Fuji X Series

I’m an X-T30 II user but borrowed an X-T5 for a recent trip to Iceland.

Completely blown away. All the things that could be improved on the X-T30 II they’ve improved and all the niggles I have with it aren’t an issue with the X-T5. For example, proper d-pad and function buttons rather than the irritating touch screen function… and lockable dials! Much better performance and autofocus too, could just hand it to someone to take a photo of me wide open on my 23 F2 or 16 F1.4 and it’ll be razor sharp in focus, something that my X-T30 often misses.

In terms of the 40MP sensor though, honestly I can’t really tell the difference in Lightroom between the photos I snapped on the X-T5 and the X-T30 II. Do you have to be pixel peeping to really notice this?
 
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Barks said:
I’m an X-T30 II user but borrowed an X-T5 for a recent trip to Iceland.

Completely blown away. All the things that could be improved on the X-T30 II they’ve improved and all the niggles I have with it aren’t an issue with the X-T5. For example, proper d-pad and function buttons rather than the irritating touch screen function… and lockable dials! Much better performance and autofocus too, could just hand it to someone to take a photo of me wide open on my 23 F2 or 16 F1.4 and it’ll be razor sharp in focus, something that my X-T30 often misses.

In terms of the 40MP sensor though, honestly I can’t really tell the difference in Lightroom between the photos I snapped on the X-T5 and the X-T30 II. Do you have to be pixel peeping to really notice this?
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If you crop heavily there is a clear difference in quality but it depends on the screen you are viewing it on and the lens used may not be able to show 40mp. The newest most expensive prime lenses have the best chance to show near the sensors capability.

It would also show on high quality medium to large prints.

The ISO used also affects the image.
 
dave28 said:
If you crop heavily there is a clear difference in quality but it depends on the screen you are viewing it on and the lens used may not be able to show 40mp. The newest most expensive prime lenses have the best chance to show near the sensors capability.

It would also show on high quality medium to large prints.

The ISO used also affects the image.
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Apologies if I’m missing something obvious but how does the lens impact the sensor? Surely once the light has gone through the lens then the bigger the sensor the better the image? How can certain lenses be optimised for bigger sensors when it’s just light moving around?

Also does anyone know on the X-T30 if you can keep touch screen functions enabled but disable the touch screen itself for the purposes of focusing? It’s infuriating, I constantly touch the screen by accident and then the focus point moves. I really dislike the touch screen generally and much prefer the D-pad. But if I disable touch screen then I lose all the touch functions. My temporary solution has been to disable the touch screen completely and map some of the touch functions to AE-L AF-L and Fn physical buttons - but it’s not ideal.
 
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Barks said:
Apologies if I’m missing something obvious but how does the lens impact the sensor? Surely once the light has gone through the lens then the bigger the sensor the better the image? How can certain lenses be optimised for bigger sensors when it’s just light moving around?
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The sensor(s) in question are the same size - all the Fuji APS-C sensors are the same size. The new X-Trans V sensor has more megapixels (40 vs 26) but is still the same size.
As for the lenses, there are many misconceptions out there about this - which in part ties into what I said above. With a higher MP sensor comes the ability to resolve more detail (stands to reason) however the sharpest lenses will aid in this resolving more-so than the less sharp lenses. Now, this is not to say that you don't notice the extra detail even with the "less sharp" lenses but you will notice the difference more with the sharper ones as they are able to resolve more detail - thus helping fulfil extra megapixels in the sensor.
Fujifilm didn't help themselves when they released their "approved" list of lenses for the new 40mp sensor. This lead to many people believing that lenses NOT on the list were incompatible with the new sensor which is just plain wrong. In theory, the lenses on the list will help 'show off' the newer sensor more but it's not by much.

Now, all that said, I am very much in the camp that the overall difference between the 26 and 40mp sensors is minimal. At a global level I can't tell the difference. When pixel peeping I need to be at 200-300% zoom to appreciate the difference. Where the extra resolution helps is for heavy croppers and people who like to print large.
 
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Barks said:
Apologies if I’m missing something obvious but how does the lens impact the sensor? Surely once the light has gone through the lens then the bigger the sensor the better the image? How can certain lenses be optimised for bigger sensors when it’s just light moving around?
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the lens affects the image quality in many ways. Even though a sensor may be 40mp, the actual image will be degraded by various amounts by the lens used. Expensive prime lenses tend to have the best overall image quality and detail.

a website called dxomark actually tests lenses and sensors and gives results of image quality, including resolution power ( or their own formula for working it out ) of a lens paired with a given sensor. Sadly they dont really test Fuji, mostly canon sony and nikon.
 
Thanks for the explanation both, understand now.

I used the 16mm f1.4 and 23mm f2. Both looked excellent on the X-T5 but I’m more blown away by the 23mm despite it being the ‘cheap’ version of the 23mm.

EDIT - just been on Google. How on earth is the 16mm f1.4 not on the list when it’s such an expensive, heavy, high-quality lens?
 
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Barks said:
Thanks for the explanation both, understand now.

I used the 16mm f1.4 and 23mm f2. Both looked excellent on the X-T5 but I’m more blown away by the 23mm despite it being the ‘cheap’ version of the 23mm.

EDIT - just been on Google. How on earth is the 16mm f1.4 not on the list when it’s such an expensive, heavy, high-quality lens?
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This comes back to Fuji’s marketing (or rather lack of). To compound matters they actually ship the 16-80mm (which isn’t on their list) as a kit option with the X-T5 - so go figure that out.
 
Looking around for a UWA for my XT20 for around £400. I can get the Viltrox 13MM/F1.4 which looks pretty decent or a secondhand Fuji 10-24MM/F4 R. The Fuji looks the more flexible lens,but the Viltrox looks really good? Another alternative is the manual focus Samyang 12MM which I can get for under £150 secondhand.

