Fujifilm unveils XF 33mm f/1.4 WR, XF 23mm f/1.4 WR lenses, refreshed X-T30 II, new X-T3 pricing & more!

 

 

Alongside some new exciting products for their medium-format GFX series, Fujifilm's annual X Summit event brings some new goodies for their popular APS-C X Series lineup, as well. Fujifilm unveiled not only a pair of new fast f/1.4 prime lenses but also an updated lens roadmap as well as some new camera options -- a refreshed Fuji X-T30 II and new pricing to the popular X-T3 camera.

XF33mm F1.4 R LM WR

First up on the list is an all-new optic for Fujifilm's already-extensive lens lineup. The XF 33mm f/1.4 R LM WR is a new 50mm-eq. prime lens and while it doesn't necessarily serve as a direct replacement to Fuji's existing XF 35mm f/1.4 R lens -- which is one of their oldest X-mount lenses, debuting back in 2011 with the X-Pro1 -- the new 33mm f/1.4 lens serves a similar purpose. This new fast 50mm-eq. lens brings several updates and upgrades over the older 35mm f/1.4 lens, namely an improved autofocusing system, updated optical design and weather-sealed construction.

 

 

In terms of autofocus, as the "LM" labeling denotes, the new XF 33mm f/1.4 lens uses a Linear Motor autofocusing system, which promises faster and essentially silent autofocusing performance. One of the notable criticisms of the earlier XF 35mm f/1.4 lens was its somewhat sluggish and noisy DC Coreless AF motor. In this older lens, the focusing group was much larger and heavier, requiring this high-torque DC motor. With the new XF 33mm f/1.4 lens and its linear motor, the focusing group is much smaller and lighter and the more modern linear actuator-based autofocusing system is capable of faster performance as well as nearly silent operation. The new XF 33mm lens should offer a solid upgrade when it comes to AF performance, particularly for those wanting more stealthy shooting capabilities as well as for video creators who need silent AF functionality. Further, the lens is designed for minimal focus breathing, which is another important quality for video users.

When it comes to the revised optical layout, the new XF 33mm f/1.4 lens uses a total of 15 elements situated into 10 Groups and includes two aspherical elements and three ED (Extra-Low Dispersion) elements. This is quite a bit more glass than what's inside the older 35mm f/1.4 lens, but as mentioned, the lens is designed in such a way as to have a small, lightweight focusing group, which should make the lens more responsive. The use of aspherical elements should help ensure sharp image quality across the frame, while the ED elements help to suppress chromatic aberrations. The lens also features a 9-bladed circular aperture diaphragm and a 58mm filter thread.

As for design and construction, the new XF 33mm f/1.4 lens features Fuji's "WR" designation, indicating a fully weather-sealed design. Though we've not seen the lens in person, the design and construction appear similar to the earlier XF 18mm f/1.4 R LM WR lens, which featured an all-metal barrel, metal lens mount and weather-sealing -- including a gasket around the lens mount. Additionally, as the "R" badge indicates, the 33mm f/1.4 includes a manual aperture ring, with a locking mechanism. The aperture ring has a locking "A" position for auto-aperture control exposure modes, which is not available on the aperture ring for the XF 35mm f/1.4 R.

Other details of the lens include a minimum focusing distance of 30cm (0.98 ft.) and a maximum magnification factor of 0.15x, as well a weight of just 360g (0.79lbs.). 

XF23mm F1.4 R LM WR

For those wanting something just as fast but a little wider in field of view, there's a newly-refreshed and updated XF 23mm f/1.4 lens. Like the XF 33mm lens, the new 23mm f/1.4 gains the "LM" and "WR" features, both of which the earlier XF 23mm f/1.4 R model from 2013 did not have. The overall design and feature upgrades to this new 23mm prime essentially mimic those of the XF 33mm f/1.4. In fact, even the optical layout is surprisingly similar, as well, with the new XF 23mm lens utilize the same number of lens elements (15) and lens groupings (10) as well as a pair of aspherical elements and three ED (Extra-Low Dispersion) elements. Of course, the precise optical design and layout varies due to the different focal lengths. But by and large, the lenses are strikingly similar in almost every way.

As mentioned, the new 23mm lens gains the faster, quieter Linear Motor autofocus system over the older DC motor from the original model. The lens also gains a weather-resistant construction and a 9-bladed circular aperture diaphragm, locking aperture ring, and a 58mm filter thread size -- just like the 33mm lens.

Minimum focusing distance and maximum magnification factors vary slightly compared to the 33mm lens and to the predecessor model, with the XF 23mm f/1.4 LM WR focusing down to 19cm (7.5in) and offering a max. magnificaton factor of 0.2x. By comparison, the original 23mm f/1.4 focused down to only 28cm (11in.) and had a 0.1x magnification ratio. The weight, too, is slightly heavier than the original, but only by a small amount -- 375g (0.83lbs) vs. 300g (0.66lbs).

