Introduction
I’ve had a strained relationship with ultra wide-angle lenses. They’re difficult to use well—their extreme angle of view pulls everything in, making it easy to create cluttered, distorted shots if you’re not careful. But I keep coming back to them because they offer novel, exaggerated perspectives that are tremendously fun to play with. My first was a Sigma 10–20mm, bought just a month after getting my first DSLR, a Canon EOS 30D, in the summer of 2006. Predictably, I used it in ways I now know aren’t ideal—cramming everything into the frame in small spaces, attempting awkwardly close portraits, capturing too much sky, ceiling, or pavement, and generally letting the lens’ width dictate the shot.
As I got better at composing wide-angle shots, the Sigma’s optical limitations became harder to ignore. In the early 2010s, I upgraded to Canon’s EF 16–35mm F2.8 L II on a full-frame setup. It was a major improvement and saw regular use, but in 2016, I switched from Canon DSLRs to Fujifilm’s compact X Series. For a while, I made do with Fujifilm’s excellent primes, but the ultra-wide temptation struck again, and I picked up an XF 10–24mm F4. After a few trips and vacations, I started to neglect it, and it sat unused in my Nanuk 935 case—my least-used lens. I eventually sold it and decided to go without an ultra-wide.
Then, earlier this year, a friend asked me to photograph several of his commercial properties—tight spots, strip malls, and industrial warehouses that needed a wider perspective than any of my current gear could handle. That’s when I remembered Fujifilm released the Fujinon XF 8mm F3.5 R WR a year prior. Its extreme width was fascinating—8mm on APS‑C is equivalent to 12mm on full frame, a perspective I’d never experienced. After five months of ownership, I’m ready to dive into what this lens is like to use, how it performs, and whether this ultra-wide is worth considering.
XF 8mm F3.5 R WR At-a-Glance
Strengths:
Great centre and mid-frame sharpness
Tiny and lightweight
Lovely aesthetics
Great aperture ring detents
Accepts screw-in filters
Minimal focus breathing
Silent AF motor in AF‑C
Very fast AF
Nice sunstars at ƒ/16 and ƒ/22
Good flare and ghosting control
Weather-sealed
Weaknesses:
Inconsistent autofocus, emphasizing:
- Curvature of field
- Peripheral softness
Peripheral CA
Strong uncorrected distortions
IBIS-induced corner softness, especially in meridional details
Slight pattering sound of iris movement in MF/AF‑S modes
Insufficient focus ring dampening
Neutral/Missing:
Short focus throw with Linear focus option (MFD to ∞ with minimal rotation; adjust in Button/Dial Settings > Lens Zoom/Focus Setting > Focus Ring Operation > Nonlinear)
XF 8mm F3.5 R WR – Build Quality & Design
Like most of Fujifilm’s XF lenses, the XF 8mm F3.5 R WR features a mostly metal exterior. The aperture and focus rings, filter mounting thread, and hood mount are all painted metal, lending to its solid feel. The rear part of the barrel behind the aperture ring and the aperture ring lock release button are the only plastic components. The lens feels substantial and well-built; there’s no jiggling, rattling, or any other noise when it’s shaken. Additionally, unlike some of Canon’s plastic-barreled L‑series lenses, the XF 8mm F3.5 remains rigid under pressure without any compression.
A black rubber gasket encircles the lens mount and corroborates the “WR” designation in the name, which is Fujifilm’s shorthand for weather resistance. Weighing just 215g and measuring 52.8mm from the mount flange to the front, the lens is compact and highly portable. Despite its sturdy build, it feels almost surprisingly light, as if there’s empty space within its shell.
The aperture ring is well-crafted, featuring distinct, firm detents for one-third stop increments. Except for ƒ/3.5, which represents the maximum aperture, the barrel only has markings for the standard full-stop f‑numbers, which are etched into the metal and painted white. The XF 8mm F3.5 R WR blends modern sensibilities with classic, functional cues to make the lens distinctly and recognizably a Fujifilm lens.
XF 8mm F3.5 R WR – Ergonomics and Handling
Thanks to its compact and lightweight design, the XF8mm F3.5 R WR balances well on my Fujifilm X‑H2S, making it easy to carry for extended periods without feeling knuckle strain. However, the barrel is so short, I find the aperture ring is set closer to the camera body than I’d prefer. The fingers on my left hand naturally rest closer to the focusing ring, requiring an adjustment in how I hold the camera when switching to this lens.
The detents on the aperture are firm enough to avoid accidental shifts. Unfortunately, the focusing ring moves effortlessly and without much friction. While this isn’t significant in AF‑S or AF‑C modes (unless you’ve enabled AF+MF on page 2 of AF/MF Setting), it becomes problematic in MF mode—a necessity given the lens’s inconsistent autofocus performance, which I’ll discuss later.
