As a medium format shooter, I usually have to make a choice: wide angle or wide aperture. But thanks to this new 30mm f/2.4 lens from Zhong Yi Optics, now I can have the best of both worlds.
The new ZY Optics Pittura 30mm f/2.4 does what no other lens in Fujifilm or Hasselblad's lineups can do: deliver a wide-angle view and a wide diaphragm. And it goes one step further by offering enviable close focusing, too.
With an equivalent 24mm field of view (in 35mm terms), the Pittura 30mm f/2.4 gives GFX owners a full stop of additional light-gathering capacity over native options like the Fujifilm GF 23mm f/4 R LM WR and Fujifilm GF 30mm f/3.5 R WR.
Hasselblad doesn't offer a 30mm lens in its ecosystem, with its closest alternatives being the Hasselblad XCD 25V (f/2.5) and Hasselblad XCD 38V (f/2.5). But while the Pittura's advantage in the speed stakes is much slighter than it is for GFX users, it still outshines both systems in the close-focusing stakes.
The Pittura 30mm f/2.4 boasts a minimum focus distance of 0.2m, pipping the closest options for both Fujifilm (0.32m on the GF 30mm f/3.5) and Hasselblad (0.25m on the XCD 25V).
The ZY Optics lens also has more aperture blades than the competition. Combined with the fast f/2.4 aperture, the 11-bladed design renders smooth, circular out of focus elements.
It also has an impressively compact and lightweight build – coming in at around 550g and measuring 81 x 80mm for GFX and 73 x 84mm for XCD.
The tradeoff to all these advantages is that this is a fully manual lens, with no electronic contacts to communicate autofocus or EXIF data. However, this is arguably offset by a price that is literally $3,000 less than the competition.
The ZY Optics Pittura 30mm f/2.4 is available now for just $499 (approximately £369 / AU$705). You can find more information at the Zhong Yi Optics site.
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