Today I am going to talk about the three X-mount lenses for portraits at the Fujifilm focal length of 33mm and 35mm, which are about 50mm full frame equivalent. These lenses are all new XF33mm F1.4 WR, XF35mm F1.4 and Viltrox 33mm F1.4. The camera body I used for this test is the Fujifilm X-T4 body.
Key Points
Side by side comparison of these three lenses
My thoughts on the side by side results
I have recently uploaded a video on this photoshoot for these three lenses. The full video for the photoshoot is below:
Side by side comparison of these three lenses
In this section, I am going to walk through different sample sets of these three lenses. You can check out the differences among the photos.
Left: XF33mm F1.4 WR, Middle: XF35mm F1.4, Right: Viltrox 33mm F1.4
Left: XF33mm F1.4 WR, Middle: XF35mm F1.4, Right: Viltrox 33mm F1.4
Left: XF33mm F1.4 WR, Middle: XF35mm F1.4, Right: Viltrox 33mm F1.4
Left: XF33mm F1.4 WR, Middle: XF35mm F1.4, Right: Viltrox 33mm F1.4
Left: XF33mm F1.4 WR, Middle: XF35mm F1.4, Right: Viltrox 33mm F1.4
My thoughts
First thing in my mind was about the XF35mm F1.4, which was released in 9/21/2011. This lens is surprisingly holding pretty well against the latest XF33mm F1.4 WR lens. As you have seen the half body and full body sample above, the bokeh background on the XF35mm F1.4 is still very good. The straight out of the camera portraits from the new XF33mm F1.4 WR have better contrast than the old lens, and the auto focus in the new lens is better. Other than those advantages, the current price of the 35mm F1.4 is $599, which is two hundred dollars cheaper than the new XF33mm F1.4 WR. The XF35mm F1.4 is a very nice deal with the Fujifilm quality.
The next thought on my mind is that the Viltrox 33mm F1.4 ($279) is a pretty good deal if you are under a tight budget. It has a very nice price to quality ratio. Couple things to keep in mind for the Viltrox 33mm F1.4. The backlight flare control are more visible than Fujifilm flare control. It's personal preference whether you want to have flare in the photo or not because sometimes flare are nice for the foreground as part of the composition and layering. The Viltrox 33mm also has less contrast the Fujifilm, which can be fixed in the post.
Lastly, if you want to get the latest lens technology such as faster auto focus and better sharpness/contrast, you can go for the new XF33mm F1.4 WR. Below are my summaries of these three lenses:
XF33mm F1.4 WR, $799: Best sharpness and contrast, faster auto focus, nice bokeh.
XF35mm F1.4 R, $599: Holds up pretty good for a 10 year old lens, nice bokeh, decent sharpness, medium contrast.
Viltrox 33mm F1.4, $279: Great value at the price. Least contrast from the three lenses. Fixable in the post.
Happy creating :)
Fujifilm X-T4: https://amzn.to/3pV6kKa
XF33mm F1.4 WR: https://amzn.to/3qXflpk
XF 35mm F1.4: https://amzn.to/3rvN2w3
Viltrox 33mm F1.4: https://amzn.to/3aEKKVn
Thanks for reading :) More photos will be uploaded in my Instagram account: @caliallstaring.