The aperture ring features an Automatic position for seamless integration with Shutter Speed Priority (S), Program AE ℗, or full auto modes. Engaging or disengaging this mode requires pressing the aperture ring lock release button while rotating the ring in and out of the Automatic position.
As a WR (weather-resistant) lens, I expect it to handle inclement weather with ease. I’ve used Fujifilm’s WR lenses in rain and heavy snowfall, and they’ve always come through unscathed. One advantage of this lens is its compatibility with threaded filters, which is an uncommon feature on ultra-wide lenses. This lets you to use a clear filter for added protection when working in sandy or dusty conditions. However, in colder environments, using the lens with thick gloves can be tricky due to the close placement of the aperture and focus rings. The limited space makes precise adjustments more difficult when your dexterity is reduced.
XF 8mm F3.5 R WR – Features
The marquee feature of the XF 8mm F3.5 R WR is its ultra-wide angle of view—a full-frame equivalent of 12mm or 121° (diagonal), 88.5° (vertical), and 111.5° horizontal angle of view—squeezed into a compact and lightweight design. It’s an attractive option for photographers looking for an ultra-wide lens that doesn’t compromise portability.
The lens offers an aperture range from ƒ/3.5 to ƒ/22, selectable in 1/3‑stop increments, providing a total exposure range of 5 and 1/3 stops. Setting the aperture ring to “A” allows aperture control through a camera’s command dial when shooting in Manual (M) or Aperture Priority (A) modes. The aperture ring itself is non-functional in Shutter Speed Priority and Program AE modes.
While weather resistance isn’t heavily marketed, Fujifilm’s press release notes that the lens is sealed at 10 points along the barrel and can operate in temperatures as low as ‑10°C. Additionally, the front element features a fluorine coating that repels water and resists smudges.
The XF 8mm F3.5 R WR focuses internally, so the lens doesn’t extend or retract during operations, which is always a positive in my books. While Fujifilm doesn’t specify the type of focusing motor it uses, it’s clear from the absence of a linear motor (LM) designation that it’s something more conventional. Despite this, Fujifilm claims it can achieve focus in as little as 0.02 seconds. While I don’t possess the means to verify that figure, I can confirm the lens focuses impressively fast when pulling focus from infinity to MFD, and in reverse, too.
I especially welcome the inclusion of a standard 62mm threaded filter mount. Unlike many ultra-wide lenses that feature bulbous front elements that make standard filters impossible to attach, the front of the XF 8mm F3.5 is small enough to accommodate them directly. This allows users to easily use their favourite 62mm filters without needing specialized adapters, holders, or gels. For example, an ND filter can be a great addition to this lens. However, I’d caution against using a polarizer on ultra-wide lenses, especially in scenes with large areas of the sky, as it can create uneven darkening.
XF 8mm F3.5 R WR – Image Quality
Bokeh and Background Blur
Bokeh is the aesthetic quality of the out-of-focus areas in a photograph, particularly how the lens renders them. It describes the shapes, smoothness, and overall appearance of the defocused regions, as well as the transition from sharp focus to blur. Bokeh is often an afterthought for choosing ultra-wide lenses like the XF 8mm F3.5 R WR, as the maximum achievable background or foreground blur is minimal, and typical subjects often benefit from a large depth of field.
With that said, the XF 8mm F3.5 R WR produces attractive, smooth bokeh when focused at or near the MFD, and features inoffensive transitions between sharp focus and blur. Keep in mind that images rendered by ultra-wide rectilinear lenses exhibit significant peripheral stretching, which, in the context of bokeh, can make the edges and corners of the frame appear blurrier than the central region when everything is equally out of focus. This effect can influence how bokeh is perceived, so form your own impressions with my sample photos.
Distortion
Optical distortions, like the barrel and pincushion variety, make straight lines look curved in photos. Fixing these keeps lines straight and makes the image look true to how you actually experience the world. Despite Fujifilm’s press release boasting that the XF 8mm F3.5 incorporates a medley of fancy glass elements to control distortion, there is significant barrel distortion when correction profiles are disabled. Without correction, this lens resembles a weak fisheye lens. Thankfully, Fujifilm’s in-body corrections are exceptional and keep reality’s straight lines straight in the picture. I capture all photos in raw format (sorry, Ken Rockwell!) and process them in Lightroom Classic, which uses Adobe’s custom profiles that, regrettably, aren’t as effective as Fujifilm’s. Below, you’ll find comparisons showing Lightroom corrections, in-camera corrections, and no corrections at all.
Uncorrected optical distortions:
Optical distortions corrected in-camera and Adobe Lightroom Classic v. 14.0.1:
Vignetting
Vignetting is practically invisible when shooting, thanks to Fujifilm’s in-body corrections, which you cannot disable. However, when analyzing raw files with corrections turned off, vignetting is moderate to strong at ƒ/3.5. Stopping down to ƒ/5.6 noticeably reduces but doesn’t fully eliminate the shading. It remains at a similar level from ƒ/5.6 to ƒ/22.
