Fujifilm 8mm f/3.5 Review: Great Things DO Come in Small Packages! 

it looks really flattering

I liked when you guys shot each episode with the camera you are reviewing

Chris says sun stars suck on this lens, proceeds to take multiple sun star photos

$800 USD is a bit pricey, but at least Fuji gives you this choice. I wish Canon had something like this for their APSC line.

Fujifilm is a very special camera brand. Every picture looks good.

Despite Chris’ obsession with sunstars, very helpful review in particular with the number of pics of the urban landscape which I like to shoot. Think this would have been helpful earlier in the year when I made a trip to the UK to experience enormous cathedrals or is landscapes including water, cliffs and of course the sun and sky. I find more use in Fuji’s 14mm (and that has a clutch manual focus) ❤ . Cheers guys, always enjoy your reviews.

Get in touch next time you need to borrow a 40 MP camera. My XT5 spends way too much time sitting on a shelf right here in Calgary.

So I bought this lens and shot with it for about a week. I was very impressed with the image quality. Sharpness was very good for a 12mm equivalent lens in the corners though as is stated here objectively it was a little soft. You won't find an 8mm with this kind of sharpness in the corners at all so Fuji really pulled it off with this lens (granter, the 8-16 is the only other option on the market so prime vs. zoom is a no brainer that prime is sharper). The color rendition is excellent and the contrast is also spot on. My problem was 8mm (12mm equivalent)! Its just so wide. I thought I would be able to use it and maybe crop a bit or what have you on my X-T5 without issue but its just so wide, I don't really have a use in the way I work. That said, this lens is top notch. Great review guys and I think you basically found the same thing I did.

Amazing it's that wide, and can still take filters! Bravo Fuji!

Finally, Chris gets the ultrawide portrait treatment

Nice review guys!

This lens is amazing. I was worried it would be a bust, but it takes my street pics to a new level.

Awesome vid as always!

I miss the Jordon Crying Pose !! It was very tastefully done 😁😁

My god, it’s full of (sun)stars!

Love you guys and the review, but I feel the 10-24 deserves a mention here. It does not have any of the downsides mentioned of the 8-16 and gets pretty close in focal length, aperture, weight and price.

Great Review! And I actually find the sun stars nicer this way. 🙂

I just got this lens to PAIR it with my X-PRO3 and my XT-5, I LOVE IT Thank you.

Good photos Chris!

I have had an XF10-24/4 since the day they became available and that is the lens I make most of my income with (I photograph Architecture primarily). I have both the original and the mk II, but they are larger than I want to carry both so I got a Loawa 9/2.8 a few years ago to carry daily as my 'emergency backup.' I've only had to rely on it for work for one day, but I do enjoy it when I want to travel really light, but still have access to ultra wide. The DOF on it is so deep (even at f/2.8) that it being a manual focus lens hasn't been much of an issue, but this new XF8/3.5 is intriguing. I haven't seen much commentary in any review of the lens on how this new Fuji compares to the Loawa? Any thoughts?

I think this is going to be really cool for open frame anamorphic videos with those medium-format ultrawide looks without splurging for a GFX100S.

Hey Chris and Jordan, a comparison with the manual Laowa 9mm f/2,8 Zero-D Fujifilm X which costs almost just the half, would be interesting. and Laowa seems to have another option: 9mm T2.9 Zero-D Cine Fuji X which is still cheper than the Fuji one.

In ultrawide test you should also cover vlogging or head talk test ....

Super flattering

The 8-16 mm does take filters as I have that lens because I’m a professional landscaper shooter and it does take a filter kit and they are fairly affordable on eBay and secondhand markets as well . Nisi make one. Ok the 8 mm. I think it’s a great addition to the Fujifilm lineup I won’t buy it because I have the 8 to 16 mm lens already but I can see many applications for this lens. That said I love my 8 to 16 mm lens because of the quality of it. Yes it’s a big lens but I use the tripod anyway so if people are wondering what the 8 to 16 mm is like it is a phenomenal piece of tech and on the XT5, it is very close to full frame equivalent..

Chris says sunstars suck on this lens *proceeds to take multiple sunstar photos*

I’m getting this lens!

Just hanging that camera over the edge of the bridge with no strap and holding it one handed is anxiety inducing 😂 Love the fun, creative but accurate nature of your reviews.

The megaman style intro is one of the best things ever.

8mm For $800 it is not cheap by any means but it is unique. Even in DSLR days third party included, we have not seen a usable 8mm prime

i Use for many years to shoot Hotels and Building with the 10-24mm Fujinon lens and i was amazed by his quality. This one seams pretty decent but not really sure to buy it.

"Here is an 8mm lens, go take pictures." "Of what?" "Everything. Literally. It is an 8mm lens. You kind of don't have a choice."

