Thanks to the recent Fujifilm rebates, I have been able to expand my lens line-up for the Fuji GFX 50S that I have had the pleasure of shooting with ever since it came out. I am very impressed by the Fuji medium format system, especially its lens line-up, and I consider it to be ahead of its competition in a number of ways, as highlighted in my review. However, having gone through multiple lens samples of different lenses (which I will be reviewing in the next few weeks), I wanted to warn our readers of potential issues they should watch out for. While I am generally happy about lens variation of GF lenses and I am especially happy with their excellent performance, I am not a big fan of Fujifilm’s QA processes. It seems to me that Fuji is almost rushing with the GF lenses, trying to deliver as many units as possible to try to match the demand, while paying less attention to its manufacturing processes. I have already gone through multiple samples of a number of lenses, including the Fuji GF 63mm f/2.8 and Fuji GF 110mm f/2 and I have found debris between lens elements that is impossible to shake off or remove without having to send the lens to a Fuji service center.
As with any lens, you should always inspect every lens you purchase, no matter what source and manufacturer it comes from. One of the basic inspections, even on a brand new lens, is to make sure that it looks new (so that you are not dealing with a previously returned lens), does not have any physical imperfections and that the lens elements are free of large, easy to see particles. And that’s where I have found issues with Fuji GF lenses in particular, which is rather annoying. First, it was the Fuji 63mm f/2.8 that had a large black spot between lens elements – it was very easy to see and it wouldn’t go anywhere, requiring disassembly, removal of debris and reassembly. I didn’t want to deal with the issue, so I sent it back to B&H Photo Video for a replacement. The new copy didn’t have the same problems and turned out to be excellent optically. However, I have not been as lucky with the Fuji GF 110mm f/2. I have now gone through three copies of that lens to see if I can obtain a debris-free copy of this lens. While I don’t mind small dust specks between lens elements (and those are perfectly normal to see even on a brand new lens), the stuff I have been finding within GF series lenses is not something that would qualify as “dust specks” – those are more like large plastic particles sitting between lens elements. Take a look at the last copy of the brand new GF 110mm f/2 that I had to return:
See the size of that thing? And that’s not the first time I see it either. The previous copy of the 110mm f/2 had a piece of thick hair, or perhaps a thinly sliced piece of plastic, that was stuck between one of the rear lens elements. While small dust specks will never make their way into images, much larger pieces like this are potentially going to cause more flare, visible dots in lens bokeh and other potential issues. And let’s not forget about the damage they do to resale value, since nobody wants a lens with a piece of something large stuck in it.
Here is what the third replacement looked like:
Not as bad as the previous one, but those 3+ specks looked like pieces of metal that fell off from the side of the lens, most likely got knocked off during transportation.
I called Fujifilm USA about this issue and expressed my frustration. The customer representative I talked to had a conversation with service manager and they had a couple of options for me. The first option was to send the lens back to B&H for another replacement or refund, and the second option was to send the lens to Fujifilm USA service center (after filling out this repair form), so that they can disassemble the lens, remove the dust and reassemble it. Unfortunately, I would have to pay for shipping to get it serviced with Fujifilm USA – they only cover return shipping.
I go through a lot of new lenses and I always inspect them, even if they are loaners, to make sure that I test good copies for reviews. The QA issues I see on GF lenses are a bit concerning to me, as I have seen this issue a number of times now, something I normally rarely come across when testing lenses from Nikon, Canon, Sony and even other third party manufacturers. I really hope Fuji ups its QA game and does more thorough inspections before sending lenses to its distribution channels. Big thanks to B&H Photo Video for willing to exchange every bad copy of Fuji lenses.
Lens variation is generally good, but you also have to watch out for potential issues with lens decentering and overall performance. Lenses such as the GF 23mm f/4, 110mm f/2, 120mm f/4 have all been stellar (tested at least two samples of each), but cheaper lenses like the GF 45mm f/2.8 and GF 63mm f/2.8 have shown more variation than I would like to see. The lens to watch out is the GF 32-64mm f/4. While it is a pretty solid performer overall, the samples I have tested so far had uneven corner to corner performance, indicating poor assembly / decentering issues. So if you want to own the zoom, make sure that you test it out thoroughly.
