Fujinon XF 18-120mm F4 LM PZ WR Review

Dustin Abbott

July 20th, 2023

Powerzoom lenses are always a bit of the oddball in the room – caught between video and photography. The PowerZoom function is most reminiscent of the focus on camcorders or similar video cameras, but the cameras that a PZ lens will be mounted on is, at its heart, a device designed first and foremost for photography. Serious cinematographers tend to use more complex focus-follow systems and gearing for their systems, while many of those who are photographers first probably aren’t all that interested in the idea of zooming during video recording even if they do video. That leaves a fairly small niche for these lenses, which in many ways is a shame, as the Fujinon XF 18-120mm F4 LM WR PZ is, in many ways, the perfect all-in-one zoom for Fuji X-mount. It has a great focal range (nearly 6.7x zoom ratio), a constant aperture of F4, quality autofocus via the linear motors, an internally zooming design, and fairly good optics throughout. That focal range is so useful, going from 18mm (27mm full frame equivalence):

to 120mm (183mm full frame equivalence):

The vast, vast majority of photography subjects fall within this range, and I found the lens very useful as a walkaround lens. I personally preferred it to either the 18-55mm F2.8-4 OIS or the 16-80mm F4 OIS (though surely some will dispute the latter), but that is with a major caveat: I tested the lens on two bodies that have IBIS (In Body Image Stabilization) – the Fujifilm X-H2 and the new X-S20. The one acronym missing from the 18-120mm PZ’s description is OIS – which stands for Optical Image Stabilizer. There is no in-lens stabilization, which is actually very rare for any Fuji zoom lenses with an aperture of F4. If you own a body with IBIS, you may not miss it, but it is a very odd decision in a video specific lens considering how many of Fuji’s cameras don’t have IBIS. Trying to get handheld video without stabilization is a nightmare! This is a lens that should probably only be seriously considered by those that have a camera with IBIS.

If you do own such a camera, Fuji has developed some of the best IBIS systems out there. My X-H2 held the viewfinder perfectly steady with the 18-120mm PZ zoomed out to 120mm, and I was able to easily get 120mm shots with 1/5th of a second shutter speeds (right over 5 stops) and some success going one stop lower to 0.5 second shutter speeds.

I’ve read a number of user reviews since this is a lens that has been on the market for a while before I’m actually reviewing it (it released in September 2022), and most of the criticisms seem to fall around the lack of OIS and some frustrations with the video specific aspects of the lens. I actually feel like the lens would have been better received if they had gone a more conventional route and added OIS rather than the powerzoom functionality.

There is some renewed interest in PZ lenses at the moment due to the release of the TG-BT1 Tripod Grip. I’ve reviewed several such accessories in the past for other platforms, and they are very useful for Bluetooth control, extending your reach for vlogging, a quick tabletop tripod, and even for video capture where you have the major controls right at hand. It’s particularly useful if you have one of the powerzoom lenses (like the kit lens 15-45mm OIS PZ) or the 18-120mm PZ as you can smoothly zoom in our out without grasping a ring of any kind. This definitely adds some versatility and reminds me of using a remote to zoom my camcorder in years past.

I’ve reviewed the 18-120mm PZ on two different camera bodies. One is the compact X-S20 body (which I reviewed here); the second is the larger, higher resolution X-H2 (my review here). The X-H2 is the camera I’ve done the optical tests on, and it is the most demanding platform at the moment for any lens to be tested on. So does this lens make sense? We’ll try to answer those questions and more in this review. If you would prefer to watch your reviews, you can choose to watch my definitive video review below…or just keep reading.

Fuji XF 18-120mm PZ Build and Handling

Fuji likes to essentially build the feature list of their lenses right into the name, so if you learn to “speak Fuji” you can quickly get a sense of what a lens does and does not have right from the name. In this case, the name includes LM, WR, and PZ

LM = Linear Motors, Fuji’s premium focus system
WR = Weather Resistance
PZ = Powerzoom

We’ve already mentioned that OIS is missing, but another interesting omission is R, which stands for aperture ring. This is another odd omission, as just about all of Fuji’s other zooms do have an aperture ring. The lack of an aperture ring is less unusual on most other platforms, but this has been one of the defining attributes of lens design on Fuji, so I suspect some photographers will definitely miss it as they are accustomed to using the ring as their point of control for aperture. This most likely means that you will have to assign one of the control wheels to aperture when using the lens.

Fuji has delivered a thoroughly weather sealed lens here with a gasket at the lens mount, internal seals (12 of them!), and a fluorine coating on both the front and rear elements. The latter helps deal with fingerprints or water and makes the elements easier to clean.

The overall shape of the 18-120mm PZ is different from competing zooms because of being an internally zooming design. This obviously will help with the weathersealing, as well, as nothing extends outside the lens during zooming. The dimensions of the XF 18-120mm PZ are 3 (D) x 4.9″ (L) / 77.3 x 123.5 mm with a 72mm front filter thread size. The weight is moderate at 1 lb or 470 g. It has a fairly long and slim lens profile, and while the internal zoom makes it a little longer for storage, there are a number of very positive trade-offs.

The primary one for video work is that this makes for a great gimbal lens. Depending on your gimbal, you may be able to activate the powerzoom feature right from your gimbal controls, and because of it being an internally zooming lens, the weight balance will be the same regardless of what focal length you are selecting.

Most of the physical controls are designed around two functions: zooming and focusing. In the case of zooming, you have three different ways to zoom. One is the typical zoom ring that most photographers will be familiar with (it’s the widest ring in the center of the lens). You can also use the unique Zoom/Focus control ring (the slimmer ring between the zoom ring and the Z/F button). There is also a small lever beneath the Z/F button that can be used for slow, controlled zooming. You would think that with three options here, there would certainly be at least one standout way to zoom the lens, but for stills, at least, that just isn’t the case.

Why?

Because all three approaches involve a “zoom-by-wire” functionality, where the input from the rings is actually routed through the powerzoom motor. Even the main zoom ring requires about five rotations to get from 18 to 120mm. There’s no quick way to zoom, which means that as a photographer, you will probably miss a few shots because you are intent on getting to the focal length you want but can’t quickly get there. It’s also worth noting that the powerzoom motor isn’t silent, so it is possible that you will pick up some sound if shooting in a very quiet environment.

The “rocker-style” zoom ring is a little more useful, as it is position sensitive. If you move it all the way in one direction or another, it will speed up the zoom, and the zoom action will be slower if you press it only partway forward or backward. This is good for smooth, continuous zooming (the main zoom ring will be limited by your wrist rotations, with a pause between them), but it still isn’t fast even if push the rocker all the way forward or backward. I started from 18mm moving as fast as it would allow and counted an easy “3 Mississippis” (roughly 3 seconds) before I reached 120mm. Not a lot of time in an absolute sense, but an eternity if you are desperate to get a shot.

The final option is the small lever/buttons under the Z/F button that allows you to do very slow, very controlled zooms by pressing in one on side of the rocker or the other. You can then release, as the lens will slowly and smoothly continue slowing panning out or in. And I mean slowly. I started a video and initiated the zoom, and it took nearly 30 seconds to go from 18 to 120mm! Obviously this is designed for slow pulls in or out and isn’t useful for much else.

The biggest challenge here is that the lens is not parfocal (focus is not at a consistent point throughout the zoom range), so as you zoom the lens must make small focus adjustments, and I could often see them. You can choose a small focus point and place it where you want, obviously, but what is small at 18mm is going to be huge by 120mm in terms of how much of the frame it occupies, so that almost certainly means that there will be some focus adjustments along the way. This was a lens that REALLY needed to be parfocal and is not. That’s a missed opportunity and is one of the chief complaints from real world users who wanted to love the lens but didn’t because of this.

In many ways the single biggest value of the powerzoom is the ability to remotely control it. That allows for the camera/lens to be tripod mounted and thus have pans in and out without the fear of introducing vibration. The TG-BT1 grip/remote is a good option for that. I break down its function in this short video:

The final piece of the puzzle is the Z/F button. It allows you to switch between Zoom or Focus for the rocker style ring at the back. The idea is to allow for smooth focus racks. It does work, though I found two issues with the actual operation. First, this only works if you want to do relatively small focus changes, because (you guessed it!) focus moves as slowly as the zoom action. A large focus change takes a LONG time even at the fastest setting. The second issue is that it is basically impossible to take pressure off the rocker (say at the end of your focus pull) without jarring the camera. That’s fine if you want to just focus right through your target (you can then cut the jarring out in post), but if you want to pull to your subject and then stay there, it is very difficult to do that smoothly. The upside is that you can do some focus pulls in a way that Fuji’s standard focus rings don’t really allow for, but the execution still isn’t quite there.

One final observation is that the Z/F button has a lot of travel and doesn’t activate until the end of it. You have to push a little harder (and deeper) than what you might expect.

In most other ways the lens feels like standard Fuji fare. It has quality feel to it and has Fuji’s attractive classic semi-gloss black finish.

The included lens hood is is a petal shaped design. As usual, I don’t feel like the hood feels quite as quality as the materials of the lens, and the finish is slightly more matte and seems to get rub-marks and scratches far more easily than the nicer finish on the lens barrel.

There are no other switches on the barrel, as AF/MF is handled via a lever/button on Fuji camera bodies. Thus far Fuji has nothing that is the equivalent of Sony’s “focus hold button” on their lenses, nor is there any option to declick the aperture. That seems like an odd omission in a lens so clearly designed around video.

The minimum focus distance is a not-particularly-close 60cm, but the magnification figure is a very useful 0.20x nonetheless. Here’s a look at MFD:

Up close performance is fairly good, with nice detail and nicely blurred out backgrounds.

You’ve probably been able to pick up on what has been the major issue with the 18-120mm PZ; it has a lot of promising ideas but doesn’t quite deliver on them. There are some key areas where the execution reduces the potential of the lens. On paper, I like a lot of the ideas here, but the lens doesn’t quite live up to expectations in real world use. I love the internally zooming design, the constant aperture, the weather sealing, and the modest weight of the lens. I don’t love the zooming and agree with other users that the aperture ring is missed.

Fujinon XF 18-120mm F4 LM Autofocus Performance

The Fujinon XF 18-120mm PZ is equipped with a linear focus motor, which is Fuji’s premium autofocus system. Focus was smooth, quiet, and fast. I had no problems locking on subjects, even if that subject was a bird on the wing.

Focus was also accurate around my bee hive, with the insect detection locking onto the bees as they moved in and out of the hive.

Focus of Nala on the move was also good, with good eye tracking and stickiness:

I startled a flock of gulls near the water, and while focus didn’t start on the gulls (I was bringing the camera up), you can see that focus adjusted and was accurate as I panned across the water to follow them.

Focus breathing was well controlled in my video focus pulls tests. I saw no visible steps during the actual pull, but I did see an unfortunate common Fuji trait – focus traveled the majority of the way but then would have a split second pause before settling on the final focus lock. Fuji still isn’t quite at the level of Sony or Canon in this area. My hand test (where I reach forward and block the view of my face before removing it and allowing focus to come back to my eye) was smoother. Fuji’s AI tracking is quite good, and it seems like focus is more confident if there is one of the “trackable” subjects in frame.

I had my daughter shoot a clip of me approaching in my truck for my Ford Maverick review, and the vehicle was tracked smoothly as it approached the camera and as she panned to capture me passing.

As noted, the lens is not parfocal, so when I filmed the fast zoom clip for my review, you could clearly see focus trying to catch up by the time I reached 120mm. Focus is fast, but not quite fast enough to keep up in that instance. Another problem that could have been solved by a parfocal design.

In general, however, autofocus is good for both stills and video work.

Fuji XF 18-120mm PZ Image Quality Breakdown

The Fuji XF 18-120mm PZ has an optical design of 15 elements in 12 groups, and this includes 3 aspherical and 3 ED elements. The MTF chart shows a very strong performance in the center of the frame at both 18mm and 120mm, with some regression near the mid-frame. At 18mm there is a further dip that improves right at the edge of the frame (a unique graph), while at 120mm the MTFs show a steady regression to the corners, which are fairly soft.

The extremely high resolution of the Fujifilm X-H2 (40.2MP) that I’m reviewing the lens on is essentially the most optically demanding platform I review on right now, offering much greater pixel density than the 61MP Sony a7RV or Fujifilm GF100S and its 100MP medium format sensor. I have quickly seen that not every lens holds up well to the demands of this sensor, so this will be a hard test. There were moments that I was pleasantly surprised, however, as in this shot of wildflowers (104mm, F4):

Fuji’s correction profiles are typically quite good, but I’ll turn them off to take a look at the actual lens performance when it comes to vignette and distortion. There is (unsurprisingly) a strong amount of barrel distortion present along with significant vignetting at 18mm:

I corrected the distortion with a +17, and while the manual correction isn’t perfect, the distortion did correct in a fairly linear fashion. Vignette is moderately heavy (nearly three stops) and required a +73 to fully correct.

