Fuji X Series

What are people's opinions on the XF 16-80mm?
I had been hankering after one for a while and finally got my hands on one this week. It's a very nice lens however as with any mid range zoom it's very much a jack of all trades and master of none etc etc.

Having tested it this last couple of days it is definitely better than the XF 18-55mm but only marginally and it requires significant pixel peeping to see it. However in isolation (compared to 18-55) I would say it's a sound purchase for the extra 27mm (2mm at the wide end and 25mm at the long) along with the exceptional OIS.

Where it gets a little less clear is when, like me, you also have the XF 55-200mm. There's no doubting the versatility of the 16-80 however in the 55-80mm range the 55-200 is significantly sharper and actually maintains a wider minimum aperture up to the 80mm mark.
Yes one 'walk around' lens is always nice to have but the 18-55 is no slouch and I haven't had any qualms about carrying the 55-200 with me - it's not like you're carrying around a massive 70-200 f2.8. In fact the 55-200 even fits easily into some of my trouser pockets so it doesn't even require a bag if you really want to travel light.

I got a good deal on the 16-80 at just over £500 (used obviously) but I'm questioning if it's even worth that to me. If I decide to keep it I would naturally sell the 18-55 but I'm wondering should I even do that?
 
GMac11 said:
What are people's opinions on the XF 16-80mm?
I had been hankering after one for a while and finally got my hands on one this week. It's a very nice lens however as with any mid range zoom it's very much a jack of all trades and master of none etc etc.

Having tested it this last couple of days it is definitely better than the XF 18-55mm but only marginally and it requires significant pixel peeping to see it. However in isolation (compared to 18-55) I would say it's a sound purchase for the extra 27mm (2mm at the wide end and 25mm at the long) along with the exceptional OIS.

Where it gets a little less clear is when, like me, you also have the XF 55-200mm. There's no doubting the versatility of the 16-80 however in the 55-80mm range the 55-200 is significantly sharper and actually maintains a wider minimum aperture up to the 80mm mark.
Yes one 'walk around' lens is always nice to have but the 18-55 is no slouch and I haven't had any qualms about carrying the 55-200 with me - it's not like you're carrying around a massive 70-200 f2.8. In fact the 55-200 even fits easily into some of my trouser pockets so it doesn't even require a bag if you really want to travel light.

I got a good deal on the 16-80 at just over £500 (used obviously) but I'm questioning if it's even worth that to me. If I decide to keep it I would naturally sell the 18-55 but I'm wondering should I even do that?
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XT4 with 16-55 is the only do it all on fuji in my view. People will sometimes want ois on another body and with the other zoom lenses on any body, you'd not always be that happy with the subject isolation or quality in low light. Still perfectly usable of course.
 
GMac11 said:
What are people's opinions on the XF 16-80mm?
I had been hankering after one for a while and finally got my hands on one this week. It's a very nice lens however as with any mid range zoom it's very much a jack of all trades and master of none etc etc.

Having tested it this last couple of days it is definitely better than the XF 18-55mm but only marginally and it requires significant pixel peeping to see it. However in isolation (compared to 18-55) I would say it's a sound purchase for the extra 27mm (2mm at the wide end and 25mm at the long) along with the exceptional OIS.

Where it gets a little less clear is when, like me, you also have the XF 55-200mm. There's no doubting the versatility of the 16-80 however in the 55-80mm range the 55-200 is significantly sharper and actually maintains a wider minimum aperture up to the 80mm mark.
Yes one 'walk around' lens is always nice to have but the 18-55 is no slouch and I haven't had any qualms about carrying the 55-200 with me - it's not like you're carrying around a massive 70-200 f2.8. In fact the 55-200 even fits easily into some of my trouser pockets so it doesn't even require a bag if you really want to travel light.

I got a good deal on the 16-80 at just over £500 (used obviously) but I'm questioning if it's even worth that to me. If I decide to keep it I would naturally sell the 18-55 but I'm wondering should I even do that?
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That's interesting insight thanks, I had looked at the 16-80mm as a travel lens but decided against it in the end as a bit of an expensive luxury. Like you, I also have the 55-200mm which I think is great. For me the 23F2 or 35F1.4 are on my camera 90% of the time with the 55-200mm and Samyang 12mm doing the rest.

