My Favourite Fujifilm Lenses for Travel Photography

Like every photographer, I sometimes struggle with settling on a select few lenses that come away with me when it comes to capturing my travels. This is my guide to my favourite Fujifilm lenses for travel photography to help others and myself make those decisions.

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Sometimes the hardest part of being a photographer is the constant battle to settle upon the perfect camera and lens setup on any given day. For travel photography, this seems to go to another level, at least for me, as you can’t simply nip home and change lenses or try again tomorrow; what you take with you you have to make work.

I’ve been shooting with Fujifilm cameras and lenses since 2016 mostly for travel photography but also in my day to day life, weddings and families, basically anything that comes my way. However, as a travel blogger and photographer, I’ve never truly found the perfect setup (spoiler: it doesn’t quite exist) but I’ve tried and tested a lot of lenses that I would highly recommend for travel photography.

Whether you’re a beginner looking to purchase your first lens or a seasoned travel photographer planning to expand your collection, this post on my favourite Fujifilm lenses for travel photography will hopefully help you choose the right lens for you. This post is also a kind of cathartic exercise for me by sharing all of the thoughts that spin around my head daily as to which lenses work best for me.

To get a sense of my style of travel photography, check out the latest in my ‘On The Streets’ series, have an explore around the blog or follow me on Instagram.

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MY FAVOURITE FUJIFILM LENSES FOR TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY

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I’ve already covered each of these lenses below in their own individual lens reviews so I’m not going to go into detail here. I’ll share the link to the lens review as well as some sample photos so you can see what can be done with lens and focal length!

I’ll also add affiliate links where, if you go on to purchase anything through such link, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. That helps keep this blog running and ever closer to my dream of doing this full-time!

FUJIFILM 16MM F/1.4

Currently the widest lens I own, this lens is equivalent to the 24mm focal length on a full-frame sensor. It’s one of those focal lengths that certainly takes some getting used to but can produce some excellent images and, in a way, sometimes they look a little cinematic. Since I got the Fujifilm 18mm f/1.4, I’ve barely used this lens which is a bit of a shame but I’m hoping it will start getting used a little more if I take a zoom lens that already covers 18mm.

FUJIFILM 18MM F/1.4

I love this lens. It’s an extremely versatile focal length with a fast aperture and is capable of producing some beautifully shape images. Around Faro in particular, this was my walk-around lens and it never missed a beat.

FUJIFILM 18-55MM F/2.8-4

Despite being a staunch user of prime lenses for many years, the time came where I saw the potential of a small zoom lens. This is where the Fujifilm 18-55mm f/2.8-4 came in and honestly blew me away; this isn’t a normal kit lens. The focal length is pretty classic and covers everything required for a great set of travel photographs. This lens is great for travel photography even in 2024!

FUJIFILM 23MM F/2

My first ever Fujifilm lens, the 23mm f/2 offers a classic point and shoot focal length equivalent to 35mm full-frame. Not too wide, not too tight, it’s a great focal length for documenting your travels. This came with me across Australia and South East Asia and just performed day to day out to capture so many memories.

FUJIFILM 35MM F/1.4

Ah, this is the lens that would come with me on every trip no matter what. I love this lens despite all of its flaws yet it still manages to produce such fantastic imagery that does have a magically quality to it. There are probably better options available that focus faster and have weather resistance but this remains my favourite lens.

FUJIFILM 50MM F/2

The Fujifilm 50mm f/2 is a great, compact and fast to focus mid-telephoto lens that really helps pulls out the details when travelling. It also adds some compression which is required sometimes to bring those distant subjects right into play. I need to use this lens more!

FUJIFILM 50-140MM F/2.8

This is the telephoto lens of dreams; sharp as anything and renders colours beautifully. This is one lens that really lived up to its expectations and I can’t imagine travelling without it now. It is however on the large and heavy side so it would only really come with me on bigger trips such as, thinking out loud, to European mountain ranges or Australia and New Zealand. I would leave it behind on city breaks that’s for sure!

MY FUJIFILM SETUP FOR TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY

Obviously no-one in their right mind would take all of the above lenses away with them and therefore we now need to think about what Fujifilm lenses would come with me in my camera bag on my travels. I’ve come to the realisation that there won’t be any more instances of long-term travel across multiple countries anytime soon so that means that I can experiment a little more on each trip. My setup for long-term travel back in 2017 was the Fujifilm X-T2 with the Fujifilm 10-24mm f/4, Fujifilm 23mm f/2 and the Fujifilm 55-200 f/3.5-4.8.

I do however have different needs dependent on what kind of trip I’m going on and I’ll try to cover each of those as best as possible below.

Press Trips | This is the pinnacle of my role as a travel blogger and photographer; either being invited or paid to visit a new country or area to promote across my blog and social media. Over the last couple of years, these types of trips have really increased for me up to a point where I’ve been abroad to Faro, Lithuania, Sicily and Madeira more recently. After each trip I’ve evaluated what worked well and what didn’t work well in terms of my photography leading to me deciding that my favourite Fujifilm setup for press trips at present is:

Fujifilm X-T5 | 18-55mm f/2.8-4 | 35mm f/1.4 | 50-140mm f/2.8

An all-purpose zoom lens works perfectly for press trips where you are often moving from place to place with little time to ponder what focal length might work best at any given moment. This helps me capture sort of a ‘base level’ of photos that showcase the location and then I can add in more unique and incredible shots with the 35mm f/1.4 and the 50-140mm f/2.8. For example, in Madeira, we had a lot of free time in the afternoons which lent itself perfectly to casual photo walks and getting some photos that are perhaps distinctively more ‘my style’.

