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Fuji Zooms

SGinNorcal
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p.2 #1 · p.2 #1 · Fuji Zooms

My light and small travel/backpacking setup is the XT5, 16-80 and 70-300. Basically the middle of the 3 Fuji zoom combos. The performance for that size and weight is very good and I have more of my favorite photos shot with those since they go to the coolest places. I also have a Gfx and while clearly optically better, its too heavy for back country hiking for me. As are FF with their big zooms.

Aug 25, 2024 at 11:32 PM

Geoff D F
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p.2 #2 · p.2 #2 · Fuji Zooms

The fuji 18-55mm is the reason I bought back into Fuji. I've had 24-105 f4 L and G from Canon and Sony and the XF 18-55 takes just as good pictures for about half the size and weight. The latest 10-24 f4 R WR is also pretty good, and the XF 70-300 f4-5.6 is probably the best lens of its size and class among any of the brands.

Aug 26, 2024 at 12:53 AM

Nielk Mike
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p.2 #3 · p.2 #3 · Fuji Zooms

The 18-55 dleivers excellent results in terms of resolution and rendering. The only kit lens that matches the sharpnees is the Sony 28-60. it is slower and @60 one needs to stop down to f5.6.

But: The 18-55 is among the worst to reliably focus in AF-S, shows severe focus shift when zooming and changes focus distance in MF when half pressing the shutter. One can work with this lens - but alsways needs to be on the look out for AF-S errors or focus beyond infinity (in particular at 18mm). May be I have an old version and Fuji fixed something on the newer ones - which I doubt. If I use it, it is in "AF + MF" mode.

Aug 26, 2024 at 01:49 AM

lsquare
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p.2 #4 · p.2 #4 · Fuji Zooms

rantercsr wrote:
Ive owned the 50-140, 16-55, 18-55, 10-24 and 16-80 (ive listed them in order of which i was most impresed by). I've enjoyed them all, But if comparing to the Sony ff lenses I've owned, they are just ok.

To me the difference in my photos when editing was immediately noticeable.

I know, I know, put them on social media or whatever and no one will ever know the difference. True, but that doesn't change my opinion about current ff lenses being noticeably better over all when it comes to image quality (the Sony ones I experienced specifically)

You don't like the 10-24mm? Why? I like mine!

Aug 26, 2024 at 03:10 AM

lsquare
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p.2 #5 · p.2 #5 · Fuji Zooms

Geoff D F wrote:
The fuji 18-55mm is the reason I bought back into Fuji. I've had 24-105 f4 L and G from Canon and Sony and the XF 18-55 takes just as good pictures for about half the size and weight. The latest 10-24 f4 R WR is also pretty good, and the XF 70-300 f4-5.6 is probably the best lens of its size and class among any of the brands.

I've read the Sony 70-350mm is as good if not better than Fujifilm's 70-300mm

Aug 26, 2024 at 03:12 AM

lsquare
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p.2 #6 · p.2 #6 · Fuji Zooms

Aug 26, 2024 at 03:14 AM

lsquare
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p.2 #7 · p.2 #7 · Fuji Zooms

RoamingScott wrote:
And as suspected, it's well short of a keeper due to both atmospherics and missed focus, things that are EXTREMELY hard to overcome past 800mm (and often AT 800mm) and things serious wildlife photographers know to avoid.

Effective focal length doesn't make a lens.

If that's the case, then why do people want more range? If atmospheric distortion is such a difficult thing to overcome, why even try 800mm? Won't it be an issue even at 800mm?

Aug 26, 2024 at 03:16 AM

Nielk Mike
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p.2 #8 · p.2 #8 · Fuji Zooms

lsquare wrote:
Why isn't anyone here talking about Fujifilm's new 16-50mm kit lens? Is it not as good as the 18-55mm?

Sony's 28-60mm kit lens is decent? Really?

Yes, it is. From 28 - 50 even at widest aperture, 60mm requires to stop down by one. May be I have a very good copy, but it competes well against the Sony 20-70f4. It is very small and light, too. And inexpensive.

Aug 26, 2024 at 03:59 AM

Nielk Mike
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p.2 #9 · p.2 #9 · Fuji Zooms

lsquare wrote:
If that's the case, then why do people want more range? If atmospheric distortion is such a difficult thing to overcome, why even try 800mm? Won't it be an issue even at 800mm?

Haze only becomes an issue over longer distances when heat and dust distort the image and remove contrast. At shorter distances (such as with the birds at the parking lot), neither haze nor dust should be an issue. But holding such a long focal lenght w/o tripod becomes the challenge :-)

Aug 26, 2024 at 04:02 AM

mdude85
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p.2 #10 · p.2 #10 · Fuji Zooms

It's kind of an odd question because 1) every major brand has zooms of varying quality, and 2) the image quality is not directly comparable due to the crop factor (you'd need to compare Fuji's zooms with other brands' APS-C lines).

