I’ve used Fujifilm cameras professionally ever since the X-T1, and currently use two X-T5 cameras and a core set of prime and zoom lenses. So based on over ten years experience with the brand and tens of thousands of hours shooting and editing here’s the kit I’ve settled on. I think these are the best Fujifilm lenses for event photography, freshly updated for 2024.
In 2023 I personally delivered over 31,000 photos to my clients, across parties, corporate events, conferences, weddings, corporate headshots, PR, food and drink… everything, so I’ve also listed how many photos were shot on each lens. It made for interesting research and I was surprised at some of the results, especially given how much I say I prefer primes over zooms – no spoilers though!
- Just want to see the lenses? Check them all out in a handy grid on my Kit.co profile
- And if you’re more of an X100 sort of person there’s some recommended accessories for the X100VI over here
By the way, links on this page are affiliated and as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This doesn’t affect my recommendation in any way – if I don’t use it and don’t like it I don’t recommend it.
The best Fujifilm prime lenses for event photography
I love Fuji’s fast prime lenses because they’re small, light, and produce beautiful images. I love using them wide open, and I feel like the fixed field of view encourages more thoughtful and creative framing. I’ve got a set of Fuji’s pro f/2.8 zooms too and they’re my go-to for things like conferences and stage performances. But for everything else I usually prefer to use primes if I can.
Fujifilm XF 16mm f/1.4 WR
HOW MANY? In 2023 I delivered 1087 images with the Fujifilm XF 16mm f/1.4 WR, approx. 3.5% of the 31,000+ total.
The Fujifilm XF 16mm f/1.4 WR quickly pushed the 14mm f/2.8 out of my bag. It’s now one of my favourites and definitely one of the very best Fuji lenses for event photography. People rave about this lens with good reason.
Providing roughly a 24mm-equivalent field of view it’s solidly built, and excellent in low light. Overall it’s a superb documentary lens in small spaces allowing you to take in more of a scene especially at close quarters, which I find makes for better story telling photography. It’s also great for dramatic wides in a pinch, especially if you can get a bit of distance, but for really impressive ultra-wides I’m carrying the 8-16mm f/2.8 these days.
It’s weather sealed too, which is great for events in the crappy British weather. Mind you, many of the rest of my favourite lenses aren’t weather sealed unfortunately. So I think I’d probably switch to the 16-55 f/2.8 zoom if I had to spend extended time outside in the rain.
There’s really one thing I’m not so hot on – the shifting focus ring. A few Fuji lenses have this feature, including the original 23mm. Push the focus ring forward and it locks, putting the lens in AF mode (assuming that’s enabled on the camera body too); pull it towards you to unlock the ring and manually focus (over-riding the AF/MF mode on the camera). I expect the people that use this feature love it, I just would rather the focus control was only on the camera. There’s been a few times I’ve attached it during a shoot and missed my first shots because the focus ring had shifted to manual mode in transit and I’d not noticed. Not the end of the world but I can only speak for my own experience.
Fujifilm XF 23mm f/1.4 LM WR (Mk 2)
HOW MANY? In 2023 I delivered 3153 images with the Fujifilm XF 23mm f/1.4 LM WR, approx. 10% of the 31,000+ total.
The second version of their iconic lens, equivalent to the full-frame 35mm focal length, is damn sharp wide open, focusses fast, and along with the 33mm and 56mm it goes on every shoot with me. It’s wide enough for most reasonably close-quarters documentary shots and perfectly complements something tighter like the 56mm. It’s too tight for scenic wide shots, and for very tight close-quarters coverage, which is where the 16mm f/1.4 comes out – if not the 8-16mm. But it’s best at medium-close quarters to get story-telling shots that take in your subject’s surroundings, to give a sense of what’s actually happening in that moment.
I had the original for years and it’s a sturdy metal build with one of those focus rings you pull back to unlock and use manually, revealing zone focus markings. But in 2022 Fuji launched a slightly smaller, weather-resistant version (the WR in the name), designed to resolve more detail on Fuji’s new 40MP+ sensors. It has a sleek, modern, solid metal build with a standard focus ring (no clutch mechanism), and so it loses a little something of the original’s characteristic old-school aesthetics, but it looks and feels great on an X-T body.