As you progress through the zoom range, the distortion flips to pincushion style distortion that is progressively stronger as you zoom out. At 12omm it is the strongest, looking like this:

This distortion is nice and linear, and easy to correct, but there is a fair bit (-14 to correct). Vignette isn’t bad at all, however, requiring only a +39 to correct for it. As per usual, Fuji’s correction profiles do a nice job of adjusting for all of these issues.

How about chromatic aberrations? When I went looking for longitudinal chromatic aberrations, I found very little of them either on my test chart on in real world images. There is a very minor amount of fringing before and after the plane of focus on my test chart, but little that shows up in the real world…even with all of those pixels on the X-H2 to reveal them. You can see on these white blossoms that there are no apparent fringing issues:

As we’ll see a little later, however, I did some fringing in harsher outdoor lighting.

I also looked for the lateral chromatic aberrations that show up near the edge of the frame in high transition areas. There are minimal amounts of LaCA, that seem very concentrated at the very edge of the frame:

There’s no deal breaking flaws here. This is actually a pretty good performance for a zoom lens with such a broad zoom ratio.

So how about sharpness? Here’s a look at my test chart that the crops came from (40MP images from the X-H2):

Here’s a look at 18mm F4 crops (about 175% magnification) from the center, mid-frame, and corner:

We see essentially what the MTF chart shows: a sharp center, a good mid-frame, and a fairly good corner performance. I’m not wowed by the amount of contrast and rending of fine details, though I’ve seen much worse. Unfortunately there isn’t a lot extra “in the tank” here if you stop the lens down. There’s a very mild improvement of contrast at F5.6, but no further gains at F8 due to diffraction already starting to limit what gains might naturally be there. Here’s a real world image at 18mm, F8 with crops.

You’ll see that detail is good but not exceptional, and the textures aren’t clearly defined even in the center, though the center has more contrast and detail than the crop from the edge of the frame.

Minimum aperture is F22, but you can see that diffraction has completely robbed the image of all sharpness and clarity.

It’s worth observing that very high resolution cameras like the X-H2 or X-T5 are going to be better served by large aperture lenses. They can be stopped down multiple stops before diffraction begins (it typically shows up between F5.6 and F8 and gets progressively worse as the aperture closes down). That allows these lenses to achieve maximum sharpness before diffraction occurs. A lens like the 150-600mm F5.6-8 is already past that diffraction point at its maximum aperture of F8 on the telephoto end, meaning that you can’t stop the lens down to improve sharpness effectively.

Moving on to 35mm shows an almost identical performance to the results at 18mm, though without the odd dip about 2/3rds of the way out. There’s a more consistently linear performance in sharpness, so my outer midframe results definitely look better even if the corners are about equal:

Stopping down to F5.6 gives a mild improvement in contrast. Real world results at landscape apertures look very nice on a global level even if the detail doesn’t pop off the screen at a pixel level.

The results at 50mm are the best yet, with a slight improvement over the 35mm results. There is more contrast and detail, and it shows up across the frame. It’s a mild improvement, but it is there. This real world image looks nice and crisp in the plane of focus:

There’s also slightly more capacity for increased sharpness when stopped down. I noticed a little more improvement than earlier focal lengths when stopping down to F5.6 or F8.

At 90mm the image was definitely softer at F4, though I saw a much more obvious improvement at F5.6 than usual. This real world result at F4 looks pretty good even if contrast isn’t fantastic.

My test results show a similar trend at 120mm. Results are a bit softer across the frame, and the corner performance is considerably weaker than at wider focal lengths. Stopping down to smaller apertures helps somewhat, but the lens never really gets particularly sharp.

This real world shot at F8 shows a pretty good performance in the center (though you can see some “blooming” in the highlights due to weak contrast), but the edge shot is quite soft and shows some strong aberrations on the edges of some of the brighter subjects.

Contrast seemed better at closer distances and easier lighting conditions.

On the flip side, I actually felt like the bokeh quality was pretty good at longer focal lengths for a zoom like this. At closer distances you have the ability to really blur out a background, and this image at 120mm, F4, looks great.

Likewise, the bokeh in this shot of bright leaves against the green background of a rainy day also looks great.

With a less ideal subject to background ratio, things can get a little busier, but not terrible:

You’ll get a little more outlining in the bokeh in the middle of the range (where the lens is sharper), but again, not bad:

I found that flare resistance was fairly good, and for normal, real world use, flare wasn’t a problem.

A typical strength of Fuji lenses is the color rendition, and that continues to be the case here. Colors in this big landscape scene are nice:

Colors on a more intimate level are also good, with nice saturation levels.

Forest greens had a beautiful saturation level – not overdone or garish, but just right.

Optically, this lens is fairly good. Sharpness isn’t exceptional, but it was good enough to produce nice looking images, and there aren’t any critical flaws to report. If you are shooting one of the high-resolution bodies, you’ll have to decide just how much of a pixel peeper you are. Thus far it has seemed to me that only the sharpest of Fuji primes are actually great on this demanding 40MP sensor, but the 18-120mm PZ doesn’t embarrass itself optically, either. Check out the image gallery to see more images for yourself and see if this is the lens for you.

Conclusion

I’m left with mixed emotions at the conclusion of my review period with the Fujinon XF 18-120mm F4 LM WR PZ. There are a number of things I genuinely like about the lens. I love the zoom range, the constant maximum aperture, the quality weather sealed build, the good autofocus, and the internally zooming design. But there are also a number of questionable design decisions that hold back the potential of the lens. The decision to not include OIS will affect some Fuji shooters, and the inability to realize a parfocal lens really limits some of the video-specific elements. Traditional photographers are unlikely to enjoy the zoom mechanics and the lack of an aperture ring. And it’s a shame, as I think Fuji could have gone a more traditional route with this lens and really had a winner.

This the second PZ lens for Fuji, and it obviously occupies a much more premium space than the inexpensive 15-45mm PZ kit lens. There is certain a market for powerzoom lenses, and this 18-120mm PZ is a vast improvement on the performance, build, autofocus, and focal range of the kit lens. I also found the combination of the 18-120 and the new TG-BT1 tripod grip an interesting combination, as it gives you remote control of the powerzoom functionality. It could be particularly useful for working off-camera.

The current price of the 18-120mm PZ sits at $899 USD. That prices it above the more traditional Fujifilm XF 16-80mm F4 OIS lens. There are things I prefer about the 18-120mm, but there’s no question that the 16-80mm will prove more popular with the photography crowd. Some of the execution and ergonomic misses that I’ve detailed have lessened the excitement over this lens. It’s unfortunate, as this is a lens that had a lot of potential. There is a market for this lens, but I would only recommend buying if you are seriously interested in powerzoom.

Pros:

Well made lens
Good build and weather sealing
Internally zooming – great for balancing on gimbal
Smooth, quiet autofocus
Great focal range
Constant aperture
Balances well on a gimbal
Can control powerzoom from gimbal or tripod grip
Bokeh quality fairly good for a big zoom ratio
Low levels of chromatic aberrations in most situations
Beautiful color rendition
Fairly good flare resistance

Cons:

No aperture ring
No OIS
No quick way to zoom
The lens is not parfocal
Bright conditions cause some fringing
Sharpness only okay

Gear Used:

Purchase the Fujinon XF 18-120mm F4 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Fujifilm X-H2 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Fujifilm X-T5 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Find it Used at KEH

Purchase the Fujifilm X-S20 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Purchase the Fujifilm X-S10 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Want to support this channel? Use these affiliate links to shop at: B&H Photo | Amazon | Adorama | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Ebay | Make a donation via Paypal

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Keywords: 18-120mm, 18-120mm F4, XF 18-120mm F4, Fuji, Fuji 18-120mm Review, Fujinon XF 18-120mm F4 Review, WR, LM, PZ, Powerzoom, F4, F/4, Fujinon, Fujifilm, X-H2, FujiFILM X-H2, X-H2 Review, X-T5, Fuji X-S20, Fuji X-H2 Review, Fujinon, Dustin Abbott, Review, Sensor, Tracking, Wide Angle, Stabilization, Eye AF, Viltrox, XF, Review, Hands On, Video Test, Sharpness, High ISO, Autofocus, Dynamic Range, 40MP, 40 MP, Lens, Comparison, Test, Dustinabbott.net, APS-C, X-Trans, letthelightin, DA

DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Fujinon XF 18-120mm F4 LM WR PZ Gallery

Dustin Abbott

July 20th, 2023

Powerzoom lenses are always a bit of the oddball in the room – caught between video and photography. The PowerZoom function is most reminiscent of the focus on camcorders or similar video cameras, but the cameras that a PZ lens will be mounted on is, at its heart, a device designed first and foremost for photography. Serious cinematographers tend to use more complex focus-follow systems and gearing for their systems, while many of those who are photographers first probably aren’t all that interested in the idea of zooming during video recording even if they do video. That leaves a fairly small niche for these lenses, which in many ways is a shame, as the Fujinon XF 18-120mm F4 LM WR PZ is, in many ways, the perfect all-in-one zoom for Fuji X-mount. It has a great focal range (nearly 6.7x zoom ratio), a constant aperture of F4, quality autofocus via the linear motors, an internally zooming design, and fairly good optics throughout. That focal range is so useful, going from 18mm (27mm full frame equivalence):

to 120mm (183mm full frame equivalence):

The vast, vast majority of photography subjects fall within this range, and I found the lens very useful as a walkaround lens. I personally preferred it to either the 18-55mm F2.8-4 OIS or the 16-80mm F4 OIS (though surely some will dispute the latter), but that is with a major caveat: I tested the lens on two bodies that have IBIS (In Body Image Stabilization) – the Fujifilm X-H2 and the new X-S20. The one acronym missing from the 18-120mm PZ’s description is OIS – which stands for Optical Image Stabilizer. There is no in-lens stabilization, which is actually very rare for any Fuji zoom lenses with an aperture of F4. If you own a body with IBIS, you may not miss it, but it is a very odd decision in a video specific lens considering how many of Fuji’s cameras don’t have IBIS. Trying to get handheld video without stabilization is a nightmare! This is a lens that should probably only be seriously considered by those that have a camera with IBIS.

If you do own such a camera, Fuji has developed some of the best IBIS systems out there. My X-H2 held the viewfinder perfectly steady with the 18-120mm PZ zoomed out to 120mm, and I was able to easily get 120mm shots with 1/5th of a second shutter speeds (right over 5 stops) and some success going one stop lower to 0.5 second shutter speeds.

I’ve read a number of user reviews since this is a lens that has been on the market for a while before I’m actually reviewing it (it released in September 2022), and most of the criticisms seem to fall around the lack of OIS and some frustrations with the video specific aspects of the lens. I actually feel like the lens would have been better received if they had gone a more conventional route and added OIS rather than the powerzoom functionality.

There is some renewed interest in PZ lenses at the moment due to the release of the TG-BT1 Tripod Grip. I’ve reviewed several such accessories in the past for other platforms, and they are very useful for Bluetooth control, extending your reach for vlogging, a quick tabletop tripod, and even for video capture where you have the major controls right at hand. It’s particularly useful if you have one of the powerzoom lenses (like the kit lens 15-45mm OIS PZ) or the 18-120mm PZ as you can smoothly zoom in our out without grasping a ring of any kind. This definitely adds some versatility and reminds me of using a remote to zoom my camcorder in years past.

I’ve reviewed the 18-120mm PZ on two different camera bodies. One is the compact X-S20 body (which I reviewed here); the second is the larger, higher resolution X-H2 (my review here). The X-H2 is the camera I’ve done the optical tests on, and it is the most demanding platform at the moment for any lens to be tested on. So does this lens make sense? You can read my thoughts in my text review, watch the video review below, or just enjoy the photos!

https://youtu.be/OLA0yiOjwtg

Thanks to Fujifilm Canada for loaning me this lens for review. As always, this is a completely independent review and my conclusions are my own.

Photos of the Fuji XF 18-120mm PZ

Photos Taken with the Fuji XF 18-120mm PZ

Gear Used:

Purchase the Fujinon XF 18-120mm F4 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Fujifilm X-H2 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Fujifilm X-T5 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Find it Used at KEH

Purchase the Fujifilm X-S20 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Purchase the Fujifilm X-S10 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Want to support this channel? Use these affiliate links to shop at: B&H Photo | Amazon | Adorama | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Ebay | Make a donation via Paypal

Buy DA Merchandise https://bit.ly/TWIMerch

Keywords: 18-120mm, 18-120mm F4, XF 18-120mm F4, Fuji, Fuji 18-120mm Review, Fujinon XF 18-120mm F4 Review, WR, LM, PZ, Powerzoom, F4, F/4, Fujinon, Fujifilm, X-H2, FujiFILM X-H2, X-H2 Review, X-T5, Fuji X-S20, Fuji X-H2 Review, Fujinon, Dustin Abbott, Review, Sensor, Tracking, Wide Angle, Stabilization, Eye AF, Viltrox, XF, Review, Hands On, Video Test, Sharpness, High ISO, Autofocus, Dynamic Range, 40MP, 40 MP, Lens, Comparison, Test, Dustinabbott.net, APS-C, X-Trans, letthelightin, DA

DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Fujinon XF 8mm F3.5 WR Review

Dustin Abbott

July 3rd, 2023

A prime lens with a maximum aperture of F3.5 rarely gets anyone excited, but the rules change when you are talking about a compact lens with an angle of view of 120°! The Fujinon XF 8mm F3.5 R WR is a very welcome lens – a tiny wide angle prime with a full frame equivalent focal length of 12mm. This extreme wide angle ties the large and expensive XF 8-16mm F2.8 (my review here) for the widest perspective available for Fuji’s X-mount. This focal length, when used properly, allows you to get wonderfully dynamic images.

