{"id":1926,"date":"2013-06-20T19:52:25","date_gmt":"2013-06-21T00:52:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/?p=1926"},"modified":"2013-06-20T20:03:05","modified_gmt":"2013-06-21T01:03:05","slug":"review-fujifilm-fujinon-xf-14mm-f2-8-r","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/review-fujifilm-fujinon-xf-14mm-f2-8-r\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Fujifilm Fujinon XF 14mm f\/2.8 R"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the X-series of mirrorless cameras from Fujifilm launched last year, it began with three prime lenses: an 18mm f\/2, a 35mm f\/1.4 and a 60mm f\/2.4 Macro.\u00a0 This gave the system a nice base to start with, and provided three very high quality primes for the serious photographer.\u00a0 Later last year, Fuji expanded the line by adding two much-needed pieces: An ultra-wide prime and a standard zoom lens.\u00a0 With the bar set so high with the first three lenses, there were high expectations for the new lenses.\u00a0 Here, I’ll take a look at that ultra-wide prime: The Fujinon XF 14mm f\/2.8 R.\u00a0 At $899, the XF 14mm isn’t a cheap lens, but it’s certainly not ultra- expensive for a pro-grade ultra-wide angle.\u00a0 Let’s see if it’s good enough to deserve the price tag.<\/p>\n

If you haven\u2019t read my reviews before, I do not generally perform resolution tests or make charts to track quality measures.\u00a0 I take a real world approach to my reviews and evaluate how a lens or camera handles and works in regular use.<\/em><\/p>\n

Around the Lens – Build Quality<\/h3>\n
\"Fujinon<\/a>
Fujinon XF 14mm f\/2.8 R<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Like all of Fuji’s lenses for the X series, the 14mm f\/2.8 is a very solidly built lens that has echoes of the tank-like build of lenses from the 60s.\u00a0 The lens is entirely metal on the exterior and is based on a metal mount.\u00a0 The focus ring is broad, ribbed metal, and has a focus clutch mechanism to switch between manual focus and autofocus.\u00a0 When the ring is forward, towards the front element, the lens is in autofocus mode, and the focus ring can’t be moved (this also allows a solid section to twist the lens off and on the camera).\u00a0 When you pull the focus ring back, a focus distance scale is revealed, to work with the always visible depth of field scale.\u00a0 You can then use the lens in manual focus mode.\u00a0 When in manual focus mode, the focus ring is well damped and smooth, though mine makes an audible swoosh sound from the focus ring moving against the lens body when focusing.<\/p>\n

The aperture ring, present on all Fujinon XF lenses, sits behind the focus ring.\u00a0 There are click stops every 1\/3 stop from f\/2.8 to f\/22, with a deeper detent for the ‘A’ setting (which sets the camera to automatically select the aperture).\u00a0 While the ‘A’ detent is nice and solid, the other click stops for the apertures are very light, and the aperture ring on the 14mm is quite loose, making it very easy to accidentally change the aperture.\u00a0 It’s a very odd thing, and seems to be the case on all copies of the 14mm.\u00a0 I say odd because the aperture rings on all the other<\/p>\n

\"Fujinon<\/a>
Fujinon XF 14mm f\/2.8 – Manual Focus Mode<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

XF lenses I’ve used are nice and solid.\u00a0 The one on the 14mm can actually be shifted up and down.\u00a0 It just seems to be about a half a millimeter too large for the body.\u00a0 Another frustrating thing is that it seems that there is no actual detent at f\/2.8…it just sits there when set to that aperture, making it extremely easy to knock from f\/2.8 to f\/3.2.\u00a0 It’s an unforunate build issue on an otherwise extremely solidly built lens.<\/p>\n

Handling and Autofocus<\/h3>\n

The Fujinon 14mm f\/2.8 is not a small lens, nor is it huge.\u00a0 It’s bigger than many mirrorless lenses (and far larger than something like the Olympus 12mm f\/2 for Micro 4\/3), but it’s still quite a bit smaller than a 21mm f\/2.8 ultra-wide for full frame.\u00a0 Ultimately, the size and weight balance well on the X-E1, and it still fits quite well in my small bag that I use for my Fuji kit.<\/p>\n

