Since I switched to Fuji, I decided that the Fuji 80mm macro would have advantages over adapting an older manual lens or another brand AF lens.
The lens in question is officially designated the Fujinon XF 80mm f/2.8 R LM OIS WR Macro. That's quite a mouthful. XF is the mount type; it mounts on Fuji X-mount bodies. Obviously the lens is a fixed-focal length 80mm. The aperture opens up to f/2.8. R indicates it has an aperture ring. LM means "Linear Motor". OIS stands for Optical Image Stabilizer, WR means "Weather Resistant", and of course Macro indicates it focuses closely.
Build Quality and Features
The first thing you notice when you pick up the lens is the clunking noise it makes when you move it. This is a floating element and the manual says this is normal and expected. The sales guy also warned me to expect it. I've never had a lens do that so obviously so in spite of knowing it is normal, I am not used to it. I admit, it makes me want to be more gentle with it than any other lens I've held.
Beyond that, it is big for a macro lens of this focal length. I imagine that is mostly due to the OIS system.
The focusing ring is wide, ribbed, easy to grip, and like all the other Fuji lenses I've handled so far, turns very smoothly in manual mode. (So far the smoothness all of the Fuji lenses I've handled remind me of Zeiss build quality. That's saying a lot.) It feels like a precision device.
The aperture ring is tight and and not likely to change settings accidentally. It has a nice feel to it and is marked from f/2.8 to f/22, plus A for auto-aperture (camera selected, as used by program or shutter priority exposure modes). It has click-stops every 1/3 stop. Being an old-school manual mechanical film camera user, I love the aperture rings on found on most Fuji lenses (such lenses have the "R" designation in their name).
The buttons are generally easy to use but hard to change accidentally. The buttons can turn on/off the OIS system, and limit the focus range to limit focus hunting. They can be hard to use with gloves on.
Weather resistance is a welcome feature, as I find myself in rain and snow every so often. I don't typically stand outside in downpours, but it does give me peace of mind when I encounter some weather (rain and snow on flowers and leaves is a great subject!)
The front filter accepts 62mm filters. This is my first lens to use that filter size. I have a couple other lenses that use 58mm filters, so I tried a 62-58 step-down ring and found no hard vignette with the 58mm filter.
It is fairly heavy at 750g, and bigger than most other Fuji primes. Weight is up there with the all metal Voigtlander 110mm APO FE mount macro.
It comes with a very long/deep plastic lens hood. It is well-made and easy to install or remove. Flare isn't going to be problem from the sides as long as you use the hood, but polarizers will be impossible to adjust while it is on. In general, for how I use macros, I don't need such a deep hood. The hood might get in the way of a light source when shooting near life-size. I will probably get a folding rubber lens hood to use instead.
The lens cap is thick and easy to grip while wearing gloves.
The OIS is a very useful feature. I've never had a macro lens with any kind of stabilization before and I really like it. It opens up a new set of possibilities for me; such as shooting flowers where tripods are not allowed. I've used it along the sidewalk on my way to work in the morning, capturing flowers in urban areas where a tripod would get in the way of other pedestrians.
I wish it had a distance and magnification scale.
Like all Fujinon lenses, the 80mm macro focuses by wire. When using AF, you won't notice. If you want to focus the lens manually, as I sometimes do with closeups, then I suggest a setting in the camera menu: Setup > Button/Dial setting > Focus Ring Operation. Nonlinear mode focuses according to how quickly you turn the focus ring. Linear focuses a fixed amount regardless of how fast you turn the ring. Try them and pick the one you like better.
Autofocus
Generally fast and generally accurate. It slows down when focusing close. If you have the focus limiter set outside of your subject distance, it will hunt and then give up with a red flash around your AF indicator, so make sure the focus limiter is set appropriately.
The AF is fast enough that, in combination with the OIS, I can use this lens hand-held in many situations where it was simply impossible before. My older Canon 100mm USM macro had fantastic image quality but slow AF and no image stabilizer, so a tripod was essential for me. It doesn't replace a tripod by any means; it just means I have more flexibility before I break out the tripod.
Image quality
It's sharp with great contrast, right from f/2.8. It has more "bite" than most lenses. I think it is the sharpest lens I have ever owned. I'm totally unafraid of any aperture with this lens, but I always avoid very small apertures due to diffraction. Diffraction is a natural physical phenomenon and not a flaw unique to any lens; the lenses are simply following the rules of physics. Generally, I avoid f/16 and smaller apertures with any lens. f/22 is an outright bad thing. Friends don't let friends use f/22!
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| Very fine detail |
Vignetting
I haven't noticed any vignetting in my images.
Bokeh
For how I use macro lenses, bokeh is generally excellent.
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| Sharp wide open with pleasing bokeh |
I've shot ice crystals on evergreens in the sunlight and that has revealed onion rings in the bokeh balls, which is a big turn off for some. It is caused by the aspherical element(s) in the lens. Some companies have found a way to polish their aspherical elements to the point where the onion rings aren't such a problem, but Fuji didn't apply that technique in this case. This doesn't bother me much; so far they have been small and unnoticed until I looked closely on my computer.
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| A crop showing the onion ring effect in the out of focus highlights. |
Bokeh balls also tend to show the cat's eye shape toward the corners. This happens with many lenses and bothers me. Fortunately, given how I use the lens, it doesn't show up very often in my images. If you want to shoot portraits often, I would opt for the Fuji 90mm f/2 instead, which doesn't seem to show the cat's eye problem.
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| Cat's eye bokeh |
Aberrations
Color is outstanding. This lens is nearly APO. I subjected it to a torture test... a closeup of metallic keys. I had to zoom in to 100% on the image and then look very closely to spot any fringing.
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| Even in a 100% crop, the fringing is hard to spot. |
Longitudinal Chromatic Aberration (LoCA) is nearly non-existent. Fuji is very good in this regard for many of their lenses. Most lens makers ignore this flaw. Shooting a printed page at an angle also shows almost no color shift.
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| A common LoCA test is plain text on paper at an angle. Wide open there is only a slight hint of purple in front of the zone of focus. |
I haven't noticed any Lateral Chromatic Aberration (LaCA) yet.
Other uses
It works well for landscapes too.
You can get nice head shots from the 80mm, however given the possibility of cat's eye bokeh in the background and modest f/2.8 aperture, I suggest you are better off with the 90mm f/2 for portraits with the Fuji system. The 90mm focuses closely enough to get nice flower images, but isn't a true macro. The macro is, as expected, optimized for closeups. If you can only afford one, get the one that better supports what you want to do most often.
Summary
When used as a macro lens, the Fuji 80mm is fantastic.
Pros
Very sharp even wide open to the corners
Flat field
Fast AF (for a macro)
Accurate AF (generally true with all mirrorless systems)
Generally nice rendering
Excellent OIS system
Nearly APO
Vignetting goes unnoticed
Great build quality
Lens hood is well made, easy to take on and off the lens.
Cons
Clunking sounds when you move it
Cat's eye bokeh with some backgrounds
Onion rings in bokeh balls
Big and heavy for an APS-C mirrorless lens
Expensive
Other macro lens options for Fuji:
Fujinon XF 60mm f/2.8 R Macro (1:2)
Zeiss Touit 50mm f/2.8 Macro (1:1)
Samyang 100mm f/2.8 ED UMC Macro (1:1)
Adapt a manual focus lens from another system
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