If you are considering the Fuji GFX system, please be aware of these issues and make sure to thoroughly check every lens you receive to make sure that it does not have any problems. And if you already own the GFX system, please let us know if you have similar concerns in the comments section below. I am trying to find out if I have been simply unlucky, or perhaps more Fuji owners are having the same problems out there.
I have a Fujifilm GF 20-35 mm F 4.0 over here as I want to use my Fujifilm GFX 100 for architecture photography but the image quality gives me doubts, there’s quite a lot of lens flare, it’s getting blurry at higher apertures and it distorts subjects in de photo. I’m breaking my head over this as I love the GFX 100 body I have now ( after one change ). I’m working on a daily basis with my Canon 1Dx mark III with a 16-35 mm 2.8 lens on it and I must say the final result is even better than with the GF lens I hope they soon produce a mark II of this lens that’s a lot better…
After 20 years of using Canon professionally last year I switched to Fuji X with the underlying thought of also purchasing GFX.
My experiences:
– Fuji X-T3 body with such a bayonet problem that it was only possible to put a lens on it with a lot of force.
– XF 90mm 2.0 with a damaged lens element causing a kind of “lightning bolt” in all blurred bokeh balls in the background.
– Sent the affected 90mm to Fuji for service. Despite being an FPS member (Fuji Professional Services) the repartition took almost 2 months. In the meantime, I luckily had a 90m from Fuji in free loaner use. When the lens came back “repaired” the autofocus didn’t work properly anymore, impossible to take a sharp picture. So I sent the lens back to Fuji and yesterday I received a completely new 90mm lens from Fuji. But… this 90mm lens has a problem with the focus ring, it turns so heavily that it cannot be used normally. I will now go to Fuji myself next week to pick out a 90mm lens, attempt number 4.
– The 90mm lens I have on loan from Fuji is also not 100% good, when I set the aperture ring to 2.0 the lens shoots with aperture 2.2….
– A problem with the AF on my X-H1 body, fixed after service by Fuji.
– Problem with the AF of my 50/2.0, so much so that I received a new 50/2.0 lens from Fuji, which suffers much more from chromatic abberation than my first one.
There were also problems with Canon, especially with AF calibration on SLR cameras, but Fuji has a very big quality control problem in my opinion.
Fuji equipment looks great (I think) and you get the impression that it is very well built. Until…
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
I just discovered plastic dust inside my 32-64 GF lens and a couple of tiny white flecks just under the top lens element. Do you know what the warranty period is on this lens?
About three months ago I bought the GF 32-64 mm zoom along with the GFX-100. After about one month of use it began to stuck. At first it would only go from 44 to 64 mm. I was already into the COVID-19 lockdown, so no solution but wait. About three weeks later, it fixed itself. In the meantime, frequent “turn off and on the camera” messages. Today I found I could not move the ring from the 40 mm it was fixed at. After many attempts, it moved! Now I enjoy the “luxury” of about 38 to 64 mm. Until when? Disgusting and dissapointing. Because of this and some workability and quality issues with the camera, I am starting to concede it was a mistake my buying into this system and pondering going back to my D-850. Life with my D850 and previous Nikon cameras never held this kind of surprises. Ergonomics/workability was far, far better and I’m afraid with the D-850, IQ was as good or even better in some respects.
Hello,
I owned the 110mm since autumn 2017 and now I´m facing problems with auto focus or something elso so every taken pictures looks shaky even when using a tripod for testing the issue.
