Fuji Showcase Fuji 60

Location
Central Florida
Name
Tim Williams
Well as I wander through the lens collection I have (lots of manual) Nikon, Canon and Olympus I have collected quite a lot of wide angles but I have no real lens I can call a Portrait Prime for my Fuji, native or not, But I stumbled on some images done with the 60 and they have the look I think I'm looking for. Kind of the Tamron 90 on FF vibe although my daughters does very well on her D7200.
Anyway, I'm about to put most of my manual focus stuff on the market and a portrait lens in in the works. I'm not about to spend 1000.00 dollars on a lens I can get the same (or close enough for me results for 400 or so used.) Anyone have thoughts on this lens?
Edit: I saw Lou's macro stuff with this lens but I haven't seen much portrait work done with it. The bokeh is impressive in those shots though.
Edit: I just read Imaging Resource review and think this is the route I will go. Can be picked up for less than 500.00 for sure and seems to have the qualities I'm looking for, plus it's native. For me that's a big plus. Love it when I talk myself into a new lens. Sorry Roki 12mm, The Godox bug hit and I have to see it through.:D
 
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Thank you Dean. I had a plan in place where the 23 f2 was my next purchase and the 50 f2 next. I may substitute the 60 for the 50 as a do all lens. I love the images that I have seen across the web even though it's an older design. I'll be sacrificing weather sealing and faster focus, but at this focal length I may be willing to do just that. The 23 and the 35 are where I want those two traits for sure.
 
The only real knock on it - and it was a BIG knock at first before they updated some software, then less so - was the focus speed. I don't recall anything but praise for the images from it. A good idea, imperfectly executed. I suspect the 60, the 18 f2, and the XC 50-230 occupy the lower 3 spots on their lens sales charts.
 
I'm going to try one out. If I like it , It will become the Swiss Army Knife of the kit. I have a lot of old Nikon stuff that is manual focus that I love. That and the fact that Nikon has focus conformation:2thumbs:. I shot some this morning with my Nikon 55 2.8 Micro adapted but to me even the slow auto focus of the 60 will get me in the ball park. Hopefully I can take it from there. Still looking forward to picking up the 23 for street stuff. Fuji has changed me from almost all Landscapes to some of everything. It's fun again. It will be more fun the more I shoot.
 
I once had the 60 and 18 f2. Both nice lenses, and I typically had the camera set on "M" and focused by the back button. It was always plenty quick for me. IQ was never an issue, either. I sold them to fund the 23mm f2, but sort of wish I had just saved for the 23 and kept them.
 
I think to be honest the 60 will frustrate you. It is very much a first generation lens with handling and performance to match. The optical results are excellent, but it takes its time to get there. The 50 is a better lens in almost every respect, only lacking a few mm of focal length and of course the macro capability, but there are easy ways around that.
 
From my very limited time shooting with a 60mm. If you have it pre focused, and then AF on a subject in that range, it is fairly quick with the updates Fuji has given the 60. But other than that, it can be frustrating as Bill said. Although for purely macro work, most people manual focus. With that said, in my opinion, the 50mm f2 beats it all around. With the exception Bill also pointed out of the macro focus range. But, the 60 has a minimum focus distance of 26.7cm and only .5x magnification. The 50mm f2 has really close minimum focus, the actual number has not been published for some reason. And .15x magnification. You could get a macro filter like a raynox and compensate for that difference.
 
I'm looking more at the way it renders backgrounds at 2.4. The slight and I mean very slight softness at the corners is a plus for me. The lack of 1:1 is not an issue as I am not a macro shooter. I shoot my Nikon 55 Ais micro at 1:2 and that's close enough. From what I see it is very close to the 56 for less than half the money. I have one on the way and I'll give it a run. I'll let you guys know how it goes.
 
I just purchased a used 60mm and really love it. I shot a lot of close up shots (not full macro) and I wanted semi decent portrait option. I find it focuses fast enough to be honest, with occasional hunting. It's super sharp and creates a good isolation with that FL and aperture. A cheap mans 56 but I am very pleased with it.
 
With backgrounds blown away like this I have no doubt this would be a very nice Portrait lens. To bad I borrowed it when everyone was sick. It does hunt a lot and some subjects (small) I could not get it to lock on, but when it did, Oh Boy. These were hand held so camera shake is in play. @ 2.4
Vine-XL.jpg
 
No takers on a Portrait session (sick). On a child or adult it will lock on with decent speed or something with a lot of contrast. Just don't ask it to be a Tamron 90 or Nikon 105, although neither of these are speed demons, they are faster and hunt less. Can't speak for other macro lens but these two are top end. My daughter still has the Tamron 90. I don't think it gets rid of backgrounds any better though. I'll say this, I would like to do the January Single lens Challenge with it. I see all kind of possibilities.
 
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