Below are several real-world (i.e., not blank surfaces) examples of uncorrected vignetting and a comparison at different aperture values.
Lens correction profiles are a divisive topic in photography. While I’m frustrated by manufacturers’ reliance on these digital fixes—it feels like a shortcut on lens quality—I understand they allow engineers to focus on challenges that can’t be addressed through profiles, like resolution and compact design.
For general use, the resolution loss and slight noise from corrections are minor and often go unnoticed. But with ultra-wide lenses, especially in architectural work where parallel lines are crucial, these corrections stretch already burdened outlying pixels, reducing definition and increasing the perception of chromatic aberration.
For vital work, a dedicated shift lens is ideal. Fujifilm makes no shift lenses for the X‑mount. Some third-party lens adapters integrate shift movements. Laowa recently stepped in with the 12–24mm f/5.6 Zoom Shift CF for X‑mount—a welcome option for those needing optical perspective control.
Flare and Ghosting
Flare is controlled well and rarely overwhelms the frame, especially when stopped down to ƒ/5.6 or beyond. Ghosts can occur at odd angles, but they’re not scene-stealers. The lens performs admirably even in backlit conditions and maintains good overall contrast without significant loss of contrast.
Sunstars
The XF 8mm F3.5 R WR produces beautiful, well-defined sunstars at ƒ/16. Unfortunately, shooting at such small apertures diffracts light and impacts overall image sharpness. Whether this compromise is acceptable depends on your needs. Just remember to keep your sensor clean. The horizontal series below shows the progression of sunstars from ƒ/3.5 to ƒ/22.
These photos compare sunstars at ƒ/16 and ƒ/22 against a darker background.
Sharpness
The lens shows excellent centre sharpness at its widest apertures, from ƒ/3.5 to ƒ/4. Closing the aperture beyond this range doesn’t enhance centre sharpness; in fact, diffraction starts to reduce clarity from ƒ/5.6 onwards. However, you’d need to pixel-peep specific subjects to notice it that early. The effect becomes more apparent under close inspection at ƒ/8 and continues to degrade predictably at smaller apertures.
Edge and corner sharpness steadily improves until about ƒ/5.6, where it reaches its peak—assuming it’s focused accurately. But if it isn’t, peak sharpness is a toss-up between ƒ/5.6 and ƒ/8. On a high-resolution monitor, diffraction is noticeable at ƒ/11 in direct comparisons against shots taken at ƒ/5.6. By ƒ/16, diffraction is evident without comparisons, and at ƒ/22, the image quality becomes comparable to that taken by a smudged smartphone.
In summary, centre sharpness is best at ƒ/3.5–4, corner sharpness peaks at ƒ/5.6, and ƒ/8 is a good compromise for added depth of field. Given the extreme field of view, the lens performs well for most purposes.
Aberrations
There are noticeable transverse chromatic aberrations (CA) at the edges and corners. These are reduced but not fully eliminated by both in-camera and Adobe Lightroom lens profiles. Increasing the f‑number doesn’t mitigate transverse CA. Coma is minimal and appears only near the edges when photographing small points of light against dark backgrounds, such as city lights at night. With a maximum aperture of ƒ/3.5, this isn’t an astrophotography lens.
Field Curvature
The XF 8mm F3.5 has some field curvature, meaning the focal plane is not perfectly flat but curves. This can result in the corners appearing slightly blurred under certain circumstances, even when the centre looks sharp—not due to aberrations, but because they fall outside the curved focal plane. Peripheral stretching, a typical effect in rectilinear ultra-wide lenses, further emphasizes this issue. As the lens projects a wide field of view onto a flat sensor, the edges appear pulled outward, making any slight focus errors at the periphery more noticeable compared to the centre. (Remember the photos above illustrating maximum defocus; notice how the specular highlight near the bottom right corner appears much larger than when it’s positioned at the center of the frame. This highlights how poor focusing is emphasized towards the edges.)
XF 8mm F3.5 R WR – Focusing & Autofocus
My experience with autofocus on the XF 8mm F3.5 R WR has been inconsistent, which, unfortunately, exacerbates the problems created by the field curvature outlined above. Using this lens on my Fujifilm X‑H2S has been frustrating.
The autofocus inconsistency is most apparent when repeatedly focusing on fixed subjects at large distances. Instead of consistently focusing on infinity, the lens focuses on distances between approximately 2m and infinity, and sometimes beyond infinity. This erratic behaviour is evident in the MF/AF distance indicator, which shows the focus distance shifting with almost every press of the AF-ON button, despite no shifts in the subject or selected focus point. It would be easy to blame my camera, especially since the X‑H2S has had its share of autofocus issues. However, those problems are mostly related to unreliable subject detection. Plus, if it were the camera’s fault, I’d see the same behaviour with all my lenses. Yet, my XF 10–24mm F4 R OIS WR focuses consistently under identical conditions.
