p.1 #1 · Advice on telephoto lens for my XT 5 please!
Hi friends
I am looking to purchase a telephoto lens for my upcoming fall foliage tour and also a trip to Australia and SE Asia. I currently own a Sigma18-50 and a Fuji 23 mm 1.2. I have looked at Sigma 16-300 and the Fuji 70-300 and not sure which one would be a better choice for landscape and street photography. Hope not to carry too many lenses especially on long trips!
Appreciate your advice!
Mike
p.1 #2 · Advice on telephoto lens for my XT 5 please!
The 70-300 is a pretty good lens. To me, its best feature is its size and weight relative to the reach it provides. I only seldom use a telephoto and its easy to take the 70-300 along just in case. I also have the 1.4x for use with it and that pretty much gives all the reach I ever need. You might also check out the 50-140 if the size isn't an issue. I've been wishing Fuji would release a MkII of that lens applying the same diet to it that they used on the 16-55II.
p.1 #4 · Advice on telephoto lens for my XT 5 please!
nsniro wrote:
Hi friends
I am looking to purchase a telephoto lens for my upcoming fall foliage tour and also a trip to Australia and SE Asia. I currently own a Sigma18-50 and a Fuji 23 mm 1.2. I have looked at Sigma 16-300 and the Fuji 70-300 and not sure which one would be a better choice for landscape and street photography. Hope not to carry too many lenses especially on long trips!
Appreciate your advice!
Mike
The 50-140 is a great lens if that is the focal length range you need, you want f/2.8, and you are OK with a somewhat heavier lens. Optically it is a great performer. (The “foot” that comes with the lens is comically large. I replaced mine with a much smaller third party product.) I also use it with the 1.4x teleconverter, and it work very well that way as a f/4 zoom equivalent to a maximum focal length of 280mm.
I don’t own it, but I could see the 70-300 as a useful travel lens. From what I hear it is optical pretty good, and it packs quite small — and the focal length range is all that most people will ever need.
I’m not familiar with a Fujifilm 23mm f/1.2…
I do both street and landscape, and generally I use pretty different lenses for the two genres. For landscape I’m almost always going to use zoom lenses, nad if I were carrying two they would most likely be the 16-55 f/2.8 and the 50-140mm f/2.8 plus its TC. For street my favorite lens is the little 27mm f/2.8.
p.1 #5 · Advice on telephoto lens for my XT 5 please!
The 70-300mm is optically excellent and small enough for travel. There is no way I'd want to be carrying the 40-150 around all day. The 40-150 is more suited for weddings, portraits and photojournalism. The 70-300 is intended to be a general purpose, high quality travel tele zoom.
p.1 #7 · Advice on telephoto lens for my XT 5 please!
.RRJ wrote:
Definitely the 70-300, or, alternatively the 55-200 is pretty small and the sharpness is fine stopped down if you dont need so much reach.
I’ll point to two caveats.
1. You don’t have a lot of “stopping down room” with these lenses since their maximum apertures are so small and because diffraction blur sets in relatively earlier on APS-C. You might arguably have only one or two optimal apertures at the longest focal lengths.
2. Although i have no personal experience with the 70-300 (and I’ve heard a lot of good things about it) I did have extensive experience with a copy of the 55-200. On the plus side it packs quite small, it is light, it covers a wide focal length range, and at its best the IQ can be pretty good. However, my copy did not focus well in low-contrast light and eventually it developed a mechanical problem that Fujifilm was unable to repair. Its build quality did not inspire confidence. The lens has its place, but it also has its issues…
p.1 #8 · Advice on telephoto lens for my XT 5 please!
Agreed, that lens does have some real limitations to it. I owned one for a while but moved it on and live with hauling around my 100-400 when I want more reach.
p.1 #9 · Advice on telephoto lens for my XT 5 please!
I have and enjoy shooting the Fuji 70-300 lens on my X-T5. I also have and often use the Fuji 1.4 teleconverter to give me a little more reach. I recommend both the 70-300 lens and 1,4 teleconverter highly!
p.1 #10 · Advice on telephoto lens for my XT 5 please!
I sold the 50-140 after I bought the 70-300. The 2.8 lens is excellent optically but about 2x the size of the 70-300. The 70-300 is also excellent optically and offers a more useful focal range for my typical needs.
p.1 #12 · Advice on telephoto lens for my XT 5 please!
gdanmitchell wrote:
I’ll point to two caveats.
1. You don’t have a lot of “stopping down room” with these lenses since their maximum apertures are so small and because diffraction blur sets in relatively earlier on APS-C. You might arguably have only one or two optimal apertures at the longest focal lengths.
2. Although i have no personal experience with the 70-300 (and I’ve heard a lot of good things about it) I did have extensive experience with a copy of the 55-200. On the plus side it packs quite small, it is light, it covers a wide focal length range, and at its best the IQ can be pretty good. However, my copy did not focus well in low-contrast light and eventually it developed a mechanical problem that Fujifilm was unable to repair. Its build quality did not inspire confidence. The lens has its place, but it also has its issues…...Show more →
You don't need stopping down room with the 70-300. I pretty much always shoot it wide open. I had the 55-200 and found it got softer from about 135mm wide open and was never super sharp at 200mm. I do think about whether there is some copy variation, however. Andy Mumford has held on to his 55-200mm for years despite having access to the very best Fuji glass.
p.1 #13 · Advice on telephoto lens for my XT 5 please!
