Fujifilm 33mm f/1.4 Lens Review: A Weekend Fling

Ok, fine. I’ve given in and tested out the Fujifilm 33mm f/1.4 lens; a lens that looks to replace and modernise my beloved Fujifilm 35mm f/1.4. Want to know my thoughts? Let’s do this.

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I’ll admit that ever since the Fujifilm 33mm f/1.4 lens was announced, I’ve kept well away from even entertaining the thought that I might need this lens. Why would I? I fell in love with the Fujifilm 35mm f/1.4 immediately back in 2020 and it has been my go-to lens ever since on family days out, press trips abroad, basically anywhere and everywhere. I guess in some ways, allowing myself to think about the Fujifilm 33mm f/1.4 might have led to me having to accept that the older lens’ flaws were holding me back.

I’m not sure that I would ever accept that the flaws of the Fujifilm 35mm f/1.4 were holding me back, not a chance to be fair, but I will openly say that the lens does frustrate me at times; of course it does. It’s slow to focus sometimes, it’s not weather sealed, it’s noisy but I am one of those Fujifilm photographers that swears by the character in the images it produces.

You might therefore be thinking why would I suddenly change my mind and test out the Fujifilm 33mm f/1.4? Well, firstly, I’ve always allowed myself a little intrigue in the lens especially after spending more time watching YouTube videos of street and travel photography shot with the lens. The main reason however is that I was due to shoot a wedding at a venue I’d shot at before but wanted to utilise the classic 50mm focal length that I’ve grown accustomed to in pretty much all of my photography. My normal combination of either the Fujifilm 18mm f/1.4/Fujifilm 23mm f/1.4 and the Fujifilm 56mm f/1.2 felt either too wide or too tight for this particular venue. I couldn’t even comprehend using the Fujifilm 35mm f/1.4 for a wedding (that would be actually disastrous) so, low and behold, I went ahead and ordered the Fujifilm 33mm f/1.4.

It’s therefore time to share my thoughts below in this concise Fujifilm 33mm f/1.4 lens review.

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FUJIFILM 33MM F/1.4 LENS REVIEW

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Whether you’ve read some of my lens reviews before or whether it’s your first time here, I wanted to start by saying that I’m really not the kind of guy that’s going to delve into all of the specifications or graphs or that’s going to shoot brick walls. This is just me sharing my thoughts on the lens as though we were sat next to each other having a beer or a coffee!

Before we start I will also point out that I only used this lens for a maximum of a week (the reasons why I’ll come on to) so please bear in mind that I cannot talk about how it stands up to long-term use or fits into my travel photography setup.

THE 33MM FOCAL LENGTH

After over 11 years of photography and shooting Fujifilm since 2016, I’ve found that the 35mm focal length on a crop sensor is without doubt my favourite focal length. This is equivalent to the 50mm field of view on a full-frame camera that allows for subject isolation and draws you into a scene unlike any other focal length. I hate the phrase ‘nifty-fifty’ but it’s easy to see why this focal length is recommended to all beginners. At times it can of course be too tight, especially indoors, but it works so well for travel photography and documenting my family life.

The 33mm is a slight change from the previous iterations of Fujifilm’s 35mm line up. The 35mm is actually equivalent to 53mm whereas the 33mm equates to 50mm exactly though, in practice, I didn’t see any difference in focal length.

DESIGN & WEIGHT

This lens shares the new style of design as the Fujifilm 18mm f/1.4 and the new Fujifilm 23mm f/1.4; thin and long rather than chunky and short. If you can describe a lens like that! Compared to the 35mm f/1.4 (and I guess even more so with the 35mm f/2), it feels massive and weighs a lot more but in reality it’s nothing out of the ordinary when compared to lenses from other brands and other modern Fujifilm lenses. I shot 80% of the wedding day with this lens on the Fujifilm X-T5 and it didn’t feel too heavy at all.

AUTOFOCUS

This is where the lens really comes into its own. It’s incredible, instantaneous and practically silent. Nothing like the 35mm f/1.4 and that in itself is such a positive. It was actually refreshing to use this lens and snap onto subjects instantly even in low light. I know I have other lenses with fast autofocus but, given that this is my favourite focal length, you’d think I wouldn’t have put up with the 35mm f/1.4’s slow focusing for so long.

My photography encompasses so much at the moment but it’s primarily all about travel and just documenting my life and my little daughter. Whilst the 35mm f/1.4 has kept up with my needs for the last four years, my daughter is now two and constantly running around which is not something I can really capture on that lens. For wedding photography, the autofocus even in low light is fantastic. I was so surprised when the combination of this lens with the Fujifilm X-T5 just locked onto the bride and stayed focused all the way down the aisle in a darker than dark venue. Of course, there were a few shots out of focus, but the majority were perfect focused (if not a little noisy thanks to the requirement of high shutter speed in low light). I don’t shoot weddings regularly but it was nice to have something so dependable!

I have also been dipping my toes into shooting video, especially during my trip to Madeira which required me to produce reels on Instagram. That trip actually sparked my interest to look into this in more detail (it’s been a while since shooting video during my Australia travels only to do nothing of note with it!). If you’re looking for a lens that will focus perfectly for both stills and video at this focal length then the Fujifilm 33mm f/1.4 is the lens for you.

IMAGE QUALITY

This is where, in the past, I’ve tried to argue with myself that the image quality and ‘character’ of the 35mm f/1.4 overrides any suggestion of changing to a different lens; thinking it’s not possible to replicate its magical qualities in a modern package. Well, the Fujifilm 33mm f/1.4 does just that.

It’s sharp, one of the sharpest on offer from Fujifilm, and the image quality is just insane. I found the 35mm f/2 a little clinical and expected the same here but I am more than impressed. That’s coming from someone who loves the images from the 35mm f/1.4. Every shot I seemed to take reminded me of the older lens but infinitely sharper even when shooting wide-open. The colours are beautiful and I can’t imagine anyone would be disappointed with the images that the Fujifilm 33mm f/1.4 produces.

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The Fujifilm 33mm f/1.4 is also capable of fully resolving the 40MP of the newer sensor found currently in the X-T5; this is great if you want to crop afterwards.

OVERALL THOUGHTS

As I explained at the start of this post, and alluded to in the title, I returned this lens despite it blowing me away in every which way possible. The reason I returned it was simply down to budget and not wanting to just demote the Fujifilm 35mm f/1.4 to a shelf never to be used again. Honestly, if I kept this lens, that’s exactly what would happen. It’s incredibly fast to autofocus, silent, has weather resistance and is much sharper than the older lens. The colour rendition and image quality is just as good as the older lens, some would argue better. There’s therefore nothing, ok maybe the size at a push and the price, that puts me off the Fujifilm 33mm f/1.4; it’s practically perfect for every style of photography. As I said earlier, I shoot weddings infrequently but, if I was doing this full-time, I’d have kept it no doubt.

Of course, if you’re on a budget, don’t need the fast aperture and like a tiny lens, the Fujifilm 35mm f/2 is still a great choice.

I can easily see me adding this lens back into my camera bag, I can only imagine how good it would be for my travels, but for now at least the Fujifilm 35mm f/1.4 lives to fight another day!

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