The new Fujifilm XF 500mm f/5.6 makes X-mount a pro sports and wildlife contender

Fujifilm’s XF mount has no shortage of lenses, with pretty much all bases covered – until you want to go long, with relatively slim pickings at longer focal lengths. The current prime lens lineup tops out at 200mm, though there are two zooms that reach further (the XF 150-600mm and XF 100-400mm) – but when you take into account both new and legacy glass, other mounts just have it better.

However, today is the day that begins to shift, as the company has just unveiled the Fujifilm XF 500mm f/5.6 R LM OIS WR, which offers a bright aperture at a substantial focal distance.

When the crop factor of the X-mount’s APS-C sensor is applied, the focal length reaches a staggering 762mm full-frame equivalent. And if that’s still not enough for you, you can combine the XF 500mm with the Fujinon XF 1.4x teleconverter for a 700mm (1067mm full-frame) focal length or the XF 2.0x for a whopping 1000mm (1524mm full-frame). That’s going to get you pretty damn close to your subject.

At f/5.6, the aperture is plenty bright enough to use for fast-moving wildlife and sports and floodlit sports events at night. And with 5.5 stops of image stabilization, you can drop your shutter speed a little – if your subject movement allows, that is. The lens has a close focusing distance of 2.75m and a maximum magnification of 0.2x.

Fujifilm clocks the autofocus speed of the lens at just 0.33 seconds, with a fast and quiet linear motor.

The lens also has a few focusing tricks to speed things up further, with the focus limiter switch stopping the lens from hunting too close (under 5m), or there is a new focus control button that enables you to register a focal point, and then instantly jump back to it at the touch of the button – useful if you need to quickly flick back to a constant point like a yard line.

The design looks impressively light and compact, weighing just 1,335g. this is around a kilo lighter than the Nikon Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S or nearly two kilos lighter than the Canon RF 800m f/5.6 L IS USM – which both have similar full-frame equivalent focal lengths to the Fujifilm XF 500mm.

The XF 500mm lens has a 9-blade rounded aperture and is composed of 21 elements split into 14 groups. These include 5 ED lenses and 2 Super ED lenses, which Fujifilm promises should suppress chromatic aberration and resolve extraordinary detail “beyond what the human eye can see”.

Fujifilm has also aimed to balance weight distribution throughout the optic with spacing of the groups of elements, which should make the lens less front-heavy (as super-telephotos tend to be) and easier to balance on a tripod or monopod using the included tripod collar foot.

Finally, as expected for a primarily wildlife and sports-focused lens, the XF 500mm can survive a trip outdoors in rough weather down to 14°F / -10ºC with 20 dust and moisture sealing points along the barrel and a hydrophobic fluorine front coating – although to get full weather resistance, it’s best paired with a weather sealed body like the X-H2S or X-T5.

The XF 500mm f/5.6 R LM OIS WR is available for preorder now, with sales starting on November 28, and will cost $2,999 / £2,899 / AU$5,399.

For more from Fujifilm – check out our guides to the best Fujifilm camera and the best Fujifilm lenses .