My Experience with the Fujinon GF55mm f/1.7 – Crafted to Trigger GAS

On Saturday, Fujifilm had one of its Italian Roadshow gear presentation in the lovely town of Trento just 30 minutes car drive away from my home.

Much to my surprise, they already had the Fujifilm GFX100II and the Fujinon GF55mm f/1.7 R WR there for testing. And I could test it for about 30 minutes only.

Now, initially I wrote an article that contained both, my GFX100II and my GF55mmF1.7 first impressions.

But I decided to split it up in two parts for one reason: the launch of the Fujifilm GFX100II has overshadowed what I believe is a true gem of a lens: the Fujinon GF55mm f/1.7.

So much so, that I believe Fujifilm should have given this lens a separate launch date.

But that’s how it is.

And that’s why FujiRumors wants to bring the GFX system world into the right balance again by giving the wonderful Fujinon GF55mmF1.7 the space it deserves.

So, here are my first impressions without GFX100II distraction.

Fujinon GF55mmF1.7 R WR – Perfection Achieved

INSANE!

I shot everything at f/1.7.

The reason?

It was so sharp wide open, that I was scared to stop down and to hurt my eyes with even sharper images (if that is even possible).

The good thing?

If you need to take a rest from all that sharpness, then just look at the background of the image and enjoy a massive relaxation for your eyes thanks to a wonderful, dreamy-creamy and buttery-smooth bokeh.

And the autofocus?

Surprisingly fast autofocus for a lens without linear motor in it. I mean, I used it initially on my Fujifilm GFX100S, and my first reaction was to read on the lens front element if there is really not “LM” (linear motor) written on it. I was very positively surprised. Having had experience with the GF80mmF1.7, I can say the GF55mmF1.7 is a significant step up compared to it.

Sure, Linear Motor lenses might still be faster. But shooting with the GF55mmF1.7 won’t be a frustrating experience in terms of autofocus. Actually quite a pleasing one it was for me.

I have also made a tracking test using the Fujifilm GFX100II and GF55mmF1.7. I will share the results in the second part of the review where I talk about the Fujifilm GFX100II, because I need to talk about settings, test conditions to put the results in proper context. So watch out for that one coming soon.

Two problems!

  1. The depth of field is very shallow. Used on my GFX100S, I had images where the top of the eyelash was in focus and the eye pupil itself not (see sample below). If you are going to shoot it wide open it certainly will help to have the best autofocus possible. And the best autofocus possible you get is with the GFX100II.
  2. True story: after my third “wow” while I was testing it and reviewing the images, my wife said: “but you are not going to buy it, right?” So now we have a problem. A problem that hopefully a nice dinner in a fancy restaurant and a couple of flowers will be able to solve.

Overall Conclusion

Not the lightest lens on the world, but it is also not too big for an f/1.7 lens. Well balanced overall with my GFX100S.

At f/1.7 it is so sharp that, true story, my wife complaint when she saw the images because she could notice every single little imperfection of her skin.

They say Bokeh is subjective, but this one is objectively very good.

Fujifilm said during X Summit that they use the aspherical lens manufactured with ultra precision resulting in the reduction of axial chromatic aberration and onion ring effect. it is also their first GF lens with 11 aperture blades for near perfect circular aperture.

If you love the versatility of the 40mm-ish full frame equivalent focal length, then this is the one!

And look, I own the Fujinon GF50mm f/3.5 and love it for its fantastic portability. But versatility comes not only from size, but also from speed. And at f/1.7 the GF55mmF1.7 opens up other possibilities in terms of low light performance and subject separation that make it just more suitable and flexible for more use cases.

I can totally recommend this lens if all you want in your life is the humble need for optical perfection in your images :D.

That’s at least my impression after 30 minutes of use. I had no time to test chromatic aberration, focus breathing and what not. So if those are critically important things for you wait for further reviews. Although what I’ve read so far is that also chromatic aberration is well controlled and Fujifilm actually emphasised during launch at the X summit the “reduction of axial chromatic aberration” and “less color fringe“.

Samples

Down below I will share three samples. All taken at f/1.7 using the Fujifilm GFX100S.

  • Sample 1 + Crop = shows how impressively sharp the performance is at f/1.7
  • Sample 2 + Crop = shows how shallow the DOF is and how that can lead to slightly out of focus images
  • Sample 3 = enjoy the smooth bokeh background

Get Yours

And the Rest of the New Gear

Fujifilm GFX100 II IBIS Performance with GF Lenses (vs GFX100S)

Thanks to a new smart system that relies not only on the gyro sensor to stabilise the sensor, but also uses data from the image sensor itself to fine tune stabilisation (more about it in our X summit summary), the Fujifilm GFX100II is capable of achieving 8 stops IBIS.

But this peak 8 stops performance is achieved not with all lenses.

In the chart above shared by Ken L Photo (in text format below) you can see how many stops of IBIS you get on the GFX100II with each GF lens. Also, you get the IBIS performance comparison with the Fujifilm GFX100S.

