Lens ReviewMorten ByskovOctober 11, 2023Fujifilm GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR Review, Fujifilm GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR Sample Images, Fujifilm GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR Sample Photos, Fuji 55mm review, Fuji 55 sample images, Fuji GF 55mm f1.7 review, Fujifilm GF 55mm f1.7 reveiw, Fuji GF 55mm, Fuji GF 55mm review, Fujifilm GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR image quality, Fujifilm GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR Specs, Fujifilm GF 55mm hands-on reviewComment

Fujifilm GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR Review

Fujinon GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR Review - A Fast Prime Lens With Wonderful Bokeh

The first time we heard about the Fujifilm GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR was in a development announcement at the Fujifilm X Summit in September 2021. Fujifilm even showed a mock-up of the lens at the event. It appeared to be the same size as the GF 80mm f/1.7 R WR and I will admit, I had hoped it would be a tad smaller given the shorter focal length.

In my X Summit post from September 2021, I mentioned that the GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR was the most exciting news of the event. I found it enticing that we would be getting a fast lens giving us the ability to shoot with a shallow depth of field on a GFX camera at a standard focal length.

Morten Byskov at 5050 Travelog reviewing the Fujifilm GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR for street photography — Street photography with the Fujifilm GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR and Fujifilm GFX 50R

At the time of the announcement in 2021 I mentally marked this lens as “the one to get” for an eventual GFX camera in my future. In 2022 I got my first GFX camera, the GFX 50R, and paired it with a GF 50mm f/3.5 R LM WR. I have been happy with this combination and as the months went by, I felt my excitement for the GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR waning.

Two years seems a long time to wait for a lens after an announcement, so let’s see if it was worth the wait.

A boat in False Creek, Vancouver. Sample image from a Fujifilm GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR. — False Creek, Vancouver, Fujifilm GFX 50R, GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR @ f/1.7

Introduction

The GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR was finally released in September 2023 at the Fujifilm X Summit in Stockholm alongside the impressive Fujifilm GFX 100 II camera.

After the mentioned two-year wait it was hard to get excited all over again about the GF 55mm and most of the attention that day was on the GFX 100 II, which I will be trying out next week for the first time.

A few days later, however, sample images started to pop up from the early reviews coming out of Stockholm and my interest started to spike again.

At the time this article was written the GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR was listed at $2,299.00.

Fujifilm GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR with the included lens hood, tested by Morten Byskov, 5050 Travelog. — The Fujifilm GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR and included lens hood shown on the Fujifilm GFX 50R

Specs and Handling

As mentioned above, when we first saw the photo of a GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR in 2021, no one knew if this would be the final version. Perhaps Fujifilm just used a copy of the GF 80mm and changed the font.

As it played out, the photo from 2021 appears to have been the real thing as the GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR looks like a clone of the GF 80mm f/1.7 R WR. They are almost identical in size and dimensions.

On the scale, the GF 55mm comes in at 1.7 lb or 780 g. On my GFX 50R, it is a hefty lens for a daily carry but certainly doable for shorter periods.

The dimensions are 3.7 x 3.9" / 94.7 x 99.3 mm with a 77mm filter diameter and I suspect the size, weight, and balance ratio will be better on the larger GFX 100 cameras and GFX 50S II as they have bigger grips.

Friends gather for a sunset at English Bay Beach in Vancouver. Sample image from a Fujifilm GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR. — English Bay Beach, Vancouver, Fujifilm GFX 50R, GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR @ f/1.7

Despite my gripes about the size and weight I still managed to cycle with the GF 55mm and it was okay for a bit of street photography as well.

For longer periods of travel, I would prefer smaller lenses and I look to Hasselblad, who seems to have figured this out, albeit with a max aperture of f/2.5 instead of f/1.7 on the Fuji. The Hasselblad XCD 55mm f/2.5 weighs just 13.1 oz, 372 g but comes in at a staggering $3,699.00.

Other Spec Highlights:

Rounded 11-blade diaphragm (great looking bokeh)
DC Motor with GMR Sensor AF System
Weather-sealed design and fluorine coating
14 elements in 10 groups
2 aspherical and 2 ED elements

The lens feels rock solid and especially the aperture ring has me impressed with a wonderful transition from stop to stop with just the right amount of friction.

Morten Byskov, camera and lens reviewer at 5050 Travelog, is testing a Fujifilm GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR lens on the GFX 50R — The bokeh from the GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR will bring a smile to your face

In Action

The elephant in the room in regards to the GF 55mm f/1.7 has to do with autofocus performance. But before I get further into this please keep in mind I use the GFX 50R, Fujifilm’s first-generation GFX camera with contrast-detect autofocus. Newer GFX cameras, such as the GFX 100S, GFX 100, and GFX 100 II have phase-detect autofocus and will most likely perform better.

For about 90% of the photos you see in this review autofocus performance is not an issue and for the most part, the style of images I have captured is also not very demanding on the AF system.

However, for a few portraits, I attempted the AF just went dead cold and would not even remotely focus on the face. At times it would also hunt to grab focus.

An old Jaguar spotted in downtown Vancouver. Sample image from a Fujifilm GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR. — Downtown, Vancouver, Fujifilm GFX 50R, GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR @ f/2

In some cases, I had to turn to manual focusing to get my images in focus. No biggy, as I am used to it after using several manual focus lenses in the past year or so.