And performance wise it’s really excellent. I’ve long since grown out of the urge to pixel-peep at 100% crops trying to find marginal imperceptible softness (our clients can’t see it and don’t care if you can) but I can tell you it’s much faster to focus due largely to the improved linear motor inside (the LM in the name), super sharp, and has almost no chromatic aberration wide open. The original 23mm had such bad CA that I ended up creating a ‘lens correction’ profile for it in Lightroom with a ton of CA removal baked in. But with this new Fuji 23mm f/1.4 WR there’s no need.
My one minor complaint is that the redesigned barrel is almost indistinguishable from Fuji’s new 33mm lens. Compare them and the 33mm barrel is about 5mm shorter but that’s it: same 58mm filter diameter, same sleek barrel design except for the focal length designation. If both are in my lens bag and I need one during a shoot I’ll usually need to peer at the barrel to check the focal length, so I’m considering sticking something to one of them for easier identification by sight and touch.
Fujifilm XF 33mm f/1.4 LM WR
HOW MANY? In 2023 I delivered 8733 images with the Fujifilm XF 33mm f/1.4 WR, approx. 28% of the 31,000+ total.
The deserving winner of my Most Used Lens of 2023! This lens replaced the Fujifilm XF 35mm f/1.4, which I still have just in case I need a backup one day… and also because it’s a classic. It’s this stubby wee metal beauty that focusses plenty fast enough, is plenty sharp enough, and if you spend enough time with it really does have this subtle look to images in the right light. The new 33mm is a better choice for me but really it’s about how useful this focal length is despite being closer to the 23mm than the 56mm, my previously most used lens.
I used to think it was a boring middle ground neither wide enough for close groups nor long enough for a wide range. But I changed my mind after thinking more about what I was really capturing with the 56mm. I love the 56’s contrast and creamy bokeh, but often I couldn’t see what was happening around the subject so it wasn’t telling much a story. The 33/35 field of view fixed that, I just needed to shorten the range around me that I was looking for moments.
Is it worth switching from the Fuji 35mm to the Fuji 33mm?
If you’re sold on the focal length already and love your Fuji 35mm for event photography why upgrade to the 33mm? I didn’t really enjoy using it professionally, it just felt a bit too short and light in the hand. And in low light the focus could struggle a bit.
The new 33mm is almost identical in appearance to the new 23mm WR (which can get confusing in a hurry at an event), with a sleek modern black metal barrel and optics designed to resolve much higher detail on Fuji’s new 40MP+ sensors. Plus it’s sharper and faster to focus even in low light. Some people say it looks too clean now and I get that. But I prefer having lenses I can rely on in every situation. And the weather resistance helps with that too.
Ultimately I think the focal length is the most important thing, and you can choose which lens speaks most to you.
Fujifilm XF 56mm f/1.2 WR
HOW MANY? In 2023 I delivered 5147 images with the Fujifilm XF 56mm f/1.2 WR, approx. 16.5% of the 31,000+ total.
The original Fujifilm XF 56mm f/1.2 was one of the first Fuji lenses I ever bought for my new X-T1 kit back in 2014, and it became easily my favourite lens with it’s gorgeous colours, rich contrast, and creamy bokeh, let down by awful focussing speed in low light. The Mk2 version is a great upgrade all round, but the low light focus speed is now only ‘good enough’ where previously it was ‘bad’. I don’t really know why it’s so slow compared to their other lenses but I think Fuji lets themselves off the hook by calling it a ‘portrait lens’. Hmmm.
The new version is as expensive (about a grand) and ever so slightly bigger than the original, with a slightly wider lens barrel that tapers towards the mount width at the back. It actually feels better to me on the X-T5 than the original, like it’s better balanced. The image quality is absolutely superb – the original was prone to softness around the edges but the new one is much sharper across the frame, and I don’t think I’ve ever noticed bad CA either.
That focussing though… Even though the Mk2 is definitely much better, it’s still prone to all kinds of focussing quirks: with the Mk2 I’ve seen the X-T5 EVF pause for as long as half a second when locking focus certain modes – and this never happens with any other lens. Switching to CF mode with tracking enabled seems to solve that issue but introduces another one: with the Mk2 in CF tracking mode the the camera burst speed drops significantly, presumably because the lens just can’t focus fast enough between each frame.
I think most photographers won’t notice focussing issues with the Mk2 until they get into low light. But I experience them nearly every shoot. For the price (a grand new) that shouldn’t happen but I still love this lens. I love the reach, the sharpness, the colours, the bokeh, the size, the weight… It just isn’t quite as useful to me as the 33mm for storytelling event photography.
