We all have our favorites when it comes to focal lengths. When I’m out and about on city streets, shooting with a full-frame camera, I’ve become a big fan of compact, lightweight 40mm lenses. Personal preferences include the Nikon Z 40mm f/2, Sony FE 40mm f/2.5 G and Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM. I find the field of view delivered by these lenses makes them very versatile for street photography and general shooting, bridging the gap between wide-angle 35mm and standard 50mm lenses. Of course, different rules apply for medium format rather than full-frame cameras. In this case, a 50mm lens gives the same viewing angle, due to the comparatively large image sensor of the camera body – it’s like the opposite of a ‘crop factor’.
The Fujifilm GF 55mm F1.7 R WR is actually one of my all-time favorite lenses and it’s definitely one of the best Fujifilm GF lenses on the market. However, as it’s a medium format lens and one of the ‘fastest’ of the breed with a bright f/1.7 aperture, it’s necessarily quite large and heavy, as well as being very expensive. The GF 50mm that I’m reviewing here gives an ‘effective’ focal length of 40mm in full-frame terms and is less than half the length, weight and price of the bigger GF 55mm. It therefore makes a tempting compact, lightweight and relatively affordable alternative for the best Fujifilm cameras.
