Excellent Reviews from Light Priority

Rory Prior’s review of Fuji’s FUJINON XF 14mm f/2.8 R is a fantastic, not only because it mentions this site at the bottom, but it includes some excellent insights. It’s a great read for anyone considering what’s still one of Fuji’s best lenses to date.

With the sheer ubiquity of 18-55mm (28-70mm) lenses, people are used so seeing images at those focal lengths. That means lenses that break out of that range immediately have the potential to create more interesting pictures. The downside for the photographer is that it can make composition and getting the right exposure more complicated. You’ve potentially got to get a lot closer to subjects to make them fill your frame, then you have distortion to worry about, especially when shooting people.

Don’t miss Rory’s comments on how much the outstanding software, Iridient Developer, can help with edge sharpness in his equally excellent 18mm f/2 review.

FUJIFILM XT-1, Back to Basics

An excellent review of the Fuji X-T1 was posted back on April by Kjetil Kvien Madsen.

While the whole review is worth a read, it was the images that go along with this line that really struck me:

Nikon D800 (With 24 f1,4) and Fujifilm XT-1 (With 23 f1,4) There is a huge difference carrying these cameras around. The bulk and weight of the D800 is quite different.

A friendly reminder from Kjetil Kvien Madsen how much smaller our X-T1’s are compared to DSLRs.

The 23mm f/1.4 pictured here is even larger than the 14mm f/2.8, which is closer in focal length to Nikon’s 24mm f/1.4. I had that lens on my D700 and I remember thinking that was a small camera package. It is not. Size and weight soon became a major sticking point for me when it came to photography, and while I can drone on and post weight charts about it, sometimes nothing can tell the story like a photo.

Early look at the MCEX-11 and MCEX-16 Macro Extension Tubes

Othman Kammah has a brief post showing the difference the Macro Extension Tubes MCEX-11 and MCEX-16 can make on a few of Fuji’s lenses.

Some photographers like to shoot close ups and details. I am one of those people...

I've now had a chance to play with both of these [the MCEX-11 (11mm) and MCEX-16 (16mm)] on the Fuji 18mm, 35mm, and 60mm lenses and though I would share my findings...

I had only seen the charts mentioned by Kammah before, but by the looks of things, those tubes make a huge difference in minimum focusing distance. I should be getting my set in the coming days. Look for a full versus comparison soon.

Love — Othman Kammah

Fuji 16-55mm f/2.8

Fuji has announced their pro standard zoom, the FUJINON XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR. This is a lens a lot of us have been waiting for, myself included. While I, along with many other people didn’t particularly love their standard zoom lenses from Canon or Nikon, they are workhorses, built for taking photos. Lots of photos. And with their weather sealing, standard zooms can quickly find themselves being the only lens in a photographer’s bag.

The big question will not only be how this lens stacks up against other standard zooms on the market, but how it will perform compared to Fuji’s other zoom offerings in the focal range, the 18-55mm, and 18-135mm. These are already great pieces of glass, but as we know, there is a pretty wide gap between the humble kit lens and the at least one prime. I’m very curious to see if the 16-55mm f/2.8 closes that gap, and you better believe I’ll be finding out as soon as I can get my hands on one.

We can already make some “on paper” comparisons between the new 16-55mm f/2.8 and other zooms. Let’s have a look.

Preorder the 16-55mm f/2.8 at Amazon US, B&H Photo, or Aden Camera.

Lens	16-55mm	18-55mm	18-135mm
Announced	January 6, 2015	September 6, 2012	June 16, 2014
Released	February 2015	December, 2012	August, 2014
Price (MSRP)	$1,199	$699	$899
Lens Construction	17 elements 12 groups 3 aspherical 3 extra low dispersion	14 elements 10 groups 3 aspherical 1 extra low dispersion	16 elements 12 groups 4 aspherical elements 2 anomalous dispersion lenses
35mm Equivalent	24 - 84mm	27 - 84mm	27 - 205mm
Aperture Range	ƒ/2.8 - ƒ/22	ƒ/2.8 - ƒ/22	ƒ/3.5 - ƒ/22
Maximum Aperture	Constant 2.8	Variable 2.8 - 4	Variable 3.5 - 5.6
Focus Range	0.3m - Infinity	30cm wide, 40cm telephoto - Infinity	0.45m - Infinity
External Dimensions	83.3 diameter x 106.0mm - 129.5mm	65mm diameter x 70.4mm - 97.9mm	75.7mm diamtetre x 97.8mm - 158mm
Weight	655g Approx. 712.5 with caps and hood*	308g 346g with caps and hood	486g 529.5g with caps and hood
Filter Size	77mm	58mm	67mm
Weather Sealed	Yes, 14 points	No	Yes, 20 points
Nano-GI coating	Yes	No	No
Optical Image Stabilization	No	Yes	Yes
Autofocus Speed	0.06 seconds	Slower	0.10 seconds

*Unfortunately, the weights we have so far exclude the caps, and hood. I can weigh both the rear cap and 77mm front cap via the 10-24mm f/4, but I have to estimate the hood’s weight. I used the 21g of 10-24mm f/4 as my estimate.