Fujifilm XF 90mm f/2 LM WR
HOW MANY? In 2023 I delivered 347 images with the Fujifilm XF 90mm f/2 WR, approx. 1% of the 31,000+ total.
The 90mm is a lens I very rarely take on shoots – it’s only 1% of all my delivered shots last year – but it can be useful so it’s on the list. As a 135mm-equivalent to full frame sensors the 90mm is ostensibly a portrait lens, perhaps even more so than the 56mm. But I generally prefer to be a bit closer to people for portraiture than this lens necessitates so I don’t really use it for that. Instead, I pack it into my ‘all primes’ kit so I’m covered if I’m not able to get close enough to important stuff like speeches and presentations, or even the ceremony if it’s one of those churches that banishes photographers to the very back.
If I need it for reach why not just take the 50-140? Because the 90mm is much smaller, lighter, and sharper; it’s better in low light (f/2 rather than f/2.8); and frankly I probably won’t use it anyway so why lug the 50-140 around?
It’s also really good for ‘sort of macro’ shots. It’s not a macro lens but it focusses really close so at a wedding it can be nice to get good ring shots before the ceremony.
The best Fujifilm zoom lenses for event photography
I typically use the holy trinity of professional Fuji zooms for conference-type events or anything where it all moves so fast I can’t afford a few seconds to change a lens such as family shoots with kids racing around a park, or a PR event with a ton of dignitaries shaking hands with a ton of other dignitaries.
Fujifilm XF 8-16mm f/2.8 LM WR
HOW MANY? In 2023 I delivered 1961 images with the Fujifilm XF 8-16mm f/2.8, approx. 6% of the 31,000+ total.
This is a BEAST of a lens and I think that’s the only time I’ve used block capitals so that’s how you know I’m serious. It’s also bloody expensive, at £1500 new, compared to around £1100 for Fuji’s smaller 10-24mm Mk2, or about £500 for the 10-24mm Mk1 (which I bought first, and which made me realise how awesome the 8-16 could be). Both those alternatives are much smaller, much lighter, and have OIS built in, so why go for the 8-16mm?
The main reason is the extra 2mm, which make all the difference especially shooting spectacular venue wide shots. There’s also the f/2.8 aperture which helps get a faster shutter speed to freeze movement in the frame if that’s required – OIS can’t do that. And it really is sharp as a pin from corner to corner which counts when you’re producing spectacular hero shots for clients.
Typically I’ll take this zoom on every event shoot, whereas the other two zooms are mostly just for conference-type events. I’ll use it for venue wides at the start before guests arrive and then I’ll get a few more wides later when the party’s bouncing, or for shots like the second one above where I’m capturing a lot of activity in a small space (the motion blur is deliberate).
The only downside is the relatively short length at the long end, only 16mm compared to 24mm on the cheaper Fuji alternative. I think if this was 8-24mm I might be able to get away with just this and the 50-140mm most of the time, leaving the very boring 16-55 in the bag. But it’s not the end of the world. As for lacking OIS, it could have helped handhold for longer in a low-light venue, but it’s so wide that light camera-shake isn’t too obvious and now I have the X-T5 I’ve got OIS built into the body anyway.
If you’re not sure if you need this definitely try and get a second hand Mk1 copy of the 10-24 first, or rent one. And then if you catch the ultra-wide bug then start saving!
Fujifilm XF 16-55mm f/2.8 LM WR
HOW MANY? In 2023 I delivered 2839 images with the Fujifilm XF 16-55 f/2.8, approx. 9% of the 31,000+ total.
Fuji’s version of the ubiquitous 24-70mm full frame lens, favoured by many press and event photographers. Sharp and relatively fast with a fixed f/2.8 throughout the range, and not quite as big or heavy as the full frame equivalent although it can still be quite intimidating at close quarters. If you can only afford or fit a couple of lenses it’s probably going to be this one and the 50-140, covering most or all of the range that most of us will ever need outside of sports and wildlife.
Sadly I really don’t like using this lens outside of conference-type shoots, where I favour the utility of pro zooms; being able to capture what’s happening almost anywhere in a conference room without needing to move is much more important to me than having fun or being creative.
