Best Lenses for Fujifilm X-E4 in 2023 to Keep it Small

When choosing the best lens for the Fujifilm X-E4, you’ll want this compact camera to remain as small and portable as possible.

This means that despite all the excellent Fujinon lenses on offer, you’re restricted in terms of focal length when pairing it with the X-E4.

Most of the larger Fuji lenses (i.e. telephoto zooms and/or anything faster than f/2) don’t balance well on the Fuji X-E4.

They’ll also destroy the compact form factor – the main reason for buying this dinky little X-Series marvel in the first place!

Still, despite these limitations, there’s still some great glass to pair with your X-E4.

Let’s take a closer look at my recommendations.

What Is the Best Lens for the Fujifilm X-E4 in 2023?

Image	Product	Features
	Fujifilm XF 35mm f/2 R WROUR TOP PICK	Perfect Balance Greater Sharpness Elegant Fast & Quiet	Check AMAZON Price → Check B&H Price →
	Fujinon XF 16mm f/2.8 R WRBEST WIDE-ANGLE	Compact & Lightweight Stylish Design Sharp High Resolution Performance	Check AMAZON Price → Check B&H Price →
	Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DC DNBEST PORTRAIT LENS	eading Edge Technology Smooth & Quiet Outstanding Image Quality Admirable Brightness	Check AMAZON Price → Check B&H Price →
	Fujinon XF 27mm f/2.8 R WR	Practicality & Performance Fast & Precise Small & Lightweight Weather Resistant	Check AMAZON Price → Check B&H Price →
	Fujinon XF 50mm f/2 R WR Lens	Lightweight Design Sharp Clear Results Sleek Fast & Quiet	Check AMAZON Price → Check B&H Price →
	Fujinon XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LM OIS	Sleek Design Versatility Speed Sharp & Clear	Check AMAZON Price → Check B&H Price →

 

Fujifilm XF 35mm f/2 R WR (Best Everyday Walkaround Lens for Fuji X-E4)

This great wee piece of glass is one of the best Fujifilm lenses for X-E4 users who need something versatile for everyday shooting.

Fujifilm lenses generally have a great reputation for build quality and sharpness, and the XF 35mm f/2 R WR is no different.

It’s a particularly good option for those who want to be discreet and get candid street photos or portraits.

And, at 35mm it’s a solid, all-round focal length that will let you shoot a range of subjects. Prime lenses also force you to zoom with your feet, making you a better photographer, in my opinion.

Its wide aperture (f/2) also allows you to play with depth of field and shoot in low-light conditions.

(While Fujifilm produces f/1.4 and even f/1.2 lenses, they’re considerably bigger and heavier than the f/2 options and unsuited to the Fuji X-E4’s svelte dimensions. It’s also one of the best X-Pro 3 lenses for this reason.)

Despite the lens being lightweight, it still feels robust, and the handling and balance are second to none.

The manual focus and aperture rings turn smoothly, and have different feels to them so you can easily make adjustments without looking. It also boasts lightning-fast autofocus.

Image quality is, as you’d expect from Fujinon glass, outstanding. Despite some slight chromatic aberration when shot into direct sun, you won’t be disappointed with the photos.

• What are the best Fuji cameras?

Fujinon XF 16mm f/2.8 R WR (Best Wide-Angle Lens for Fuji X-E4)

The Fujinon XF 16mm f/2.8 R WR is a unique offering. Wide-angle lenses are often extremely large, heavy, and expensive, but not this guy.

It’s compact, rugged, affordable, and added to that has the build and optical quality Fuji lenses are known for.

Like the top of the range Fujinon lenses, it’s weather sealed, and although it doesn’t have optical image stabilization, it still has extremely fast and silent autofocus.

At f/2.8, it’s not the fastest prime lens out there, but you can still create beautiful bokeh if you get close enough to your subject.

16mm also makes it ideal for vlogging, especially when used in conjunction with the front-facing flip-out screen of the X-E4 – 16mm will allow you to have your face and a decent amount of background in shot too.

All in all, it’s a great wide-angle lens to pair with your Fujifilm X-E4 and an ideal focal length for architecture and general street photography.

