overall the build quality of this lens is 9 out of 10 for me. I would have wanted a full metal lens, but I feel the compromise is ok because we gain a light, portable lens!
Autofocus of Fujinon 30mm f2.8
The AF speed of this lens is really amazing for my test. It’s great for macro, it’s great for street photography and for potraits. The AF is also very fast from macro distance to long distance, and this is something really good!
Also the lens has linear motors, and is very quite.
Compared to 35mm f2 Fujifilm lens is faster.
So focus speed 9 out of 10 for every day shooting for a macro lens (it’s not a sport action lens – but also pretty fast).
Image Quality of Fujifilm XF 30mm f2.8 R LM WR Macro
Let me start with the bad stuff! I can’t find real world problems to complain here. It has so little chormatic abberation that is almost an APO lens. The vignetting is not visible for my eyes. Also have in mind I just shot jpegs and didn’t bothered to look at raw files! Why?
Because the images quality it’s jaw-dropping good! The images are perfect exposed on my Fujifilm cameras, the colors are vibrant, full of tones and the details are crisp and clear!
I’m shocked how good is the image quality of this lens – I feel it’s at the level of my Leica Summarit f2.5 lens.
Let’s see why is that!
Creamy Bokeh
The Fujifilm XF 30mm f2.8 R LM WR Macro has a creamy and smooth bokeh. For an f2.8 lens, a macro lens this is an outstanding achievement. I can’t explain how they managed to do this, but they’ve done it.
The lens has 9 rounded aperture blades, and for sure this helped.
The out-of-focus areas are very soft, feathered like rendered. When you are making portraits the subject is very well separated from the background because of this.
Resolution, 3D POP And Microcontrast
The lens resolution is outstanding 10 out of 10. It’s easily resolving the 40MP sensor, and probably even more.
Als it has good 3D pop for portraits and great micro-contrast for street photography and for macro photography. This is really amazing for a macro lens – in general macro lenses are flat.
The details and texture are beautifully rendered. The colors are vibrant, and contrasty with very good pop to them. Also the skin tones are beautiful rendered.
Image Quality For Macro Work
The image quality for macro work of the Fujinon 30mm f2.8 is very good. The details rendered on the screen and when zooming in are breathtaking.
You can see so many details, that are impossible to be seen with the naked eye. I was impressed with the level of detail that I’m getting here on the 40MP sensor but also on the smaller 26MP sensor.
Fujifilm XF 30mm f2.8 R LM WR Macro versus Fujifilm 35mm f2 WR
How XF 30mm f2.8 stacks to the 35mm f2.
First, they have different focal lengths. So if you want a tighter field of view go with the 35mm f2 WR.
The AF speed of the 30mm f2.8 it’s better.
Also, they have different aperture values and different renderings.
Overall, the 30mm f2.8 WR has better image quality.
If I had to choose one lens I would choose the 30mm f2.8 WR, but if you want a lens to be used on Fujfilm X-PRO 3 then I would choose the 35mm f2 Fujinon lens because I don’t have OVF blockage.
Fujifilm XF 30mm f/2.8 R LM WR Macro versus Fujifilm 27mm f/2.8
This lens is at another level compared to the small Fujifilm pancake lens. Even Fujifilm’s official video says this.
So the only advantage of Fujifilm 27mm f/2.8 is the size, weight, and a little wider field of view.
Other than that, Fujifilm XF 30mm f/2.8 macro lens is much better.
Conclusion
Fujifilm 30mm f2.8 R LM WR Macro is a great lens. I’m very impressed with what this lens can deliver. It could be a 35mm f2 WR replacement if you are ok with the longer form and with the f2.8 aperture. For low-light photography, if you have a Fujifilm camera with IBIS you can get away with the f2.8 aperture.
The image quality is outstanding and it’s 10 out of 10 for my liking. The lens can be an everyday lens but I will not use it as my go-to macro main photography lens. For macro work you’ll need to use flashes because the focal length is short for true macro work.
But for what this lens is – a top performer in any situation, at close and macro distance, to portraits, product photography and videography I think there is no other better solution.
So for a great, top-notch all-rounder lens, this is the lens I recommend between XF 35mm f2 and XF 27mm f2.8 and even XF 35mm f1.4! It’s that good!
🛒Get it from Amazon with my affiliate link.
SHORT PROs
- very light
- very good and accurate AF
- outstanding image quality at any distance
- weather resistant
- very smooth bokeh because of the 9 aperture blades
SHORT CONs
- just an f/2.8 aperture (it would be great if the aperture was f2)
- not fully metal build
Where to buy:
If you like my reviews, please support my work using my affiliate links:
- Get it from Amazon XF 30mm f2.8
Or the other alternatives: - Get the 35mm f2 WR from Amazon
- Get the 27mm f2.8 WR from Amazon
- Get the 33mm f1.4 from Amazon
- Get the 35mm f1.4 from Amazon
Fujifilm XF 30mm f/2.8 R LM WR VIDEO Review
Fujifilm XF 30mm f/2.8 R LM WR Macro Real World Sample Images
Here are some images made with XF 30mm f/2.8. The images are straight out of the camera jpegs. The quality is so good that I didn’t bother to make any edits.
Portrait Photography Samples With Fujifilm XF 30mm f/2.8 R LM WR
Street Photography Samples With Fujifilm XF 30mm f/2.8 R LM WR
Fujifilm XF 30mm f/2.8 R LM WR on Fujifilm X-T30 II at f5.6 with Kodak Portra Recipe
Fujifilm XF 30mm f/2.8 R LM WR on Fujifilm X-T5. April 2024 in Bucharest, Romania.
Product Macro Photography Samples With Fujifilm XF 30mm f/2.8 R LM WR
Macro details from an old penknife with Fujifilm XF 30mm f/2.8 R LM WR on Fujifilm X-T5
Flower Macro Photography Samples With Fujifilm XF 30mm f/2.8 R LM WR
