Best fixed prime lens cameras in 2024


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Up to date December 18 2024

Fastened lens cameras could also be a bit area of interest, however there is a cause they’re so well-liked amongst photographers. They usually include among the finest lenses in the marketplace, in quite a lot of focal lengths, matched to sensors starting from APS-C to full-frame to provide the good subject of view in your fashion of capturing.

Our picks vary from pocketable fashions to bigger cameras that you will have to you will need to consciously resolve to take with you. Additionally they cowl a variety of costs; whereas there sadly are no price range choices, some include a lot increased worth tags than others, reaching effectively into the hundreds of {dollars}.


Our picks:


Greatest mounted lens digicam for affected person folks: Fujifilm X100VI

40MP BSI CMOS APS-C X-Trans sensor | 35mm equiv F2 lens | Hybrid viewfinder

Picture: Richard Butler

What we like:

  • Glorious construct high quality
  • Topic-detection autofocus
  • Now with in-body picture stabilization

What we do not:

  • Lens not particularly quick to focus
  • Onerous to seek out in inventory

Up to date with in-body picture stabilization rated at as much as 6EV of correction and a 40MP BSI CMOS APS-C X-Trans sensor, the X100VI is a big improve over its predecessor regardless of trying nearly similar. It options the identical 35mm equal F2 lens and a hybrid viewfinder that allows you to use it as a standard rangefinder – with some digital augmentation if you need it – or as a contemporary, absolutely digital viewfinder.

The addition of subject-recognition autofocus has given the X100VI the power to acknowledge animals, birds, vehicles, bikes and bikes, airplanes, and trains. Nonetheless, human (face/eye) detection is a separate mode. The lens will not be the quickest to autofocus, prioritizing sharpness over pace, although that is not essentially distinctive on this class.

The elephant within the room is that the X100VI has primarily been bought out since its preliminary launch. Nonetheless, for those who’re affected person sufficient to enroll in waitlist notifications from quite a lot of websites, you might be able to get one in time.

It is in all probability well worth the wait. Whereas the X100VI has extra dials and features than earlier variations, it nonetheless provides probably the most partaking photographic experiences on the market. It is easy to see why it grew to become so frustratingly unobtainable: It is a fair higher follow-up to a digicam that was already well-liked with photographers of all types, and that had already bought out after going viral.




Greatest pocketable mounted lens digicam: Ricoh GR III

24MP APS-C sensor | 28mm equiv. F2.8 lens | Wi-Fi + Bluetooth

ricoh gr 3

What we like:

  • Glorious picture high quality
  • Good controls and ergonomics
  • Really pocketable

What we do not:

  • Brief battery life
  • No built-in flash
  • Sluggish AF in low gentle
The Ricoh GR III is a compact digicam with a 24MP APS-C sensors and a
a really sharp 28mm equal F2.8 lens in an extremely small but well-built physique.

The GR III is the lightest and most compact digicam on this listing by a protracted shot, because of its retracting lens and lack of a viewfinder. If measurement is a significant concern for you, it is positively the mounted lens choice to have a look at.

The GR III’s picture high quality is superb, particularly in Uncooked (we discovered the JPEG coloration to be slightly drab). The lens is impressively sharp, and in-body picture stabilization means you’ll be able to confidently shoot all the way down to round 1/10 sec. The built-in stabilizer can try to shake off mud particles that discover their method to the sensor.

“Provides direct management and glorious picture high quality in a pocketable digicam”

The GR III handles effectively, regardless of its measurement, because of well-placed controls, versatile customization choices and a responsive touchscreen. The grip is simply the best measurement for straightforward one-handed operation.

The Ricoh GR III provides direct management and glorious picture high quality in a pocketable digicam. Its brief battery life and glued focal size lens imply this digicam actually is not for everybody, nevertheless it’s a compelling providing for journey, avenue and informal photographers alike.




A distinct perspective

Ricoh additionally sells the GR IIIx, which is similar nice digicam as the usual GR III however with a 40mm equiv. lens as an alternative. In case you choose the ‘regular’ subject of view to a wider one, make sure you choose the IIIx up as an alternative.


The Rolls Royce of mounted lens cameras: Leica Q3 43

43mm F2 stabilized lens | 60MP BSI CMOS full-frame sensor | 5.76M dot OLED EVF

Leica q3 43
Picture: Richard Butler

What we like:

  • Glorious picture high quality
  • Quick, reliable autofocus
  • Good video assist instruments

What we do not:

  • Topic recognition system might be higher
  • Auto white steadiness may be aggressively impartial/cool
  • Important worth premium for the Leica title
The Leica Q3 43 is a variant of the corporate’s full-frame prime lens compact, with a 43mm F2 lens mounted in entrance of a 60MP BSI CMOS sensor.

Whereas we have chosen the Q3 43 for its glorious management format that places pictures first, the digicam can also be obtainable with a 28mm F1.7 lens. There are minor beauty variations between the 2 Q3 fashions, reminiscent of the colour of the leatherette wrap, however they’re in any other case the identical digicam. There’s additionally a worth distinction, with the 43 coming at a $600 premium.

Picture high quality is great, with a lens that is very sharp and with excessive cross-frame consistency even at broad apertures. The sunshine luminance noise discount helps protect element at excessive ISOs.

The Leica Q3 43 is a lovely piece of engineering and design, and a welcome addition to the vary.

The controls are minimal, however assist focus your consideration on the elemental settings of pictures. It has the construct high quality that you simply’d count on of a luxurious product.

Autofocus is swift and exact, although the topic recognition system does not allow you to specify an AF level to pre-select a topic and might leap from one topic to a different if there are a number of choices in a scene.

The Q3 43 is a formidable photographic device, and manages to really feel like a first-rate digicam, not only a fascinating object.




The opposite full-frame choice

Even though the RX1R II is nearly a decade outdated at this level, you’ll be able to nonetheless purchase Sony’s final compact full-frame fixed-lens digicam. Unsurprisingly, as a nine-year-old digicam, it is somewhat exhibiting its age. Its autofocus and menu techniques are considerably extra primitive than we have subsequently grow to be used to, however focus pace is not precisely a power for any of the cameras in its class. Its 35mm F2 lens is superb, and its sensor nonetheless delivers glorious picture high quality. Battery life is atrocious, although, and we considered its performance sluggish even by 2016 requirements.

We will not wholeheartedly suggest it in any case this time, however for those who’ve already made the seemingly irrational resolution of shopping for an costly digicam with a single, mounted focal size that does not actually even slot in your pocket, you is perhaps the kind of person who will get some enjoyment out of choosing the sluggish, awkward, oddball alternative.


Purchase Now:

$3,298 at Amazon

$3,298 at B&H

$3,298 at Adorama


Why do you have to belief us?

Our Shopping for Guides are based mostly on in depth use and testing of the cameras included. We solely suggest cameras as soon as we all know how they examine to their friends in quite a lot of capturing conditions. All picks are made solely by our editorial and video groups and are the fashions we would purchase or suggest to family and friends. We achieve no monetary benefit from recommending one digicam over one other, both as people or as a enterprise.

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