• Fujifilm 16mm f/2.8 review

Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DC DN (Best Portrait Lens for Fuji X-E4)

This compact Sigma offering is a fast lens that’s perfect for separating subjects from their background, so it’s ideal for portraits.

OK, I know I said at the start to stick with lenses ‘slower’ than f/2 to ensure they match the smaller dimensions of the X-E4, but here’s an exception that’s too good to pass up.

Aside from background separation, the f/1.4 aperture means that it works great in low light settings, such as weddings or events, or even out on the street, shooting after dark.

It has a robust feel to it, and the majority of the lens casing is made up of a rubberized focus ring which works well with the lens’ responsive focus motor.

The best thing about this lens though is the image quality – it’s the best Fuji lens for Xe4 shooters who pixel peep or appreciate the finer things in portrait photography!

(Note the example image above was taken with a Sony a6100 camera… I know, the blasphemy!… but you can still get an idea of the bokeh to expect with the X-E4 since the sensor size is the same.)

Although there is a tiny bit of softness at the edges at f/1.4 (which is to be expected), even at f/2, images are high contrast and sharp all the way to the edges of the frame.

Above all, it’s a lot of fun being able to create this much bokeh with an APS-C camera the size of the X-E4, and this Sigma lens lets you do it at an unbeatable price.

• Sigma 56mm f/1.4 review

Fujinon XF 27mm f/2.8 R WR (Smallest Fuji Lens for X-E4)

This light, small pancake lens is a great option to have in your kit for everyday use, street and travel photography.

No other lens so perfectly matches the tiny form factor of the X-E4 – it almost feels like you’ve forgotten to attach a lens to the body!

The Fujinon XF 27mm f/2.8 R WR is a good focal length for everyday scenes but can also be used for close-ups.

(Your subject will no doubt thank you for such an unobtrusive setup, too.)

Like the other Fuji lenses in this guide, the build quality is high, and it’s completely weather-sealed.

This iteration of the lens also has an aperture ring – much beloved by Fuji shooters – which is a significant improvement on the previous lens, which didn’t have one.

Also worth noting is that although this is a standard kit lens for cameras like the X-E4, it performs better than most kit lenses.

It’s also pleasantly affordable, making it one lens you can have in your jacket pocket as a backup if nothing else.

• What are the best pancake lenses?

Fujinon XF 50mm f/2 R WR Lens (Sharpest lens for Fuji X-E4)

This mid telephoto lens with a focal length of 50mm, is ideal for street photography as it’s discreet and can help you get close to the action.

Also, its bright aperture will allow you to capture great images in darker conditions and also separate your subject from its background when shooting portraits.

It’s lightweight but perfectly balanced, and as with many of the Fuji lenses in this guide, feels sturdy despite its small size.

It’s completely weather sealed, and it comes with a nice, deep lens hood. Many of the other Fuji lenses come with tiny hoods, so this is a thoughtful addition.

Despite having no image stabilization, the Fujinon XF 50mm f/2 R WR has an extremely quick and totally silent autofocus

The image quality of this lens, though, is truly what makes it one of the best lenses Fujifilm lenses for the X-E4.

The images it produces are razor-sharp from the centre of the frame to the edges, even at f/2.

• Fujifilm 50mm f/2 review

Fujinon XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LM OIS (Best Video Lens for Fuji X-E4)

The Fujinon XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LM OIS is the best zoom for the Fujifilm X-E4’s form factor.

To be honest, although it’s a compact lens for a mid-zoom, it’s still a little on the big side for the X-E4.

But…if you really want a zoom lens for your X-E4, then this is the one to get.

(The nature of zoom lenses will always mean they’re bigger than primes.)

With a much brighter maximum aperture than you’d see on your everyday kit lens, the XF 18-55mm punches way above its weight.

The lens has Fuji’s characteristic build quality, with its smooth rings, and with this model, buttons to turn both image stabilisation and the aperture ring on and off.

Many Fuji shooters prefer to use the aperture ring, but it’s a nice option to allow that to be controlled from the camera too.

And that image stabilisation, Fuji’s OIS, is something you only see on its top lenses, and is especially useful for shooting video.

If you intend to make movies with your X-E4, the 18-55mm focal range is ideal for capturing a variety of footage  – everything from panoramic vistas to tight head shots.

