LENS STORIES: XF33mmF1.4 R LM WR x Ron Lee

City / Magic

Singapore, my Red Dot island home, is a country of wonderment and magical scenes – a 24hrs city that never sleeps.

There are certain challenges during this pandemic when we are stuck in our own countries and thoughts of travelling overseas for photography projects seem to be a non-possibility. Sure, we may miss that overseas light clarity or even those spontaneous street scenes we bring back from our trips but creativity has no limits and often times, we just need to look into our own backyard for it.

When I was told of this new Fujinon lens that can rival the XF35mm f1.4, I was terribly eager to want to put it through the paces after hearing what it can offer – Linear Motor drive, Weather Resistant, fast focusing, a minimum focusing distance of less than 30cm and a bright aperture of f1.4 producing beautiful bokeh.

The new XF33mmF1.4 R LM WR lens can be considered as part of my dream setup of lens as a street photographer – at 33mm focal length (49.5mm equiv), it is the perfect portraiture lens that is unassuming, quiet and very compact.
The focusing was literally so fast that there is no “hunting” or breathing of the lens, making it a joy to use in low light, movements etc. In fact, I always have to double check my shots if I have actually captured my focal point while street shooting in a single take.

Adopting a concave front element design, shooting against or with backlight renders a pleasant gradual lens flare that gives the scene a more atmospheric feel.

The magic of the lens really shows as the skies turn dark and the city lights up in her glory.

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  FUJIFILM X-Pro3 & XF33mmF1.4 R LM WR

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  FUJIFILM X-Pro3 & XF33mmF1.4 R LM WR

Typically I don’t stress-test too much on my cameras and lens but an opportunity like the tropical midyear monsoon seems too good to pass up on how good the Weather Sealing really is on both the XF33mmF1.4 R LM WR and my DuraBlack Ti. XPRO3 camera.

But what I really enjoyed shooting this time round was the handheld portraitures with the 33mm (49.5mm equiv) perspective in low ambient light. Usually that’s the job for the XF50mm f1 or the XF56mm f1.2 but the XF33mmF1.4 R LM WR surprised me very much with the kind of images I can obtain from this lightweight and yet versatile lens.

Fujifilm has truly outdone herself once again with this magical gem of a lens that I wholeheartedly recommend to photographers of any level to have as part of your camera arsenal.

It’s not just the solid construction of the lens or the sweet appeal of the f1.4 aperture or how compact or lightweight it is but the many possibilities of great images emerging from using the new XF33mmF1.4 R LM WR.