Aug 26, 2024 at 09:08 AM

gear-nut
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p.2 #11 · p.2 #11 · Fuji Zooms

Measurebating…. Do you want the best IQ possible regardless of size, weight and cost, or do you want the best IQ possible at the most convenient size, weight and cost? As you go down in size, IQ tends to head downward with it. The however is that certain APS-c combos are joyfully compact and still offer IQ that is very nearly as good, like 90% or more there, as the best Fx at about half the size, weight and costs. IMHO, good enough usually is, and the latest Fuji X cams with aforementioned zooms are absolutely more than good enough for typical high-end street, travel and lifestyle photography. For commercial work where $$$ are on the line, go as big as practical for the final product.

Aug 26, 2024 at 10:00 AM

JadedWriter
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p.2 #12 · p.2 #12 · Fuji Zooms

It's also a matter of focal lengths. I'd much rather carry the XF200 F2 over whatever F mount 300 2.8 that exists

Aug 26, 2024 at 10:13 AM

SGinNorcal
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p.2 #13 · p.2 #13 · Fuji Zooms

gear-nut wrote:
Measurebating…. Do you want the best IQ possible regardless of size, weight and cost, or do you want the best IQ possible at the most convenient size, weight and cost? As you go down in size, IQ tends to head downward with it. The however is that certain APS-c combos are joyfully compact and still offer IQ that is very nearly as good, like 90% or more there, as the best Fx at about half the size, weight and costs. IMHO, good enough usually is, and the latest Fuji X cams with aforementioned zooms are absolutely more than good enough...Show more →
I couldn't agree more. As for the comments on what pros are using, I suppose having your career on the line might be motivation to carry more. But some of the crap I've seen lately in outdoor magazines is nothing to brag about. To my eyes, things seem to be trending to over-cooked post-processing that I would never be happy with. That might be driven by others choosing content but I can see this driving overall quality down is that what is deemed a marketable look.

Aug 26, 2024 at 10:33 AM

RoamingScott
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p.2 #14 · p.2 #14 · Fuji Zooms

mdude85 wrote:
It's kind of an odd question because 1) every major brand has zooms of varying quality, and 2) the image quality is not directly comparable due to the crop factor (you'd need to compare Fuji's zooms with other brands' APS-C lines).

If you don't think 40mp Fuji bodies are competing directly with FF options, well...

Of course you have to compare these, even if the tech inside isn't particularly apples to apples, because they are the options for a consumer.

Aug 26, 2024 at 10:35 AM

gear-nut
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p.2 #15 · p.2 #15 · Fuji Zooms

The other thing we should probably spell out in the Fx vs APS-c debate is what the actual IQ "losses" are.

Lens sharpness. First off, virtually any newer design lens is better than the same thing from 5-7 years ago. However, the difference is not necessarily Earth-shattering. Lens resolution does not degrade from perfect to unusable at a hard stop, rather it's a gradual fall-off. As an example, in the Fuji APS-c line, the 55-200 is arguably the worst zoom option, yet I still carry one for travel because it's more than "good enough" for when I want that extra range AND it doesn't take up much room or add much weight (or cost) to your bag. It's plenty sharp centrally and only visibly softens at the corners, which usually aren't all that important when I'm zoomed out. (If I thought extreme corners at max focal were going to be a problem, I'd carry the 50-140 or 100-400 instead -- but neither one is nearly as travel friendly as the 55-200.)

(Side-bar comment here: The Fuji 55-200 is "as good as" any Fx 75-300 I've seen; there won't be a spits worth of difference between an Fx image made with a 75-300 and the APS-c image made with the 55-200 at any MP count even compared side-by-side at 100%. In fact, comparing either at use sizes to the best 70-200 option, you won't see a startling difference centrally between them and only barely noticeable at the corners. Zoom into 100% and sure, you'll see the marginal losses -- but are they critical losses for your imaging, or possibly a gain? To wit, there is a prominent wedding photographer I know that uses the 75-300 on his Fx cam as his mainstay for weddings. Why? Precisely because it isn't quite as clinical as newer options and works beautifully for people. Think of adding the weakest black-mist filter to your sharpest lens, and that's about where these "weakest" zooms hit.)

Noise. Net loss in noise from Fuji XH2 to my Nikon Z9 is maybe 1 stop. If noise is a big deal for you, then decide if carrying the added weight is worth it to you. Noise does not bother me much, in fact I sometimes like it some of my night shots, YMMV.

DoF. There's about a 1-stop difference for DoF between APS-c and Fx. If you need f1.4 a lot in Fx, then you're going to want f1.0 in APS-c for a similar look -- and there aren't many (none) AF f1 lens options for APS-c... The however-but flip-side to this is that you also gain back the stop of DoF with APS-c at any aperture, so you can shoot APS-c at f2.8 when you stopped down to f4 for Fx, gaining back 1 stop of shutter speed or ISO. This happens to be a significant benefit for my street/travel/lifestyle shooting, maybe yours too...

Edited on Aug 26, 2024 at 11:06 AM · View previous versions

Aug 26, 2024 at 11:03 AM

rantercsr
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p.2 #16 · p.2 #16 · Fuji Zooms

I've never compared my fuji cameras or lenses to other apsc. Never had an interest in Canon or nikon apsc (aside from my first dslr, the rebel t4i). I tried sony, but the form factor just wasn't for me.

