Early on in the GFX timeline, we discovered a world of fast, adaptable full-frame lenses that offered photographers countless creative tools to emulate the format and ‘look’ of 120 film. After testing several dozen lens mounts and focal lengths, I’ve landed on the Sigma 50mmF1.4 Art EF mount lens as my go-to for portrait photography on the GFX System.
Nearly two years have passed since my last article for FujiLove, and my professional life has been full with wedding photography, family sessions and too many hours on eBay hunting for a perfect portrait lens. When I am not using Fujifilm cameras, I love shooting medium format film, especially my Pentax 67 and 105mmF2.4, and my Rolleiflex 2.8F. These both provide a depth-of-field and tonality that is unmatched due to their large negatives and fantastic optics. Since digital medium format sensors, albeit large, do not match their film counterpart in size, I found myself searching for faster lenses to pair with GFX that could offer a similar look as 120 film cameras. To keep things from getting long-winded, here are the variables I narrowed down after trying several dozen focal lengths and brands of full-frame lenses adapted to GFX:
- Focal length: somewhere just north or south of a standard FOV, ~50mm full frame.
- Aperture: f/1.4 or faster is a must when achieving a consistent look between digital and film medium format.
- Focusing: at such large apertures on GFX, most adapted AF options were unreliable (with an important caveat to share later on) but manual focus is just as challenging and requires a good bit of practice to master.
With these things in mind and after a few months of gear acquisition syndrome (GAS), I found myself opening up a package with the Sigma 50mmF1.4 Art lens for EF mount. I wasn’t expecting much considering the other EF mount 50mm options I had tried so far – intense vignetting wide open, too much swirling around the edges and poor resolving power. This lens outperformed them all and after shooting with it for nearly a year it is now my go-to lens for portraits on the GFX system…
This is an excerpt from an article by Evan Lewis in issue 102 of FUJILOVE MAGAZINE (September 2024). Subscribers, you can find this article by downloading this issue from your subscriber area.
You will find the remaining part of this article in FUJILOVE MAGAZINE.
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