Lately, I was determined to do something crazy, and so I ended up doing it. I had been eyeing the 250mm lens for GFX for a while, and finally, I decided to buy it. It's a lens from five years ago, not the latest, but it's still an ultra-performing lens, a true pleasure to use. The advantage of buying a lens from a few years back is that it's likely available used, and that was the case for me, turning out to be a great deal.
Fuji GFX100ii 250mm f/8 Nostangic Negativ film simulation
I'm used to the 21mm in medium format for landscape photography and the 28mm in full frame for street photography. The telephoto lens is certainly far from my comfort zone, no doubt about it.
Today, I decided to try it out in Milan. First and foremost, I forced myself to only bring the 250mm because I feared that if I brought something else, I would, out of laziness, end up using more comfortable and faster lenses, and I was right. The 250mm is a beast, and as beautiful as it is, it's a lens with a significant weight (actually, for its focal length, it's not even that heavy, but pair it with a GFX100ii, and after 8 hours of walking, you'll be ready for two days of rest on the couch).
I started in Garibaldi and decided to walk from Paolo Sarpi to the Duomo, then back, all on foot, at a leisurely pace. I was determined to test the lens in the city, doing some street photography.
No, the 250mm is not a lens that comes to mind for street photography. It's a big, bulky lens, and it certainly doesn't go unnoticed. But it's capable of providing a lot of satisfaction. It has an incredible rendering, a detail worthy of medium format, and it can make any background behind your subject creamy.
Of course, with a 250mm, you might feel tempted to hide and photograph people without being seen, but that's not how I think it should be used. Its characteristic lies in being a telephoto lens, and therefore it compresses the planes. Looking at the world through its lens will make you discover a whole new way of photographing. You'll focus on details, patterns, the interplay of planes, extreme perspectives, and all those little elements that will deceive the eyes of people who see your photos. What about a giant eating a candy, just outside your balconies?
Fuji GFX100ii 250mm f/5.6 Nostalgic Negative
The 250mm has won my heart and has given me an entirely new way of seeing what surrounds me and thinking about photos. It's not about replacing other lenses; it's about expanding your horizons.