The two ways to get to 8mm on Fuji couldn’t be more different. The 8-16mm zoom weighs nearly 4x as much (805 vs 215g), is over twice as long (121.2 vs 55.8mm), and is over 20mm wider (88 vs 68mm). The new 8mm prime allows you to use filters (62mm) where as the big zoom does not, and the little prime costs about half as much ($799 vs $1499 USD). The zoom has great image quality, more focal length flexibility, and a larger maximum aperture. This is two radically different approaches to this focal length, but I suspect there will be a lot of people who really appreciate being able to go this wide in such a small package.

I’ve reviewed the lens on two different camera bodies. One is the compact X-S20 body (which I reviewed here); the second is the larger, higher resolution X-H2 (my review here). The new XF 8mm is obviously a better size match to Fuji’s smaller cameras, where it adds little weight or bulk.

The XF 8mm certainly counts as a small but premium lens. Were there some compromises to get that small size? So should you add one to your kit? We’ll try to answer those questions and more in this review. If you would prefer to watch your reviews, you can choose to watch my definitive video review below…or just keep reading.

Thanks to Fujifilm Canada for loaning me this lens for review. As always, this is a completely independent review and my conclusions are my own.

Fuji XF 8mm Build and Handling

Fuji likes to essentially build the feature list of their lenses right into the name, so if you learn to “speak Fuji” you can quickly get a sense of what a lens does and does not have right from the name. In this case, the name includes R and WR.

R = Ring, or specifically an aperture ring.
WR = Weather Resistance

Despite being small, Fuji found room to fit in the aperture ring, and obviously having a weather sealed design is incredibly important for a lens that will be used for a lot of outdoor photography where there, you know, weather!

The dimensions of the XF 8mm are 2.67 (D) x 2.07″ (L) / 68mm×52.8mm with a 62mm front filter thread size. As noted, the weight comes in at 7.6 oz or 215g. This is an extremely compact lens, particularly when one considers how wide a focal length is covered here. Fuji managed that in part by not trying to go for an F2.8 aperture here. That makes the lens a little less attractive for low light photography (or astrophotography), but isn’t a big deal for many of the typical subjects a wide angle lens like this will cover. This is a great example of how good lens design can leverage the smaller sensor size that the lens is being developed for and provide the size of lens that you just won’t see on full frame. It is dwarfed by the relatively compact Tamron 11-20mm F2.8 wide angle zoom:

The aperture ring is the Fuji standard. It moves nicely with defined detents at the one third stop marks and with markings at the full stops (F1.4. F2, F2.8, etc…). Rotate the lens all the way to the right and click the little button on the ring if you want to move into A (automatic) mode and control aperture from within the camera.

The manual focus ring works fairly well. I could focus with fairly good precision and didn’t notice visible stepping despite being a focus by wire system. The nature of a lens like this is that often a lot is in focus

The Fuji XF 8mm is a very nicely made lens despite its light weight. It feels very “metal” and dense. The lens has a classic semi-glass black finish to it and is completed with thorough weather sealing (as already noted) that has a rear gasket and internal seals.

The included lens hood is is a petal shaped design that is fairly (but not extremely) shallow.

There are no switches on the barrel, as AF/MF is handled via a lever/button on Fuji camera bodies. Thus far Fuji has nothing that is the equivalent of Sony’s “focus hold button” on their lenses, nor is there any option to declick the aperture. There is also no lens based optical stabilization. Both the X-H2 and X-S20 have good in-camera-image-stabilization, so I didn’t actually miss it, but if you are shooting with an older camera, you might.

The minimum focus distance is 18cm, which produces a quite low magnification figure of 0.07x. Here’s a look at MFD:

Up close performance is fairly good, with nice detail even if the magnification isn’t high.

Fuji sticks to a pretty consistent design formula for its XF lenses, and so there aren’t really any surprises here either good or bad. Build quality is nice, with good materials, the rings work well, and the lens has a nice, quality feel to the construction. I wouldn’t mind seeing Fuji advance the ball in terms of the feature set on its lenses, but neither is there anything “wrong” with what’s here.

Fujinon XF 8mm Autofocus Performance

The Fujinon XF 8mm F3.5 is not equipped with a linear focus motor, as Fuji obviously concluded that the small elements inside this tiny lens didn’t really need the extra power (and size) of a linear motor. While Fuji doesn’t elaborate on the motor here, I suspect it is some kind of stepping (STM) motor that does the job of moving focus quickly and smoothly. So much stays in focus all the time with such a wide angle lens (with a smaller maximum aperture) that there aren’t a lot of big focus changes needed most of the time anyway, so focus felt pretty instantaneous…and able to keep up when the subject gets way too close!

This shot highlights the nature of a wide angle lens like this. This is rarely going to be a portrait lens unless you are looking for exaggerated and funny. Anything close to the camera will be stretched and exaggerated. The one exception to this rule is if you are shooting a big scene and just putting your subject relatively small and centered in it. Look at how extreme this concrete corner is when I compose with it in the foreground:

Focus accuracy was generally good as well, delivering well focused results in the various shooting situations I was is in.

Outside of basically a meter of the lens, pretty much everything is going to be in focus, so the only focus issue I typically see with wide angle lenses is some pulsing. I didn’t really encounter that here, however, so I just didn’t really think about autofocus during stills capture, which is the way you want it.

There was very little to do see when doing autofocus pulls. There is so little focus changing during my typically pulls test that I had to put my hand up to the camera to give a more obvious focus change, but even in that there was relatively little change. As a byproduct there is no real obvious focus movement (so very smooth) and no apparent focus breathing at all. This would make for a very interesting gimbal lens if you wanted a wide angle of view and for pretty much everything to be in focus. It would be very nice for interior walkthroughs for real estate, for example, or even for vlogging if you don’t mind a bit of a distorted look.

So while the XF 8mm doesn’t boast Fuji’s LM (Linear Motor) designation, it is because it doesn’t need it. A quick look at their wide angle lenses show that they reserve the linear motors for the wide aperture zoom (8-16mm) or for large aperture primes (F1.4 lenses). I’ve got nothing to complain about for autofocus; the focus system got the job done here.

Fuji XF 8mm Image Quality Breakdown

The Fuji XF 8mm has a surprisingly complex optical formula for such a tiny lens. There are 12 elements in 9 groups, and this includes 3 aspherical and 2 ED elements. The MTF chart shows a very strong performance in the center (near perfect), a good mid-frame performance, and some regression at the edges of the frame.

The extremely high resolution of the Fujifilm X-H2 (40.2MP) that I’m reviewing the lens on is essentially the most optically demanding platform I review on right now, offering much greater pixel density than the 61MP Sony a7RV or Fujifilm GF100S and its 100MP medium format sensor. I have quickly seen that not every lens holds up well to the demands of this sensor, but the XF 8mm does pretty well.

Fuji’s correction profiles are typically quite good, but I’ll turn them off to take a look at the actual lens performance when it comes to vignette and distortion. There is (unsurprisingly) a strong amount of barrel distortion present along with significant vignetting.

I’ve seen much worse distortion, though obviously this amount will definitely spoil images if not corrected. My manual correction (shown on the right above) has a +25 to correct the barrel distortion and a +76 to correct for vignette. The correction profile does all of this easily either in camera for JPEG/Video or in software for RAW files, and I felt the correction profile in Lightroom did a cleaner job with the distortion than what I could do manually, though I did feel it was overly aggressive in cropping the image. Here’s a look at that result:

You’ll see that my manual correction earlier got rid of the distortion fairly well while leaving a lot more image. My recommendation: if you want the extra width in your shot, do a manual correction instead.

How about chromatic aberrations? When I went looking for longitudinal chromatic aberrations, I was essentially unable to find them. A wide angle lens like this with a relatively small maximum aperture is rarely going to have an issue with fringing before or after the plane of focus because the plane of focus is so large. You can see on these white blossoms that there are no apparent fringing issues:

The more common issue for wide angle lenses is lateral chromatic aberrations that show up near the edge of the frame in high transition areas. That doesn’t seem to be an issue here even with corrections turned off. The edges of the frame show no fringing in this real world shot.

Here’s a look at my test chart that the crops came from (40MP images from the X-H2):

Here’s a look at F3.5 crops (about 175% magnification) from the center, mid-frame, and corner:

We see essentially what the MTF chart shows: a very sharp center, a good mid-frame, and a drop to the corners…though not to unusable levels. Over most of the frame the lens is pretty much equally sharp at F3.5 as it is at a smaller aperture like F5.6. Here’s a look at 100% magnification of a real world shot of beautifully aged wood on the side of a barn – not much to distinguish between wide open and stopped down a bit:

Stopping down to F4 produces little difference over most of the frame, though the corners are slightly improved (and brighter!). A more significant difference in the corners can be seen by F5.6 (here at 200% magnification):

By F8 diffraction on my high resolution X-H2 essentially stops any further gains, with F5.6 and F8 looking largely the same. The corners never quite reach the levels of the center of the frame. I can’t blame that entirely on the ultra high resolution, however, as even on the 26MP X-S20 results aren’t as sharp in the corners.

To put things in perspective, however, it is extremely difficult to engineer such a wide angle lens with excellent corner sharpness. I’ve seen plenty of ultra wide angle lenses whose corners were mush…which isn’t the case here. The expensive 8-16mm F2.8 is very slightly better mid-frame, but very slightly worse in the corners, so if you want to go this wide, this is essentially as good of corner performance as you’re going to get. Images looks quite good to my eye, too, with good sharpness across the frame except maybe that last little percentage in the extreme corners.

Minimum aperture is F22, but on most cameras diffraction is going to really play havoc with contrast and acuity. Things look pretty soft by comparison even with F3.5:

$29-Diffraction$

Bokeh quality is not really a major concern with a lens like this, as it is pretty difficult to create a blurred out background. I was quite close to these flowers, but you can see that the further objects really aren’t all that out of focus.

In this shot of Nala you can see a lot of outlining in the trees beyond.

That’s just a strength of a lens this wide, and frankly, not all that important, as you buy a lens like this more to have a lot IN focus rather than to try to create out of focus areas.

Far more important is flare resistance, as this wide of an angle of view is often going to have bright lights in the frame. At wider apertures flare resistance is quite good (first image), though at smaller apertures there are few ghosting blobs of multicolored light (images 2 and 3). Nothing terrible, however.

A great strength of Fuji lenses tends to be their color rendition, and I did find colors really nice. Images looked quite rich:

Forest greens had a beautiful saturation level – not overdone or garish, but just right.

Images had a nice punch to them that I appreciate.

This spring/summer has been a difficult season for astrophotography in Eastern Canada due to the wildfires that are leaving haze and smoke in the air all the time, so I didn’t get any astro images. The maximum aperture of F3.5 doesn’t make this a top choice for astrophotography, anyway, but I would have liked to have seen the stars a bit!

Overall, however, I was very pleased with the XF 8mm. It packs good image quality into an amazingly compact package. It’s a LONG way to my shoes with a lens this wide!

Check out the image gallery to see more images for yourself and see if this is the lens for you.

Conclusion

The Fujinon XF 8mm F3.5 WR is evidence that there are still some unique lenses for Fuji to build for their X-mount platform, and I feel like they’ve nailed the formula here. The XF 8mm is small enough to fit on the smaller X cameras while being strong enough optically to work on the high resolution monsters.

One has to have a different eye for composition when shooting with a lens this wide. You’ll often have to get closer than what you’d expect. In the shot below, the bright leaves at the top of the shot were literally above my head at the time I clicked the shutter.

I know that there is a lot of interest in the XF 8mm from both photographers and videographers. I can see only one potential problem, and that’s price. Such a small lens with a maximum aperture of F3.5 that retails for $799 USD or $1079 CDN is going to seem expensive to some. So many third party lenses are coming out now at lower price points (though none quite like this!), and sometimes very small lenses seem expensive in the strange sense that we often equate size with value. Put another way, it is easier for people to perceive a large lens as premium and deserving of a higher price than a small lens. But once people have paid the money, they are going to love having this extreme perspective in such a small, portable package. The XF 8mm is a very welcome new lens to the Fuji platform, particularly when it actually fills a need that no other lens is filling at the moment.