I guess, for test-chart shots on APS-C sensors it makes sense to close lenses down to f/5.6 (f/8 FF equiv.), not to f/8 (f/11 FF equiv.).

02:15 - If the manual focus ring gets dampened, you'll appreciate that the lens is weather-resistant!

I love my XS20! 😁

I love the Fuji lens options however I do hope we see a 35-70mm zoom WR lens or something similar to that effect

Great review! I was wondering about how much you edit the photos you show in reviews?

just bought one, thanks for your share. What kind of filter will be better? Kase or Nisi?

Now I am in London and I am a bloger. Just bought one and whole set Kase filters for it. Hope it's worthy.

If you had to choose between the two, would you buy the new Fujinon 30mm F2.8 or the 33mm F1.4 for a normal focal point prime lens?

It would be nice if next they would come up with something around 60 to 70mm. 50mm is a bit too short and not significantly longer than 35mm for me. All manufacturers have glaring gaps in their ranges when it comes to short telephoto primes.

12mm(FX) is challenging but I am seriously considering this lens.

I like the more hazy sunstars actually, by far, no comparison. It's more natural looking, and blends in with the image. What's the lens history where the artificial, photoshop paste-like pristine geometries became the measure?? Or is it just a Chris Niccollism? Is it a reminder of getting a star pasted on your work in primary school? Anyway, a great review. The XF8mm is great companion for the equally small XF30mmF2.8, or the normal zooms, etc.

It's interesting how Fuji is marketing this as a vlogger lens for the X-S10 and X-S20. At baseline, it's too wide for vlogging. But if you have the camera in 4K 60p or higher, the 29% crop makes this lens a perfect match. But does one need to shoot in 4K/60? Could one get away with the heavier Viltrox 13mm or Sigma 16mm primes? This lens is a tough sell, unless you are into both vlogging and architecture photography. I'll see what I can get away with the Sigma 16mm prime first and see if I still want to go wider. But my gut feeling is that when I need to wider, I can just reach for my Samsung phone. I think that means "pass." I'll stick to Sigma lenses for my S-X20.

That timely coincidence with the pizza advert behind the bus btw 😂

hey im from calgary too🥳

Just the opening got the Like... LOL

You should do a real world comparison with the Lumix mft 9mm.

I almost asked "wasn't DP review dead by now? Then I saw the channel's name 🤩

I’m a sucker for compact lenses. But I think Fujifilm should make a “character” series of compact lenses where they opt for interesting image quality over controlled image quality. I didn’t see any particular characteristics or identity in this lens, based on what I saw in this video. It just looks normal.

I bought the Laowa 9mm f/2.8 soooo many years ago… for half the price. Sure, flare is worse (but way more creative). Sun-stars are much better, though. This Fuji 8mm is a bit late to the party. I wish they would make an 11mm or 12mm compact prime for around $400ish (USD).

So basically if you’re mad at someone you should take a picture of them with this lens. Loved that shot of Jordan.

How well does this work with indoors? I’m transitioning to photograph real estate.

Also, how far away from the lens was the test chart you shot? Just curious about the working distance in this case and whether shooting focused towards infinity changes the corner performance of the lens.

What about vlogging with it?

I have the Samyang 8mm f3.5, manual but fun!

i bought the 8mm the day it came out. Compared to my old 8-16 it doesn't come close to being as sharp. I may have a bad copy?

I am at dilemma between Sony 6700 vs Fuji XS20. I My Shooting style is Street/Documentary Type. I am thinking of buying it next week. Presently I have 6300. Guys Please advice.

Rental equipment by THE CAMERA STORE... where it all started.

How doest it compare to nisi 9mm 2.8 and fuji 10-24?

I shoot 20mm f2.8 ff more than anything and the lack of equivalent at anywhere near that speed was a big turn-off of Fuji's APS-C lineup. They do so well for most other things, even leveraging that 1.5x crop to give some significant telephoto range. I've also never been a shallow depth of field guy. That said, the lack of bright cheap wider-than-27mm equiv choices is pretty damning. The 16mm f1.4 is really it and that's just not wide enough for me. The 8-16mm f2.8 mentioned in this video is extremely heavy an expensive for APS-C (costs/weighs nearly twice as much as my Tamron 20-40mm f2.8 for example) and is also well wider than most people want IMHO. I wish fuji's 14mm f2.8 prime was brighter and wider. I wish they had something more like the 20-50mm flexible fast zooms pioneered by panasonic (like the mentioned tamron). As a wide angle shooter, I feel unloved by Fuji... so I bought a sony.

should have been at least f2.8 and use the more common 67mm filter thread. This one might be good for architecture, real estate, but not for night sky.

This is your reminder to insure your camera gear. I left my XT5 with 80mm macro lens on the roof of my car and it fell off at highway speed.

