Fujifilm XF 50-140mm F2.8 Review

Since I learned to become a photographer at the Defence School of Photography, I’ve enjoyed longer lenses, especially with wider apertures. With longer lenses and their perspective, you get a different, often more flattering, view of the world, which is why I love the 50-140mm.

This is a professional-grade lens that I’ve been confident shooting with for several years, first used when I was the Official Photographer for the UK Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street. Despite the longer focal length, it’s surprisingly versatile for travel photography.

And in a nutshell, here are the pros and cons of the Fujinon XF 50-140 lens before we get into the meat of the review:

Pros

• Solid build quality and weather-resistant construction
• Fast maximum aperture of f/2.8
• Excellent optical quality
• Effective image stabilisation
• Fast and accurate autofocus

Cons

• Poor lens hood fixture
• Higher price point
• Slightly weighty for a travel lens

The Fujinon XF 50-140 lens is designed for Fujifilm’s X-Series mirrorless cameras, such as my beloved Fujifilm X-T5. It’s a zoom lens that covers a focal length range of 50mm to 140mm, equivalent to approximately 76mm to 213mm in 35mm format.

This makes it a versatile lens for a range of shooting situations, from portraits and sports to wildlife photography. However, my primary use is for travel photography, for which it’s surprisingly helpful and complements my travel photography gear very well.

As I said, it provides a perspective you might not be able to achieve with a wider lens, since it gives you that extra reach.

If you’re wondering, these are what the letters mean in the lens name :

R = Ring – the lens has an aperture ring

LM = Linear Motors

OIS = Optical Image Stabiliser

WR = Weather Resistant – the lens has weather-sealing components

Build and Design

The lens has solid build quality, with a durable metal construction, which you’d expect from Fujifilm. It has the classic feel of a Fuji lens and that familiar aperture ring I love, which is lacking on my Sigma 56mm and something I miss when shooting on it.

The Fuji 50-140 is also weather-resistant, with seals at 20 points to protect against dust and moisture, which is handy if you’re into travel photography, especially in the UK, where we seem to get quite a bit of rain!

Another benefit is a maximum aperture of f/2.8, which remains constant throughout the zoom range. This is advantageous if you’re looking to use this lens in low-light conditions.

I shoot almost exclusively wide open because depth of field is an essential consideration for me and my shooting style, so this lens was my only choice for a telephoto.

Despite loving this lens and having it fixed to my camera most of the time, there is one thing I don’t like about it: the lens hood. It looks great on the end of the barrel. It’s sleek, I’d say, but it’s terrible to remove and refit.

It doesn’t have a button release. It simply screws on, which often isn’t simple at all. I prefer something with a bit more slack and a button release. However, it’s still the worst part of the lens, in my opinion.

Performance

The sharpness of this lens is impressive, even at the maximum aperture of f/2.8, which is the aperture I shoot at 99.99% of the time. Another interesting fact is that when looking through the archive for pictures taken with this lens, I can only find three that weren’t taken at f2.8, which was probably a mistake. I suspect I knocked the aperture ring by accident. It can’t be locked off, you see.

Except for the two shots below, every other picture in this review was taken at f/2.8.

So, here are a couple of pictures at f8 and f5.6, respectively.

Anyway, back to the optics. The centre of the image is sharp and detailed, and that’s all there is to say about that. You will be satisfied with this lens’s optical performance. I don’t shoot at other apertures enough to comprehensively review higher apertures.

You won’t notice any issues with other performance elements, such as distortion, chromatic aberration, or vignetting. The 50-140 is a high-quality lens and will perform well enough for your needs. So, let’s talk about the other vital bits, the autofocus and image stabilisation.

Autofocus

Thanks to its linear motor, this lens’s autofocus is virtually silent, fast, and almost always totally accurate. It never skipped a beat when I coupled it to the Fujifilm X-T2, but since using it on my X-T5, I’ve noted it misfocuses once or twice, but it’s rare.

It’s pretty strange, and the number of times it’s not nailed focus is few and far between. This begs the question of whether it’s a camera or lens focus issue. But despite where the fault lies, the autofocus is generally excellent and something I can trust. I used it at the Red Kite Feeding Station in Galloway, and it did a fantastic job. There’s really not much to complain about with the AF.

Stabilisation

The lens features optical image stabilisation, which reduces camera shake in normal shooting conditions. The stabilisation works with in-body stabilisation and provides around five stops of image stabilisation inside the lens alone, and up to six stops when mounted on a camera with in-body image stabilisation, such as the Fujifilm X-T5.

The image stabilisation in this lens is impressive and very useful for reducing ISO when shooting in low light or at slow shutter speeds. There’s a strange noise emitted from the Fuji 50-140 when you turn the camera on; I thought it was image stabilisation or autofocus, but it’s neither. I have tested with image stabilisation off and all AF modes off, and nothing made a difference.

Despite an online search, I can’t find an explanation for this. The noise appears normal on this lens. Under normal circumstances, you won’t hear it, but if you’re in a quiet space, you will.

Specifications

For those of you who are interested, here are the lens specs. 

Lens configuration	23 elements in 16 groups
Focal length	50-140mm (76-213mm in 35mm format equivalent)
Angle of view	31.7° – 11.6°
Max. aperture	F2.8
Min. aperture	F22
Aperture blades	7
Focus range	1m – ∞
Max. magnification	0.12x
Dimensions	82.9mm x 175.9mm (diameter x length)
Weight	995g
Filter size	72mm

Is the Fujinon 50-140 worth buying?

If you are considering buying it, the answer is yes. It’s a great lens with a surprisingly wide range of uses, whether for street photography, travel, or portraiture. The optics are excellent, as are the build quality, autofocus and optical image stabilisation. Despite being designed for Fujifilm APS-C cameras, this lens delivers professional-grade performance.

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