Autofocus Speed and Noise
Despite these inconsistencies, the XF 8mm F3.5 R WR boasts impressive autofocus speed, even without a linear motor. Given it’s an ultra-wide lens with incredible depth of field and a short focus throw, fast focusing is expected. Noise levels during focusing vary by mode. In AF‑C mode, the lens is nearly silent. However, in AF‑S and MF modes, focusing triggers a soft pattering sound from the iris diaphragm, which flutters as it stops down to the selected aperture during focusing. This happens even when set to the maximum aperture (🤷🏻♂️).
Manual Focus Experience, Close Focus, and Focus Indicator
Due to the inconsistent autofocus, I recommend using MF or AF‑S with full-time manual override (Enable AF+MF on page 2 of AF/MF Setting) via the focus ring to achieve more consistent sharpness across the frame, especially at edges and corners. The focus ring on the XF 8mm F3.5 R WR is smooth and sensitive to adjustments, so changing the camera’s focus ring sensitivity to “Nonlinear” is recommended for better precision. The “Linear” setting provides too short a throw between MFD and infinity, making fine adjustments difficult. For accuracy, I suggest using the standard magnified MF assist feature.
The lens has a generous close focus that Fujifilm claims is 18cm, but I’ve been able to focus down to about 14.5 to 15 cm from the focal plane indicator, which provides extra flexibility for unique perspectives. The lens is focus-by-wire and does not feature a physical focus distance scale, but this information is available electronically in the viewfinder or on the LCD. Enable it for precise manual focusing or to spot autofocus errors before taking the shot.
Focus Breathing
The XF 8mm F3.5 R WR shows a minuscule amount of focus breathing, where the field of view becomes wider when focusing closer. While noticeable, this effect is minor and should not impact most photographers, although it may be worth considering for video work that requires consistent framing during focus shifts.
XF 8mm F3.5 R WR and IBIS
When I first received the lens, I noticed that some shots, particularly those taken at shutter speeds below about 1/125s, showed peripheral smearing that appeared more like motion blur than typical corner softness. After some experimentation, I realized the cause was the IBIS on my X‑H2S. Like most IBIS systems, Fujifilm’s implementation centers its corrections around the middle of the frame rather than the active focus point. This does not jive well with ultra-wide lenses, whose wide field of view turns minor movements of the camera into bigger shifts at the edges than in the centre of the frame. IBIS is better suited for standard and telephoto lenses, where camera shake affects the frame more evenly.
Conclusion & Recommendations
The XF 8mm F3.5 R WR is a beautifully designed, compact, and optically capable ultrawide lens, but its true potential is compromised by erratic autofocusing that accentuates its field curvature. No lens is perfect, but together, these imperfections achieve a perfectly frustrating combo.
Wide-angle lenses are typically associated with landscape and architectural photography. The XF 8mm F3.5 can fit well as the ultrawide component in a lightweight travel and landscape kit—far more portable than the hefty XF 8–16mm F2.8, which weighs nearly four times as much. However, I can’t recommend it for architectural work requiring precision and edge-to-edge sharpness.
Beyond those traditional applications, ultra-wide lenses invite creative experimentation with perspective, which can transform everyday scenes by emphasizing shapes and playing with size and scale. This unique field of view encourages photographers to explore novel compositions and see the world with a fresh set of eyes.
If you’re intrigued by the XF 8mm F3.5 R WR and want to give it a shot, consider these tips to maximize its potential:
- Set focus manually using the focusing ring, and for more precise control, choose Nonlinear in the focus ring operation settings under Button/Dial Settings > Lens Zoom/Focus Setting.
- Use the standard focus assist set to maximum magnification to ensure critical focus.
- Enable the digital depth of field scale set to the pixel level and avoid overshooting infinity focus (unless it’s the sharpest distance).
- For optimal corner and edge sharpness, focus on those areas instead of the frame’s centre. Your primary subject should remain within the depth of field so long as it’s at the same distance.
- Disable IBIS for fast exposures to prevent corner blurring, and always turn off IBIS when using a tripod.
Ultimately, the XF 8mm F3.5 R WR can be a rewarding companion for those willing to slow down, focus manually, and work around its quirks. If you’re prepared to adapt your approach, this lens can be a fun, lightweight addition for travellers, trekkers, and street photographers.
The Fujinon XF 8mm F3.5 R WR has been out for over a year so it should readily be available on Facebook Marketplace, and it’s definitely on eBay. So get it used to save some money. If you’re set on buying new and found this review helpful, consider using the affiliate links below. It won’t change your price, but it does give me a small commission to help keep these reviews coming. Thanks for reading!