Pros:

Well made lens in a compact package
Good build and weather sealing
Extremely compact for such a wide perspective
Ties for the widest perspective on X-mount.
Autofocus is smooth and quiet
Good center and mid-frame sharpness from F3.5 on
Low levels of chromatic aberrations
Beautiful color rendition
Fairly good flare resistance

Cons:

No declick option or physical controls other than aperture ring
Some strong barrel distortion
Corners never get extremely sharp

Gear Used:

Purchase the Fujinon XF 8mm F3.5 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Fujifilm X-H2 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Fujifilm X-T5 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Find it Used at KEH

Purchase the Fujifilm X-S20 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Purchase the Fujifilm X-S10 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Purchase the Fujinon XF 18-120mm F4 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

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DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Fujinon XF 8mm F3.5 WR Image Gallery

Dustin Abbott

July 3rd, 2023

A prime lens with a maximum aperture of F3.5 rarely gets anyone excited, but the rules change when you are talking about a compact lens with an angle of view of 120°! The Fujinon XF 8mm F3.5 R WR is a very welcome lens – a tiny wide angle prime with a full frame equivalent focal length of 12mm. This extreme wide angle ties the large and expensive XF 8-16mm F2.8 (my review here) for the widest perspective available for Fuji’s X-mount. This focal length, when used properly, allows you to get wonderfully dynamic images.

The two ways to get to 8mm on Fuji couldn’t be more different. The 8-16mm zoom weighs nearly 4x as much (805 vs 215g), is over twice as long (121.2 vs 55.8mm), and is over 20mm wider (88 vs 68mm). The new 8mm prime allows you to use filters (62mm) where as the big zoom does not, and the little prime costs about half as much ($799 vs $1499 USD). The zoom has great image quality, more focal length flexibility, and a larger maximum aperture. This is two radically different approaches to this focal length, but I suspect there will be a lot of people who really appreciate being able to go this wide in such a small package.

I’ve reviewed the lens on two different camera bodies. One is the compact X-S20 body (which I reviewed here); the second is the larger, higher resolution X-H2 (my review here). The new XF 8mm is obviously a better size match to Fuji’s smaller cameras, where it adds little weight or bulk.

The XF 8mm certainly counts as a small but premium lens. Were there some compromises to get that small size? So should you add one to your kit? Find out my thoughts in my text review or by watching my video review.

Images of the Fujinon XF 8mm F3.5

Images Taken with the Fuji XF 8mm F3.5

Gear Used:

Purchase the Fujinon XF 8mm F3.5 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Fujifilm X-H2 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Fujifilm X-T5 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Find it Used at KEH

Purchase the Fujifilm X-S20 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Purchase the Fujifilm X-S10 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Purchase the Fujinon XF 18-120mm F4 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Want to support this channel? Use these affiliate links to shop at: B&H Photo | Amazon | Adorama | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Ebay | Make a donation via Paypal

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DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Fujinon XF 33mm F1.4 LM WR Image Gallery

Dustin Abbott

May 22nd, 2023

One of the biggest advantages for APS-C is the ability to have large aperture prime lenses that are still compact and lightweight. The Fujinon XF 33mm F1.4 R LM WR weighs only 360g while boasting an extremely nice build quality, great weather sealing, good autofocus, and having the nice color rendition that Fuji optical glass provides. It was announced in September 2021, and, being a newer lens, has Fuji’s updated focus design that makes it more versatile for things like video. The XF 33mm offers a full frame 50mm equivalent angle of view (normal), and as such is going to be an indispensable addition to many photographer’s kit. This is an easy lens to produce lovely photos with.

The single greatest challenge for the XF 33mm is not some flaw of its own but rather the fact that there are two other XF mount 33mm F1.4 lenses to choose from: the Viltrox 33mm F1.4 at under $300 and the Tokina atx-m 33mm F1.4 at $350. The Fuji XF 33mm comes in at a much more premium $800 price point. I haven’t spent time with the Tokina, but I did review the Viltrox and found it to be fairly strong lens. The Fuji is the more mature, nuanced lens, but it will face a bit of a value question by comparison.

That’s a financial decision, obviously, but I will say that this has been one of my favorite Fuji primes that I’ve reviewed thus far. The lens offers nice colors, a decent magnification ratio that bests the other two alternatives, pleasant bokeh, and good sharpness.

So should you add one to your kit? You can answer that question by watching my video review, reading the text review, or just enjoy the photos below.

Images of the Fujinon XF 33mm F1.4

Image Taken with the Fujinon XF 33mm F1.4

Gear Used:

Purchase the Fujinon XF 33mm F1.4 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Fujifilm X-H2 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Fujifilm X-T5 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Find it Used at KEH

Purchase the Viltrox AF 33mm F1.4 XF @ Viltrox Store | B&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Purchase the Fujifilm X-T4 @B&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Purchase the Fujifilm X-S10 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Want to support this channel? Use these affiliate links to shop at: B&H Photo | Amazon | | Camera Canada | Ebay | Make a donation via Paypal

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Keywords: 33mm, 33mm F1.4, XF 33mm F1.4, Fuji, Fuji 33mm Review, Fujinon XF 33mm F1.4 Review, LM, WR, R, 33mm, 33, 1.4, F1.4, F/1.4, Fujinon, Fujifilm, X-H2, FujiFILM X-H2, X-H2 Review, X-T5, Fuji X-H2, Fuji X-H2 Review, Fujinon, Dustin Abbott, Review, Sensor, Tracking, IBIS, Stabilization, Eye AF, Viltrox, XF, Review, Hands On, Video Test, Sharpness, High ISO, Autofocus, Dynamic Range, 40MP, 40 MP, Lens, Comparison, Test, Dustinabbott.net, APS-C, X-Trans, letthelightin, DA

DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Fujinon XF 33mm F1.4 LM WR Review

Dustin Abbott

May 22nd, 2023

One of the biggest advantages for APS-C is the ability to have large aperture prime lenses that are still compact and lightweight. The Fujinon XF 33mm F1.4 R LM WR weighs only 360g while boasting an extremely nice build quality, great weather sealing, good autofocus, and having the nice color rendition that Fuji optical glass provides. It was announced in September 2021, and, being a newer lens, has Fuji’s updated focus design that makes it more versatile for things like video. The XF 33mm offers a full frame 50mm equivalent angle of view (normal), and as such is going to be an indispensable addition to many photographer’s kit. This is an easy lens to produce lovely photos with.

The single greatest challenge for the XF 33mm is not some flaw of its own but rather the fact that there are two other XF mount 33mm F1.4 lenses to choose from: the Viltrox 33mm F1.4 at under $300 and the Tokina atx-m 33mm F1.4 at $350. The Fuji XF 33mm comes in at a much more premium $800 price point. I haven’t spent time with the Tokina, but I did review the Viltrox and found it to be fairly strong lens. The Fuji is the more mature, nuanced lens, but it will face a bit of a value question by comparison.

That’s a financial decision, obviously, but I will say that this has been one of my favorite Fuji primes that I’ve reviewed thus far. The lens offers nice colors, a decent magnification ratio that bests the other two alternatives, pleasant bokeh, and good sharpness.

So should you add one to your kit? We’ll try to answer that question in this review. If you would prefer to watch your reviews, you can choose watch my definitive video review below…or just keep reading.

Fuji XF 33mm Build and Handling

Fuji likes to essentially build the feature list of their lenses right into the name, so if you learn to “speak Fuji” you can quickly get a sense of what a lens does and does not have right from the name. In this case, the name includes R, LM, and WR, which is a robust feature set.

R = Ring, or specifically an aperture ring.
LM = Linear Motor, Fuji’s premium focus system
WR = Weather Resistance

That adds up to a fairly premium lens despite the compact size of the lens. The Fuji XF 33mm F1.4 has very pleasing proportions that look very nice when mounted on the camera.

Now, to be fair, I tested the lens on one of Fuji’s largest APS-C bodies – the X-H2, so if you are using one the very small bodies and want to travel as light as possible, there are smaller/lighter alternatives. To me, however, this is a great size lens on the X-H2.

The dimensions of the XF 33mm are 2.6 (D) x 2.9″ (L) / 67 x 73.5mm with a 58mm front filter thread size. As noted, the weight comes in at 12.7 oz or 360g. What’s weird is that the two competing lenses (Viltrox and Tokina) are identical in their own proportions and specifications. Both are 2.6 x 2.8″ (65 x 72mm) though the Viltrox weighs in at 270g while the Tokina is slightly heavier at 285g. But there’s more – they both have the same optical design (10 elements in 9 groups) and the same MFD (40cm) and maximum magnification (0.10x). Same filter thread size (52mm) and same number of aperture blades (9). The angle of view isn’t identical, so they aren’t the same optical design, but I have very rarely seen two lenses from two different companies with such similar specs. Here’s a look at a comparison chart between the three lenses:

The Fuji looks slightly larger than the Viltrox side by side, but nothing significant.

The aperture ring is the Fuji standard. It moves nicely with defined detents at the one third stop marks and with markings at the full stops (F1.4. F2, F2.8, etc…). Rotate the lens all the way to the right and click the little button on the ring if you want to move into A (automatic) mode and control aperture from within the camera.

The manual focus ring works fairly well. I could focus with fairly good precision and didn’t notice visible stepping despite being a focus by wire system.

The Fuji XF 33mm is a very nicely made lens despite its light weight. It feels very “metal” and dense. The lens has a classic semi-glass black finish to it and is completed with thorough weather sealing (as already noted) that has a rear gasket and internal seals.

The included lens hood is is made of plastic and is nothing particularly special. It feels like a cheap tack on compared to the build quality of the lens, and it stands out because the Viltrox costs 2 1/2x less but has a very nice metal lens hood that matches the lens better. The hood doesn’t even match in terms of texture.

There are no switches on the barrel, as AF/MF is handled via a lever/button on Fuji camera bodies. But many other lensmakers are including things like a focus hold button and/or declick option in lenses in this price zone, and it feels like the standard has been raised and Fuji isn’t quite meeting it. There is also no lens based optical stabilization. I used the X-H2 for this review, which has good in-camera-image-stabilization, so I didn’t actually miss it, but if you are shooting with an older camera, you might.

There are nine rounded aperture blades and I felt like the aperture did quite a good job of retaining a circular shape when stopped down. Here’s a look at the geometry at F1.4, F2, and F2.8:

The minimum focus distance is 30cm, which allows for a pretty average (for a 50mm lens) 0.15x magnification, though both the Viltrox and Tokina underwhelm with a 0.10x magnification, making the Fuji look pretty generous by comparison. Here’s a look at MFD:

Up close performance is good, and this real world shot shows both the magnification level and the detail available.

Contrast certainly isn’t at macro level, but there’s enough detail there to make up close shots with strongly blurred backgrounds a definite strength.

Overall, the build and features of the lens are very nice, and, as noted in the intro, the compact nature of the lens makes it easy to bring along.

Fujinon XF 33mm Autofocus Performance

The Fujinon XF 33mm F1.4 Macro is equipped with a linear focus motor, and that motor does the job of moving focus quickly and smoothly.

Focus accuracy was generally good as well, delivering well focused results in a variety of lighting conditions. This shot of Ferrari shows good focus even at F1.4:

I used it at a games night with friends, and it delivered nicely focused results in typical room lighting.

Focus was quiet and quick, and focus accuracy is most situations was very good. Here, for example, focus grabbed the tiny spring buds that I was trying to capture.

I will noted that if the “green box” was not on the area that I wanted, focus would not grab an obvious foreground subject even with whole sensor tracking engaged. I got this shot, for example:

When what I was looking for was this shot:

This seems to be a Fuji issue and not this particular lens, however.

If I tested focus pulls in stills mode, I would hear a little clacking not from the focus motor but the aperture blades. Focus was tuned for speed there. If I switched to video mode, the damping was definitely increased, and focus pulls were more smooth and gradual rather than snappy. This is good, though I did see a few visible steps, particularly right before final subject lock. Not a flawless performance, but definitely better than what I saw from earlier Fuji lenses. Worth noting is that focus breathing is very minimal as well.

When doing my hand test I had a hard time getting the focus system to leave my face even with my hand covering most of the frame. I had to intentionally block all of my face before focus would shift to my hand. It was a little frustrating for that exercise, but I did appreciate that if I passed my hand back and forth laterally in front of the camera focus never wavered from my eyes, so stickiness was good.

Here’s another shot that shows off real world precision of focus (on an X-H2), and I thought it did a good job:

I was satisfied with the focus performance here in general, and, if focus isn’t quite at the top tier level I see from other brands like Sony or Canon, I don’t feel like the gap between Fuji products and them is quite as wide anymore.

Fuji XF 33mm Image Quality Breakdown

The Fuji XF 33mm has a complex optical formula of 15 elements in 10 groups, which includes 2 aspherical and 3 ED elements. That’s 5 elements more than either the Viltrox or the Tokina. It does pay off here, however, as I feel like the XF 33mm strikes a very nice balance between sharpness, bokeh, and general rendering. The MTF chart suggests a sharp center with a fairly steep decline to the mid-frame, but the sharpness essentially flatlines from there to the edge of the frame.