Full Chart

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WATCH Fujifilm X Summit NOW: Fujifilm GFX100 II, GF55mmF1.5, GF Tilt Shift and MORE – LIVE on FujiRumors

Fujifilm X Summit – LIVE COVERAGE
(refresh for updates)

Fujifilm X Summit – The Full Coverage Live!
SUMMARY + SCREENSHOTS

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Fujifilm launches Mirrorless digital camera “FUJIFILM GFX100 II”

Fujifilm launches Mirrorless digital camera “FUJIFILM GFX100 II”

Press Release

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Hasselblad X2D vs Fujifilm GFX100 II vs GFX100S vs GFX100 – The Complete Specs Comparison

We already shared the specs comparison between the GFX100II, GFX100S and GFX100.

I initially also included the Hasselblad X2D in that comparison, but I realised that the X2D was just out of context in that comprehensive list.

The list had to be adjusted to best make sense.

For example, the GFX only comparison did not include the voice “joystick” or “eye autofocus” as all of the GFX cameras have it. But when comparing it to the Hasselblad X2D, the voice “joystick” and “eye AF” were important, since the X2D does not offer it and these are major things to consider when comparing these cameras.

That’s why I share the X2D comparison separately in this post.

It also helps to split up the discussion better and make this one a more X2D vs GFX centric discussion.

Also coming September 12:

Fujifilm GFX100 II vs GFX100S vs GFX100 – The Complete Specs Comparison

Here is the specs comparison between the GFX100II, GFX100S and GFX100 based on all the rumors specs of the Fujifilm GFX100II.

There are some specs missing (size and weight for example), but I will share updates as soon as those leak too. But already now we have so many specs that we get a clear idea on how they differ.

100% of the leaked specs you find in the list have been leaked by FujiRumors. That’s why a massive thanks goes to our sources!

Also coming September 12:

RUMOR: Fujifilm GFX100 II will NOT Have a File Transmitter Grip and Frame.io C2C Integration Possible with GFX100II Body Only

Today I’ve learned a lesson.

Which lesson? I will tell you at the bottom.

First you have to know that so far we have spotted three camera registrations in the first half of 2023.

  • FF220002 = Fujifilm X-S20
  • FF230001 = very likely Fujifilm GFX100II
  • FF230002 = yet unknown

And because it takes Fujifilm between 1-4 months usually to release gear after registration, this would mean all three should come within this year.

And here comes the problem.

Given the lack of rumors about the third camera supposed to come in 2023, I told you yesterday here that I believe the registration could be for the vertical file transmitter grip for the GFX100II, but making clear that’s not a rumor, just a speculation of mine.

But after I’ve shared the video trusted sources (thanks!!!) reached out to me and corrected my speculation telling me this:

  • there will not be a file transmitter grip for the GFX100 II
  • Frame-io Camera-to-Cloud (C2C) integration will be possible using the GFX100II body only

Now this is huge news. Consider that the FT-HX File Transmitter Grip for X-H2/S costs $1,000, a staggering $600 more over the regular X-H battery grip.

But what in the X-H world costs you $600 extra to get access to (frame.io C2C), you’ll get it built into the Fujifilm GFX100 II body for this price here.

And you know what that means.

It means that I have to get back at work to try to find out what the FF230002 is ;).

Lesson learned?

I have learned the lesson that I better don’t make any speculations, but just follow blindly the rumor-path my sources share with me.

So I will do just that.

By sharing more big rumors still before the launch of the GFX100II.

Fujifilm X Summit September 12 at 5 AM New York Time
GFX100II Rumors & More

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Fujifilm Leaks What’s Coming September 12 (GFX100 II, Tilt Shift)

Fujifilm has just put their countdown for the X summit on September 12 on their YouTube page.

Of course the video can’t yet be watched (will start Sept. 12 at 5AM New York time).

But here is the thing.

As soon as the video was up, I extracted the tags of the video and saw that the full tag-list included terms like “GFX100 II”, “tilt shift” and more (see screenshot above). I tried again now, and the tags that unveil what’s coming are no longer there.

So luckily I was fast enough to grab them for you. ;)

Now let’s go over them.

Let’s start with the tags that 100% tell us what’s coming September 12.

  • Fujifilm GFX100 II
  • Tilt Shift

According to my knowledge, also the Fujinon GF55mm f/1.7 should come on September 12.

Looking at the other tags gives us a sense on what the main focus of the event will be:

  • photography
  • cinema
  • movie recording

It’s interesting to see so much emphasis on the video side of things. And we already told you that the GFX100 II will bring several new features, such as Video touch-to-track Autofocus, Waveforms Monitor and Anamorphic Mode.

A tag that gives X series users hopes:

  • X Series

Now, there are no specific tags for Fujifilm X-Pro4, X-E5, X-S30, X-T6, X-T40, X-H3, X-H3S, X80, X100VI (X200) or whatever. So little hopes for any X series camera to come, otherwise they would have tagged it just like they tagged the GFX100 II.

But I’d already be very happy if behind that “X series” and “fujinon” would hide for example the unveil of a new X series lens roadmap, which is long overdue.

Anyway, overall a very GFX-centric event, with hope for X series tidbits too.

Fujifilm X Summit September 12 at 5 AM New York Time
GFX100II Rumors & More

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