Fujifilm has just announced a brand new ultra-wide-angle XF 8mm F3.5 R WR prime lens, for X-Mount Fujifilm cameras. The new ultra-wide-angle lens gives a 12mm equivalent in 35mm terms. It’s designed to be compact and lightweight at just 215g. It is weather-resistant and made to give minimal focus breathing, for example when recording video.
View Fujifilm XF 8mm F3.5 R WR sample photos here!
Key features:
- 8mm = 12mm equivalent
- 62mm filter thread
- 12 lens elements in 9 groups
- 3 aspherical, 2 ED elements
- Weather-sealed
- 52.8mm long
- 215g weight
There’s a lens hood included, and the lens will be available for $799 / £799 from the end of June 2023.
Have a look at the best X-Mount lenses available, plus have a look at the our Fujifilm X-S20 Review.
From Fujifilm: TOKYO, May 24, 2023 – FUJIFILM Corporation (President and CEO, Representative Director: Teiichi Goto) is pleased to announce the launch of the “FUJINON Lens XF 8mm F3.5 R WR” (XF8mmF3.5 R WR) on June 2023. The lens joins the line-up of XF lenses, interchangeable lenses for the X Series of lightweight and compact mirrorless digital cameras, renowned for their outstanding image quality based on Fujifilm’s proprietary colour reproduction technology.
The XF8mmF3.5 R WR is an ultra wide angle (UWA) prime lens with the focal length of 8mm (equivalent to 12mm in the 35mm film format), the widest among the line-up of Fujifilm’s XF lenses. It boasts the viewing angle of 121 degrees diagonally and 112 degrees horizontally. While human vision is said to have a wide-angle field of view, the effective visual field for observable area a person can see clearly is as limited at around 60 degrees (*1).
The angle of view for the UWA 8mm lens (equivalent to 12mm in the 35mm film format) captures information from an area about double the effective visual field, beyond what human vision can recognize. The use of Fujifilm’s unique optical design makes it possible to deliver edge-to-edge visual clarity. The UWA lens brings in massive information in intricate detail, e.g. tree branches and leaves in expansive wilderness or ornamental details at a majestic cathedral or temple. The lens’s compact design provides portability, allowing users to enjoy the world of UWA photography casually.
The XF 8mm F3.5 R WR is an UWA lens with outstanding image-resolving performance, consisting of 12 lens elements in nine groups including three aspherical elements and two ED elements. The UWA focal length of 8mm (equivalent to 12mm in the 35mm film format) with the diagonal viewing angle of 121 degrees is perfect for capturing massive information in landscape photography or taking advantage of UWA’s unique perspective for a dramatic finish. The lens captures wide expanses of the world in edge-to-edge clarity, thanks to its exceptional image-resolving performance.
The XF 8mm F3.5 R WR measures 52.8mm long, weighs 215g and has the versatile filter thread size of 62mm despite being an UWA lens. The compact and lightweight design makes it an ideal walkaround lens with a wide range of applications including landscape, architecture, snapshots and travel photography. In addition, the versatile filter thread size of 62mm enables enriched landscape photography, a popular genre for UWA lenses, and accommodates the use of a variety of filters in long-exposure snapshots and travel photography.
*1: Academically, there are several definitions.
2. Product features
1 – Widest-angle prime lens that extends Fujifilm’s wide-angle lens line-up
This is a prime lens with the focal length of 8mm (equivalent to 12mm in the 35mm film format), the widest angle (*2) in Fujifilm’s XF lens line-up. It covers the viewing angle of 121 degrees diagonally and 112 degrees horizontally, much wider than the effective visual field of human eyes, which is said to be around 60 degrees. This makes it an ideal choice for expansive landscapes and shooting situations involving a subject with high information volume.
The lens consists of 12 lens elements in nine groups, including three aspherical elements and two ED elements, thereby controlling lens distortion, spherical aberration and astigmatism to deliver advanced image-resolving performance. It can capture full information of the subject that fills the wide-angle frame in the finest detail.
The wide-angle lens’s characteristically short moving distance for the focusing lens is combined with the use of the Inner Focus system to achieve a fast AF speed of as fast as 0.02 seconds (*3). This is particularly useful when shooting dynamic action photography that takes advantage of the UWA perspective. As a wide-angle lens, which typically has greater-than-normal depth-of-field, its aperture can be stopped down to facilitate pan-focusing. Coupled with advanced image-resolving performance, the lens resolves all information in the frame with edge-to-edge clarity.
*2: As of May 24, 2023
*3: Using an internal measurement method compliant with the CIPA Guidelines, when mounted on the mirrorless digital camera “FUJIFILM X-T4” with Phase Detection AF activated and the High Performance Mode turned ON
2 – Compact design that brings the world of UWA to walkaround use
The effective positioning of the aspherical and ED elements has enabled appropriate aberration correction and the compact and lightweight design at the same time, defying the typically large UWA lens form factor. It is just 52.8mm long weighing 215g, bringing the world of UWA to everyday walkaround use.
Placing distortion-controlling aspherical elements at the front has effectively reduced its overall size and kept the filter thread size to the versatile 62mm, facilitating landscape photography, a popular genre for UWA lenses, and accommodating the use of a variety of filters.
3 – Dust- and weather-resistant and capable of operating in temperatures as low as -10C
The lens barrel is weather-sealed at 10 locations to achieve dust- and weather-resistance and capability of operating in temperatures as low as -10C. The front lens element is applied with fluorine coating to repel water and offer protection against stains. This means users can enjoy the lens with peace of mind to take photos in all shooting conditions including landscape photography in light rain or in dusty places as well as snapshots and travel photography thanks to its compact and lightweight design.
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