Fujifilm announces quintet of GF lenses including a premium prime, two new tilt-shifts and a 500mm supertelephoto
It has only been a few short years since Fujifilm unveiled its foray into mirrorless medium format with the GFX series announced at Photokina in 2017 starting with the Fujifilm GFX 50S. Since then Fujifilm has brought a total of 15 lenses to its mount, although, it is about to add three new ones - delivering on promises previously made on its lens roadmaps.
The new lenses we knew about are the GF55mm f/1.7 fast standard prime and the two tilt-shift lenses, which we knew were coming this year.
At the Fujifilm X-Summit event we also got to hear of two new additions are in development:
• A GF500mm f/5.6 telephoto - which is designed for wildlife and sports photographers, which will be launched in 2024.
• A GF power zoom lens with a motorized standard zoom and electronic control which is designed for videomakers. No specifications (not even a focal length range) or launch date were revealed.
Fujinon GF 55mm F1.7 R WR
The Fujinon GF 55mm F1.7 R WR aims to set a new premium for Fujifilm GF prime lenses. Equivalent to 44mm in the 35mm full frame format, it is roughly equivalent to the normal focal length of the human eye, giving a natural perspective of a subject as seen by the photographer. Previously promised on the GF lens roadmap, this makes it a very versatile focal length for a lot of subjects from landscapes, to street scenes to fashion and atmospheric portraiture.
The wide aperture of f/1.7 means that it should be able to achieve beautifully blurred backgrounds and subject separation, as well as perform well in low light situations, both of these enhanced by the characteristics of the medium format sensors this lens will be paired with.
The GF 55mm lens consists of 14 lens elements in 10 groups including two ED elements and two aspherical elements which should help prevent chromatic aberration, spherical aberration, and comatic aberration. The lens is also constructed using 11 diagram blades to give an almost perfect circular bokeh.
The lens autofocus is driven by a DC motor that should censure fast and quiet autofocus. The GF 55mm manages to remain relatively compact for a medium format lens, weighing 780g and measuring 99.3mm in length, the lens is also weather-sealed in nine places to ensure dust and weather resistance, with the ability to operate down to -10ºC.
The lens will be available on September 26 for $2,299 / £2,249 / AU$3,899, and is available for preorder now.
Fujinon GF 30mm F5.6 T/S & GF 110mm F5.6 T/S Macro
Tilt-shift lenses are not the most common lenses you’d find in a photographers kit bag, however for landscape, architectural, and product photographers, the manipulation of images is invaluable. But shifting the optical axis of the lens, but not moving the camera angle, you can use tilt-shift lenses to precisely control what areas are in focus or completely change the perspective of an image. A common and easy-to-understand example is using tilt-shift lenses to correct vertical lines in architecture, changing the perspective so buildings look flat and not like they are leaning back as they would with a normal lens from the ground.
These two new tilt-shift lenses from Fujifilm are not technically brand-new, as they have been teased as being in development, and we even had a hands-on with one very early pre-production models, but finally, these two lenses are actually making their way into production and into the hands of photographers.
Both GF T/S lenses feature an optical design around an 85mm image circle, which covers the larger sensor size of GFX cameras allowing the cameras to shift ±15mm and still use the entire sensor area. The lens shows the tift and shift in live view, as well as recording the tilt-shift and rotation data in the EXIF information for later editing and archiving.
The GF 30mm F5.6 T/S is a wide-angle tilt-shift lens with a focal length of 30mm, which is roughly equivalent to 24mm on full-frame cameras. The GF 30mm T/S can perform tilting up to ±8.5º and shift adjustments of up to ±15mm, as well as revolving ±90 degrees.
Featuring 16 lens elements in 11 groups including three aspherical elements, two ED elements, and one Super ED element, it suppresses distortion and ghosting, and a Nano GI Coating reduces ghosting and flare. This is certainly a small lens, the GF 30mm T/S measures 138.5mm in length and a hefty 1.34g in weight including the tripod collar which comes with the lens as standard, the lens also features a 105mm filter thread.
The GF 110mm F5.6 T/S Macro is a mid-telephoto tilt-shift macro lens with a focal length of 110mm (or 87mm in 35mm terms). The lens has a half-sized macro magnification at 0.5x. The lens features a slightly increased tilt of ±10° over the 30mm lens, but the same shifting of up to ±15mm and ±90º rotation. The GF 110mm T/S consists of 11 lens elements in nine groups including one aspherical element and two ED elements and measures in at 149mm in length and weighs 1,255g, the GF 110mm has a filter thread size of 72mm.
The Fujinon GF 30mm F5.6 T/S will cost $3,999 / £3,899 / AU$6,799 and will be available starting in October 2023. The Fujinon GF 110mm F5.6 T/S Macro with cost $3,499 / £3,299 / AU$5,899, and will be available a month later in November 2023.
Interested in finding out more about medium format? Check out our top picks for the best medium format cameras. You can also find our guides to the best Fujifilm cameras and the best GF lenses.
