Ultimate 35mm Showdown: The Top Lenses for Fujifilm (No Budget Limits!)

[@btonelli]

If you want to see the sample images and why we picked the top 6, you can download them here: drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zcaTmrx6oow23-i11_1b5Cmbn9foGEQz?usp=drive_link

[@fellowcitizen]

Thanks for this - I've been trying to find good examples of the Apo-Ultron and the Super Nokton for ages; these kinds of realworld illustrations and chit chat are genuinely useful and fun! 💎🦘

[@btonelli]

@@fellowcitizen thanks for watching and for the compliment. We love making these videos too

[@MichaelSeneschal]

Always fantastic. Great videos. I love videos like this because, rather than a specific gear review, this is just friends hanging out talking about photography. Was really fun to watch.

[@btonelli]

Thanks Michael! We enjoy doing these as well. Won’t get the big view counts but photography is more than just talking about the latest camera or lens

[@SiddhantParkar]

We need a 23mm version of this video.

[@morespinach9832]

Voigtlander 23mm f/1.2.

[@photodesignch]

I m just surprised they didn’t include Zeiss 32/1.8 to the test. Since voigtlander, Leica and Fuji came out to play! Where was the zeiss? 💔

[@btonelli]

We couldn’t find a Zeiss lens. Sorry about that. They aren’t readily available here

[@AiSavvy]

same pick for me, 35 f0.9 has outstanding object separation for 35mm on apsc. very curious to compare it with fuji 50mm f1.0

[@btonelli]

Awesome lens

[@noenken]

I would always recommend to go RAW and use a converter that has the option to fully ignore in camera corrections. RAWtherapee was my choice for that in the past. For example it can ignore the lens corrections on a Leica Q which lets you see that the last pixels in the extreme corner of the sensor are pitch black on that camera. 😁 Shame that the sun came out too late. The Fuji 35mm f/1.4 is a lens made for sunlight. It is a really solid lens in general but you go outside and shoot evening sun, backlit portrait, maybe some reflecting chrome ... magic happens with that lens. [edit] What would kill the TTArtisan 1.8 for me is the missing aperture ring.

[@btonelli]

Thanks for the tip! Will check that out next time. Yes our weather in Singapore isn’t great right now. Monsoon season so almost everyday it rains.

[@tomaskroupakkfoto4132]

I use CZ 35/2 distagon with reduction on X-mount. Such a beast lens ❤️

[@benoitpiret9065]

reall cool video. love the collaboration

[@btonelli]

Thank you 🙏

[@sirmarlondenon2497]

I highly recommend the Voigtlander NOKTON 35mm/0.9 This lens amazes me every time I get home to review my images!

[@btonelli]

Yes it's a fantastic lens

[@morespinach9832]

It's a bit larger. And twice the price!

[@cameraprepper7938]

I can very highly recommend the Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 35mm 2.0 Aspherical for full frame Camera.

[@btonelli]

It’s a great lens

[@Teledible]

Now i’m just waiting for voigtlander to launch a fas 35mm prime for the z mount. Hopefully tt artisans too with an AF lens and squarehood.

[@btonelli]

They will in time I feel.

[@fellowcitizen]

If you get the chance, I'd love to see comparisons of the Apo-Lanthars with the Apo-Ultron. The classic Fuji that I got with the X-Pro1 is still remarkable.

[@LCM94120]

great review, I was not expecting Samyang to be so good. Why did the Fuji f2 did not pass the first stage? It’s supposed to be sharper than the 1.4.

[@btonelli]

Thanks!! Yes we were equally surprised. Check out the sample images from the Google drive link to see how it performed. 😊

[@KingFiercer_zip]

I like my Nokton 35mm f/1.2 - so much character wide open, so dreamy and unique bokeh, and very good image quality after f/2. The colors, the subject separation and pop-up effect, and it's very cool looking and compact lens. The only drawback is that there is no hard stop to focus to infinity, and you'll have to set the aperture first and only then focus to get proper focus. For me it's more interesting than XF35mm f/1.4 (more organic and vibrant), and I like the bokeh better than the 35mm f/0.9 (more structured and unique, but very soft like oil paint). 35mm f/0.9 looks like the perfect lens for night photography.

[@btonelli]

Yes the 35 .9 strikes a good balance of fast aperture and sharpness

[@morespinach9832]

Thanks for the note about 1.2. It's an excellent bargain. But at 1.2 or so, the 0.9 is much better. At which point do you like the bokeh of 1.2 better than 0.9, around f2 onwards??

[@stephanweiskorn6760]

Excellent video 😊!

[@btonelli]

Thanks!

[@jtes1442]

The Zeiss Touit 32 1.8 is not 35mm, but it renders a fantastic image. It should have been on the list (despite the high price for a 1.8 lens). Still, I enjoyed your video.

[@btonelli]

Thanks for watching. We kept to 35mm for consistency

[@petereprice]

Great video! But was curious why you didn't include Fuji's 33mm f1.4 LM WR lens?

[@btonelli]

Thank you for the kind words. We kept to “35” for the sake of fairness.

[@petereprice]

Ah I see! Makes sense. Thank you for doing this comparison. I really enjoyed this video. Your channel is awesome man!

[@btonelli]

@@petereprice thank you really appreciate it

[@snakemeng208]

It will be great if you could include the Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f/1.2...., just trying to pick one from this and Ultron 35mm f2

[@KingFiercer_zip]

More subject photo and close-ups - Ultron, more portraits and night photo - Nokton. CA never really bothered me with Nokton, and at f/2 it's already quite sharp, plus you'll get that faster aperture for portraits and additional separation, and vignetting/glow/flares for dreamy look.

[@mahdimanesh4221]

The comparison with the 33 would have been nice too! :-) I own that one and probably this one against the 0.9 would be nice to see 😂

[@btonelli]

Yes but to keep it fair we kept to 35mm

[@mahdimanesh4221]

@@btonelliAgreed! This was already quite a collection of lenses! 😂👍

[@btonelli]

@@mahdimanesh4221 haha yeah

[@Renzsu]

Oh I thought that Voigtlander was a Zeiss Distagon for a while. I didn't know that lens even existed! :)

[@btonelli]

Haha yep it’s out. Solid lens!

[@bk8pa323]

How can you miss out ttartisan f0.95 35mm?

[@btonelli]

It’s in there but didn’t make the top 6

[@JeDxDeVu]

I’m not expert but why didn’t voigtlander make the f0.9 an APO lens to compensate for the faults of a fast aperture ?

[@btonelli]

That would be quite difficult and extremely expensive. Even Leica hasn’t done that

[@bubbachua]

I thought I read on one of the L forums that super fast lenses f1.2 and faster are known for their unique renderings shot wide open which are actually coming from the aberrations in the lens, apo lenses correct for the aberrations so in a way they wouldn’t really mix well as the lens loses its ‘character’? Also apo is kinda marketing term being used these days, some non APO lenses would qualify as APO designation Plus.. a super fast apo lens would be super $$$ big and heavy

[@bubbachua]

I like the big boi 😏 but the Leica apo should be there 🤩 I think the voigtlander apo wins the test just cos of the awesome model pose 😆 I think the f2 shot wide open will have a nicer fall off compare to a 0.9 stopped down 🤔

[@btonelli]

I didn’t have an APO to play with. I initially brought the SL 35 APO but we couldn’t use the same camera so variables would be different

[@datdudeinred]

We want chris(from Petapixels) watching this 😂 Btw why didn't you shoot raw? Because that's what has no internal adjustments done by camera pre applied. But i have to agree that 150 bucks lens is insane. Especially for a beginner. Have to love tt/7artisans just for their commitment. You should try their 90mm prime it's insanely good.

[@btonelli]

Haha Chris would probably agree with some of the results when they see the sample images. Some people think brand first and associate image quality based on their bias. With this we took it out of the equation. The TT Artisans actually does well for the price

[@tknson]

LOL at the sexy pose, you guys are a riot xD also, are those filters on your shirts?? :0

[@btonelli]

Haha thanks! We have fun.

[@Beadlock_]

$60 usd for the samyang? checking it out now and cant find anywhere close to that price. seeing $400+

[@btonelli]

Yeah same. Not sure where their person who loaned up purchased it as well.

[@j5daniel182]

isn't the 33mm F1.4 fuji the update of the 35mm F1.4 fuji? and the 30mm F1.4 sigma is basically a 50mm. at F1.4 and with AF, id happily give away that 5mm.

[@btonelli]

Yes one could say that but because it’s a 35mm challenge we stayed away from 33mm and 32mm lenses

[@elmoqbobo]

What about kipon iberit 35mm 2.4? Graet lens

[@btonelli]

That lens wasn’t even on the radar. There are many 35mm lenses but some we just don’t have access too

[@Point_of_View_Content]

How is viltrox not in this

[@btonelli]

Couldn’t get a lens in time for the review

[@PhilipSalen]

Ignorance is bliss, but I love my Fujifilm XF 35 mm f2 wr, I don't feel the need to try other 35 mm lenses

[@morespinach9832]

Voigtlander 35mm f/2 APO... and 35mm f/1.2... the 1.2 is excellent value compared to the 0.9.

[@elmoqbobo]

Where is kipon/iberit 36mm f2.4? Remarkable IQ and character.

[@btonelli]

Hmm that’s a lens neither of us have tried

[@TungstenOvergaard]

Organic sharpness - Not sharp but I spent 5k

[@btonelli]

Haha actually it’s sharp but it when you compare it to the other lenses, less contrast which gives appearance of sharpness etc.

[@TungstenOvergaard]

@@btonelli 😉

[@npdady]

​@@TungstenOvergaardit's the "experience" of shooting that matters most... The Leica gives you that pure raw photography experience, it's a 5k experience not accessible to mere peasants. 🤭🤭

[@jimtong]

The 35APO M is not invited to the party!

[@btonelli]

Haha I wish I could get a hold of one

[@photodesignch]

That’s one thing I like how the video describing it! A lot of vintage lenses have characters from optical defects. However! The “organic” sharpness is something vintage lens design is just goes way beyond the “clinical” sharpness. Rendering looks way more pleasing, vivid colors with micro contrast. Yet! Not overly harsh! I personally found that modern lenses colors and contrast is either too soft or too flat due to corrections. The soft contrast one looked like iPhone HDR stacking. Colors are there! But feels flat! While high contrast lenses give too much contrast where shadow areas kinda disappeared into the darkness! (Especially in this case was the TTA lens! The portrait sample that shadow area of the face just much darker than rest of the lenses on the table) However! Vintage lenses I’ve used! Such as Zeiss, Leica, Pentax, etc… they are relatively high contrast yet not too high. Colors pops yet giving some organic softness to sharpness. It’s very different to use a clinical sharpness lens with a black mist filter to soften it. From my own experience owning voigtlander lenses. I can see why it was highly rated in this video. Voigtlander uses modern lens elements with coating. Yet blend with vintage formulas! It gives vintage bokeh yet modern sharpness. Kinda sits in between both worlds. Feels like the modern Zeiss lenses basically!

[@btonelli]

Thank you for the kind words and for the more in-depth observation. This is one of the reasons why many are looking at vintage lenses more for their unique and more organic look

[@dadadeedee]

Now let’s do 50mm

[@btonelli]

Haha that would be fun!

[@jmfo]

Where is the lenses test at infinity wide open? Never understand why no one ever does infinity tests wide open. No one cares for night photography with large aperture lenses? I can give you a good example, I own an old Vivitar 35-85mm f2.8 zoom and its performance wide open at close to medium distances at 35mm is very nice, but glowy unsharp at infinity.

[@btonelli]

Valid point but reality is most find interest in wide open closer to see depth of field and bokeh. Also most modern lenses do well at infinity now vs older lenses

[@nickandrievsky5705]

For no budget limits video you talk about budget way too often. You can cut it to each of your picks top 3 Leica excluded.

[@btonelli]

Understand. We are trying to showcase different price points and performance to go with it.

[@jaegerschtulmann]

I take the viltrox 27mm f1.2 or the Zeiss 1.8 over all of these

[@btonelli]

Great lens but not 35mm

[@morespinach9832]

Viltrox is gigantic.

[@jaegerschtulmann]

@@morespinach9832 it’s not a small lens for sure but far from unwieldy, just a bit larger (20% chunkier) than the 35mm f1.4 GM.

[@morespinach9832]

​​⁠35mm f/1.2 is minuscule, all metal, and excellent Voigtlander quality with creamy bokeh etc.

[@jaegerschtulmann]

@@morespinach9832 no AF but yeah love the voigtlanders for sure, in fact some of my favourite FF lenses are voigtlanders even if they show CA (unless you go for their apo-lanthar series in FF bodies, too bad none have been developed for Fuji)

[@_o__o_]

Ultimate 35mm Showdown - dat what ma gurlfriend say every evening

[@btonelli]

😂

[@calvinchann1996]

No such thing as best. Best for what?

[@btonelli]

Best for image quality versus price

[@datdudeinred]

I suggest you watch & hear to what they were saying. They answer your question in there.

[@PhiggysDOTcom]

Why no results from the other lenses you mentioned in the lineup? Ie Meike etc were the others really that bad ?

[@btonelli]

We chose the top lenses as the video would be over an hour long and not many would watch.

[@evertigo]

Why Fjyudzeefilm looks so stupid on the screenshot? It reflects the reality in a very good way.