Fuji took an important step in this past year by opening up their platform to third party development, and we’ve seen a wide variety of third party lenses from Tamron, Sigma, Samyang, Viltrox, and more announced and released for the X-mount.  But Fuji also wisely recognized that some of their existing lineup needs revamping (which they are tackling through new MK II lenses) and also some existing holes need filling.  One of those holes was in the form of a wider macro lens (the previous widest macro focal length was 60mm), a hole now plugged with the new Fujinon XF 30mm R LM WR Macro lens.

This is a compact macro lens that weighs under 200g and yet manages to offer up a 1:1 magnification level from its 46mm full frame equivalent focal length.

There’s always some debate over the best focal length for macro work, as there are both pros and cons to different approaches.  Longer focal lengths will give you a greater working distance and can more easily blur out backgrounds.  They are also less flexible in terms of the subjects you can tackle because of being telephoto lenses.  Shorter focal lengths are more flexible and require less room to operate in, but (like here), you have to get VERY close to your subject to achieve that 1:1 magnification (minimum focus distance here is 10 cm, which is actually INSIDE the lens hood if you kept it mounted.  You can forget shooting insects or something similar with this lens if they’re still alive!  I personally prefer shorter focal lengths for shooting food or product shots and longer focal lengths for shooting subjects like insects and other subjects where a longer working distance is beneficial.

Obviously there are going to be both some strengths and weaknesses here, but by and large this is a very nice little lens with some real strengths.  It brings some premium features, good autofocus, and a very compact size for its price tag of $599 USD.  So should you add one to your kit?  Check out my video review or text review for more information…or just enjoy the photos below.

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Photos of the Fujinon XF 30mm F2.8 Macro

Photos taken with the Fujinon XF 30mm F2.8 Macro

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