The extremely high resolution of the Fujifilm X-H2 (40.2MP) that I’m reviewing the lens on will give it a sterner test than any of the available cameras when it was released, though I would largely say that the XF 33mm is up to the task. Images have nice detail, and this simple shot of pine needles in the rain (at F1.4) stood out to me.

Fuji’s correction profiles are typically quite good, but I’ll turn them off to take a look at the actual lens performance when it comes to vignette and distortion.

We can see that there is some distortion (pincushion style) and vignette. If I do a manual correction I find that the distortion pattern is very linear and easily fixes with a value of -5. The vignette is a bit heavier, but a +62 clears it up (about 2 1/4 stops). The correction profile does all of this easily either in camera for JPEG/Video or in software for RAW files.

Nothing too troubling here. How about chromatic aberrations? First of all, nothing jumped out at me in real world testing. When I went looking for longitudinal chromatic aberrations, I was able to find some mostly in the form of some blue/green fringing around some specular bokeh highlights, but nothing obvious or egregious.

I saw next to no lateral chromatic aberrations near the edge of the frame either on my chart in on bare branches in real world shots, so nothing to worry about on that front.

Here’s a look at my test chart that the crops came from (40MP images from the X-H2):

Here’s a look at F1.4 crops (about 175% magnification) from the center, mid-frame, and corner:

You can see that the resolution does indeed drop off significantly from the center to the mid-frame results, with a very shallow decline from there to the corners. Fortunately real world images at wide apertures are mostly composed in the area where resolution is higher on a lens like this, and when you hit the sweet spot, you can get nice, high contrast results.

Contrast isn’t off the charts, but I did think that the detail in this night scene at F1.4 was perfectly usable.

When I compared to the Viltrox at F1.4 the Fuji had a clear advantage in sharpness across the frame.

Stopping the lens down to F2 starts to improve the contrast across the frame, and I do see better detail starting to emerge in the midframe and corners.

Things are looking better by F2.8, and better still by F4. Smaller aperture images have nice detail across the frame, like this shot at F5.6:

How about this old barn at F5.6, where I see only a slight bit less contrast near the edge of the frame:

If I check back in with the Viltrox, one of the biggest things I see is how much more consistent the metering was with the Fuji lens when shooting my chart tests. The Viltrox rendered oddly dark even though there was only a very minor difference in shutter speed. The Fuji is sharper and better centered across the frame. This is a case of “you get what you pay for”:

Minimum aperture is F16, but on a high resolution body like the X-H2 diffraction has long set in and robbed the image of most clarity and contrast:

On the new higher resolution bodies with the 40MP sensor, I would try to stay at F8 or larger as much as possible.

So detail is quite good, but my favorite part of the lens is the combination of sharpness and bokeh. It renders very nicely, with a nicely blurred background. Up close (where the background blur is increased) the bokeh is very soft and creamy:

Even if you move back a bit and allow for a more complicated background, the rendering remained quite good and not strongly “jittery”.

I also continued to like the bokeh with the lens stopped down a bit (F2.8 here):

When I let the sun into the frame I found that contrast dipped a bit but neither did I see anything too appalling.

Color rendition were very nice – punchy and clean.

After being a little underwhelmed by the 30mm F2.8 Macro, it’s very nice to wrap up a review on a recent Fuji prime and think, “that’s a lens I’d like to own!” I generally liked the images that I got with the XF 33mm and appreciate the nice balanced design of the optics. Check out the image gallery to see more of those images for yourself and to draw your own conclusions from them.

Conclusion

Fuji has taken quite a few “kicks at the can” at the “normal” focal length, with three previous 35mm designs, and, while I liked the XF 35mm F2 a fair bit, this newer Fujinon XF 33mm F1.4 checks the most boxes for me. It delivers a really nice blend of sharpness, bokeh, and color rendition while having a nice weather sealed build, good autofocus, and a compact form factor.

There’s relatively little to criticize, as while the wide open contrast isn’t record breaking, it’s also what allows for the nice defocus in the background.

The XF 33mm is a lens that isn’t outclassed by the daunting new 40MP Fuji sensors which is huge in and of itself. While I can’t speak for the Tokinon 33mm F1.4, the copy of the Viltrox 33mm F1.4 is easily outclassed by the Fuji, which does help to justify the higher price tag. The Fuji also has a more sophisticated focus system, weather sealing, and much nicer color. The Viltrox or Tokina are probably still good budget alternatives, but I suspect that those who are looking for a great normal lens will be most satisfied by saving up and adding the Fujinon XF 33mm F1.4. It’s one of the more complete short prime lenses that I’ve tested thus far on Fuji.

Pros:

Well made lens in a compact package
Good build and weather sealing
Linear motor is quiet and fast
Good stickiness on eyes during focus
Focus pulls are smoothly damped
Good center sharpness from F1.4 on
Excellent sharpness across frame when stopped down
Very nice bokeh
Low levels of chromatic aberrations
Beautiful color rendition

Cons:

Lens hood feels cheap
No declick option or physical controls other than aperture ring
Softer in midframe and corner at large apertures
Some slight stepping in video focus pulls

Gear Used:

Purchase the Fujinon XF 33mm F1.4 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Fujifilm X-H2 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Fujifilm X-T5 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Find it Used at KEH

Purchase the Viltrox AF 33mm F1.4 XF @ Viltrox Store | B&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Purchase the Fujifilm X-T4 @B&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

Purchase the Fujifilm X-S10 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay

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Keywords: 33mm, 33mm F1.4, XF 33mm F1.4, Fuji, Fuji 33mm Review, Fujinon XF 33mm F1.4 Review, LM, WR, R, 33mm, 33, 1.4, F1.4, F/1.4, Fujinon, Fujifilm, X-H2, FujiFILM X-H2, X-H2 Review, X-T5, Fuji X-H2, Fuji X-H2 Review, Fujinon, Dustin Abbott, Review, Sensor, Tracking, IBIS, Stabilization, Eye AF, Viltrox, XF, Review, Hands On, Video Test, Sharpness, High ISO, Autofocus, Dynamic Range, 40MP, 40 MP, Lens, Comparison, Test, Dustinabbott.net, APS-C, X-Trans, letthelightin, DA

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FujiFILM X-H2 Review

Dustin Abbott

April 24th, 2023

When I was reviewing the Fujfilm X-T5 a few months ago I was impressed by the overall progress Fuji has made with this most recent in the X-T series, but I couldn’t help drawing parallels to another recent Fuji camera – Fujifilm X-H2. I hadn’t reviewed the X-H2 yet, but on paper, I noticed that many of my critiques of the X-T5 were answered in the X-H2…for only a few hundred dollars more. I was eager to spend time with the X-H2, but it took a few months before I could fit it into my schedule, but I’m glad I did. After spending some quality time with the X-H2, I can safely say that this is the next Fuji camera I will personally buy. I think of it as the APS-C equivalent of a camera like the Canon EOS R5 – a high resolution camera that also manages to be a good action camera…and video camera. In this case the X-H2 was the first Fuji model to sport an ultra-high resolution 40.2MP sensor that delivers wonderfully detailed 7728 x 5152 pixel images. The new sensor is definitely the headline new feature here, though there are a number of other improvements that we’ll explore as a part of our review…including robust focus and deep buffers.

As noted, the Fujfilm X-H2 is sold slightly upmarket of the X-T5 at a price point of about $2000 USD. That additional $300 nets you a more professional grade body, much deeper buffers, improved viewfinder, and more robust video features and is well worth considering if you have deeper pockets. The X-T and X-H lines differ in terms of their basic design philosophy. The X-T series employs a retro-design with a lot of physical controls (some of which are very useful, others less so) while the X-H series employs more moderns controls along with having the top mounted LCD screen commonly associated with premium cameras.

There is a certain amount of market parity these days, and there are some things that Sony, Canon, and Nikon do better, though Fuji has had a long investment in the APS-C mirrorless space, and it shows in the maturity of the system. These other brands are more focused in the full frame market, but Fuji has focused on APS-C and never entered the full frame space. That has led to more lens development (including a revamping of same aging designs with new MK II version) along with a fully fleshed out accessory market. And, as noted, the opening up of the platform to third party development has lead to some excellent third party options at more affordable price points which helps close the gap with a company like Sony that has long been more third party friendly. I primarily used three excellent lenses in this review – the high end XF 200mm F2 (and 1.4x TC) to test tracking action (my review of the lens here), the amazing third party Viltrox Pro AF 75mm F1.2 portrait lens (my review here), and the new(ish) Fujinon XF 33mm F1.4 – a wonderfully compact large aperture lens with a roughly “normal” angle of view (my review here).

I’ll refer to to it more in this review, but it should be noted that Fuji also makes the X-H2S, a sports oriented model that retails for about $500 more ($2500 USD). While the X-H2S has a lower resolution point of 26MP, it features a stacked BSI sensor (like those found in cameras like the Canon EOS R3, Sony Alpha 1, or Sony a9 series). It allows you to record up to 40FPS in electronic shutter mode (double the X-H2) with deeper buffers and also minimizes rolling shutter, something that can be an issue with the X-H2. That’s why I compare the X-H2 to something like the Canon EOS R5, as it is more of a high end jack-of-all-trades.

There are still some areas where Fuji lags a bit, and my primary complaints are focused on some rolling shutter issues, an autofocus system that, while vastly improved, still lags in some areas behind the other brands along with my continued frustration with navigating Fuji’s Q-menu. I’ve not seen any real progress on their touchscreen capabilities in four years. But while I might prefer the focus system of, say, the Canon R7 (my review here), the complete lack of appealing lenses there means that Fuji is still offering the more appealing system in general. There are a lot of great things about Fuji’s approach to APS-C, so let’s take a closer look if the flagship Fuji X-H2 meets your needs for photography and/or video. If you would prefer to watch your reviews, you can choose watch my definitive video review below…or just keep reading.

X-H2 Build, Handling, and Features

Here are the highlights of the new features:

40MP APS-C X-Trans5 BSI Sensor
7-Stop In-Body Image Stabilization
8K 30p, 4K 60p, FHD 240p 10-Bit Video
5.76m-Dot OLED Electronic Viewfinder
160MP Pixel Shift Multi-Shot
20 fps E-Shutter, 15 fps Mech. Shutter
CFexpress Type B & SD UHS-II Card Slots
ProRes Raw, Blackmagic Raw via HDMI
Intelligent Hybrid Autofocus

There are a lot of core improvements to the X-H2, including the unprecedented resolution level for APS-C, the inclusion of video recording up to 8K, improved IBIS, and some improvements to ergonomic elements like a higher resolution OLED viewfinder. All of this adds up to a camera that ticks a lot of the boxes for me.

That starts with the basic ergonomics of the camera. The X-H2 is easily my favorite Fuji APS-C camera to handle thus far, as, being slightly larger, it fits my hands much better. The X-T5 is 130 x 91 x 64mm (5.1 x 3.6 x 2.5″) and weighs 557g (16.8oz), while the X-H2 is 136.3 x 92.9 x 84.6 mm (5.4 x 3.7 x 3.3″) and weighs 1.5 lb / 660g. All of those dimensions are slightly larger, but the most significant difference is in the depth (20mm difference), which makes for a much more robust grip that fills my hands better. The X-H2 and the Canon EOS R7 are my favorite mirrorless APS-C models to handle and use for similar reasons.

As noted, the control scheme is more traditional as well. The X-T5 utilizes a lot of dials for basic controls like ISO, shutter speed, etc… The X-H2 utilizes the traditional front and back wheels for control and utilizes a button/wheel combination for choosing ISO. This is helped by the top LCD screen which gives you immediate feedback on your selection.

My only gripe is that I would prefer a third wheel rather than the D-pad arranged around the Menu/OK button.

Further navigation comes via a nice little joystick (that is also clickable as another button).

There is a three inch fully articulating 1.62m dot resolution LCD screen there as well, and while the resolution of the X-T5’s tilting screen is slightly higher (1.84m dot), I personally strongly prefer the flexibility of the fully articulated screen. For one, it allows you to front monitor the camera for video, and as someone who sets up shots and then sits in front of the camera, I can tell you that this can be a big deal for being able to monitor the framing of the shot (is my head half out of the frame?) but also catching some recording issues (full memory card, depleted battery, etc…) Articulating screens are also more flexible for the angles that they can be used at compared to a tilting screen, though at least Fuji’s tilt screen allow them to be tilted on a couple of different axis. A lot of people debate which is better – tilting or articulating – though I’ll note Sony has managed to go one better in their recent a7RV camera which has a cleverly designed rear LCD that is both articulating and tilting.

The touch functionality hasn’t really progressed in the past five years, and the touch action isn’t as responsive or useful as Canon’s mirrorless cameras (where all menu options can be accessed via touch and the screen is nicely responsive) or even as useful as the newer Sony cameras. The X-H2 does allow for things like dragging the focus point around with a thumb when you are looking through the viewfinder, and will also allow one to tap an autofocus point and even take a photo through that means. I didn’t find it as responsive as either Canon or Sony’s touchscreens for touching to focus during video mode. There’s some definite input lag before autofocus responds. You can navigate the Q menu (to some degree) by touch, but the main menu has no touch navigation.