New Generation F/1.4 Prime Family

With the introduction of two more "LM WR" f/1.4 primes, the 33mm and 23mm lenses join the earlier XF 18mm f/1.4R LM WR lens from back in April to create what Fujifilm is calling a "New Generation F/1.4 Prime Family." What's so far a trio of lenses all share a common set of features and performance specs. These three lenses are all created with updated optical designs for higher resolution image quality, as well as better optical performance at close-focusing ranges. Further, all three lenses use the faster, quieter Linear Motor focusing system, and they all feature durable weather-sealed construction, as well as a locking manual aperture ring and a 9-bladed aperture. All three lenses are also said to have minimal focus breathing for video uses.

While Fujifilm offers several flavors of fast prime lenses, these latest versions appear to serve as Fuji's top-of-the-line fast primes, featuring the latest optical designs and focusing technology.

Lens Roadmap Updates

In addition to these two specific new lenses, Fujifilm also released an updated X-Mount lens roadmap, and there are a couple exciting new lenses on the horizon. The first should certainly catch the attention of nature and wildlife photographers, as there is XF 150-600mm in the works for a ~2022 release. This new supertelephoto zoom lens will offer an approximately 229-914mm-equivalent zoom range, making it an excellent birding and wildlife lens, and making Fuji's longest-reaching X Series lens to date. The Fujifilm lens lineup, though extensive in many ways, has so far been rather sparse when it comes to long telephoto lenses, with only two high-end lenses being the XF 100-400mm and the pricey XF 200mm f/2. No information about aperture values, image stabilization, pricing or other specifications have been made available.

The other new lens shown on the roadmap is an XF 18-120mm all-in-one zoom. Offering an equivalent zoom range of around 27-183mm in 35mm terms, the upcoming XF 18-120mm lens should be an excellent, versatile lens for those who want to carry just a single lens while out shooting for the day. Fujifilm also states that this new zoom lens is "designed for video creators." The lens covers a very wide range of focal lengths, and it appears to compete head-on with the existing XF 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR zoom. Again, there's no mention of aperture values or pricing, so it'll be interesting to see how this new versatile "travel zoom" stacks up against the 18-135mm. However, judging how Fujifilm placed the lens higher up on the roadmap, it's possible the 18-120mm is positioned as a higher-end all-in-one zoom, perhaps with a constant-aperture design compared to the 18-135mm's variable aperture. Keep in mind, however, that this is merely speculation at this point.

Like the XF 150-600mm, the XF 18-120mm is estimated to be announced sometime in 2022.

Fujifilm X-T3 WW & Fujifilm X-T30 II

In addition to the lens news, Fujifilm is also announcing a couple of minor updates to two of their most popular camera models. First, the Fuji X-T3 is remaining in the X Series product lineup -- despite the existence of the newer X-T4 model. However, the "Fuji X-T3 WW," as Fuji is calling denoted the "X-T3 World Wide Version," will still be produced and sold, coming in a black color option only and selling at a lower price point of just $1,099.95 -- compared to the previous $1,499.94 price. There aren't any other product changes or spec bumps of any sort to the X-T3 WW, other than this version will not be sold with a battery charger in the box; owners will need to rely on in-camera via USB, or purchase an NP-W126S battery charger separately.

 

 

The X-T3 WW will also be offered in a kit configuration with an XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 lens for $1,499.95.

Lastly, the popular Fuji X-T30 gets an update as well, this time with a couple of minor updates, though enough of a refresh that Fujifilm felt the need to give it a full "Mark II" name change. First, the rear LCD monitor on the Fuji X-T30 II gets an upgrade to a higher-resolution display, going from a 1.04M-dot display to 1.62M dots. It's also 0.8mm thicker than the original X-T30. Then, the camera also has more RAM inside compared to the original model, and with the updated firmware in the camera, the performance of the X-T30 II is more closely matched to the higher-end X-T4 and X-S10. The camera still uses a different shutter mechanism than the X-T4, so the X-T30 II is still not at the same level in terms of frames-per-second burst shooting, but autofocus algorithms and overall responsiveness of the camera are said to be more in line now with the X-T4 and X-S10.

Like the X-T3 WW, the new X-T30 II will be sold without a battery charger in the box, but will be sold for the same $899.95 body-only price as the original model. A kit version with the XF 15-45mm lens will sell for $999.95, while a version with an XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 will retail for $1,299.95.

Pricing & Availability

The Fujifilm XF 33mm f/1.4 R LM WR lens is set to go on sale in late October with a retail price of $799.95, while the updated XF 23mm f/1.4 will hit stores at the end of November with a price point of $899.95. The Fujifilm X-T3 WW will start at a body-only price of $1,099.95, and the Fuji X-T30 II will start at $899.95.

Fujifilm teases its next flagship camera...

At the end of today's X Summit, Fujifilm delivered an Apple-style 'one last thing' announcement. The next flagship Fuji X Series camera will be coming next year and we now know that it will feature a stacked-layer backside-illuminated CMOS image sensor with an X-Trans filter array. What else do you hope the next flagship X camera includes? Let us know in the comments below.