The main reason: the Zeiss Touit X lenses were more expensive than their Fujinon XF counterparts but did not offer a better image quality that would justify the price jump.
On the other hand, the Sigma X mount lenses will come in at a sensibly lower price tag than their Fujinon XF competitors and probably at the same time offer a very good image quality, too.
Well, today I’d like to go a bit more in depth and compare also some of the other specs thanks to the very useful B&H Photo comparison tool.
Given the gentle price and probably also the great performance, I believe the Sigma X mount lenses could potentially be an attractive option for many Fuji X shooters.
What I believe could be the biggest “deal breaker” is not that they are too close to existing Fujinon lenses, but that all the Sigma lenses mentioned above do not have an aperture ring, which is something many of us love and consider a key part of the Fuji X shooter experience.
At least for me it’s like this, so much so that I sold my original XF27mmF2.8 to get the new XF27mmF2.8 R WR just to have an aperture ring on the lens.
But other than that, I am happy Sigma joins the X mount with whatever lenses they want and I look forward to more in future.
Less than 48 hours after the launch of deals, I found myself at my local photography store, my credit card flying over the sales counter and in my bag a box containing the Fujinon GF50mmF3.5.
And don’t worry, my wife approved this purchase… now all I need is her to approve also my other two Fuji-dreams gear 2022, meaning this camera and this lens ;).
I am Happy I Failed :)
Here is why I bought it, and I am so excited about this lens.
My main application for this wonderful combo is landscape photography.
So how is that working out?
Well, my go-to bag for hiking is my Camslinger Outdoor. I love the practicality of it to a point, that I won’t buy gear (for landscape photography) that does not fit in there. And despite having a sensor about 70% larger than full frame, the GFX100S with GF32-64mmF4 still fits!
So, for me, this combo is compact enough, and I can easily make my usual 4 to 6 hours hike with the GFX100S and GF32-64 on my hips.
Why do I say this?
Because I want to make clear that I don’t perceive the GFX100S with GF32-64 as too big for the purpose of landscape photography, especially considering what it is: a 100 megapixel medium format system that I can carry around all day on my hips. It’s frankly amazing.
But while it is a surprisingly compact combo for the purpose of landscape photography, the GFX100S combined with the GF32-64mmF4 is not small enough for my taste to bring it with me for more casual shooting, may it be for my street photography or to document my family life.
By getting the Fujinon GF50mmF3.5, though, the whole combo gets substantially smaller and lighter, making it much more portable and easier to pick also for casual photography.
But owning the GF50mmF3.5 simply gives me more options and opportunities to pick up my GFX100S more often if I want to.
I am very happy with my purchase and I can’t wait to use use it comprehensively starting with this weekend.
We (my family and me) are probably going to the town of Sirmione this Saturday. I have never been there and can’t wait to test my new lens in such a wonderful little lake town.
I mean, maybe I’d also have hoped for Sigma to offer us lenses that close some gaps in the current Fujinon X line-up. However, I can also understand that for Sigma it just makes sense to start with something they already have and adapt it for the Fujifilm X mount.
Look, the Zeiss Touit lenses had a price tag that was higher than the one of the competing XF Fujinon lenses (the XF14mmF2.8 and the XF35mmF1.4) but at the same did not offer necessarily a better image quality.
However, if Sigma keeps the same price tag they currently have for other mounts also for their X mount versions, then they’d come in at a more affordable price than the Fujinon lenses and still offer a very nice image quality.
This changes things quite a bit in favor of Sigma compared to Zeiss.
And in fact, one just has to look at the success of Viltrox AF X mount lenses, which are also close in terms of specs to existing Fujinon lenses, but still sell good because they are gently priced.
So, for now I’d not be so pessimistic.
It’s nice to see Sigma joining the X mount with whatever lenses they want. And then let’s hope that down the road they will offer more lenses, maybe also some that close gaps in the current X mount line-up.