Other physical controls take the form of seven buttons on the back of the camera along with a four-position directional pad (each direction can also be programmed for a different function). One of these is a dedicated Q (quick menu) button. This is similar to Canon’s approach, though I prefer Canon’s method of navigation in that menu. There are a number of options there (16, typically) in the Q Menu, which is good, but when you select one of those options with the tiny joystick also located on the back, the logical (at least for me) choice is to select the option you want to change by hitting either the OK button on clicking the little joystick (clicking it in works similarly to the OK button). Instead of opening up the options for that choice, however, it okays the choice already made and closes the Q menu.

Frustrating. Just like it was on the ten other Fuji cameras I’ve tested.

What the camera actually wants you to do is to move over to the desired setting you want to change and then rotate the rear wheel to change the settings (without another dialogue box ever being opened). I don’t find this a very intuitive process even after reviewing 10 Fuji cameras over the past several years and, more often than not, I’ll click either the joystick or the OK button and have to start the process over again. What’s interesting about this is that while you cannot use the touchscreen to select in the regular menus, you can tap on the icons for the various options in the Q menu and it will open up a dialogue box and allow to select the option you want (by a tap on it) in the way that you would expect the menu to work all the time.

On top we have the aforementioned LCD readout, a large mode dial (complete with a total of 7!!! custom modes), three buttons to the right of the LCD, then the shutter and video record buttons close together. The video record button is on the small side, but there is some logic to having them both close together there.

What we don’t have is a switch that allows us to fully switch between a video and stills layout.

There are two custom buttons on the front, with one occupying the position where Fuji puts the M/C/S dial, though by default the button there controls a similar function. I think I prefer the dial, personally, but the button does have the advantage of letting you control that without moving the camera away from your eye.

Another strength of Fuji’s cameras (though one that takes some familiarity to execute) is that most of the buttons and dials can be customized and have different values assigned to them. I mostly like the configuration of the buttons and vastly prefer the X-H2’s placement of the Q button relative to the X-T5. I don’t love the Fuji’s approach to reviewing and deleting images. Typically the delete button on other cameras is in the location of the Display/Back button, while on Fuji camera’s it is next to the play button on the upper left. Deleting images also takes one more step than on other cameras, and I just don’t find it quite as intuitive.

One of the headline improvements is that the IBIS (In Body Image Stabilization) has improved. I’ve been impressed with Fuji’s stabilization in general, whether in-camera or in-lens, and the IBIS in the new X-H2 is rated at up to 7 stops, making it one of the most robust IBIS system I’ve tested to date by the numbers. I put the X-T5 (with similar stabilization) in the hands of a friend who is an industry professional (he does the ads/branding for a significant company) and he was wowed by the stability of the system for fluid handheld video shots.

At this stage I would say that the IBIS performance in real world use does improve on what I’ve seen with Sony and even Canon, though, as always, I find that getting perfectly sharp images at extremely low shutters speeds is an unreliable process. The practicality of “seven stops” in many applications is not going to happen. For example, I should be able to handhold the XF 35mm F1.4 R for nearly 4 second shutter speeds. That just isn’t realistic. I’m personally more concerned more concerned with eliminating motion blur in normal shots where the shutter speeds fall outside the margins and getting stable handheld video, and by these metrics the IBIS is a success.

Effective IBIS is wonderful because it applies to all lenses, making a longer portrait lens like the XF 90mm F2 (my review here) much more useful and easier to use. Though the XF 200mm F2 does have lens stabilization as well, I was able to get a stabilized image at 280mm (200mm F2 + 1.4x) and at 1/5th of a second. That’s well over 400mm in full frame equivalent, making for somewhere right under 7 stops. That’s pretty impressive!

The X-H2 utilized the newer NP-W235 battery, a 2350 mAh pack which is rated by CIPA to give 540 shots per charge (680 in Economy mode), which is slightly less than the X-T5. The battery life is competitive across the board (for mirrorless), and I think it worthy of note that the X-H2’s battery can be charged via the USB-C port in camera by most any power source…including a portable power bank. There is also an included USB-C charging cord and AC power adapter included in the box. I found that my real world battery performance was better than what I’m seeing from the four other cameras that I currently own.

Unlike the X-T5, the X-H2 is compatible with a battery grip. The VG-XH grip runs about $400 and allows you to have vertical controls plus a second battery for easy all-day shooting. You can also purchase an innovative fan attachment (Fan-001) that allows for active cooling and ensures you can shoot high bitrate video for long periods without worrying about overheating.

The X-H2 has a nicely damped shutter that has good feel and a great “schnick” sound to it. The shutter speed limit is the typical 1/8000th of a second. The headline improvement here is in the electronic shutter, which increases the maximum shutter speed from 1/32,000th of a second to a massive 1/180,000th of a second, allowing you to really freeze action (if you can achieve the ideal conditions that allow for such a fast shutter speed). This is probably not really a practical improvement for most people in most situations. One feature I do like is the ability to set the shutter option to where the camera smartly chooses the right shutter option for most situations. Up to 1/2000th of a second it will choose Electronic Front Shutter, then mechanical shutter (without EF) until the mechanical limit of 1/8000th, then electronic shutter takes over after that for really fast shutter speeds.

There is a little port on the front of the camera that is the flash sync port. It unscrews and pops off, but is also very small, so be careful not to lose it! On the left side of the camera are four small doors that cover different connection ports. There are a couple of key improvements here over the X-T5 is you want to capture video. The most important is that we have a full size HDMI port rather than the dinky micro-HDMI found on the X-T5. The X-T5 also lacked a headphone monitoring jack, whereas the X-H2 includes one in the port underneath the microphone input. The final door covers the USB-C port. Charging can be done via the USB-C port, and I was happy to find that even small power-banks would help to quickly charge the camera.

The right side of the camera houses the card slots. The X-H2 has one CF Express Type B standard and a UHS-II compatible SD slot as well. CF Express Type B cards are more expensive, but they offer much faster write speeds, which is a big part of why the buffer depth is so much deeper in the X-H2 relative to the X-T5 (which has only SD slots).

The X-H2 sports a OLED electronic viewfinder design with a 5.76m-dot resolution and 0.80x magnification. That’s definitely a higher resolution point than the 3.69m dot resolution of the X-T5.

The camera body is made of a magnesium alloy and sports quality weather sealing. Fuji touts 79 different weather sealing points in the body, giving it about 25% more seals than the X-T5. The camera feels very tough and durable. There are a lot of little things that add up to a more premium camera made for professional use.

The menu is very familiar, with little changes that I can see. Fuji has a wide range of menu options, and nearly all controls can be customized to the user’s preference. Every camera maker has a different way of organizing such menus, and so expect to have to learn where everything is if you aren’t a long-time Fuji shooter, but I found the menus fairly logical once I began to learn how Fuji labels things. Everything is organized under seven main groups: (Image Quality, AF/MF, Shooting Settings, Flash Settings, Movie Settings, Setup, and Network). There is an eighth tab called “My” (My Menu) that will be populated once you select custom functions to be there. I like to task commonly used settings that I haven’t assigned to a physical control to that area. If you aren’t confident navigating menus, however, you may find these menus a little overwhelming. There is a LOT of room for customization, and little instruction for what different settings do.

Many of my critiques here are my general gripes about Fuji cameras; the X-H2 is my favorite Fuji body thus far…and that includes the four GF (medium format) cameras I’ve tested.

Fuji X-H2 Autofocus Performance

The X-T5 and X-H2 share a common focus system. Improvements are more along the lines of improved focus algorithms and potentially better processing of the focus data via the X-Processor 5. Fuji’s marketing says, “X-Processor 5 features subject-detection AF based on Deep Learning technology that automatically detects and tracks a broad range of subjects, including animals, birds, cars, motorcycles, bicycles, airplanes, and trains – as well as human faces and eyes. Image-makers can concentrate on composition and creativity, confident that X-H2 will track focus accurately.” Note that phase detection “pixels” is not the same as phase detection points, as we have the same number of selectable AF points (425) as we’ve had over the past two generations. The key improvement is the addition of Deep Learning AI technology that improves Eye detection and the number of subjects that can be identified and tracked. In addition to human subjects this now includes animals, birds, cars, motorcycles, bicycles, airplanes, and trains.

As before we have 425 selectable AF points spread over most of the frame.

Phase Detect sensitivity is rated down to -7 EV (with the 50mm F1.0 lens), but that will vary depending on the maximum aperture of the lens you have mounted. I had good focus results (though some reduced focus speed, as per usual) in very low light conditions. It always helps to have an edge on your subject (a contrast point) to aid AF, but I was able to lock accurate focus in varied lighting conditions with good success. This shot is at 1/12th second, F2.8, ISO 12,800 (very dim conditions!).

An area where Fuji’s focus system is actually very good is in the tracking of high speed action. Tracking is improved on the X-H2 with the ability to do the Deep Learning AI tracking of a wide variety of subjects. The burst rate with the mechanical shutter is 15 FPS (with full continuous autofocus). This is obviously exceptionally fast, and easily exceeds the 11FPS offered by the Sony a6600 and matches the 15FPS of the Canon EOS R7. The mechanical shutter allows you up to 1/8000th second shutter speeds. You can go faster, however, by selecting the electronic shutter which is rated at shutter speeds up to 1/180,000th of a second. This enables Sports Crop Mode (1.2px) that gives you a bit of additional reach and allows the burst rate to climb to 20 FPS, though surprisingly the 30FPS option of the X-T3 and X-T4 is gone. The Canon R7 gives you 30 FPS, and the X-H2S will give you 40FPS, but those are also lower resolution points and a little more focused on sports.

I tested this while shooting some pickup basketball and found that for certain things (like basketball) rolling shutter becomes a major issue with the X-H2 if used with the electronic shutter. Rolling shutter is a type of image distortion that occurs when the motion of a subject is moving too fast for the camera’s sensor to capture properly. It happens most often during panning action. I found that the basketball and even player’s heads got stretched and distorted during certain sequences, like this:

The solution is fairly simple, and that is to use the mechanical shutter in those type of situations, though obviously you have to settle for the slower (15FPS) burst rate.

I used the mechanical shutter for some bird in flight (BIF) tests and had no issue with rolling shutter.

I should note that there were sequences during the basketball setting that were just fine, and I did notice the rolling shutter mostly with the longer telephoto combination (200mm F2 + 1.4x). At the same time, I’ve never seen rolling shutter effects quite so pronounced. If you want the best Fuji camera for action, choose the X-H2S with its stacked sensor (the faster readout from stacked sensors largely mitigates the effects of rolling shutter).

One of my laments during the X-T5 review was the shallow buffer depth, and it was one of the things that stood out to me as a compelling reason to consider the X-H2 instead. The X-H2 can record up to 1000+ JPEGs and over 400 RAW files at 20FPS (and 1000+ lossless compressed RAWs at the 15FPS mechanical level) as compared 168 JPEGs, up to 72 compressed RAW files, up to 41 lossless compressed RAWs, and only 23 uncompressed RAW files on the X-T5. If you want to shoot with the mechanical shutter on the X-T5 (without the “sports crop”), the buffer will fill faster still. You can get 119 JPEGs, 39 Compressed RAWs, 22 Lossless Compressed RAWs, and only 19 uncompressed RAWs. I found that the buffer filled very quickly in my tests of the X-T5 with less than 1.5 seconds (with RAW files) to capture your action sequence before the frame rate drops. The X-H2 is much more robust in this area.

I had no such problem with the X-H2, shooting long sequences of actions without a concern about the buffer depth, and the faster memory card (CF-E Type B) meant that I never saw any downtime for the buffer to clear. It’s quite liberating to not have to worry about timing the burst perfectly and being able to hold down that shutter button just a bit longer. It also makes the X-H2 a more versatile camera than the X-T5, which is one more reason why I would consider the X-H2 a more compelling choice personally. It just means that you won’t miss the killer shot in the sequence.

During shooting BIF I found that once tracking was attached to the subject (shooting in “Bird” mode), I had good results along with a strong visual connection to tracking the eyes or head of the bird. I felt that subject acquisition wasn’t as good as the sports models from Canon or Sony (focus didn’t “snap” onto the subject as fast when trying to acquire a bird on the wing), but tracking was good once I got focus established. Bottom line is that the AF system is excellent for tracking action, and I’ve considered this to be one of the strengths for the system. I would give the edge to the Canon EOS R7 as the best APS-C camera for action, but I give the X-H2 high marks for overall versatility.

Fuji has been gradually improving their Eye AF tracking via firmware and updated algorithms, and the X-H2 benefits from having the newest iteration of that. I found Eye detection better than on previous Fuji bodies, but still not quite as effortless on what I’m seeing on recent Sony and Canon bodies. I was typically able to get very good focus accuracy, though it takes a little more work than on those other brands. In this shot, for example, there are a lot of distracting layers before the deer, but focus ignored the obstacles and grabbed the right subject.

