Tim Carpenter wrote:
I've been looking at getting a wider lens, fast prime for travel photography (currently the widest prime I have is 23mm, and zoom is the 16-80 F4) for my new XT-5
Looks like the 16mm is not listed by Fuji as a lens that can fully resolve the 40PM, while the 18mm can. I'd prefer the 16mm because it is just a bit wider. Any thoughts/recommendations here? Is there a better third-party option?
First of — and everyone should repeat this as often as possible — that Fujifilm list of lenses that are supposedly “ready for 40MP” is nonsense. Ignore it. It is full of oddball inclusions and exclusions and contradictions. I can share details if you wish, but understand that basing decisions on it is bad approach.
As to whether 16mm for 18mm (or something else) would be most useful for travel photography, how the lens fits into your system is likely far more important that some small and probably not visible difference purported image quality.
I see that you have the 23mm (f/1.4?) and the 16-80mm f/4. I wonder if either of those wide primes will gain you that much if you plan to continue using the 16-80mm. What are the situations in which you envision using the wide f/1.4 lenses? Many plan to use them to photograph interiors of buildings and churches and the like… but with your XT5, IBIS really extends what you can do at f/4 in those situations.
I do a fair amount of travel photography, quite a bit of it in those situations and even at night, where I like to do urban handheld street photography. Although I carry two f/1.4 primes (23mm and 35mm), with the XT5 I find that I’m using the 27mm f/2.8 most often now, even in those situations.
And when I do want the larger aperture, it is more likely to be in situations where there are people and other moving targets, and for that I’m more inclined to use something that is less wide. (The 23mm f/1.4 is quite good for this.)
Underlying all of this is the concern, typical with travel photographers, about carrying too much gear and with trying to keep the weight and bulk to a minimum. Part of that means selecting smaller gear when possible, and another part is avoiding duplication.
One other option to consider. I use and love the 14mm f/2.8 wide angle lens. It works really well on the XT5, isn’t gigantic, and gives you something wider than what you already get with the zoom.
One thing to also keep in mind if you are trying to parse out the “best” lens… Pretty much all of Fujifilm’s lenses for the x-trans cameras are great performers, differentiated more by features than my photo-making quality.
Good luck on your decisions.
Feb 06, 2024 at 01:25 PM
Previous versions of gdanmitchell's message #16463924 « 16mm 1.4 vs 18mm 1.4 with XT-5 »