Fuji 16-55mm f/2.8 vs. 18-55mm vs. 18-135mm weight

Here’s how the weights stack up in chart form:

Yep, that 16-55mm f/2.8 is gonna be a beast. That’s what a constant ƒ/2.8 aperture gets you though.

Fuji 16-55mm f/2.8 vs. Canon and Nikon

Next we’ll compare Fuji’s 16-55mm f/2.8 to its full frame equivalents, the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8, the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L, and the Canon 24-70mm f/4 L.

Even though the 16-55mm f/2.8 is one of Fuji’s heftier lenses, it’s still significantly lighter than the f/2.8 zooms from either Nikon or Canon. Remarkably, it’s actually heavier when compared to Canon’s f/4 standard zoom. I’ll have to compare the build quality between those two zooms.

Mirrorless vs. DSLR zooms

What is equally interesting for me is how a complete, mirrorless zoom kit fairs against the DSLR systems available from the big guys, Nikon and Canon. For these next charts, I chose the lightest 35mm camera available from each brand at the time of writing, the Nikon D610, and the Canon 60D.

For reference, here are the lenses included in each kit:

Nikon 35mm Slow: 16-35mm f/4, 24-70mm f/2.8, 70-200mm f/4
Nikon 35mm Fast: 14-24mm f/2.8, 24-70mm f/2.8, 70-200mm f/2.8
Canon 35mm Slow: 16-35mm f/4, 24-70mm f/4, 70-200mm f/4
Canon 35mm Fast: 16-35mm f/2.8, 24-70mm f/2.8, 70-200mm f/2.8

As you can see, Nikon’s offerings are a little less complete than Canon’s, and weight a little more. I apparently had chosen the wrong brand when it came to weight before moving to mirrorless. Even compared to Canon’s lightest option, a complete zoom kit from Fuji will still run you almost ¾ of a kilogram, or over a pound and a half in weight. The reduction in weight only gets better compared to the other options. I also opted for the “heavy duty” support setup on both of the “Fast” versions for 35mm due to their increased weight. You can read more about those in my Heavy Issues article which will updated to include the 16-55mm f/2.8 shortly.

Mirrorless vs. DSLR APS-C

I’m sure there are some out there ready to take me to task for comparing Fuji’s APS-C-based system to 35mm DSLRs. As it turns out, things don’t get much better for the chunky DSLR by moving down to the APS-C bodies, assuming comparable lens quality and capabilities are a necessity.

For these kits I’ve chosen:

Nikon: D7100 body, 10-24mm, 17-55mm f/2.8, 70-200mm f/4
Canon: 70D body, 10-24mm, 17-55mm f/2.8, 70-200mm f/4

A 50-140mm equivalent no APS-C DSLRs doesn’t exist, so I’ve opted for the lighter option, the 70-200mm f/4. Arguably this isn’t the most accurate option, but once the crop factor is taken into account, the bokeh-factor should be mostly balanced out. In any event, we’re still looking at ½ to ¾ of a kilogram in weight by moving to mirrorless.

Conclusion

So there you have it. I must say I’m a little surprised by how heavy the 16-55mm f/2.8 is, but ultimately, these pro zooms are intended to be workhorses, or as means of replacing multiple primes. I can very easily see myself traveling with two X-T1s, with the 16-55mm f/2.8 attached to one, and the 50-140mm f/2.8 attached to the other. The kind of travel I do often means extended hiking in inclimate weather. Not having to change lenses, being totally weather sealed, and weighing less than what I would have been carrying in my DSLR days with only a single body is pretty appealing.

Preorder the 16-55mm f/2.8 at Amazon US, B&H Photo, or Aden Camera.

Fuji X series portrait lenses compared

Damien Lovegrove over at Prophotonut has posted a great comparison of Fuji’s portrait lenses.

This is not laboratory science, it is a real world A/B comparison where the results are subjective and open to interpretation. I’m not one to read MTF graphs and I believe all professional lenses made today should be reasonably sharp so my attention as always turns to how pleasing is the rendering of the scene? I want to asses both the in and out of focus bits.

