Fujifilm has patented three new lenses, the Fujinon XF 28mm f/1.0, Fujinon XF 32mm f/1.0 and Fujinon FX 35mm f/1.0. That’s three lenses with big wide apertures for ultra-low-light shooting and a shallow depth of field that a lot of Fuji shooters would love to get mounted to their cameras. The patent explains that there has been a demand in recent years for lenses with wider apertures as well as the issues with creating them.
Fuji does already have the Fuji XF 50mm f/1.0 R WR lens, so it’s not completely out of the realm of possibility that they’re planning to expand their f/1.0 lineup and one of these might also come to fruition. But I think it’s more likely that these might simply have been registered for the sake of owning the intellectual property and they’re probably not planning to release any of them.
Example 1 (35mm F1.0)
- Focal length: 34.686mm
- F number: f/1.03
- Angle of view: 45.4°
Example 2 (28mm F1.0)
- Focal length: 29.079mm
- F number: f/1.03
- Angle of view: 53.2°
Example 3 (32mm F1.0)
- Focal length: 32.022mm
- F number: f/1.03
- Angle of view: 49.8°
Fuji’s XF 50mm f/1.0 R WR was released in September 2020, priced at $1,499, and it’s remained alone since then as the only f/1.0 lens in the Fuji lineup. With as few reviews as the lens has at retailers on the web, I can’t imagine it’s been all that popular in comparison to what else is out there that better fits the budgets of most photographers. Despite the claims in the patent, I don’t think the demand’s really there at all in the grand scheme of things.
I think Fuji had to release at least one lens this wide, though – which they did with the 50mm – to say “Hey, we can do this, too!”. After lenses like the Nikon Nikkor Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct hit the market, not to mention Sony’s claims that they could make f/0.63 lenses for Sony E mount (if they wanted to), they wanted to show they can keep up. But I can’t see them really making anymore. At least, not ones they expect to become popular. Sure, they might do it as a showcase piece, just to prove that they can, but they kind of already did that with the 50mm.
It would be nice to be wrong and have Fuji expand its f/1.0 lineup, but I can’t see it happening.
You can check out the complete patent for yourself here.
[IPForce via Digicame-info]
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