X-Fujinon 50mm f/1.2 DM

Fuji Photo Film · Fujica X · 1980

Also known as: X-Fujinon 50mm f/1.2 · EBC X-Fujinon 50mm f/1.2 DM · EBC X-FUJINON 1:1.2 f=50mm DM · X-Fujinon 50mm F1.2 EBC · Fuji X-Fujinon 50mm 1.2 · Fujica AX 50mm f1.2 · Porst Color Reflex 50mm f/1.2 UMC · Xフジノン 50mm F1.2 · EBC Xフジノン 50mm F1.2 DM

Variants & identification

Variant	Mount	Years	Serial ranges	Production
EBC X-Fujinon 50mm f/1.2 DM	Fujica X	1980–1985	—	—

Filter. 55 mm in Fuji's table as read by Wikipedia and on japb's measured Porst example; allphotolenses says 52 mm, which is not used.
Blades. Six straight on japb and six on allphotolenses; Fuji's manual table has a 'round' column that the scan does not resolve. Six is used.
Dates. Fuji's 1979–80 launch brochure does not list the lens; the AX-3 and AX-1 manuals do. japb gives ≈1980–1985 and the mount ended in 1985. 1980 is entered as the first year on the strength of the manuals; a 1981 introduction seen in a database that this site does not cite is not used.
Reviews. No write-up of this lens on the review sites this catalogue prefers was found; the three entries are forum threads on MFlenses, which are the fullest discussions read. Casual Photophile, Ken Rockwell, Lomography and lens-db are not consulted here.
No launch price has been found in Fuji's brochure, the manuals or the Japanese sources read.

How to tell them apart (expand)

Fujica X bayonet, 43.5 mm flange distance, DM orange diamond; 55 mm filter; 0.45 m close focus; f/16 minimum; seven air-spaced elements; EBC on every example
Plastic aperture ring, which the MFlenses posters count against it beside a Minolta

EBC X-Fujinon 50mm f/1.2 DM:

EBC X-FUJINON 1:1.2 f=50mm DM on the name ring; Fujica X bayonet with the 65° lock; aperture coupling lever on the mount face
DM: an orange diamond position beyond f/16 on the aperture ring with a push-button lock, which sets the AX-5 and AX Multi Program to program or shutter-priority and presses in the auto/manual pin in the body (AX-5 manual; japb reads DM as 'Dial Mode')
55 mm filter, the only X-mount standard lens not on 49 mm; 300 g; 66 mm across and 50 mm long by the AX-3 manual's table
Sold in Germany as the Porst Color Reflex 1:1.2/50mm UMC X-M G, a 1:1 rebrand differing only in the name ring (japb); the Porst X-M mount is the Fujica X bayonet

EBC X-Fujinon 50mm f/1.2 DM: Absent from Fuji's launch brochure for the AX-5/AX-3/AX-1/STX-1 (which lists the 50/1.6, 55/1.6 and 55/2.2 as normal lenses) but present as a standard-lens option in the AX-3 and AX-1 manuals and in the STX-1 manual's accessory list. japb dates it ≈1980–1985. No plain (non-EBC) version is recorded.

Specifications

Formula: 7 elements in 7 groups, every element air-spaced (Fuji's AX-3 manual: 7-component, 7-element)
Construction: 7 elements / 7 groups
Aperture range: f/1.2–f/16
Diaphragm blades: 6
Min. focus: 0.45 m
Dimensions: 66 × 50 mm
Weight: 300 g
Filter: 55 mm
Years manufactured: 1980–1985
Country: Japan
Coating: EBC multicoating on every example

What reviewers say

MFlenses forum (Canon FD 50/1.2 L vs X-Fujinon EBC 50/1.2) (blog) — Against the aspheric Canon the Fujinon "definitely resolves more detail" wide open but with blooming and colour fringing, less contrast and a busier background; the Canon wins the thread at two to four times the price.
MFlenses forum (x-Fujinon EBC 50mm f1.2) (blog) — "One of the better f/1.2 fifties I've seen"; rendering and colours very good, the depth-of-field look at f/1.2 the reason to own it, full frame recommended; the aperture ring is plastic and the build feels cheaper than a Minolta's.
MFlenses forum (Porst Color Reflex 50mm f/1.2 walk) (blog) — The Porst-badged lens, then "one of the cheapest F1.2 lenses around" at about €150: a pleasant surprise to its owner, while another poster found "noisy background bokeh instead of the smooth and creamy blending customary for Fujinon lenses" and thought the f/1.6 the better lens.

Optical Ratings

Aggregated from the reviews above — follow the links for the full picture.

Chromatic aberration: purple fringing
Spherical aberration: blooming at f/1.2

History

The EBC X-Fujinon 50mm f/1.2 DM is the fast standard lens of Fuji’s X-bayonet system, the AX-1, AX-3, AX-5, STX-1 and their successors of 1979 to 1985. It is a new design for the bayonet, not a rehoused M42 lens: Fuji’s AX-3 manual gives it seven components and seven elements, every surface air-spaced, where the M42 50mm f/1.4 was seven in six. It takes a 55mm filter where every other X-mount standard lens takes 49mm, focuses to 0.45m, stops down to f/16, and weighs 300g. Every example carries EBC. The same lens was sold in Germany by Porst as the Color Reflex 1:1.2/50mm UMC X-M G, a straight rebadge on which only the name ring differs.

The DM suffix is the thing to understand about any X-Fujinon. DM lenses have an extra position past f/16 on the aperture ring, marked with an orange diamond and guarded by a push button; set there, they press a pin in the body and let the AX-5 (and later the AX Multi Program) run program and shutter-priority automation. A lens without the diamond gives full-aperture metering and aperture-priority only. The f/1.2 was only ever a DM lens. It is not in Fuji’s launch brochure for the four X bodies, which names the 50/1.6, 55/1.6 and 55/2.2 as normal lenses, but the AX-1 and AX-3 manuals list it as a standard-lens option, so it followed within the first year or so.

Opinion on it is thinner and more mixed than on the M42 Fujinons, because so few people own one. The MFlenses regulars who have compared it think it resolves more wide open than a Canon FD 50/1.2 L but with blooming, purple fringing and less contrast, and that the Canon’s aspheric bokeh is smoother; one calls it one of the better f/1.2 fifties, another finds its background rendering noisy and prefers the f/1.6. Everyone who has held one mentions the plastic aperture ring. The consensus is a characterful f/1.2 lens with very good colour, bought for what it does at f/1.2 rather than for correction.

Buying one: the X bayonet is the problem. The mount lasted six years, adapters are fewer and dearer than for M42 or FD, and the 43.5mm flange distance means a mirrorless adapter needs its own ring to stop the lens down while a DSLR adapter needs corrective glass. Check the plastic aperture ring and the DM button for damage, the blades for oil, and the focusing helicoid for stiffness, which serviced examples advertise as fixed. Prices have moved from the cheapest f/1.2 available, as it was on the forums a decade ago, to the most sought-after X-Fujinon. No launch price has been found in any Fuji document read.

Expand Collapse

This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.

Example photos

Sample photo wanted — shot with a X-Fujinon 50mm f/1.2 DM? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

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