Damien modestly calls this a ”mini test,” but it’s plenty to sink your teeth into. Can’t wait for my 50-140mm ƒ/2.8 to arrive at my doorstep!

Of note, Damien drew a similar conclusion as I did on the 56mm f/1.2 APD. The difference is subtle, but it’s there. I also love his 60mm f/2.4 Macro lens hood modification to combat the issues it has with flare that I too have experienced. Lots of great stuff over there.

New Year, New Backup Strategy

This is just a friendly nudge to remind all you fellow photo nerds out there that inexpensive, excellent online backup is available right here via Backblaze. This is the perfect time to overhaul your backup strategy and a remote backup has to be a part of it.

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You can read more about my initial experience starting with Backblaze here. I’m also happy to report that after swapping out the puny SSD that came stock in my MacBook Pro for a 1TB drive from OWC¹, I was able to retarget my new boot drive via “Transfer Back-up State…” in the application menu bar. I was worried that moving contents from an external drive would result in having to redo the lion’s share of my backup, but Backblaze was intelligent enough to know I had merged the files from my old external drive onto the new larger boot drive!

My opinion on Backblaze hasn’t changed. They’re great, and if you have a lot of photos you cherish, whether they’re professional, sentimental, or otherwise, you owe it to yourself to have a remote backup you can count on.

1. This drive has caused some strange behaviour with my MacBook so I’m hesitant to recommend it whole-heartedly for now. I had to reset my NVRAM (aka PRAM), and SMC, which isn’t out of the ordinary. However just yesterday, my MacBook showed 30-something% battery, then turned off.
   
   Attempting to power it on showed the “I’m out of battery icon,” so I plugged it in, powered it on, then after many seconds was presented with a blinking folder icon. Perfect. That meant my computer couldn’t find an OS to boot from. Whilst that folder was blinking, I plugged my previous boot drive in via the “Envoy” (fancy name for the external enclosure that came with the drive), and the Mac immediately saw the OS on that drive and happily booted up. That was pretty impressive. I continued booting, ran Disk Utility on my new internal SSD which mounted without issue and showed no errors, selected it as my start-up drive, and booted to it without issue.
   
   Things seem to be running smoothly now, but I can’t say I’m not worried the same thing will happen again, and now I have to carry my backup external drive with me to work, which is something I hoped to avoid by having a larger boot volume. Ah well. How’s that for a footnote? ;-) ↩

Fuji MHG-XT Hand Grip Review

I’ve posted a review of Fuji’s Arca-Swiss MHG-XT Hand Grip for the X-T1. Grippy it most certainly is, but is it enough to supplant a dedicated L-plate for tripod use? Find out here.

2013 vs. 2014

This time last year, Fuji vs. Fuji was just a month old, I had recently published my X100(S/T) vs. 23mm f/1.4 article—the comparison that was the impetus for this website—and was excited to have over 13,000 visits for the month of December. Not bad for only a month in, I thought. If I remember correctly, that was the first of many pieces that was carefully curated by the venerable Thomas Menk, and to this day remains one of the most popular articles on my site.

By March, fellow FujiTuesday cofounder, talented photographer and friend, OT Kammah and I had been approached by Fuji Canada. Our members were treated to early access to the X-T1, the 56mm f/1.2, and the 10-24mm f/4. Those reviews led to Fuji vs. Fuji cracking 10,000 views a week.

Through the spring and summer, I refined my process and published some of my most popular content like my 60mm f/2.4 Macro vs. 56mm f/1.2, 10-24mm f/4 vs. Primes, and X100 vs. 18mm f/2 and 35mm f/1.4 articles, all of which met the standard I had set for myself.

Because of this site, I’ve made a bunch of new friends. I even had the good fortune of meeting many of them in person at Photokina, including the perfect gentleman Thomas Menk, the hard-working and adorable couple Heather and Mathieu from MirrorLessons, one the best street phototraphers in Fuji’s X Photographer stable and a wonderful host to his home country, Marco Larousse, and Matt Maddock, a charming guy with quite possibly the most devilish of devilish grins. Luckily I’d purchased an accessory or two from his outstanding store, PhotoMadd.

I’m happy to say that Fuji vs. Fuji continues to grow and has become self-sustainable thanks to the support of you, my readers. I want to extend a heartfelt thanks to all my visitors, particularly those who use my affiliate links. It really does make the difference in being able to do the kind of thorough reviews you’ve come to expect from Fuji vs. Fuji. Life imposed a bit of a break from Fuji vs. Fuji the last couple of months, but I have every intention of getting back at it and producing many more comparisons and reviews.

Thanks again, and see you in 2015!