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Fujifilm has been having a great year so far. The company has launched two cameras, their sales have been quite successful last year, and more photographers are looking to shift to their medium format cameras. The company is also set to launch a new gear on June 12, the anticipation of which has reached pretty high. One could say Fujifilm is living its best years right now. But the ladder of success can’t be climbed in just a day; it takes patience and time. This is why it brings us great joy to see a new patent, which lists three wide-angle primes for various formats.
Fujifilm Patents are Interesting
According to Asobinet, Fujifilm has published patent P2025086741, which showcases multiple designs for three lenses: 20mm f2.8 GFX, 16mm f2.8 APS-C, and 40mm f2 FF. Since GFX is a medium format camera, and there is no full frame device from Fujifilm yet, the patent states the lenses are designed to be compact, while having good optical performance to meet the demand of improved sensors.
Example 1
- Focal length: 20.68
- F-number: 2.89
- Angle of view: 99.8
- Back focal length: 11.51
The 20mm patent also included designs of 18mm, 23mm, and 24mm lenses, possibly for the GFX models.
Example 2
- Focal length: 16.31
- F-number: 2.91
- Angle of view: 91.2
- Back Focus: 11.12
Example 3
- Focal length: 40.36
- F-number: 1.86
- Angle of view: 57.6
- Back Focus: 10.95
In addition, the company also filed a patent for a full-frame 35mm lens.
What Does it Mean
The GFX series has 18 lenses. Of those, only two are wide-angle ones — 23mm f4 and 30mm f3.5. This leaves a lot of room for the company to grow its wide-angle lens range, since many landscape photographers are interested in using the camera for their work. A 20mm with a bright aperture like f2.8 will be a great idea, especially if anyone wants to capture star trails along with the landscape. In that regard, Fujifilm is trying.
The company already launched a 16mm f2.8 lens back in 2019 for X-Mount users. So, we believe this could be just another updated version. However, as we said in our previous review, an f2.8 is not ideal for APS-C shooters, and so, reviving 16mm f1.4 for modern X users would be better.
As for 40mm full frame, could this be just a research patent? Or, is Fujifilm finally listening to users who wanted a full-frame format? Either way, this does allow Fujifilm to think big. Patents can mean something only if Fujifilm shows serious initiative. Otherwise, these are just one of the many designs that will be a memory.