I also took this shot of Ferrari at F1.4 with the XF 33mm F1.4, and you can see excellent focus on the eye.

I used the X-H2 in an event setting and had nice focus accuracy. It gave me quick detection of the eye and tracked it accurately whether the eye was facing the camera or in profile.

It’s also worth noting that autofocus has improved on the excellent Viltrox 75mm F1.2 (still a Fuji exclusive at the moment) due to firmware updating, and I was pleasantly surprised by the consistency of focus during the same pickup basketball game. It acquired focus fairly quickly and tracked the players consistently without swings to front or back focus.

I largely had good overall focus accuracy during my time with the X-H2, though I don’t enjoy Fuji’s approach to whole sensor tracking. It’s fine for the most part once a subject has been selected, but even when you expand the focus area to whole sensor tracking a smaller green box remains. You can move that box around by touch or the joystick, but you essentially have to get that green box on the subject before whole sensor tracking begins. But there’s no question that Fuji’s autofocus is becoming more competitive with the leading brands. If you are looking specifically for a sports-oriented Fujifilm camera, consider the X-H2S, but the X-H2 does a pretty remarkable job of being quite good at everything…including tracking action. Just watch out for that rolling shutter.

Fuji X-H2 Sensor Performance

The headline improvement of the X-H2 is the new 40.2MP X-Trans CMOS 5 HR sensor that is shared with the X-T5 (and future models, I’m sure). Fuji says this of the new sensor, “The high-resolution 40.2MP X-Trans CMOS 5 HR sensor has an enhanced image-processing algorithm that boosts resolution without compromising the signal-to-noise ratio, delivering astonishing image quality.” I’m liking this new sensor, which in many ways seems to deliver more resolution than the 32MP sensor found in Canon’s EOS R7 without adding any new compromises.

If you want even more resolution (and have the right kind of subject), you can use the new Pixel Shift Multi-Shot which utilizes the sensor shifting ability to combine 16 shots into a single 160MP shot…though you’ll have to download the free Pixel Shift Combiner software from Fuji to combine the images (it can’t be done in camera, unfortunately). That’s more of a commitment than I had time to make to this review, so you’ll have to explore this feature for yourself.

We’ve improved the resolution here but have retained the very rich Fujifilm color science that delivers very pleasing images.

Many people love Fuji colors, and they include a number of their film emulations that can give a unique “feel” to images and/or video footage. Feel free to skip over the technical information if it doesn’t interest you; any modern camera can give you fantastic images.

Fuji X-H2 ISO Performance

As the sensor is shared with the X-T5, I’m going to reuse my tests from my X-T5 review to avoid redundancy. Fuji tends to be a little more conservative with their native ISO range than other companies and resort to less marketing hype, though I frankly find the ISO performance to be ever bit as good as the best from Canon and Sony (the other brands I test). In this case the native range is expanded slightly, but on the bottom end, as the base ISO is now 125 rather than 160. The native limit is still 12,800, though expanded options at 25,600 and 51,200 are available. I didn’t really feel like there was much of a step back relative to the 26MP sensor of the past despite the increased resolution, with images at ISO 6400 looking usable in real world situations.

At ISO 800 there is a mild addition of noise only detectable in the shadows. There isn’t a lot of difference from base ISO, however, and moving on to ISO 1600 shows little difference. At ISO 3200 there is slightly less contrast and slightly more noise, and that pattern continues at ISO 6400 and 12,800, where the noise becomes rougher and more visible in shadow areas. The first stop in the expanded range (25,600) looks about the same as what you would find on a Sony or Canon camera (where it is included in the native ISO range), with more visible noise and black levels that aren’t as deep due to “hot” pixels. ISO 51,200 should be be avoided, as image quality is several stops worse even though that is only one stop more. There’s a fair difference between ISO 3200 and 12,800:

Fuji says that the X-Trans sensor produces a more film-grain-like noise pattern, but it mostly looks like the pattern noise I see with most cameras.

What is a strength, however, is color fidelity. I never really see a shift to greens or magenta as the ISO raises, nor do I see obvious banding in the shadow areas. Overall I’m impressed with the performance. This real world image at ISO 12,800 looks perfectly useful to me.

Switch it to a monochrome where a bit of grain is desirable (Acros +R here) and you’ve got a great looking shot.

This is all very impressive considering how much the resolution has increased. The 26MP sensor had a pixel pitch of 3.74 µm; this 42MP sensor has a pixel pitch of 3.04 µm. That’s a lot of pixels packed close together, and it is very impressive how Fuji has managed to pair high resolution with fairly clean ISO performance.

Fuji X-H2 Dynamic Range Performance

I value dynamic range within a camera in two specific areas: the ability to cleanly lift shadows without introducing noise or color banding and the ability to recover highlights without introducing “hot spots” where information has been permanently lost.

Having good dynamic range (particularly if you shoot RAW), allows you a lot more creative vision over how the final image will turn out, though it is always worth mentioning that just because you can raise shadows or reduce highlights it doesn’t always mean you should. Sometimes a photo with crushed shadows or blown out highlights is the better one.

Fuji has an extra trick up its sleeve to help you maximize dynamic range performance in such scenes, which we’ll get to in just a moment.

In my tests, I found that the X-H2 did an excellent job of recovering shadows very cleanly. Here we have an image that I purposefully underexposed by four stops. As you can see in the original RAW image, there is very little information left there. In post I added those four stops back into the recovered image. What we find is an image that has been recovered with very little penalty, whether viewed globally:

…or at a pixel level:

I could even recover shadows fairly cleanly at five stops, though you can see some additional noise has been introduced in the checkerboard pattern of the tabletop.

As is often the case, however, highlight recovery lags behind shadow recovery. Even at 3 stops of recovered highlights there is damage done to the image with both “hotspots” (information that cannot be recovered) and the loss of some colors in our swatches.

Sony is about a half-stop better in this regard, but Fuji has one other trick that I previously mentioned. If you move beyond the base ISO to either ISO 250 or 500 (and beyond), two new options open up in the menu. These are DR200 (available at ISO 250) and DR400 (available at ISO 400). What these do is essentially split the sensor readout so that the shadow information is gathered from the current ISO setting while the highlight information comes from base ISO. At ISO 250 that gives you one additional stop in the highlights (DR200), while at ISO 500 you gain two (DR400). This allows you to overexpose the image slightly so that you have plenty of information in the shadows, but since there is one or two stops less exposure in the highlights, you have plenty of ability to recover blown out areas in post. I also find that you retain better contrast even if you underexpose and recover using this method (here’s the DR400 recovered result at three stops of overexposure compared to the base ISO three-stop recovery):

Note how much more detailed and bright the right (DR400) recovery result looks. The shadow information looks the same on the two images (ISO 500 isn’t high enough to really introduce any additional noise), but the highlights are brighter and have much great fidelity. You’ll also note how much richer the colors are in the swatches by comparison. The better retention of highlights has vastly improved the overall contrast. I would pick the image on the right every time. It looks like a natural photograph despite the fairly radical recovery of highlights.

The original looked like a complete mistake (misfiring flash, wrong settings, etc..), while the recovered image looks like a perfectly exposed shot. This is a technique well worth utilizing where needed, though I found that for the most part I did have enough dynamic range to edit as desired even at the base ISO. This shot, for example, has full information in the shadows but has also allowed me to retain the beautiful nuances of the morning sky.

That’s a very useful amount of dynamic range, and if you need more, just use the DR200 or DR400 modes (I did use DR200 in the shot above). It’s worth noting that due to the increased sensitivity in the ISO (base ISO of 125 vs 160) both of those are available earlier than they were previously, meaning that you can keep the noise down even more than on previous Fuji bodies.

On the video front we find that the X-H2 has Fuji’s F-LOG2 which boasts over 13 stops of dynamic range, meaning that you have more video dynamic range available than on previous models that only had the original F-LOG profile.

X-H2Resolution and Detail

The new 40.2MP sensor is a whopping 53% higher in pixel count than the 26.16MP sensor on previous Fuji cameras. That additional resolution has a lot of potential value, particularly when, as we’ve seen above, it doesn’t come with a lot of extra baggage in terms of reduced ISO performance. For portrait photographers, that high resolution means that you can take one portrait and get multiple different crops out of just one image.

For landscape photographers, you get the same kind of versatility. I can tighten the crop to show more detail from the scene…and I’m still at the resolution level of the 26MP cameras:

Macro photographers can increase their level of magnification while also retaining plenty of resolution for printing or sharing. I can crop in this much while retaining 100% of the resolution of the 26MP sensor:

I could obviously crop much deeper and still have plenty of resolution for most applications.

Wildlife photographers will also enjoy the flexibility of deeply cropping. In this original shot there are a lot of distractions in the frame, and the great detail on the gull isn’t as highlighted as I would like.

A deep crop removes the distractions and allows the image to be simple and clean.

I’m having a hard time finding a downside to the resolution here, particularly when there is a Lossless Compressed RAW file option that keeps the file size down to a reasonable 40MB(ish) size, JPEGs are around 18MB, and if you want even smaller file sizes, you now can choose the HEIF image format which delivers 10-bit image quality in files up to 30% smaller than standard JPEGs.

X-H2 Color

Fujifilm has a solid reputation when it comes to color science. Their long experience with film (it’s right there in the name!!) has translated into a retro-oriented view at film emulation in their digital cameras. You can choose from 19 simulated Fujifilm film stocks in camera from color film simulations to a variety of monochrome stocks as well. These include: (PROVIA/Standard, Velvia/Vivid, ASTIA/Soft, Classic Chrome, PRO Neg.Hi, PRO Neg.Std, Classic Neg., Nostalgic Neg., ETERNA/Cinema, ETERNA BLEACH BYPASS, ACROS, ACROS + Ye Filter, ACROS + R Filter, ACROS + G Filter, Black & White, Black & White + Ye Filter, Black & White + R Filter, Black & White + G Filter, Sepia). One of my personal favorites is Classic Chrome. Here’s a JPEG shot in Classic Chrome that shows off the slightly blue shadows and general look that I enjoy about the simulation.

You can also control grain (if that’s your thing) in camera as well. Most of these tweaks in-camera will only matter if you are shooting JPEGs. If you are shooting RAWs you can do all of this in post. Here’s the same scene from the RAW image rendered in Astia/Soft, Velvia/Vivid, and then Provia/Standard:

Many that have chosen Fuji have done so for their ability to shoot JPEGs and get what they like right out of camera. If that sounds like you, then the Fuji X-T5 might be a great choice. It’s certainly got a lot of customization available for influencing the output. The RAW colors are nice to process as well. Here’s one that I’ve processed using the Velvia profile (and the 30mm F2.8 Macro):

I would recommend that you take a long look at the Image Galleries page to see if you like what is there – most of which has received minimal processing so you can make a fair determination.

Fuji X-H2 Video

A new sensor means new video possibilities as well, and in this case while the X-T5 maxed out at 6.2K at 30P, the X-H2 allows you to jump all the way up to 8K30. Video options include:

[8K(16:9)] 7680 x 4320　29.97p/25p/24p/23.98p　720Mbps/360Mbps/200Mbps/100Mbps/50Mbps
[6.2K(16:9)] 6240 x 3510　29.97p/25p/24p/23.98p　720Mbps/360Mbps/200Mbps/100Mbps/50Mbps
[DCI4K HQ(17:9)] 4096 x 2160　29.97p/25p/24p/23.98p　720Mbps/360Mbps/200Mbps/100Mbps/50Mbps
[4K HQ(16:9)] 3840 x 2160　29.97p/25p/24p/23.98p　720Mbps/360Mbps/200Mbps/100Mbps/50Mbps
[DCI4K(17:9)] 4096 x 2160　59.94p/50p/29.97p/25p/24p/23.98p　720Mbps/360Mbps/200Mbps/100Mbps/50Mbps
[4K(16:9)] 3840 x 2160　59.94p/50p/29.97p/25p/24p/23.98p　720Mbps/360Mbps/200Mbps/100Mbps/50Mbps
[Full HD(17:9)] 2048 x 1080　59.94p/50p/29.97p/25p/24p/23.98p　720Mbps/360Mbps/200Mbps/100Mbps/50Mbps
[Full HD(16:9)] 1920 x 1080　59.94p/50p/29.97p/25p/24p/23.98p　720Mbps/360Mbps/200Mbps/100Mbps/50Mbps
[Full HD(17:9) High speed rec.] 2048 x 1080　240p/200p/120p/100p　720Mbps(recording)/360Mbps(recording)/200Mbps(recording)
[Full HD(16:9) High speed rec.] 1920 x 1080　240p/200p/120p/100p　720Mbps(recording)/360Mbps(recording)/200Mbps(recording)

4K frame rate still tops out at 60FPS, so you’ll have to drop to Full HD for the best slow motion performance, though in this case that’s as fast as 240FPS. This is obviously a very robust suite of video options and bitrates. The inclusion of the aforementioned F-LOG2 also helps give you more editing headroom, and footage looks really nice off the X-H2.