I'm still thinking about an X-H1 for the bigger EVF and ergonomics for those times where I miss having a bigger body.
 
olv said:
That's interesting insight thanks, I had looked at the 16-80mm as a travel lens but decided against it in the end as a bit of an expensive luxury. Like you, I also have the 55-200mm which I think is great. For me the 23F2 or 35F1.4 are on my camera 90% of the time with the 55-200mm and Samyang 12mm doing the rest.

I'm still thinking about an X-H1 for the bigger EVF and ergonomics for those times where I miss having a bigger body.
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Funny you mention the X-H1, I just picked one up for £600 - I have way too much time on my hands! It was a used unit but it just arrived this morning and for all intents and purposes it's near mint! I couldn't refuse at that price, if I don't like it I'll sell it on.
So I now currently have the X-H1, X-T20 and my Canon 6D ii. One will have to go and I'm struggling at the moment.

The X-T20 is such a great little camera and the reason I bought it was to accompany my 6D and to take out it situations where I didn't want to lug around a FF camera.

Admittedly I've only had a couple of hours to play with the X-H1 however I am struggling to find £300-£400 worth of improvement over the X-T20. I know the sensor and processing unit are the same on both models and I don't know if IBIS is necessary for me or not, I probably haven't needed it yet. As a second camera to my 6D it doesn't save much (if anything) in size although it is considerably lighter, as is the glass. From what I can see now the only sensible way to keep the X-H1 is to also keep the X-T20 as my smaller walkabout camera.

Finally the 6D is, well, it's the 6D. There is just something about the photos from a FF that can't be replicated no matter how good the sensor is - especially with my 70-200 f2.8.

A few more days or weeks of testing required me thinks.
 
GMac11 said:
Funny you mention the X-H1, I just picked one up for £600 - I have way too much time on my hands! It was a used unit but it just arrived this morning and for all intents and purposes it's near mint! I couldn't refuse at that price, if I don't like it I'll sell it on.
So I now currently have the X-H1, X-T20 and my Canon 6D ii. One will have to go and I'm struggling at the moment.

The X-T20 is such a great little camera and the reason I bought it was to accompany my 6D and to take out it situations where I didn't want to lug around a FF camera.

Admittedly I've only had a couple of hours to play with the X-H1 however I am struggling to find £300-£400 worth of improvement over the X-T20. I know the sensor and processing unit are the same on both models and I don't know if IBIS is necessary for me or not, I probably haven't needed it yet. As a second camera to my 6D it doesn't save much (if anything) in size although it is considerably lighter, as is the glass. From what I can see now the only sensible way to keep the X-H1 is to also keep the X-T20 as my smaller walkabout camera.

Finally the 6D is, well, it's the 6D. There is just something about the photos from a FF that can't be replicated no matter how good the sensor is - especially with my 70-200 f2.8.

A few more days or weeks of testing required me thinks.
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I am in a similar situation to you. I have a D600 with a couple of lenses,and originally bought an XT10 as a lighter camera. Then after that sale on the Fujfilm store got an XT20 and a 16MM/F2.8 for £450ish. I still the D600 has better image quality overall,and the battery life is still much better.
 
I've just seen the rather generous cashback on offer for the XF 10-24, which effectively brings the RRP down to £579 - that's considerably cheaper than most used copies on the market as well. I'm actually swaying towards letting go of Canon and sticking with the X-H1 and X-T20 exclusively. Having a ready made replacement for my 16-35mm would make that transition much smoother.
I initially had my eye on the Samyang 12mm f2 (and still do) but I'm just thinking with the versatility of the 10-24 along with the cashback price probably makes the latter a much smarter purchase at this time. Plus most owners seem to have only good things to say about that lens.
 
The Samyang 12mm is good for its price, I like mine a lot and wouldn’t replace it purely because I don’t shoot UWA much but it is manual and I’d take the 10-24 if it was a focal range I used a lot. F2 is great for stars though. The Samyang really punches above its price though at <£150
 
olv said:
The Samyang 12mm is good for its price, I like mine a lot and wouldn’t replace it purely because I don’t shoot UWA much but it is manual and I’d take the 10-24 if it was a focal range I used a lot. F2 is great for stars though. The Samyang really punches above its price though at <£150
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I ordered up a Samyang last night, cost me £218 mind you. RRP seems to be just shy of £300 these days :(, at less than £150 it would certainly be a no brainer.
In the winter I'd say 50% of my work is Astro so the Samyang made much more sense in that regard.
I also took account of the fact that when I used my 16-35 on the Canon I almost mostly used it at 16mm, very rarely did I use the zoom range at all - this was mostly because for anything longer I just used my 24-70. With that in mind, since I own the 16-80 now as well, I figured the chances of absolutely needing the 13-15mm range would be slim to none. I accept I'm losing 2mm at the wide end but for the f2 it's a worthwhile trade off.
 
