Fujinon XF 90mm F2 Review

Released in 2015, the Fujinon XF 90mm f/2 R LM WR is one of Fujifilm’s best prime lenses, offering exceptional sharpness, beautiful bokeh, and lightning-fast autofocus. With a 137mm full-frame equivalent focal length, this lens is ideal for portrait, sports, and low-light photography. Thanks to its weather sealing and robust construction, it is also well-suited for outdoor shooting in challenging conditions.

Build and Design

The XF 90mm f/2 R LM WR is a solidly built, premium-quality lens, featuring a metal construction that feels both durable and refined. Despite its high-quality materials, it remains relatively lightweight at 540g, making it easy to handle for extended periods.

A key advantage of this lens is weather resistance, with sealing in seven different areas to protect against dust, moisture, and light rain. This makes it a reliable choice for outdoor portrait and sports photography, especially when paired with a weather-sealed Fujifilm body.

The aperture ring provides a satisfying click with 1/3-stop increments, allowing for precise exposure control. The 62mm filter thread is standard and makes it easy to use ND or polarising filters.

Optical Performance

The XF 90mm f/2 is one of Fujifilm’s sharpest lenses, delivering incredible detail even at its widest aperture. Wide-open at f/2, sharpness is outstanding from edge to edge, and stopping down slightly only improves clarity further.

The bokeh is beautifully smooth and creamy, thanks to the rounded nine-blade aperture and the long focal length. This makes it an excellent choice for portraits, where subject separation is crucial.

Chromatic aberrations and distortion are nearly nonexistent, thanks to three extra-low dispersion elements that keep colours accurate and fringes to a minimum. Contrast and colour rendering are rich and natural, making images pop straight out of the camera.

Autofocus Performance

Fujifilm’s linear motor system ensures fast, silent, and highly accurate autofocus. The quad-motor system moves the large glass elements efficiently, making this one of the fastest-focusing XF prime lenses.

Autofocus is incredibly reliable for both stills and video, with minimal hunting even in low-light conditions. Combined with Fujifilm’s face and eye-detection AF, this lens excels in portrait sessions.

Handling and Versatility

Despite its 90mm focal length, the lens feels well-balanced on Fujifilm’s X-series cameras, particularly with mid-sized bodies like the X-T5 or X-H2. The manual focus ring is smooth and precise, making it easy to fine-tune focus when needed.

With a minimum focusing distance of just 60cm, this lens can also be used for close-up details and product photography, adding to its versatility.

While primarily designed for portraits and telephoto work, it also performs well in event photography, sports, and street photography, particularly when capturing distant subjects with beautiful background blur.

My main issue with Fuji lenses though is how they feel in the hand. The paint or coating they use has a slightly greasy or slippery texture, which I find unpleasant compared to for instance Canon.

Drawbacks

• No optical image stabilisation – Handheld shooting in low light requires higher shutter speeds or IBIS-equipped bodies.
• Longer focal length limits versatility – Not ideal for tight indoor spaces or general walkaround use.
• No focus limiter switch – Would be useful for sports and action photography.

Conclusion

The Fujinon XF 90mm f/2 R LM WR is a portrait photographer’s dream, combining stunning sharpness, smooth bokeh, and rapid autofocus in a compact, weather-sealed package. Its optical performance rivals some of the best prime lenses on any system, making it an essential choice for professionals and enthusiasts alike.

For those looking for a fast, telephoto prime with outstanding subject isolation, this lens delivers in every aspect. While its lack of optical stabilisation and long focal length may not suit every shooting situation, the exceptional image quality and robust build make it one of the finest XF lenses Fujifilm has ever produced.

I absolutely loved mine, and it quickly became one of my favourite lenses during my short-lived stint with Fuji. Just a heads-up though: Fuji’s quality control wasn’t great when I bought mine. The brand-new lens arrived with internal dust, so I had to send it back.

Examples

Here are some recent photos I captured using the Fujinon XF 90mm f/2 R LM WR lens. These sample shots highlight the lens’s performance across different conditions, settings, and subjects. To view the complete collection of photos taken with this lens, the link.