The improved IBIS is obviously a huge benefit to the X-H2’s video capture, giving the ability to move around a bit while retaining smooth footage. The newer Fuji lenses tend to perform better with focus pulls than older lenses (which often showed a lot of visible stepping). When I tested the new Fuji 30mm F2.8 Macro (with Linear Motor focus) on the X-T5, I found that focus pulls were as fast and smooth as what I’m seeing on any other platform.

The X-H2 allows has better cooling built into the body design, a headphone monitoring jack, and that full size HDMI output that adds up to a more serious video rig than the X-T5. Add to this the fully articulating LCD screen and the ability to output ProRes Raw, Blackmagic Raw via HDMI and you’ve got a very nice video camera. You’ll need to utilize the CF Express Type B card for some of those higher bitrates (and you’ll need a good size card if you record at 720Mbps), but that’s true of any such camera. Those who prioritize video will probably find the video specs the most compelling reason to spend the extra on the X-H2 over the X-T5.

Conclusion

The FUJIFILM X-H2 is my favorite Fuji APS-C camera to date, and the new 40MP sensor is definitely a standout. I definitely prefer it to the older 26MP sensor and am impressed with what Fuji has managed to do with it. It compares favorably to Canon’s 32MP sensor on the EOS R7 while offering superior resolution. Image quality is definitely lovely from this camera.

There are some who prefer the retro aesthetic of the X-T series, but I found the X-H2 to be ergonomically sound for the most part and easy to get familiar with. I love the way the camera feels in the hand and have relatively few critiques unique to the X-H2 itself. The great film simulations and beautiful JPEGs are a delight to many Fuji fans, and that retro aesthetic to the design and the film simulations appeal to the “purists” who only grudgingly accept the digital era. Here’s an “Acros” monochrome.

Autofocus continues to improve, though this is probably the area that I would still like to see the biggest refining in. I would prefer some tweaking to the way that whole sensor tracking and continuous autofocus is handled, as I feel that both Sony and especially Canon have some advantages here, but the X-H2 does delight with a deep buffer that allows you to keep shooting to nail the action.

Though I liked the X-T5, I definitely prefer the X-H2 as it adds a number of features including: much deeper buffers, superior memory card technology, 8K video, fully articulating LCD screen, higher resolution viewfinder, has a full size HDMI port along with a native headphone jack, and can be gotten with a vertical grip and cooling fan. It just feels better in my hands, too. The difference in price is only $300, and if your work includes either video or sports photography, it is probably well worth that additional $300. The X-H2 is one of the most compelling arguments for those that feel that APS-C cameras can be sound replacements for full frame cameras at a lower price point, and I think that Fuji has done a great job of executing a highly skilled jack-of-all-trades in the Fujifilm X-H2.

Pros:

The new 40MP sensor is excellent
Beautiful build with a great grip
Improved IBIS works better than ever
Excellent focus system with Deep Learning AI for tracking action
Competitive burst rates
Very deep buffers
Shutter rated up to 500,000 actuations
High resolution viewfinder
Good battery performance
Good detail, ISO performance, and dynamic range
Robust video specs, including 8K30P options
Huge amounts of customization available for images and controls
Solid ergonomics
Great lens selection

Cons:

Eye AF performance still lags behind Sony and Canon
Whole screen tracking not as smoothly implemented as competitors
Some obvious rolling shutter with electronic shutter
Touchscreen navigation remains limited
Q menu navigation remains frustrating

Gear Used:

Purchase the Fujifilm X-H2 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Fujifilm X-T5 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Find it Used at KEH

Purchase the Fujinon XF 33mm F1.4 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Fujinon XF 30mm F2.8 Macro @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK

Purchase the Viltrox Pro AF 75mm F1.2 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Viltrox (use code DUSTINABBOTT for 10% off) | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Pergear Store

Want to support this channel? Use these affiliate links to shop at: B&H Photo | Amazon | | Camera Canada | Ebay | Make a donation via Paypal

Buy DA Merchandise https://bit.ly/TWIMerch Peak Design Leash Strap: Peak Design Store | B&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud 1-Year Subscription Get a discount off all Skylum Editing Software (Luminar, Aurora HDR, AirMagic) by using code DUSTINHDR at checkout: Visit Dustin’s Amazon Storefront and see his favorite gear Purchasing your gear through B&H and these links helps fund this website and keeps the articles coming. You can also make a donation here if you would like. Visit my Amazon page for some of my gear of choice! Thank you for your support. Purchasing your gear through B&H and these links helps fund this website and keeps the articles coming. You can also make a donation here if you would like. Visit my Amazon page for some of my gear of choice! Thank you for your support.

Receive a 5% discount on all purchases at Amplis Foto, Canada’s Leading Photographic Supplier. Please enter discount code: AMPLIS52018DA in your cart. It is good for everything in your cart, and is stackable with other coupons, too! It will take 5% off your entire order! Proceeds go towards keeping this site going and providing you with new reviews!

Use Code “DUSTINHDR” to get $10 off ($15 CDN) any Skylum product: Luminar, Aurora, or AirMagic

Keywords: Fujifilm, X-H2, FujiFILM X-H2, X-H2 Review, X-T5, Fuji X-H2, Fuji X-H2 Review, Fujinon, Dustin Abbott, Review, Sensor, Tracking, IBIS, Stabilization, Eye AF, 100-400mm, 200mm F2, F2.8, 30mm F2.8 Macro, XF, Review, Hands On, Video Test, Sharpness, High ISO, Autofocus, Dynamic Range, 40MP, 40 MP, Lens, Comparison, Test, Dustinabbott.net, APS-C, X-Trans, letthelightin, DA

DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Fujifilm X-H2 Image Gallery

Dustin Abbott

April 24th, 2023

When I was reviewing the Fujfilm X-T5 a few months ago I was impressed by the overall progress Fuji has made with this most recent in the X-T series, but I couldn’t help drawing parallels to another recent Fuji camera – Fujifilm X-H2. I hadn’t reviewed the X-H2 yet, but on paper, I noticed that many of my critiques of the X-T5 were answered in the X-H2…for only a few hundred dollars more. I was eager to spend time with the X-H2, but it took a few months before I could fit it into my schedule, but I’m glad I did. After spending some quality time with the X-H2, I can safely say that this is the next Fuji camera I will personally buy. I think of it as the APS-C equivalent of a camera like the Canon EOS R5 – a high resolution camera that also manages to be a good action camera…and video camera. In this case the X-H2 was the first Fuji model to sport an ultra-high resolution 40.2MP sensor that delivers wonderfully detailed 7728 x 5152 pixel images. The new sensor is definitely the headline new feature here, though there are a number of other improvements that we’ll explore as a part of our review…including robust focus and deep buffers.

As noted, the Fujfilm X-H2 is sold slightly upmarket of the X-T5 at a price point of about $2000 USD. That additional $300 nets you a more professional grade body, much deeper buffers, improved viewfinder, and more robust video features and is well worth considering if you have deeper pockets. The X-T and X-H lines differ in terms of their basic design philosophy. The X-T series employs a retro-design with a lot of physical controls (some of which are very useful, others less so) while the X-H series employs more moderns controls along with having the top mounted LCD screen commonly associated with premium cameras.

There is a certain amount of market parity these days, and there are some things that Sony, Canon, and Nikon do better, though Fuji has had a long investment in the APS-C mirrorless space, and it shows in the maturity of the system. These other brands are more focused in the full frame market, but Fuji has focused on APS-C and never entered the full frame space. That has led to more lens development (including a revamping of same aging designs with new MK II version) along with a fully fleshed out accessory market. And, as noted, the opening up of the platform to third party development has lead to some excellent third party options at more affordable price points which helps close the gap with a company like Sony that has long been more third party friendly. I primarily used three excellent lenses in this review – the high end XF 200mm F2 (and 1.4x TC) to test tracking action (my review of the lens here), the amazing third party Viltrox Pro AF 75mm F1.2 portrait lens (my review here), and the new(ish) Fujinon XF 33mm F1.4 – a wonderfully compact large aperture lens with a roughly “normal” angle of view (my review here).

It should be noted that Fuji also makes the X-H2S, a sports oriented model that retails for about $500 more ($2500 USD). While the X-H2S has a lower resolution point of 26MP, it features a stacked BSI sensor (like those found in cameras like the Canon EOS R3, Sony Alpha 1, or Sony a9 series). It allows you to record up to 40FPS in electronic shutter mode (double the X-H2) with deeper buffers and also minimizes rolling shutter, something that can be an issue with the X-H2. That’s why I compare the X-H2 to something like the Canon EOS R5, as it is more of a high end jack-of-all-trades.

There are still some areas where Fuji lags a bit, and my primary complaints are focused on some rolling shutter issues, an autofocus system that, while vastly improved, still lags in some areas behind the other brands along with my continued frustration with navigating Fuji’s Q-menu. I’ve not seen any real progress on their touchscreen capabilities in four years. But while I might prefer the focus system of, say, the Canon R7 (my review here), the complete lack of appealing lenses there means that Fuji is still offering the more appealing system in general. You can watch my definitive video review, read the text review, or just enjoy the photos below.

Photos of the Fujifilm X-H2

Photos Taken with the Fujifilm X-H2

Gear Used:

Purchase the Fujifilm X-H2 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Fujifilm X-T5 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Find it Used at KEH

Purchase the Fujinon XF 33mm F1.4 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Fujinon XF 30mm F2.8 Macro @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK

Purchase the Viltrox Pro AF 75mm F1.2 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Viltrox (use code DUSTINABBOTT for 10% off) | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Pergear Store

Want to support this channel? Use these affiliate links to shop at: B&H Photo | Amazon | | Camera Canada | Ebay | Make a donation via Paypal

Buy DA Merchandise https://bit.ly/TWIMerch Peak Design Leash Strap: Peak Design Store | B&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud 1-Year Subscription Get a discount off all Skylum Editing Software (Luminar, Aurora HDR, AirMagic) by using code DUSTINHDR at checkout: Visit Dustin’s Amazon Storefront and see his favorite gear Purchasing your gear through B&H and these links helps fund this website and keeps the articles coming. You can also make a donation here if you would like. Visit my Amazon page for some of my gear of choice! Thank you for your support. Purchasing your gear through B&H and these links helps fund this website and keeps the articles coming. You can also make a donation here if you would like. Visit my Amazon page for some of my gear of choice! Thank you for your support.

Receive a 5% discount on all purchases at Amplis Foto, Canada’s Leading Photographic Supplier. Please enter discount code: AMPLIS52018DA in your cart. It is good for everything in your cart, and is stackable with other coupons, too! It will take 5% off your entire order! Proceeds go towards keeping this site going and providing you with new reviews!

Use Code “DUSTINHDR” to get $10 off ($15 CDN) any Skylum product: Luminar, Aurora, or AirMagic

Keywords: Fujifilm, X-H2, FujiFILM X-H2, X-H2 Review, X-T5, Fuji X-H2, Fuji X-H2 Review, Fujinon, Dustin Abbott, Review, Sensor, Tracking, IBIS, Stabilization, Eye AF, 100-400mm, 200mm F2, F2.8, 30mm F2.8 Macro, XF, Review, Hands On, Video Test, Sharpness, High ISO, Autofocus, Dynamic Range, 40MP, 40 MP, Lens, Comparison, Test, Dustinabbott.net, APS-C, X-Trans, letthelightin, DA

DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Fujinon XF 18-120mm F4 LM PZ WR Review

Dustin Abbott

July 20th, 2023

Fuji XF 18-120mm PZ Build and Handling

Fujinon XF 18-120mm F4 LM Autofocus Performance

Fuji XF 18-120mm PZ Image Quality Breakdown

Conclusion

Pros:

Cons:

Purchase the Fujinon XF 18-120mm F4 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

Purchase the Fujifilm X-H2 @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

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Fujinon XF 18-120mm F4 LM WR PZ Gallery

Dustin Abbott

July 20th, 2023

Photos of the Fuji XF 18-120mm PZ

Photos Taken with the Fuji XF 18-120mm PZ

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Fujinon XF 8mm F3.5 WR Review

Dustin Abbott

July 3rd, 2023

Fuji XF 8mm Build and Handling

Fujinon XF 8mm Autofocus Performance

Fuji XF 8mm Image Quality Breakdown

Conclusion

Pros:

Cons:

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Fujinon XF 8mm F3.5 WR Image Gallery

Dustin Abbott

July 3rd, 2023

Images of the Fujinon XF 8mm F3.5

Images Taken with the Fuji XF 8mm F3.5

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Fujinon XF 33mm F1.4 LM WR Image Gallery

Dustin Abbott

May 22nd, 2023

Images of the Fujinon XF 33mm F1.4

Image Taken with the Fujinon XF 33mm F1.4

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Fujinon XF 33mm F1.4 LM WR Review

Dustin Abbott

May 22nd, 2023

Fuji XF 33mm Build and Handling

Fujinon XF 33mm Autofocus Performance

Fuji XF 33mm Image Quality Breakdown

Conclusion

Pros: