Fujifilm XF80 mm F2.8 R LM Optical Image Stabiliser, Weather Resistant Macro Lens

Product Information

Keeping in mind that as a 1:1 macro lens the focal plane, even with a narrow aperture like f/8, is quite fine. The focus control on the Fujifilm XF 80mm f/2.8 is precise and responsive when shooting in Manual Focus. The travel distance of the focus ring is suitable and thanks to the limiter switch you are able to work within the desired focus zome. The Fujifilm XF 30mm f/2.8 R LM W Macro is the latest addition to the X-mount macro lenses, released in January 2023. This lens follows the popular Fujifilm 80mm macro lens and the “fake macro” Fujifilm 60mm macro lens, which are both detailed below. The XF 30mm is the first macro lens from Fujifilm with such a short focal length (30mm). Despite its compact design, weighing only 195g and measuring 7cm in length, the lens has an ultra-short focusing distance of 10cm, which makes it less suitable for live insect photography. It has a 43mm filter size and does not extend, and comes with a simple plastic lens hood. As mentioned, longer macro lenses are very useful. We don't have to approach sensitive subjects such as insects quite so closely and room is left for lighting. If this 80mm is not long enough, the lens is compatible with Fuji's range of teleconverters. XF 1.4XTC WR gives us 112mm f/4 (35mm format equivalent 171mm f/4). XF 2XTC WR gives us 160mm f/5.6 (35mm format equivalent 244mm f/5.6).

Even though I’m not a macro shooter (at all!) I think it’s probably best if I talk a little bit about the lens in this context. For macro shooting your minimum focusing distance is 25cm. You can attach either the TC-2x or TC-1.4x tele converter to get extra reach (at the cost of f-stops) – You can also use the MCEX-11 or MCEX-16 extension tubes for even closer focusing. If this 1,200×900 pixel crop is about 3" (7.5cm) wide on your phone, then the complete image printed at this same high magnification would be about 11 × 16" (0.9 × 1.3 feet or 25 × 40 cm). However, the lens didn’t quite scratch the itch of the hardcore macro nerds out there as it was only a 1:2 macro lens – not the much desired 1:1 that most other brands had available. Regardless, with a little patience and some trial and error, I was able to capture bees landing on flowers that were swaying gently in the wind and still obtain sharp focus.With the XF80mm f/2.8 Fujifilm adresses the macro photographers, but they also included all the knowledge of the past 3 years of designing the great X-series lenses into this lens. You can even use the tele converters with this lens, to further enhance its functionality.

The Fujifilm X-mount is not new, having been introduced in 2011. Currently, and likely for a long time to come, it is the mount I would recommend for people looking to buy an APS-C mirrorless camera. I won’t go into another lecture here, but I invite you to read our article explaining the influence of sensor size on photography. In short, at the moment, other brands offering APS-C lenses are more limited, with the exception of Sony’s “E” mount for APS-C, which still offers interesting lenses.Disclaimer. The lens I used for testing was an early prototype lens, and image quality might not be final, but unless Fujifilm has a contract with the image-quality-gods there isn’t really any more magic that can be sprinkled onto the lens. So IQ is probably final.

Full disclosure: Fujifilm USA loaned me the XF 80mm f/2.8 R LM OIS WR lens, with no expectations of producing a review or opportunity to review this content before publication. Physical CharacteristicsFor less money, the B+W 62mm 010 is an excellent filter, as are the multicoated version and the basic multicoated Hoya filters, but the Hoya HD3 is the toughest and the best. It was not until late 2017 that Fuji finally met the demands of the macro-cohort and released the much anticipated XF 80mm f/2.8 Macro. If this 1,200×900 pixel crop is about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, then the complete image printed at this same very high magnification would be about 21 × 31" (1.7 × 2.6 feet or 50 × 80 cm). So then I would recomment having a look also at the Laowa 65mm macro lens. It is excellent optically, and can deliver 2x magnification. It is an all manual lens though so no recording of EXIF information about aperture with the images.