willie_901
Veteran
The lens arrived today. The first thing I noticed is it is much smaller than I imagined. Even the petal hood (I don't like those) seems small. I guess either the lens doesn't photograph well or I didn't pay close attention to the numerous comparison photos posted all over the place. This lens has first Fuji lens cap that actually works well.
The construction quality is excellent just as with the 35/1.4 and 18/2. As has been often reported, the aperture rings seems too easy to move. The indents are crisp, but the resistance is lighter than most lenses. The push-pull MF ring is well-executed. MF operation is very nice. This lens really gets fly by wire focusing right. The DOF markings are useful too. The AF performance is also good. I have not done extensive testing in low light, but I did have success working in one low light, low contrast situation. I doubt focusing this lens will be a disappointment to anyone who knows how to use the 35/1.4 or 18/2 lenses.
I took a few throwaway photos on my early evening walk. The camera does feel a bit larger with this lens. I noticed a difference. I am definitely not buying any of the zooms. The X-Pro 1 fits easily in my ancient but trusty Mountain Smith bag with the other lenses, but only fits one way with the 14/2.8. I guess I need a new bag (everybody needs a new bag now and then). Actually, I can make do.
The lens is very easy to hold level using the artificial horizon. I use this EFOV all the time with the D700 and the X-Pro 1 is much easier to level.
The multi-metering mode is tricky using the because the frame is so large. Even though I know that overexposure is likely with super wide lenses, I still over exposed. :bang: I am going to play with spot meter mode and see if that approach works better with such a wide field of view.
Photozone just published a review/test of the lens.
http://www.photozone.de/fuji_x/807-fuji14f28
I did not do any sort of carefulboptical of testing today. There were no cyan color distortions at the frame edges I will say that overexposing the sky (not blowing it out, but getting close) does lead to some fringing in high contrast situations. Of course the Lightroom Defringe slider cleans it up. I did not notice any CA, but that could be corrected automatically. I'm thinking it's better to avoid pushing the highlight exposure with this lens. Photozone reports the lens has one one weakness, the vignetting is high. Of course this is corrected by the on-board lens profiles, so most people will never see it. The lens is quite sharp. Horizon detail held up well. I shot directly into sun during sunset. Exposure was key to reducing flare. I'm not sure how this works though. I just need to take more photos in diverse circumstances before I can say anything more specific.
I noticed the sharpening parameters I used with this lens seems different than those that work well with the 35 and 18 mm lenses. Pixel peeping detail was better with less sharpening. I didn't see any color bleeding, but it's to early to say anything definitive.
Eventually examples from this lens will show up on my Flickr stream. I'm in The middle of a extensive editing/processing project now, so it will be a while before I do much serious work with the lens.
Bottom line: this lens is expensive. So far it seems worth the cost. I look forward to using it in a variety of situations.
The construction quality is excellent just as with the 35/1.4 and 18/2. As has been often reported, the aperture rings seems too easy to move. The indents are crisp, but the resistance is lighter than most lenses. The push-pull MF ring is well-executed. MF operation is very nice. This lens really gets fly by wire focusing right. The DOF markings are useful too. The AF performance is also good. I have not done extensive testing in low light, but I did have success working in one low light, low contrast situation. I doubt focusing this lens will be a disappointment to anyone who knows how to use the 35/1.4 or 18/2 lenses.
I took a few throwaway photos on my early evening walk. The camera does feel a bit larger with this lens. I noticed a difference. I am definitely not buying any of the zooms. The X-Pro 1 fits easily in my ancient but trusty Mountain Smith bag with the other lenses, but only fits one way with the 14/2.8. I guess I need a new bag (everybody needs a new bag now and then). Actually, I can make do.
The lens is very easy to hold level using the artificial horizon. I use this EFOV all the time with the D700 and the X-Pro 1 is much easier to level.
The multi-metering mode is tricky using the because the frame is so large. Even though I know that overexposure is likely with super wide lenses, I still over exposed. :bang: I am going to play with spot meter mode and see if that approach works better with such a wide field of view.
Photozone just published a review/test of the lens.
http://www.photozone.de/fuji_x/807-fuji14f28
I did not do any sort of carefulboptical of testing today. There were no cyan color distortions at the frame edges I will say that overexposing the sky (not blowing it out, but getting close) does lead to some fringing in high contrast situations. Of course the Lightroom Defringe slider cleans it up. I did not notice any CA, but that could be corrected automatically. I'm thinking it's better to avoid pushing the highlight exposure with this lens. Photozone reports the lens has one one weakness, the vignetting is high. Of course this is corrected by the on-board lens profiles, so most people will never see it. The lens is quite sharp. Horizon detail held up well. I shot directly into sun during sunset. Exposure was key to reducing flare. I'm not sure how this works though. I just need to take more photos in diverse circumstances before I can say anything more specific.
I noticed the sharpening parameters I used with this lens seems different than those that work well with the 35 and 18 mm lenses. Pixel peeping detail was better with less sharpening. I didn't see any color bleeding, but it's to early to say anything definitive.
Eventually examples from this lens will show up on my Flickr stream. I'm in The middle of a extensive editing/processing project now, so it will be a while before I do much serious work with the lens.
Bottom line: this lens is expensive. So far it seems worth the cost. I look forward to using it in a variety of situations.
