The Macro Abilities of the Fujinon XF60mm f2.4R

A lot has been written about Fuji's X-Series 60mm macro lens.  It was one of the original trio of lenses launched with the X-Pro1 back in 2012, and has since been joined by a whole arsenal of Fujinon lenses, but remains the lens with the closest focusing ability.

I have to admit this lens is the one that initially got left in the bag but recently I have been rediscovering the abilities of this short telephoto lens for landscapes, the recent car photoshoots and, of course, macro work.  I recently added some extension rings that increases the magnification to true macro (ie 1:1 rather than 1:2 of the 60mm Fuji lens in standard form).

I am working on a personal project to mark the 100th anniversary start of the Great War on the 4 August 1914 and I have been taking some close up shots of my Great Grandfather's service medals using the X-T1 and the 60mm macro. 

The shot above shows the 1914-15 Star and British War Medal awarded to my Great Grandfather John Hayes, who served in the Royal Engineers from 1914 until 1918.  

The lens, without using the extension tubes to increase magnification, is focused on the date on the bronze star, with the aperture set to f5.6 to give a shallow depth of field to the image.  I kept the ISO on the camera at 200 for the best image quality, so the shutter speed was a slow 1/8s and used a touch of off camera flash, using a Fujifilm EF-20 flashgun, to lift the image slightly.  Because of the slow shutter speed the camera was attached to a Manfrotto tripod.

As can be seen from the section that I've blown up below, the sharpness of the Fujinon 60mm cannot be faulted.

Here are a few more images using the 60mm fitted with the extension tubes to increase the magnification even further.

Again the depth of field is kept very shallow by selecting an aperture of f4 and focusing on the figure '1'.  Again the sharpness of this lens can be seen in the blown up portion of the image below.

A couple of extra images from this part of the photoshoot. 

Conclusion
The more I use the 60mm macro the more I am getting to appreciate the abilities of this lens.  Yes, the autofocus is a bit slow but it isn't a problem for me in almost all situations and for macro shots I always use manual focus anyway.  The manual focus ability of this lens on the X-T1 is excellent due to the split screen in the X-T1's Electronic View Finder (EVF).  The f2.4 maximum aperture is very good as most macro lenses are f2.8, so the extra 1/3 stop is useful, especially when using the 60mm as a portrait lens or in challenging light.

Some Fuji photographers are shying away from this lens, preferring to go with the 56mm f1.2 for portraits (which makes sense) or just giving up using this for macro photography.  I would recommend persevering with the 60mm f2.4, because this lens is capable of delivering some great images.

For more on the WWI project I am currently working on please visit this blog on Monday 4 August 2014,  which will mark 100 years to the day that the UK declared war on Germany and the start of four years of slaughter in the trenches, a very black day for the whole of Europe.

All images taken on a Fujifilm X-T1 and a Fujinon XF60mm f2.4R macro lens

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