Is there anyone who faces the same issue? I already contacted Fuji Professional Services and will sent it for repair, but maybe the issue is not as serious and can be fixed by myself (firmware update etc.)
thanks in advance for any help
Hi Klaus,
Yes I have had similar issues with my GF 100-200 zoom lens on my Fuji 50R. My settings are the following:
1/125th
f/8
ISO 100
FUJIFILM MCEX-18G Macro tube
The phenomenon occurs (oddly enough) under a studio strobe setup with Profoto B2s and while using a tripod. To me, it looks as if there is a slight slow shutter effect to parts of the image. In my opinion the out of focus areas should be much smoother and not so “jittery” looking. This does not happen while using my GF 63mm lens.
I also have an issue with random, inconsistent autofocus at times with the 100-200mm. This is especially apparent with the macro focus tube that I use for some of the products that I am shooting – although it does happen without it as well. I know that the 50r is not the best or the quickest at autofocusing but it becomes very inconsistent at times and so much so that I need to reset the lens or take off the macro tube slowing down our shoot and making the client a bit frustrated.
I am probably going to send my lens in to Fuji for evaluation and go back to the X mount system until this gets resolved. Anyone else with similar issues?
hey not sure if you have already done this but disengage your ibis….tripod shooting requires that you have it turned off. I hope this is the problem. Good luck!!
The 50R does not have ibis.
My first Fujifilm GFX-50R was purchased in March from B&H, the camera went through automatic master reset twice in the middle of two photo shoots after I switched battery when they were running low. LCD & EVF went down after I plugged in Fuji remote control cord. Returned to B&H after contacted Fujifilm pro support;
My second Fujifilm GFX-50R was purchased in April from B&H, this camera shows me an error message of “Turn off camera and turn on again” once every few days till one day it is completely dead with nothing else shown on LCD but the error message even after removing the battery. See YouTube video under my name ( youtu.be/JQt1dxuYGFQ ). Returned to B&H after contacted Fujifilm pro support;
My 3rd Fujifilm GFX-50R was received on May 1st, 2019 from B&H, and today is my first field test by shooting some models in a park. Very same issue reappears on this camera shows me an error message of “Turn off camera and trun ir back on” at least 4 times. I shot a few second of video and kept it for my record.
I really really love the picture quality from the Fujifilm GFX-50R, but I do need a working one. A dead camera does not do me any good if I can not use it to take pictures. I dilemma is this: If I return this one, I am unsure if I could return all additional accessories (2 memories cards @$199 each; 2 spare batteries @$119 each, one Fujifilm charger and 1 Fujifilm remote cord) I have purchased for this camera as they all passed 30 days return period, but I do not want to keep a expensive camera which could very well go bad on me again.
I would recommend you all to wait for Fujifilm to iron out all the firmware bugs before invest any money into this untested system.
Besides what a nonstop of unfortunate mishaps have happened, I have to say I am truly blessed that I have purchased this camera from B&H. I have been purchasing from them since 1980s. Their customer service and return policy are truly world class without any questions! If it is not B&H, I could only imagine what else I have to run into.
For everyone’s curiosity, the following are my settings:
Manual focus with focus check;
JPEG + RAW;
Aperture priority mode;
I am in process of urchasing a GFX50R together with the 23mm F4 and the 32-64 F4. I ihave read you comments which were in respect of problems in Jan 2018. I would appreciate it if you cold let me now whegther you have done any more receny testing and your results, ;please.
I had a problem with my 9-month-old XF-18-55mm Fuji lens. After searching the web I found many others with the same issue. It’s basically a bad lens mount and must be returned to Fuji for service. When it happens the camera (X-T2) error message is “turn the camera off and turn it back on”. I did this many times but the camera simply refused to fire with the lens. It worked perfectly with my other lenses. Seems to me that having this problem after so little use is totally unacceptable but Fuji’s service people were less than cooperative and my only recourse was to send it in for a repair that takes 3 weeks. That’s a week to get it there, 3 weeks to repair and another week to get it back if all goes well. And the shipping cost me $22. I am a relative new Fuji user and am very unimpressed with the quality issue and the customer service. I realize this is not one of Fuji’s best lenses but it got rave reviews on all of the sites I visited. Sadly that has not been my experience.