And then again, it is a big deal and something you should be aware of if you plan to use the GF 55mm f/1.7 with the GFX 50R. I assume this issue would be the same with the GFX 50S as the two share the same AF system but have not tested it.

I hope to be able to use the GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR with the GFX 100 II in the next few days and will report back here. I assume it will handle autofocus much better.

Strangely enough, I have only seen this kind of downright failure to autofocus from the GF 55mm and GF 80mm lenses on my GFX 50R.

All other lenses seem to work just fine, and I have tried almost all of the G-Mount lenses. One can hope that perhaps a firmware fix will rectify this but I would not hold my breath.

I wish the GF 55mm f/1.7 had the LM badge (Linear Motor). Lenses such as the GF 110mm f/2 R LM WR I trust fully for portrait sessions. As it stands I cannot say the same about the GF 55mm f/1.7 using my current camera.

Update: October 16, 2023

I have now had a chance to try the GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR on the GFX 100 II and as expected the autofocus performance is much better and the eye-detect tracking works well on this camera. The GFX 100 II feels like a natural companion to the GF 55mm f/1.7 with a gorgeous EVF and excellent grip.

A young man posing for a portrait on Granville Street in Vancouver. Sample image from a Fujifilm GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR. — Granville Street, Vancouver, Fujifilm GFX 50R, GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR @ f/2. For this portrait, the autofocus on the GFX 50R would not lock onto the face. It was significantly off. I tried a larger focus area and finally hit the shutter for one frame, which ended up being back-focused. Check out the bokeh though.

Image Quality

Fujifilm G-Mount lenses are in general very good and the prime lenses in the lineup usually take it up a notch with superlative quality. The GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR is no exception in the mix when it comes to image quality.

The lure for me, and I am sure for many other photographers, is the combination of standard focal length (45mm full-frame equivalent) and the fast f-stop of f/1.7. The 11 rounded diaphragm blades I am sure also play into the mix enabling you to capture images with beautiful soft bokeh and shallow depth of field.

Images appear sharp, corner to corner, even at f/1.7 and vignetting is well-controlled and not over the top which is relief in comparison to the third-party manual focus lenses I have been adapting to GFX lately.

Please see more sample images at the end of the review and click to view images up to 2500 pixels wide.

Morten Byskov reviewing the Fujifilm GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR. — The Fujifilm GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR shown on the Fujifilm GFX 50R

Fujifilm GF 55mm f/1.7 vs. GF 50mm f/3.5

At 11.82 oz, 335 g, and with dimensions of 3.31 x 1.89", 84 x 48 mm the GF 50mm f/3.5 R LM WR is under half the weight, size, and price of the GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR. Consider also that the GF 50mm quite often is on sale for $499.00 or easily can be found on the used market.

The GF 50mm f/3.5 R LM WR also has a linear autofocus motor that has proven invaluable for users like myself, of early GFX cameras.

This, however, does not change physics and the fact that the GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR is two full stops faster and you will be able to shoot at lower ISO value in low light and with a more shallow depth of field. I see it in the files from the GF 55mm and I like it.

With that said, f/3.5 on the larger-than-full-frame sensor is no slouch and especially at a closer range you will be able to create decent bokeh.

I have two pages dedicated to the GF 50mm f/3.5 and you can read more here:

Fujifilm GF 50mm f/3.5 R LM WR - Review
Fujifilm GF 50mm f/3.5 R LM WR - Revisited

TTArtisan AF 35mm f/1.8 for Fujifilm X-Mount shown on a Fujifilm X-Pro2 — Downtown, Vancouver. Fujifilm GFX 50R, GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR @ f/1.7

Conclusion

I have been a bit hard on the GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR in this review and perhaps it is not entirely fair but before I move on and give it some praise, let me give it another jab in the form of a wish.

I wish this lens was a tad smaller and lighter which would have made it so much more delightful to use as an everyday carry for whatever life throws at you. I would imagine a lens with considerably less bulk, had it been an f/2 (or f/2.5) lens and perhaps named GF 55mm f/2 R LM WR, adding that important linear motor.

With that out of the way, there are of course many photographers with GFX 100 cameras out there who can take advantage of everything this lens has to offer and one of the most important features is that the GF 55mm f/1.7 will leave a very special signature on the larger-than-full-frame-sensor.

A black and white photo of Hadden Beach on a summer like October day in Vancouver. Sample image from a Fujifilm GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR. — Hadden Beach, Vancouver. Fujifilm GFX 50R, GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR @ f/8

On a larger GFX 100 camera with a better grip and phase-detect autofocus performance, the GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR should shine with loads of dreamy bokeh and shallow depth of field. As long as you a willing to live with the extra bulk and weight, such a combination can create impressive results.

I hope to get a chance to review the GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR on the GFX 100 II before long. Despite my gripes in this review, I am afraid this combination of camera and lens could be an addicting experience, and instead of what I usually do when I trade gear and sell a camera or a lens to upgrade, I may have to put my car up for sale.

Thanks to Simon Svane Als for the photos of me in this review.

Pros

Fast f-stop
Unique image quality with beautiful bokeh
Build quality
Weather resistant

Cons

Bulky for some and troubled AF performance of first-generation GFX cameras

Price / Availability

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Fujifilm GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR - B&H Photo

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