City Breaks | Hopefully in the near future, city breaks will be back on the agenda. Wouldn’t it be lovely for a nice and peaceful child-free weekend exploring a new city? I’d want something simple for city breaks that still allowed me to capture wide angles, subjects and details and these three prime lenses would allow me to do that and offer the ability to shoot when the sun went down too. These lenses don’t however give the classic walk-around focal length of 23mm and that’s something that keeps entering my mind; an easy way to eliminate all choice and discussion is to re-purchase one of the X100 series cameras and be done with it. Is that me? I don’t know!

Fujifilm X-T5 | 18mm f/1.4 | 35mm f/1.4 | 50mm f/2

Family Holidays | With family holidays, the primary focus should of course be on the family and actually enjoying some downtime. Without doubt, the past few family holidays I’ve also spent a few days (well maybe at least a few hours on several days) focusing on photography for the travel blog. I guess this will also be an issue for me; when will I be able to travel and not think about the travel blog or photography? I think I did manage to balance this quite well when we visited Montenegro last year.

At the moment then I take a few lenses with me but certainly in the future I’m going to try and cut back to a one camera/one lens sort of situation and not worry too much about the travel blog. This is probably where the X100 series comes back into play so maybe I could convince myself to purchase the brand new X100VI after all.

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Fujifilm X-T5 | 18mm f/1.4 | 18-55mm f/2.8 | 35mm f/1.4

SUGGESTED FUJIFILM LENSES FOR TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY

There are so many variables when it comes to recommending setups to others for their travel photography. Whether it’s budget, expected weather/environmental conditions (eg monsoon season/desert location) or whether you’re a hybrid shooter, there’s so much individuality in photography that your perfect setup really depends on what matters most to you. It’s almost certainly not going to be exactly what matters most to me or any other photography you follow but hopefully I can try point you in the right direction. I’m still not sure that I know exactly what my perfect setup is and I kind of like that though it will drive me crazy at some point.

As long as you have a lens, or lenses, that cover three main areas; environmental, subjects and details then you will have the key to unlocking great and cohesive travel photography. For me, the best way to achieve that is to cover wide-angle (8-23mm), the middle ground (35mm) and telephoto (50mm+). The choice is yours as to how you do this, you could have one zoom to do it all like the 16-55mm f/2.8 or the 16-80mm f/4, choose a variety of prime lenses that fit into each category or mix and match like me. At a most basic level, something like the 18mm f/1.4, the 35mm f/1.4 and the 50-140mm f/2.8 would work for me for most things (but I obviously like to make things difficult for myself).

One of the biggest questions for all Fujifilm users is whether to use a 23mm or 35mm lens and I’ve looked at this in detail in a recent blog post.

THE FUJIFILM LENSES COMING NEXT TO MY CAMERA BAG

All of them. I’m kidding but, despite using Fujifilm cameras and lenses since 2016, I’m still never 100% settled on the perfect setup. I don’t actually think there is ever the perfect setup in this day and age, gear acquisition syndrome will always strike (even when you least expect it) and there will be a lens that offers perhaps something a little different. With that said, there are a few lenses that I would love to add into my camera bag primarily for travel photography but for general day to day documentary style shooting too. These are the lenses that I need to add to my collection:

Fujifilm 8-16mm f/2.8 | Love a wide-angle zoom lens and sold the 10-24mm f/4 back in the day. This is expensive but the image quality looks stellar.

Fujifilm 23mm f/2 / Fujifilm X100VI | I sold both the 23mm f/2 and the Fujifilm X100F but I miss this focal length in terms of an easy day to day carry; a perfect one camera/one lens solution. I have the old 23mm f/1.4 which is great but a smaller, faster to focus lens or camera would be perfect.

Fujifilm 27mm f/2.8 | The new version of this popular pancake lens is something that has intrigued me for a while specifically for travel and street photography.

Fujifilm 33mm f/1.4 / 35mm f/2 | My favourite focal length deserves a refresh with a lens that does it all in terms of image quality, autofocus speed and weather resistance. I could easily add both of these lenses to my collection in time though probably starting with the 33mm f/1.4 as it would cater for all types of photography not just for travel.

Fujifilm 90mm f/2 | I know I’ve just recently purchased the 50-140mm f/2.8 which is fantastic but I love a good prime lens and the 90mm f/2 really impressed me previously. A great option for detail shots whilst travelling.

That’s a lot isn’t it. Can you imagine if I had access to all of those lenses as well, I’m not sure I could ever make an easy decision as to what lenses to take away with me and what to leave behind. All in all though, as long as I have Fujifilm lenses for travel photography that cover the three essential areas; a wide-angle for environmental shots, a 35mm lens for telling the story and capturing subjects and a telephoto lens for details then I’ll be happy!

What do you think? Hopefully this article on my favourite Fujifilm lenses for travel photography has helped you make your own decisions. It’s definitely gone some way to bringing all of my thoughts together in a concise post but whether I’ll be able to find that elusive dream setup I’m not so sure. Am I missing anything crucial or is there something that you can recommend to add to my camera bag? Let me know in the comments below.

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