Fujifilm MKX 18-55mm T2.9 Lens | Fuji X-Mount

The Fujinon MKX18-55mm T2.9 Lens, designed for X-Mount cameras equipped with a Super 35mm sensor, is a lightweight zoom lens tailored for cinematic applications. Its electrical contacts facilitate seamless communication with X-series cameras. The lens boasts a mechanical configuration that includes three distinct control rings for focus, iris, and zoom. Each of these rings is equipped with a cine-style gear featuring a 0.8 MOD, allowing compatibility with standard cine-style lens accessories. The focus ring offers approximately 200 of rotation, enabling precise focus adjustments, while the iris operates without clicks, allowing for smooth transitions. Additionally, the lens includes a macro mode, enhancing its close focusing capabilities.

The lens is designed to match the color characteristics of other Fujinon lenses, including the HK, ZK, and XK series, facilitating seamless intercutting between different lenses. With an 85mm front diameter, it is compatible with various cine-style matte boxes through the use of optional step-up rings (not included). Weighing merely 2.16 pounds, this lens is relatively lightweight for a cinema zoom that maintains focus and aperture consistency across its entire focal length range. It is specifically engineered for cameras equipped with a Fuji X-mount, featuring a short flange focal distance; however, the lens also provides the capability for flange focal distance adjustment, allowing for precise tuning to the specific camera in use.

Advanced Optical Performance

The MKX 18-55mm T2.9 features an optical design that consists of 22 glass elements organized into 17 groups, including six super ED elements and two ED elements. It maintains a T2.9 aperture throughout the entire zoom range, which enhances the increasingly favored bokeh effect characterized by a shallow depth-of-field. This consistent aperture eliminates the necessity for lighting adjustments, thereby reducing shooting time. Despite its compact and lightweight construction, the MKX lens delivers exceptional optical performance by maximizing the advantages of the short flange focal distance of the X Mount in its optical design. This design is particularly beneficial for shooting in small groups. Additionally, the electrical contacts facilitate communication with the X Series camera, enabling distortion correction and adjustments for color and brightness shading, while also allowing for a variety of color expressions through Film Simulation modes.

Optical and Mechanical Design

Suppress Focus Shift While Zooming

The front focusing group of lens elements and the zooming group operate independently, effectively minimizing focus shift during zooming. This design eliminates the necessity for refocusing after adjusting the zoom. The combination of optical and mechanical methods ensures that there is no delay, unlike what is typically experienced in an electronic control system.

Suppress Lens Breathing

The implementation of the front inner-focusing system regulates lens breathing, which refers to the alteration of the angle of view during the focusing process, thereby facilitating smooth focusing in a remarkable scene.

Suppress Optical Axis Shift While Zooming

The manufacturing technology utilized for traditional FUJINON cine lenses is employed to manage optical axis displacement during zooming, ensuring the desired composition is consistently achieved.

Other Features

• The electical contacts within the lens mount enables communication with X-series cameras, which allows for correction of distortion and color/brightness shading to prevent vignetting. This communication also enables you to achieve a variety of color expressions when using Film Simulation modes.
• T2.9 to T22 aperture with 9 iris blades for attractive bokeh
• The 28.5mm diameter image circle covers the 3-perf super 35 format with a 16:9 aspect ratio
• Industry standard 0.8 film pitch gears for focus, zoom, and iris control
• The gear rings positions for focus, zoom, and iris are located at the same position on both lenses in the MKX series, making switching between the two zooms quick as you don’t have to adjust the position of lens accessories
• Both lenses in the MKX series have the same weight and length so there is no need to rebalance your camera when you change from one lens to the other
• 200 focus barrel rotation
• No shims are required to adjust the flange focal distance as this lens has a built-in adjustment mechanism
• Macro focus function available