Fujifilm GF 35-70mm F4.5-5.6 WR is an Affordable Kit Lens for GFX Medium Format

The Fujifilm GF 35-70mm F4.5-5.6 WR is a brand new, affordable kit lens for the GFX medium-format camera system, making a perfect partner for the also-just-released GFX 50S II.

Offering an effective focal range of 28-55mm in 35mm terms, the 35-70mm zoom is fully weather-resistant despite having a retractable design that makes it physically shorter when in the “stored” position.

The GF 35-70mm uses 62mm filters, has a minimum focus distance of 35cm and maximum magnification of 0.28x, can focus in 0.17sec when paired with the GFX 100S, and weighs in at a mere 440g.

It’s much smaller than the current 32-64mm F4 zoom even when fully extended for shooting, and a lot, lot cheaper too – £849 / €999 / $999 versus well over £€2000 for the 32-64.

The maximum apertures are slower and not constant throughout the zoom range, though, and there’s no aperture ring on this lens in order to make it smaller, lighter and crucially cheaper.

The Fujifilm GF 35-70mm F4.5-5.6 WR will be available in a kit with the GFX 50S II from September 23rd 2021, or individually from November 2021.

We’ve got a gallery of full-size Fujifilm GF 35-70mm F4.5-5.6 WR sample photos (JPEG and Raw) and a gallery of Fujifilm GF 35-70mm F4.5-5.6 WR hands-on photos for you to enjoy.

Fujifilm Press Release

Fujifilm announces FUJINON Lens GF35-70mmF4.5-5.6 WR

Introducing the palm-size GF zoom lens that boasts being the smallest and lightest in the GF zoom series

FUJIFILM Corporation (President: Teiichi Goto) is pleased to announce the launch of the “FUJINON Lens GF35-70mmF4.5-5.6 WR” (GF35-70mm), an interchangeable lens for large-format cameras, in late November 2021.

The GF35-70mm is a compact and lightweight zoom lens, weighing approximately just 390g, with outstanding image-resolving performance and focal length range covering from the most frequently-used 35mm in wide angle to the standard 70mm (equivalent to 28mm – 55mm in the 35mm film format). The highly portable form factor will broaden the scope of applications for GFX camera systems, equipped with a large format sensor_*1.

The GF35-70mm is a compact and lightweight large-format zoom lens that weighs just 390g and has the filter thread size of 62mm despite covering versatile focal lengths at high resolution and delivering high-speed AF performance. It would not weigh one down even when used as a walkaround lens for snapshots, enabling casual hand-held shooting. The retractable barrel structure reduces the length to approximately 73.9mm when fully collapsed for added portability, making it a perfect lens to carry when traveling._*2 The compact and lightweight focusing elements are driven with a stepping motor for silent, fast and highly-accurate AF performance, attaining focus on a subject smoothly to seize photo opportunities. The lens offers the minimum working distance of 35cm across its zoom range, enabling a close-up shot of a subject approximately 25cm from the front-most element of the lens. This gives the lens the ability to cater to a variety of situations at a preferred angle of view, from tabletop photography to snapshots, portraiture, and landscape photography.

The lens has a dust- and moisture-resistant construction and can operate at temperatures as low as -10℃, ruggedized enough for this versatility so that users can click away in all conditions, unaffected by rain. The GF35-70mm is a new-concept portable zoom for the GFX Series, combining excellent versatility with mobility and portability.

*1 An image sensor measuring 55mm diagonally (43.8mm x 32.9mm), with the area approx. 1.7 times that of a full-frame 35mm sensor

*2　The lens measures approx. 96.4mm when fully extended.

Product Features

(1) Advanced versatility that covers all the focal lengths required to capture day-to-day scenes

・ The GF35-70mm covers versatile focal lengths from 35mm in wide angle to the standard 70mm (equivalent to 28mm -55mm in the 35mm film format) to cater to a wide range of situations including landscape, portraiture and street photography.

It has the second shortest minimum working distance of 35cm among interchangeable lenses for the GFX Series, enabling a close-up shot of a subject approximately 25cm from the front-most element of the lens. This means it has a broad shooting range from the dynamic wide-angle framing of capturing the main subject in close-up against a broad spread of the background, to the standard framing style with a more natural perspective.

・ The GF35-70mm consists of 11 elements, including one aspherical element and two ED elements, in nine groups. Its advanced image-resolving capability with well-controlled spherical and chromatic aberrations, provides precise description of each scene, even when it is shot on the wide-angle side, where the amount of information is greater.

(2) The most compact and lightest-weight body among GF lenses offering high-speed AF and advanced mobility

・The GF35-70mm is optically designed to balance image quality with portability to achieve an exceptionally compact and lightweight construction, weighing approximately 390g and measuring 73.9mm (when retracted)・96.4mm(wide end)・95.7mm(tele end) with the filter thread size of 62mm, an astonishing achievement for a standard zoom designed for large-format sensor cameras. Even when mounted on the FUJIFILM GFX100S or FUJIFILM GFX50S II, the combined weight comes to only about 1,300g. The light load even when on camera promises comfort.

・The compact and lightweight focusing elements are driven with a stepping motor for fast and accurate AF performance, attaining focus on a subject instantaneously to capture a decisive moment. The low operation noise during focusing makes it suitable not only for stills but also for video recording.

・The lens also supports cameras’ Face / Eye Detection AF modes. Fast and highly-accurate AF is achieved in as quickly as 0.13 seconds in silence for instantaneous focusing on the main subject’s face / eyes._*3 This is particularly effective in portraiture that involves subject movements, capturing a momentary change in facial expressions.

・ The lens barrel is weather-sealed at 9 locations so that it is dust- and moisture-resistant and can be used in temperatures as low as -10℃. The lens withstands rain even when it is mounted on the camera for hand-held shooting, seizing shutter opportunities in the toughest of conditions.

_{*3 When in the Phase Detection AF mode on the FUJIFILM GFX100S; Compliant with the CIPA guidelines}

(3) Support information

This lens uses a manual retractable barrel structure. Before shooting, manually rotate the zoom ring to extend the barrel to the wide-angle 35mm position, which is the barrel’s default position.

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Image Gallery

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