There are things about fuji that allowed me to be willing to take a loss in low light abilities and dynamic range and auto focus that I was already getting with the Sony cameras i had then. (Think it was Sony a7s2 and a73).

That being said I was never to go all in on fuji. I always kept a full frame option and a couple of lenses for it.

Point is, in my opinion, Fuji's apsc cameras are competing with everyone else's full frame cameras. I'd be willing to bet, more so than with the competitors apsc cameras.

I mean, who else is really doing anything serious with apsc? I dont think it's canon or nikon. Maybe Sony? No... not really.

mdude85 wrote:
It's kind of an odd question because 1) every major brand has zooms of varying quality, and 2) the image quality is not directly comparable due to the crop factor (you'd need to compare Fuji's zooms with other brands' APS-C lines).

Aug 26, 2024 at 11:03 AM

gdanmitchell
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p.2 #17 · p.2 #17 · Fuji Zooms

Nielk Mike wrote:
The 18-55 dleivers excellent results in terms of resolution and rendering. The only kit lens that matches the sharpnees is the Sony 28-60. it is slower and @60 one needs to stop down to f5.6.

But: The 18-55 is among the worst to reliably focus in AF-S, shows severe focus shift when zooming and changes focus distance in MF when half pressing the shutter. One can work with this lens - but alsways needs to be on the look out for AF-S errors or focus beyond infinity (in particular at 18mm). May be I have an old version and...Show more →

Ah, here we go again — Mike’s personal issue with AF on Fujifilm, now combined with deadly focus shift when zooming.

Quite a few lenses shift focus when zooming. If you manually focus a lot you learn to never trust that the focusing you did at one focal length will be accurate if you zoom in/out. You will focus again. (I do landscape photography with a set of pricey Canon L zooms. I always use manual focus with that gear and I ALWAYS refocus when I change the focal length.)

And if you use AF the lens will refocus after zooming when you press the shutter release. E.g. problem solved.

- - -

lsquare wrote:
If atmospheric distortion is such a difficult thing to overcome, why even try 800mm? Won't it be an issue even at 800mm?

Atmospheric distortion (and haze, etc.) is always a concern when using long lenses, especially if you use them to bring distant subjects closer. So you have to be aware of it and consider its effect.

If you are photographing a subject like a small bird 100 meters away it is unlikely to be an issue, though it can be in some weather conditions. (Shooting across sun-warmed ground, for example. I’ve seen atmospheric distortion — “heat waves” — create issues in cold weather at short distances, especially if working from the tripod and using longer exposures.)

This doesn’t negate the potential value of long focal lengths, but it can complicate things and make them less of a panacea than some might hope.

Aug 26, 2024 at 11:20 AM

Nielk Mike
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p.2 #18 · p.2 #18 · Fuji Zooms

gdanmitchell wrote:
Ah, here we go again — Mike’s personal issue with AF on Fujifilm, now combined with deadly focus shift when zooming.

Quite a few lenses shift focus when zooming. If you manually focus a lot you learn to never trust that the focusing you did at one focal length will be accurate if you zoom in/out. You will focus again. (I do landscape photography with a set of pricey Canon L zooms. I always use manual focus with that gear and I ALWAYS refocus when I change the focal length.)

And if you use AF the lens will refocus after zooming when...Show more →

Thought you were on vacation :-)

Yes, the 18-55 combines inconistent AF-S, focus beyond infintiy in particular at the wide setting (as infinitiy focus is reached already between the 5m and 10m mark), with shifting focus in MF on half press, and focus shift when zooming. And in AF-C when you close the aperture down to f5.6 or 8, focus joyfully jumps around like a little kid (sometimes between 1m and infinity) when keeping the shutter button half pressed.

True, many zoom lenses have focus shift - and if that was the only thing I wouldn't complain.

Optically an excellent lens, but too many issues to be enjoyable.

My personal issues? I can post links to videos again (as I did for the focus action in MF). Still waiting for your explanation on that.

Aug 26, 2024 at 11:33 AM

gear-nut
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p.2 #19 · p.2 #19 · Fuji Zooms

FTR, haze and atmospheric distortion is ALWAYS present regardless of focal length used, it’s just not zoomed into as much with shorter focals so not as prominent.

Aug 26, 2024 at 11:35 AM

gdanmitchell
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p.2 #20 · p.2 #20 · Fuji Zooms

gear-nut wrote:
FTR, haze and atmospheric distortion is ALWAYS present regardless of focal length used, it’s just not zoomed into as much with shorter focals so not as prominent.

Indeed.

I distinctly recall having to deal with it on a winter day in Yosemite Valley while photographing a snow-covered meadow in the sun… with a wide-angle lens!

With long lenses there are a whole bunch of factors that conspire against us. The main one is that when we shoot more distant subjects with the long lenses (as when I use them for landscapes) there’s a whole lot more moving air between us and our subjects. (I have a recent example that I’ll post a bit later.)

I’m convinced that a significant percentage of “my long lens is not sharp” reports aren’t really about the optical characteristics of the lens. They sometimes come from thinking that you can just put a long lens on the camera and shoot stuff way in the distance with no penalties.

Aug 26, 2024 at 01:59 PM

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