Back again with another query. I'm continuing to build my Fujifilm setup and have been pondering the super telephoto options - or rather lack thereof.
My main use for such a lens would be moon shots along with possibly some deep(ish) sky astro. I would probably also get some wildlife usage out of it but that wouldn't be as important.
Given the only native option is well over £1000 (£1500 ish along with a 1.4 TC) it's a lot to spend for only occasional usage and not even for pro work or anything.

So I've been thinking of getting a used Canon 100-400mm or even Tamron/Sigma 100-400/150-600mm option along with an adapter. Super quick AF and IS aren't issues as astro is mainly MF anyway and the X-H1 has IBIS which opens up more avenues.
Does anyone have any thoughts or experience with such a setup?
 
For astro why not buy a proper astro lens- a Williams Redcat is much less than a grand. Add a camera tracking mount for a few hundred more and you've got an awesome moon and deep sky setup, and a lens you can use for wildlife if you need to (static subjects)...

DSLR lenses (especially zooms) are more versatile, but at the expense of most of the things you need for astro (field curvature, coma etc)
 
Any thoughts on the new X-S10?

I own a digital marketing agency and we use an external video team for client work.

We are trying to get more into the simple interview to camera stuff internally.

We are currently messing around with either my X-T100 for this or using a Galaxy S20 Ultra.

I feel like we are ready to buy something a little more serious.

Should we get the X-S10 Body for £949 from Wex or should I spend a little more and get the X-T4 for £1120 from Tobydeals?

My video/photo guys are little help as they both use Sony and Canon kit.
 
Anyone here own/used an X-T4? Sold up all my Canon gear last year to help fund my first house. Looking to buy a new camera now and it's between the X-T4, Nikon Z6 and Sony A7 III.

My Dad owns the Sony and though I appreciate it's a fantastic camera that takes great images, I really didn't get on with it, the menus were clunky, it wasn't very nice to hold or use and I just didn't like it very much.

Something about the X-T4 just pulls though, even though the sensor on paper isn't as good.
 
I don't own an X-T4 but the biggest draw Fuji has for me is the controls and how much of a joy the camera is to use. It's a very capable camera and pretty much all the Fuji X-mount lenses are bangers.
 
Came
Funky-Melon said:
Anyone here own/used an X-T4? Sold up all my Canon gear last year to help fund my first house. Looking to buy a new camera now and it's between the X-T4, Nikon Z6 and Sony A7 III.

My Dad owns the Sony and though I appreciate it's a fantastic camera that takes great images, I really didn't get on with it, the menus were clunky, it wasn't very nice to hold or use and I just didn't like it very much.

Something about the X-T4 just pulls though, even though the sensor on paper isn't as good.
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For me it's much more than just the ultimate image quality. It's about the UI (not just the menus, but how you interact with the camera, all the dials and buttons), it's about how the camera feels in your hand and up against your eye, and most importantly how you get on with it. I owned Canons for years, and it wasn't until a friend let me play for an hour or so with his Nikon that I realised how much more intuitive I found the Nikon way of designing their cameras. So I sold my Canon and bought a Nikon D700 which I owned for quite a few years. I absolutely loved the pictures it took; I think it will end up being my lifelong favourite camera. But... the D700 is a beast, and I never took it anywhere because it was so big and heavy. So after much research I sold it, bought an X-T2, promptly upgraded to an X-T3, and now... I never take it anywhere (because iPhones are such amazing cameras now and somewhere along the way I lost the love for "proper" photography)! All of this is a very roundabout way of saying that it's not just the specs. I love the X-T3 (not as much as I loved my Nikon D700) but if any camera was going to keep me faithful it is the Fuji. They have the right balance of thoughtfulness and practicality, and I get on pretty well with them. Oh, and they release firmware updates LONG after the camera has been superseded (the recent update brings autofocus on the X-T3 to the same level and speed as the X-T4 -- amazing!!!).
 
Can't wait to get hold of my XT-3, especially with the recent firmware update. If you were to get one lens for it, if you like landscape, and portrait, what would it be? On another post I have been recommended the Samyang 12mm and the 35mm 1.2 Fuji.
 
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