I have both the 55-200 and 70-300, I don't see much difference in IQ within their common range. I realize this is contrary to most reports so maybe my 55-200 is a good copy. I went to the 70-300 for increased range and ability to use the 1.4x which doesn't work on the 55-200. I think they are great travel zooms due to size and weight but if that wasn't a criteria, I would look elsewhere for a telephoto.
p.1 #14 · Advice on telephoto lens for my XT 5 please!
SGinNorcal wrote:
I have both the 55-200 and 70-300, I don't see much difference in IQ within their common range. I realize this is contrary to most reports so maybe my 55-200 is a good copy. I went to the 70-300 for increased range and ability to use the 1.4x which doesn't work on the 55-200. I think they are great travel zooms due to size and weight but if that wasn't a criteria, I would look elsewhere for a telephoto.
From the years that I had the 55-200, I would agree that the image quality can be fine. I never really had an issue with that, specifically. I did have some issues with AF performance, especially at the long end and with low contrast subjects. On a few occasions it simply would not focus, though that was an extreme situation.
I think that the 70-300 sounds like a better option from what I've read, and I'm also impressed that Fujifilm made it compatible with the 1.4x TC.
p.1 #16 · Advice on telephoto lens for my XT 5 please!
I own the XF 70-300 and the Tamron 18-300.
The Fuji XF-300 is an excellent telephoto lens, but not really a general purpose travel lens. It also works very well with the 1.4 TC, giving you pretty much a relatively lightweight 100-400 equivalent. The Tamron is a great travel lens and (my copy at least) is very good throughout its entire range. The new Sigma 16-300 has the advantage of a 2mm at the wide end over the Tamron, and has had some great reviews online, but folk in various forums who have tried both generally seem to think it is not as good. It is also currently costs $170 more.
All of these are too big IMO for street photography. Last year I spent a couple of weeks in France with the Tamron and the Sigma 18-50 and the Tamron stayed on my X-T5 most of the time, except when I was walking around Paris, when I used the much smaller and more discreet 18-50.
p.1 #17 · Advice on telephoto lens for my XT 5 please!
I had the XC 50-230 and still have the 70-300 and 50-140.
For travel? If you’re budget constrained the 50-230 is light and a strong value. I kind of miss it. The 50-140 would be my choice for action and if you need the 2.8 but otherwise the 70-300 would be my choice for travel.
It’s better than the 50-230 but not light years better. I also feel it isn’t quite as fast to focus as the 50-140 or even the venerable 100-400. Nothing objective as proof on the AF speed - just a feeling.
p.1 #18 · Advice on telephoto lens for my XT 5 please!
The 70-300 has been a great lens for me. It almost always exceeds my expectations. I took it to India earlier this year to shoot tigers and it performed very well.
p.1 #19 · Advice on telephoto lens for my XT 5 please!
gdanmitchell wrote:
I’ll point to two caveats.
1. You don’t have a lot of “stopping down room” with these lenses since their maximum apertures are so small and because diffraction blur sets in relatively earlier on APS-C. You might arguably have only one or two optimal apertures at the longest focal lengths.
2. Although i have no personal experience with the 70-300 (and I’ve heard a lot of good things about it) I did have extensive experience with a copy of the 55-200. On the plus side it packs quite small, it is light, it covers a wide focal length range, and at its best the IQ can be pretty good. However, my copy did not focus well in low-contrast light and eventually it developed a mechanical problem that Fujifilm was unable to repair. Its build quality did not inspire confidence. The lens has its place, but it also has its issues…...Show more →
In my early days with Fuji Lensrentals did a strip down and repair of the 55-200. I remember them describing it as complex mechanically but well engineered. Mine has been a constant companion for 8 years without problems, a great lens, although if it had been available then I might have bought the 70-300 and saved myself buying a 100-400!
p.1 #20 · Advice on telephoto lens for my XT 5 please!
That’s a positive report, and it is a good balance to my (possibly individual) poor experience with the ens “breaking” and Fujifilm being unable to fix it.
I’ve always put it in that “not for everyone but great for some” category of lenses.’
Its strengths?
- optimally pretty good
- covers quite a wide focal length range
- small and light (especially when zoom retracted) size good for travel
- low cost
Its weaknesses?
- AF not great, especially at longer focal lengths and in low contrast situations
- relatively small maximum apertures don’t provide many choices between wide open and diffraction limits
- my sense (shared by some) that it isn’t mechanically as solid as some other enses.
Like I said, I can see how it can be a fine tool for things like travel photography, etc.
gyoung143 wrote:
In my early days with Fuji Lensrentals did a strip down and repair of the 55-200. I remember them describing it as complex mechanically but well engineered. Mine has been a constant companion for 8 years without problems, a great lens, although if it had been available then I might have bought the 70-300 and saved myself buying a 100-400!