They say that perceptions can be misleading. I was expecting to have it present a ridiculously wide field of view, but according to Chris' shots, it looks to be only slightly wider than my Samyang 12mm - I really did expect to be trapped in a Beastie Boys video..

Zeiss has a compatible less in this field of range. Is that better than Fuji and Viltrox’s options?

Is better than Laowa 9mm 2.8 ?

It’s not a lens that would fit my budget, but it’s nice Fujifilm gives the option, I guess. Personally, my 16 f/2.8 is about as wide as I like to shoot. Heck of a lot cheaper, too

How is the lens for video?

Will stick to my Samyang 12mm f/2 AF. It’s equally small and light, a more useful focal length, 2 stops faster, much better sunstars. And about € 300 cheaper.

For me it’s little too much money to ask for.

One persuasive usage case for a small, light, ultra-wide lens -- and one I'm sure Fujifilm had very much in mind in conjunction with the new XS20 camera -- is filming yourself for walk-and-talk videos. Since Chris had both the 8mm lens and an XS20 body, it would have been nice to see that evaluated. Failure to do so damps my enthusiasm for this review a bit.

I know its a completely different lens but if you will have to buy only one, this 8mm or the Viltrox 13mm F1.4?

Can fuji make a 12mm pls

I'm just realizing, there's probably a huge boom in real estate photography currently. I'll be watching curiously how the price of this lens correlates with the home price index 🤣🤣🤣

Great little prime ultra wide lens.

how about distortion?

I wish they released a true astro lens, don't care if it would end up expensive. fuji needed this lens to be 1.4 or something

It’s a great lens I just think it came out too late. The 10-24 is amazing. There are plenty of ultra wide 3rd party lenses already too that are good and very cheap. I guess if you just love fuji glass (granted we all do) or you really just love and prefer your primes and want a native fuji with autofocus.

Looks great, particularly the small size, but compared to the 10-24, the latter is far more versatile that also gives you an amazing FOV and decent quality.

Glad you survived the Amazon thing. Enjoy the vids. But, What the heck is a noch?? Is it a Canada thing?

800usd for 3.5 ...so pricey

Having had it and returned it, 'decent' is about the best I can say. The edges of my copy were too smeary and did make me concerned about quality. This is not a problem when working with the XF10-24. I also felt diffraction really impacted the images from f11 onwards, making them soft across the frame, meaning this lens really only has decent image quality at f8. That is fine and indeed when I posted images from the lens on social media people left positive comments about the images. I am probably being too picky so the lens is not for me and given copy variation I may have just been unlucky - I'd like to try another at some point just to be sure.

I found a bug in the PetaPixel Sega Genesis port that when you unlock the Minolta Maxxum 9000 the spot meter is not working and I can't meter the boss on level four for my attack. The Super Nintendo version does not have this bug. I'm also hoping the Sega CD version does not have this bug also.

This made me nostalgic for my old Tamron 17 mm. f:3.5 that I used to hav....Oh WAIT! I *still* have it! ;-)>

3.5 at that focal length is fine but that price isn’t

Wow

The killer of small, cheap, first party UWA primes are those 7artisans, TTartisan and co. manuals for dirt cheap.

Wild guess: canon r6 or sony alpha 7 iV for hobbyist?

You look very flattering, indeed. 😅

"No problem with flare..." 3:05

800$ for an 8mm apsc lens is bit high, Nikon got 10.5mm f2.8 in much cheaper cost. still fuji made this 8mm so tiny and one more reason to be happy for fuji fans.

I got a fever, and the only prescription is more sunstars!

You should have tested it with a 40 megapixels Fuji !

"Extremely tight apertures" *shows a f/8 shot*

very expensive for these params

is good for architecture, ad real estate ph?

Since I don't know where else to leave this feedback, I saw the recent petapixel article in my Google feed regarding drones. In particular, it was an article saying it's not worth flying drones anymore and drone suck anyway. I thought this was a horrible article. It was so extremely disappointing from your group. There are a growing number of us that really enjoy this hobby, and we don't get bored quite so easily. We do agree that it is becoming more challenging to go flying, but I would much prefer you extend your efforts trying to help the community find ways to resolve those issues. That sort of negative article is not helpful to anybody, and basically you are telling the bureaucrats that they are winning if they just keep doing what they're doing. So anyway, I just want to express my opinion on that article. I hope you don't continue to go down that route, and ideally I would like to see that article removed.

That's what i wish my wife would say

wow.. Distortion galore 😧 😅 waay too wide lol

Is it really worth to carry around ultra wide glas? The smartphones do cover that area to well imho. And for that much money one could upgrade for top tear phones. I would rather spent the money for tele and or portrait lenses. That is where most phones can not hold up so well.