Mostly will be used for landscape work. Any suggestions?

I have the XF 16MM F/2.8,and the 16-50MM and 50-230MM standard lenses too.
 
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Can’t say I was ever overly enamoured with the Samyang 12mm. Absolutely, for the money it’s an excellent lens but in relative terms it’s mediocre. The Viltrox is far superior (but at a cost of course). I also found the 10-24 from f5.6 sharper than the Samyang.

As an owner of the Viltrox and the Fuji, and a former owner of the Samyang, my vote would go to the Viltrox all day long for landscapes.
 
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Agree on Samyang. Had mine for as long as I can remember and have managed to get some decent astrophotography shots but otherwise a bit underwhelming. Manual focus is also a real pain.
 
CGrieves said:
Love my 12mm Samyang. Great resolution even wide open, and manual focus is mega easy on a UWA.
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Barks said:
Agree on Samyang. Had mine for as long as I can remember and have managed to get some decent astrophotography shots but otherwise a bit underwhelming. Manual focus is also a real pain.
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The other options look much more expensive so why I am having a look at it!
GMac11 said:
Can’t say I was ever overly enamoured with the Samyang 12mm. Absolutely, for the money it’s an excellent lens but in relative terms it’s mediocre. The Viltrox is far superior (but at a cost of course). I also found the 10-24 from f5.6 sharper than the Samyang.

As an owner of the Viltrox and the Fuji, and a former owner of the Samyang, my vote would go to the Viltrox all day long for landscapes.
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How are the lenses when considering flare and sunstars/starbursts?
 
Maybe I got a good copy, but I tested the Fuji 14mm alongside the Samyang and ended up giving the Fuji back despite being Autofocus. I'd definitely not consider the Samyang mediocre- it's my most-used lens.

There's an autofocus version out now anyway, but I have no plans to update as I don't find focus an issue- if I want to shoot something closer than 2m then I'll use focus peaking, other than that the dial may as well be glued on infinity.

It's an UWA so avoiding flare can be difficult if the Sun's up, but I've never found it out of control. If you use a filter in strong sunlight you might get "Samyang 12mm" in your shots, but that's not really a fault of the lens!
 
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CGrieves said:
Maybe I got a good copy, but I tested the Fuji 14mm alongside the Samyang and ended up giving the Fuji back despite being Autofocus. I'd definitely not consider the Samyang mediocre- it's my most-used lens.
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I certainly don't think the Samyang is a bad lens, or that I had a sub-par copy - I just think the Viltrox is better - but of course it's up to the user to decide if the extra money is worth it.
I happily used my Samyang for a couple of years and it was an extremely useful lens but I can't say it ever 'wowed' me.

There are a couple of good YouTube videos comparing the new 'AF' version of the Samyang (identical optics to the MF model) against the Viltrox - this may help make an informed decision.
 
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CGrieves said:
Maybe I got a good copy, but I tested the Fuji 14mm alongside the Samyang and ended up giving the Fuji back despite being Autofocus. I'd definitely not consider the Samyang mediocre- it's my most-used lens.

There's an autofocus version out now anyway, but I have no plans to update as I don't find focus an issue- if I want to shoot something closer than 2m then I'll use focus peaking, other than that the dial may as well be glued on infinity.

It's an UWA so avoiding flare can be difficult if the Sun's up, but I've never found it out of control. If you use a filter in strong sunlight you might get "Samyang 12mm" in your shots, but that's not really a fault of the lens!
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GMac11 said:
I certainly don't think the Samyang is a bad lens, or that I had a sub-par copy - I just think the Viltrox is better - but of course it's up to the user to decide if the extra money is worth it.
I happily used my Samyang for a couple of years and it was an extremely useful lens but I can't say it ever 'wowed' me.

There are a couple of good YouTube videos comparing the new 'AF' version of the Samyang (identical optics to the MF model) against the Viltrox - this may help make an informed decision.
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Well I had a think about it and decided to order the Viltrox,because I hopefully could use it for night shots too.
 
Some initial impressions:
1.)Mostly made of metal including the lens hood
2.)Quite heavy
3.)Focusing and aperture stops have a positive feel,but are less dampened than the Fuji 16MM/F2.8
4.)Flare resistance shooting into the sun was much better than expected
5.)Lovely Starbursts/Sunstars
6.)Appears to be reasonably sharp,but I will need further testing to confirm this
7.)Focusing seemed OK but need to test this further
 
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Morning all

Been looking at the Fujifilm X100 series, V is out of my reach, so it’s the T or F I’m planning on family, landscape, portrait shots and general photos, is the F worth the extra $$$ (crazy prices I know) with the megapixel bump, or should I look at the “T” series …. I could afford to stretch to the F but??
 
iMacMart said:
Morning all

Been looking at the Fujifilm X100 series, V is out of my reach, so it’s the T or F I’m planning on family, landscape, portrait shots and general photos, is the F worth the extra $$$ (crazy prices I know) with the megapixel bump, or should I look at the “T” series …. I could afford to stretch to the F but??
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Yes the F is worth getting, for me the T and older models are not worth bothering with in mid 2023. I would rather get other cameras.

Its not just megapixels, they improve each model in several ways and it sometimes more that a specs sheet shows.

Prices are stupid though, they used to be much cheaper. I remember buying a used mint V for £970 about about 20 months back and now they cost more than that even though over time it is supposed to be the other way around.
 
They are crazy money, even the mk1 people try to sell for £450. A year ago i saw a F for £800 which I should have bought, now a F is like £1000. The V is £1400 used, which is a new camera price.
 
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