• Fujifilm 18-55mm f/2.8-4 review

Honorable Mentions

Here are a couple of other popular lenses for the Fujifilm X-E4 that I’ve tested in the past which didn’t quite make the cut.

I encourage you to read some recent reviews and make up your own mind, but in my opinion, the ones above are better. Let’s take a closer look why.

Fujinon XC 35mm f/2 (Best Budget Prime Lens for Fuji X-E4)

This is the cheaper, plastic-based version of our top pick, the Fujifilm XF 35mm f/2 R WR.

It didn’t make the list of best lenses for the Fujifilm X-E4 for a few reasons.

Firstly, as it’s intended as a budget version of one of their best lenses, it sacrifices some of the things that make the XF version so good. Namely, the build quality, the weather-sealing, and the aperture ring.

While you can still control the aperture from the camera body, we Fujifilm shooters love our aperture rings, we just can’t help it.

That being said, this lens is still a favourite of many X-E4 shooters. The two things not sacrificed in the XC are the motor and the optical quality.

For less than half the price of its higher-class sibling, you get lightning-quick autofocus, and sharp, well-contrasted imagery, with beautiful bokeh.

• What are the best lenses for Fujifilm X-T5?

Fujifilm XF 18mm f/2.0 

The Fujifilm XF 18mm f/2 is one of the first Fuji X-mount lenses ever released for the system and, as such, is a firm favourite with Fuji users. And for anyone shooting with an X-E4, this lens really matches its size and aesthetic.

But it’s not one of our top picks, and that’s mainly because of its poor optical quality. This lens really struggles with soft edges at pretty much every aperture and also has quite a severe problem with chromatic aberration.

It’s also fairly useless for video due to its noisy autofocus motor and the fact that the autofocus also tends to be quite inaccurate at times.

Not only that, but the motor is also loud when using manual focus, so if you’re shooting footage it’ll need to be one that doesn’t need your camera’s audio track.

• What are the best lenses for Fujifilm GFX 100S?

What Fuji camera should I get – the X100V or the X-4E?

While these cameras are very similar in aesthetic and purpose, while they have the same sensor and IO, they are quite different in key ways, so will attract different users.

Their first difference is in price and design. The X100V is more expensive than the X-E4, but the X-E4 is an interchangeable lens camera whereas the X100V comes with a built-in 23mm f/2 lens.

So, clearly, the X-E4 is the obvious choice for photographers who want to be able to switch their lenses according to what they’re shooting, and the X100V is for those who enjoy the limits imposed on them by a single prime lens.

Some other major differences are the X-E4’s electronic viewfinder, compared to the X100V’s hybrid optical and electronic viewfinder, and the X100V’s built-in flash, which is great for that retro look.

The X100V has a combined shutter and ISO dial, for a more manual feel, while for the X-E4, you need to switch between these in a menu.

Vloggers or selfie-takers will love the X-E4’s rear LCD screen can articulate up to 180 degrees, while videographers will appreciate the X100V’s built-in ND filter on bright days.

I mean, these are both great everyday cameras, whichever way you slice it, but the one you choose is really going to come down to which will suit your personal shooting style and requirements.

• Fujifilm X100V review
• Fujifilm X-E4 review

Is There a Compact Zoom Lens for the Fujifilm X-E4?

The Fujifilm X-E4 is a small, sleek camera body, designed to be inconspicuous, and designed to be used with small lenses.

Zoom lenses are bigger and heavier than the primes or pancakes that are best suited to this size and form factor of camera.

Once you start adding big lenses to the X-E4, you’re going against the point of it, and you risk having a front-heavy, unbalanced camera that is unwieldy and not as pleasant to use as it should be.

That said, I think the Fujinon XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LM OIS is the top option which doesn’t sacrifice the size of the set up too much.

Final Words

So, the Fujifilm X-E4. It’s a great little camera, and I hope you’ve discovered some excellent lenses available for use with it.

Whatever you want to shoot – street photography, travel, architecture, portraits – there’s a fast, compact lens with the perfect focal length to help you do that.

And of course, even though all these lenses are small, Fuji doesn’t skimp on their standards or features.

Fuji is renowned for making robust, well-built lenses with great optical quality, and the small lenses I’ve highlighted in this guide are no different.