The 14mm f\/2.8 has rather quick autofocus. I’m sure part of this is due to the shorter travel an ultra-wide lens requires, but among the Fuji lenses, the 14mm f\/2.8 focuses among the fastest.\u00a0 It is also very accurate.\u00a0 I have not had some of the focus failure issues with the 14mm as often as I have with some of the other Fuji lenses.\u00a0 It tends to focus quite quickly and surely.\u00a0 While not a macro lens by any means, the 14mm is capable of focusing very closely, to about 7 inches from the sensor plane, which is about 4 inches in front of the lens.<\/p>\n

Continue: Image Quality<\/a><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

Image Quality:<\/h3>\n

You’re going to hear a lot of superlatives on this page, and for good reason.\u00a0 To cut to the chase, the Fujinon XF 14mm f\/2.8 is optically exceptional.<\/p>\n

\"Leveque<\/a>
Leveque Tower – Fujinon XF 14mm f\/2.8 – Click for full size<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sharpness<\/h4>\n

The lens is very sharp over the vast majority of the frame right from f\/2.8, and stopping down to f\/5.6-f\/8 yields absolutely tack sharp images from extreme corner to extreme corner.\u00a0 It is extremely rare to find an ultra-wide-angle lens that performs this well across the frame.\u00a0\u00a0 For critical detail, it’s very hard to beat.\u00a0 While I have not had the pleasure of using the legendary Carl Zeiss 21mm f\/2.8 Distagon on Full Frame, of the many high-end wide-angle lenses I’ve ever used across multiple formats and systems, the Fujinon 14mm f\/2.8 is the sharpest.\u00a0 Check the full size image on the left, which was taken at f\/8.\u00a0 (Click to enlarge, then press the green arrow at the bottom of the image to expand to full size).\u00a0 Note the exceptional level of detail in the lower left corner, and the complete lack of smearing.\u00a0 Truly a great result here.<\/p>\n

Bokeh<\/h4>\n

While bokeh is of limited concern with a lens this wide, it is possible to throw the background out of focus at closer focusing distances and wide apertures.\u00a0 Luckily, the 14mm f\/2.8 performs pretty well here as well, with nicely neutral specular highlights and a general smoothness to the bokeh.\u00a0 You may not use shallow depth of field often with this lens, but it is possible.<\/p>\n

\"Ohio<\/a>
Ohio Statehouse – Fujinon XF 14mm f\/2.8 @ f\/2.8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Color, Chromatic Aberration and Flare<\/h4>\n

The XF 14mm f\/2.8 has a very nice, even color rendition that is neither too punchy nor too muted.\u00a0 It allows for real processing to taste.\u00a0 The contrast curve is also that nice middle ground between overly contrasty and flat.\u00a0 There is depth to the images, but not a loss in gradation due to excess contrast.\u00a0 The 14mm f\/2.8 controls chromatic aberration very well, essentially zero visible CA to the images…again, a remarkable result for such a wide lens.<\/p>\n

Flare is also relatively well controlled.\u00a0 It is possible to get the lens to flare, but it only seems to cause any sort of issues if the point light source is in a very specific part of the frame.\u00a0 There is one spot near the center of the frame that will yield some complex flare, and with light at the very edge of the frame, some flare occurs, but overall, there’s nothing really to speak of in this department…it’s quite well-managed.<\/p>\n

Distortion<\/h4>\n

Normally, I discuss distortion in the ‘catch all’ group above, but with the Fuji 14mm, I thought it deserved a special mention.\u00a0 One thing that is generally universal with ultra-wide lenses is the presence of some barrel distortion.\u00a0 In good lenses, it’s relatively well controlled and may only be visible in images with lots of straight lines, and then, it can be corrected well.\u00a0 In lenses with bad distortion, it can be quite distracting.<\/p>\n

The Fuji 14mm f\/2.8 has virtually ZERO distortion.\u00a0 None.\u00a0 I’ve seen some reviews that show that by empirical measurement, there’s 0.4% barrel distortion, but with a value that incredibly low, it looks absolutely perfect in the final images.\u00a0 These are not corrected in camera either…these are true, native optically corrected results, and this kind of performance is simply remarkable in a lens this wide.<\/p>\n

Continue: Conclusion and Image Samples<\/a><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h3>\n

Pros<\/h4>\n