However, for almost everything else and especially social events I find myself incredibly bored using this lens. It makes me lazy and I find the shots I produce on it are always safe and rarely interesting. Finding a couple of images for this entry was hard not because there’s so many great shots to choose from but because they’re all so… standard.
So, not the most exciting lens, but so reliable that most event photographers looking for the best Fuji lenses will have already bought it without thinking twice, and you probably should too.
Fujifilm XF 50-140mm f/2.8
HOW MANY? In 2023 I delivered 8134 images with the Fujifilm XF 33mm f/1.4 WR, approx. 26% of the 31,000+ total.
Fuji’s equivalent to the 70-200mm, with built in vibration reduction, and like the 16-55mm it’s simply fantastic, a proper workhorse. It’s heavy, but it’s nowhere near as heavy as the full frame versions. I wish I got more use out of it, as so much of my work is in dark rooms where the widest aperture of the Fujifilm XF 50-140mm f/2.8 just isn’t fast enough. But anywhere with reasonable light levels, and especially outdoors, wowsers, it’s just incredible. I’ve heard it called ‘the zoom that thinks it’s a prime’ and that’s about right in terms of the sharp images it produces, especially with the OIS activated.
Combined with the 16-55mm it’s the perfect pairing for chasing hyperactive kids about on an outdoor family shoot. It’s also indispensable for well-lit corporate conference stages, so you can stay in the aisles and get both tight shots of speakers on the stage, and wider down-the-line shots of audience listening, without needing to get too close to anyone. When it comes to wedding ceremonies and receptions I really want the shallow depth of field and the wider apertures my primes give me, but I always have it in my bag, especially in churches, as it’s useful for getting in close visually when circumstances keep you at a distance.
My ‘retired’ Fujifilm X-mount lenses
Fujifilm XF 14mm f/2.8
The Fujifilm XF 14mm f/2.8 is an impressive prime lenses, approximating a 21mm field of view on full frame cameras, for stunning rectilinear wide shots, and great storytelling shots of people partying, from very close quarters. Unfortunately the f/2.8 aperture just feels wrong on a prime, especially once the way more impressive and useful 8-16mm arrived. So I got the 16mm f/1.4 instead – it’s a touch tighter but way faster, so much better in dark venues. If you’d like a wider prime you could consider the Rokinon 12mm f/2 which is affordable, a stop brighter than 2.8, but it doesn’t have auto-focus at I don’t want to faff with manual focus at busy events.
Samyang 8mm Fisheye f/2.8
The fisheye look you get from the Samyang 8mm Fisheye f/2.8 is distinctive but pretty gimmicky so it’s not something you want to use for much, if any, professional event work. But used very sparingly in the right context it can be interesting. I made one of my favourite images using it, overlooking a private function in the Hintze Hall at the Natural History Museum. But it’s probably best for personal or at least more creative visual work – it works really well in both the confined connecting tunnels and cavernous halls on the London Underground. It’s manual focus only, and as it doesn’t have electronic contacts you’ll need to set your camera to work ‘without a lens attached’, but it’s cheap and fun, and I like fun, so I keep it around.
Fujifilm XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4
The Fujifilm XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 is the kit lens available with many of the Fujifilm X camera bodies, but it’s without doubt the best kit lens I’ve ever owned. It’s not quite as wide as I’d like – equivalent to 27mm rather than the usual 24mm – but whereas most kit lenses range from f/4.5 to f/5.6, this one starts at f/2.8 up to f/4! And it’s got built-in image stabilisation, something even the pro version (16-55mm, above) doesn’t have.
I’ve actually photographed an indoor private event using this as my wide lens all night and the results were just fantastic, you would never have known I was using a ‘crappy kit lens’. I’ve mostly stuck with my pro zooms and primes for professional work since then, but I kept this this lens for personal use as it’s so much lighter and smaller for travelling with than the 16-55mm.
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fabulous article. do you use flash outdoors at weddings, if so what is your preferred settings for this.
Hiya, nope never. I’m not a fan of taking a ton of time out with lighting and assistants and stuff to make flash lit portraits in the sun although they do look good. I prefer to keep it natural. Will only ever use flash at a reception if it gets too dark to use ambient light. Never in a ceremony.