I would caution people not to be too hypersensitive to problems with their new lens. I got my 110mm brand new out of the box and saw the same foreign particle as pictured above when looking through the lens at a white background on my monitor. I took a rocket blower and blew out the lens from the rear end and it disappeared. Apparently there was some lint that was blown out which I would not have expected with a brand new lens out of the box….
John, the particles in question are not on the front or the rear elements of the lens – these are well within the lens itself. I have just received my third replacement and it has three visible particles stuck behind the front element. This is completely unacceptable…I cannot get a single copy of this lens without crap inside it. I will give one more exchange attempt, after which I will be getting my money back. I don’t know what is going on at the Fuji factory…
Frankly, lens dust doesn’t matter. Take any professional photographers lens, do the flashlight test and you’ll see tens of dust specs in there which have no effect on image quality!
I wish more people shared this view. I understand the frustration though. A pro lens has been well used, that dust was “earned” – its another when its brand new out of the box. I had a friend who bought an expensive monitor and if it had more than 3 dead pixels it was “defective”. He would “actively” search for them when the monitor arrived. Myself? would never notice 1, 2 or 3 pixels.
But given that these lenses are not cheap or third party I guess it can be a bit disturbing.
I see three problems here:
1) The dust on the lens is not necessarily there when the lens leaves the factory. It can be glue residual or similar manufacturing stuff that is not visible during the inspection but then gets free over delivery process due to excessive shaking and box flipping, landing on the lens. And if someone has tried to move dust from filter, they tend to stick there unless physical force is applied to them (air or cloth). Thus, it might well be that Fuji QA is well up to its task, but the problem realizes after the QA has been made. This was the case with Nikon’s 70-200/2.8 back in the days.
2) Concerning the 1), it might well be that Fuji cannot know about this problem, unless people start to send their dust filled new lenses to service! I see way more of these posts from people from United States, where (if I have understood correctly) it is customary to order a lens and return it to the seller, if there is dust inside. Then, it is up to the seller, if he/she will return it to Fuji. Most likely the seller will not do this, but will instead ship the very same lens to the next customer (either in hope that 2nd customer won’t care, won’t notice, or will deal it through service). This way the same lens with its dust problem can circulate tens of people before it finally ends up to the service, or to someone who does not care or does not notice it. One can easily see the pattern here how this could escalate the issue to seem way bigger than it actually is – one dust lens represents 10s of dust filled lenses, just because people go like “eww, there’s dust, I’ll return it”.
3) Concerning the 1) and 2), and if there truly is a manufacturing process problem that Fuji could fix, but it only becomes visible after the lenses have been shipped from the factory, only way for Fuji to know about it, is that people send their dust filled lenses to warranty service (or a mayhem on internet over dust issues). Warranty cases are tracked and used to improve production to minimize the cost of warranty repairs. Dust inside a new lens is such warranty case. That is, if everybody just returns their lenses, Fuji might not even know about the potential issue at all (as said in 2).
Umeet, if you deal with respected sellers like B&H, they will not be sending the same lens with issues to another customer – the lens that gets sent back is returned back to the manufacturer, where the lens is looked at. Few people want to deal with the manufacturer directly, because it is easier to have the seller deal with it when there is a problem, since that’s where they left their money.
The dust issue is turning out to be a bigger issue than I originally thought. Out of the three 110mm f/2 units I received, all three had dust / debris. I am giving Fuji one more chance before asking for my money back, since it is becoming ridiculous. Whether it happens at the factory or when shipping does not matter, because if there is crap sitting on the side of the lens, Fuji technicians should be cleaning it up so that it does not end up on lens elements.
I am on the phone with Fuji USA right now and I have been on hold, waiting for an answer from someone in charge. I very much hope to bring Fuji’s attention to this matter and hope they can get in touch with the people at the factory, so that they can take care of these problems. I have been very pleased with Fuji overall, but these kinds of issues make it tough to recommend their products to my readers.