Picking a right Fuji X lens for model/toy photography

Question

tl;dr: good Fuji X lens for toy (10-30cm) photography?

I'm a fresh Fujifilm X-T20 owner. I'm planning to replace a Nikon D7000 with it, for gunpla photography. Problem is, I'm not yet sure what kind of lens should I use for this purpose on X-T20. Specifically, with Nikon I was just using a zoom - very nice 18-200, put the camera on a tripod, aim it at the subject, fire. For Fuji, I can probably go with XF55-200 as it'll give me similar close-up capabilities - but there's also a XF60 macro that'd allow me to do some close ups. I guess I just don't have enough experience with different lenses, and I'm unsure what will be the exact benefit of dedicated macro lens like that XF60mm. Will they differ significantly with regard to the minimal distance they can focus at? I remember this being an annoying factor when I tried to do some of my gunpla photos with a p&s (Sony RX100M3) - having to step back from the table and leaving a lot of margin in the composition.

FWIW, here's a breakdown of the data for my gunpla photos (EDIT: link removed) - sadly, only selected lenses/cameras combinations recored things like focus distance.

EDIT: for the record, I've gone for MC-EX16 ring and 55-200. I like the effect I'm getting so far, both with ring and without, and I'll be testing the studio setup once I'm back home.

Answer 1

The benefit of dedicated macro lenses is that they can focus very close, and achieve a 1:1 or 1:2 reproduction ratio. Based on your existing data (which is cool!), it looks like you're shooting a wide variety of focal lengths, at short focus distances. But it doesn't look like you need extreme 1:1 close up capability; correct me if I'm wrong.

Based on the above, I'd recommend trying an XF 55-200, plus an MCEX-16 extension tube. It will accomplish two things: first, your longer focal lengths will be served by the 55-200, but the macro ring will give you the close focus you require. Second, if you have a wider lens, such as a 27mm pancake or either of the 16-50 or 18-55 kit lenses, the macro ring will work with them too. It will have a dramatic effect on their focusing range -- 16mm of extension will make the kit lenses almost unusable on the wide end, but the mid-to-tele range should be able to get pretty close.

You will end up with a very versatile zoom plus a macro ring which works with any lens, for $100 more than the XF60mm macro lens. If you can easily rent this combo before you buy, that's a fantastic approach. And if you're willing to use third-party macro rings, it's $40 for two instead of $100 for one. (That's your decision; personally, I like my Fuji brand.)

Fujifilm publishes a very handy table of focusing distances, with and without macro rings, for all their lenses, here. My advice: don't get wrapped up in maximizing the reproduction ratio at all costs; just figure out what would give you the best value per dollar.

Answer 2

May I offer you an entirely different suggestion? You're not shooting moving subjects. It sounds like you aren't under time pressure during your shoot either, so you can switch lenses as much as you like.

Fujifilm cameras are extremely versatile, you can put basically any lens on it with an adapter while losing hardly any quality over using these lenses with their original cameras. You do lose all the electronics from the lens when adapting, so keep that in mind when picking lenses.

The trick is to find lenses that suit your photography style that are great quality for a low price. I dabble in macro photography, but I think the 80mm Fuji lens is just too expensive for dabbling.

My still-macro gear:

• M42-FX adapter (bought from amazon UK, 20 pounds). This adapts any M42 lens to my camera. M42 is a popular mount from the past. Many brands used it and there are tons of lenses available for it.
• M42 macro tubes (3 euro in a thrift shop). This turns all my M42 lenses into macro lenses. They do lose a few stops of light, but that doesn't matter when using a tripod on a still object. They keep their depth of field.
• Pentacon 135mm f/2.8 (bought on ebay, 40 euro). I love this lens! It's not as great as my 50-140mm f/2.8, but it's a LOT cheaper and pretty great still. Note that it requires around 2 meters of space to be able to focus at all. For items your size, you'll need around 3 meters. If you have that space, this is a great, cheap combo with a macro tube. I'll try to shoot some models with this combo so you have an idea.

A few more suggestions:

• 50mm f/1.4 Super-Takumar. You should be able to find a used one in good condition under $100.
• 100mm f/3.5 Canon Serenar. Goes for under $200 usually. Beware, this is a M39 mount, you'd need a different adapter.

Answer 3

Depending on the size of the subject you might want to look at a tilt/shift solution. This allows you to place the focus plane exactly where you need it. (The tilt bit I mean, shift is not relevant for this purpose, but they do tend to come as a pair). As you may have experienced, when shooting macro the depth of field tends to become painfully small.

Fuji does not offer any tilt-shift lenses at present, but I have a Nikon-Fuji X adapter with tilt and have bought an old all-manual Nikon 28mm lens for it, although I haven't gotten round to actually trying this combination out yet. Some extension tubes might be needed to get the focus distance short enough. I have however used a Canon-mount 35mm T/S lens for macro on an X-T2 via a plain adapter and it worked quite well without tubes. 35mm proved a bit tight for my purposes hence the 28mm.

Answer 4

You may wish to consider the following options. The images were chosen because they contain subjects that are of similar size to the figurines you wish to photograph (~15-25cm).

• The XF 18-55/2.8-4 kit lens with or without extension tubes. It's always worthwhile to start with the kit lens when familiarizing yourself with a new system. You can defer additional purchases if you already have this lens.

  Third-party extension tubes with pass-through electronics are about a quarter the price of the official extension tubes. If you don't mind cropping, they may not be necessary.

  

• The XF 18-135/3.5-5.6 is a reasonable alternative to the kit lens, but a stop slower and twice the cost. It is weather resistant, if that matters to you.

  

• The XC 50-230/4.5-6.7 is slower than the XF 55-200/3.5-4.8, but covers a slightly larger zoom range at less than half the price (~$270 vs $600). Its OIS is good for about 4-5 stops of stabilization, but speed shouldn't be much of a problem for you since you use a tripod and shoot subjects that exhibit minimal movement.

  

• Adapted lenses. If you have any old, manual-focus lenses that you know work well for your purpose, you may be able to use them with an adapter until you find a suitable native solution. Belle-Sophie suggests a number of lenses that may be used with an adapter.