Hi Owen,
This is a very helpful piece and will certainly help me decide on my next lens. I have one question-there are 2 photos attributed to the XF 23mm f/1.4 – one ‘Distracted at the Party’ under the XF 23 review-the other ‘Surrounded by Friends’ within the 56mm 1.2 review. Can you confirm if this is correct? Thanks, Dominic
Thanks for pointing out the typo, Dominic, all fixed now :)
Hi Owen,
Your photography is really inspiring and thank you for sharing your kit list. I’m a canon shooter (5D) and I’m mainly shooting commercial for small businesses and also conferences. I’ve done the odd event, most recently at The Ivy.
I have two questions – how often do you use flash at events and do you use on camera?
Secondly do you take a tripod to each event to get those wide angle room shots?
Thanks so much, it’s so helpful for fellow photographers to share tips!
Liz
Hi! Thanks for your kind words! I try to avoid flash wherever possible, but there are a few times I will use it. For example, if the venue is practically pitch black I will use it when guests ask me to take a shot of a few of them posing (normally I won’t ask people to pose for me, but I will take the shot if I’m asked) as I think it’s more important to get a decent quality shot than to stay discrete and capture the ambient light (which I usually manage fine with fast lenses and high ISOs). I’ll also often use flash during dancefloor craziness if again it’s too dark not to, and also because you can do some fun stuff with flash and longer exposures on the dancefloor to get light trails etc. I’ll use flash for table shots at large corporate events but again I usually try to convince the client to NOT get table shots because almost nobody cares about them, and it means I’m spending a huge amount of time not getting the sorts of candid photos I specialise in.
Regarding wide shots, I probably should take a tripod, so I can get a long exposure low ISO shot of the whole venue space, but I must admit I never have done. I almost always manage to either take the shot at a reasonable ISO handheld, or I find something to rest the camera on for a longer exposure. So at this exact moment there are zero wide venue shots in my galleries that were taken with a tripod!
Hope that helps!
This is incredibly helpful and the lens example shots are fantastic, thank you!
Great article. Do you not find the Fujifilm EF-42 to be underpowered for weddings, with a guide number of just 42? Especially when using bounce flash.
Hi Darren – yeah the EF-42 isn’t great. I’ve struggled with it in many ways actually, but i rarely use flash much these days as it doesn’t fit my style. Although when I do the EF-42 hasn’t been the most reliable. I’ve actually just upgraded to Godox flashes and triggers for my Fuji X-T2s and although they’re a big ol’ unit on the small Fuji, they’re solid and work much more reliably and effectively!
Hi Owen
Thanks for the reply, what metering mode do you use most at weddings, spot or matrix metering.
Hiya, tbh I don’t know what it’s called. There’s four metering modes on the X-T3 and I use the second one from the right on the dial. Average possibly? I don’t really bother much with spot metering now I’m using EVFs, as I can adjust the exposure to get what I want before I take the picture. If the bit I want to expose for is so bright that it’s more than 3 stops over what the camera’s metering for, I’ll need to switch to spot mode then, but that rarely happens tbh.
Hi Owen great article lots of info my dilemma, I have been using my xt4 for three years and still learning, I’ve been ask to do a friends wedding sept 2024 thinking of getting a 2nd body the xh2 or xt5 can you advise on the best two lenses for this first event, my current lenses are 23.f2, 33.1.4, 16.80 kit lens 90.f2 50.140 many thanks
Hey Frank, thanks for asking! First things first, here’s what I use at weddings: https://www.owenbweddings.com/best-fujifilm-wedding-photography-kit/
So in short: two X-T5s, then almost exclusively the fastest Fuji primes in these lengths: 16mm, 23mm, 33mm, 56mm. That’s almost my entire wedding lens kit. I use the 8-16 at it’s widest for a few venue shots as it’s so impressive at 8mm, and occasionally the 90mm f/2 when I can’t get close enough – so occasionally the ceremony, more often the speeches, but that’s about it. I don’t even bother taking the 16-55 or the 50-140, I find they make me lazy, they aren’t fast enough in dim venues (although Adobe Lightroom AI Denoise solves the noise problem), and I just make more interesting images with primes.
For me though the best advice I can give you is to make sure you know how to shoot a wedding! Getting it right takes a LOT of pre-planning with the couple, understanding what they want, what will be happening on the day, and where you’ll need to be (and when) to get important unrepeatable moments, or to make sure the portraits and group shots don’t eat up more than an hour of their reception, or how the first dance will play out (including how well it’ll be lit and if you should take your own lighting as backup, which I always do and almost always need), etc etc. Are you a professional in other genres of photography or is this your first big paid job?