XF30mm f2.8 R LM WR macro, I will call it XF30mm f2.8 here, was first teased in Fujifilm X Summit Omiya 2022 and then finally announced together with X-T5 on the Fujifilm X Summit Tokyo 2022. This lens also marked the “last of 10th anniversary of X mount” released in 2022.
XF30mm f2.8 R LM WR macro
Before I share further, I would like to thank Ms. Carmen, Marketing Manager of Fujifilm Singapore, for arranging and loaning the XF30mm f2.8 and X-E4 for this review. By the time this post was online, both the lens and camera unit had returned back to Fujifilm Singapore.Also, in this experience sharing, I tested with my X-T5 as well.
XF30mm f2.8 R LM WR macro
Intro
XF30mm f2.8 is the latest and the third macro lens in the Fujifilm lineup. At 45mm in full-frame equivalent, this focal length is unique for a life-size macro photography lens. That’s because typically when we think about macro lenses, they are usually about 100mm-ish focal length and shoot from a mid-range distance. Although there are manufacturers that create similar focal lengths to XF30mm, this is Fujifilm’s first of its kind.
First things first, the design element of this lens resembles much like the XF50mm f2. From afar, I am sure not everyone can tell the difference between the two (unless using a silver XF50mm f2). If you take a closer look, the XF30mm is a tad taller but it comes with a smaller filter thread at 43mm as compared to 46mm on the XF50mm f2.
XF30mm f2.8 and XF50mm f2Fuji X-E4. XF30mm f2.8 @ 30mm . f2.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 1000 . Classic Negative
Among its macro siblings, it is the lightest. Weighing 195 grams against XF60mm 2.4 at 215 grams and XF80mm f2.8 at 750 grams. It is also the smallest (smaller than XF60mm by a bit).
The aperture ring is as clicky as most of the Fuji lenses out there. It comes with an A (Auto) Position Lock too if you prefer to have aperture control via the front command dial.
At wide open, the image quality from this lens is super sharp with great contrast. Even when shooting so close to the subject, the sharpness remains great and the details are well-preserved. I think “clinical sharp” is the best word to describe the optic of this lens.
Unlike harsh and messy bokeh in some lenses, I do love and appreciate how the glass renders beautifully with the fall-off being seamless. Also, I think this is an expectation from Fuji-designed lenses but I do not observe any chromatic aberration or vignetting in the photos.
As for sunny star, this lens doesn’t seem to give a sharp one, even at its smallest aperture. But this is not important in my opinion because what’s important is its macro capability, right?
In the first part, its focus locked really quickly for the usual applications. Very similar to the new generation lens such as XF23mm f1.4 WR, etc, it just snaps onto the subject real quick. In this portion, I have no problem focusing both day and night. As for the cameras I have tested, it focuses fast on an X-E4 but it focuses even faster on the X-T5, which shows the power of the new X-Trans sensor and processor.
The second part, it has the typical macro lens characteristics when I shoot really close to the subject and under low light situations. I experienced a slight focus throw to infinity and back slowly before it locked to the subject. If you know how to recover from this situation quickly, then it will be fine.
The Minimum Focus Distance is only 10cm from the sensor, the shortest among all the Fujifilm lenses and that includes the macro lenses (XF64mm f2.4 is 26cm and XF80mm f2.8 is 25cm). It can shoot very close to the subject if you wonder. So close to the extent that the lens hood is in its way if you mount the lens hood for protection, etc.
Surprisingly, this is the cheapest macro lens among the 3 Fujifilm macro lenses. At 599 USD, it is merely 50 USD cheaper than the XF60mm f2.4 (the first-ever macro lens from Fujifilm).
This might be a good choice if you are a new photographer or looking for your first prime lens. It has a sweet focal length suitable for genres like street, documentary, journalism, portraits, animal portrait, cityscape, and landscape and also steps into the world of macro like insects, products, etc.
I love shooting with my XF80mm f2.8 especially when I shoot for products and portraits. That’s simply because of the sharpness and details that only a macro lens can deliver but it is not a cheap one and it is not the lightest prime lens.
Back to this lens, you do not need to be a macro lover to like this lens. Its MOD basically allows you to take a closer shot of your subject without worrying about having off-focus shots. It also has a focal length close to the “standard” prime lens. This brings out even more versatility in using this lens.
In short, the XF30mm f2.8 is not the brightest prime lens among the Fuji lenses, but it is one of the most well-balanced and versatile lenses on the market.
Disclaimer: 1. All the shots taken here are shot by me. 2. Most of the shots are straight out of the camera with some shots edited via In-Camera Raw Processing. 3. The opinions are based on my experience. If there is any mistake, please kindly drop me a message and I will gladly make the amendment. 4. I reserve ownership of these images, if you wish to use my images, please notify me.
If you like my works, please follow me on either one of the 2 Instagram accounts:
We all know the function and purpose of a camera rear body cap. It is to cover and protect the sensor when it is not in use. That’s simple.
FunLeader Caplens 18mm f8 Pro
Some of us might even be aware of some interesting body caps such as Fujifilm XM-FL 24mm, 7artisans 18mm f6.3, or other pinhole body cap lenses. The purpose is to enjoy the fun of shooting and create very lomography kind of photo results.
FunLeader Caplens 18mm f8 Pro
Before I continue further, I would like to thank the good guy at FunLeader for sending this cap lens to me for review without any hesitation. I am grateful to them for supporting and believing in me. Nonetheless, this post is not biased and shared purely my experience with the cap lens.
Intro
FunLeader launched their first FunLeader Caplens 18mm f8.0 (a Kickstarter product) back in December 2019. It is still available on FunLeader’s website today! And now, FunLeader launches their upgraded cap lens and it is called FunLeader Caplens 18mm f8 0.3m-∞ Pro. From the name, we can tell there must be something different from their 2019 cap lens, and of course, the name has already given out the hint.
Fuji X-T5 . FunLeader Caplens 18mm f8 Pro @ 18mm . f8 . 1/1250″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
This 27mm (in full-frame equivalent) wide-angle focal length is one of the popular focal lengths among street photographers. As the name suggested, f8 is its brightest aperture. In fact, f8 is the only aperture, and no other aperture options are available to choose from. So how is it going to perform as an f8 lens? Continue to scroll down.
Fuji X-T5 . FunLeader Caplens 18mm f8 Pro @ 18mm . f8 . 1/170″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Note: This cap lens comes with 2 mounts, E-mount and X-mount.
Design & Build Quality
It is an aluminum build cap lens. It is well constructed with unexpectedly sleek and decent built quality. It weighs 71 grams and is 17 mm thick! It seems light in number but you can feel the weight of the cap lens when you hold it in your hand.
Being a cap lens also means that there is no filter thread for you to mount your filters in and does not come with a lens cap.
Focusing
Fuji X-T5 . FunLeader Caplens 18mm f8 Pro @ 18mm . f8 . 1/2″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Like all cap lenses, it is a fixed aperture and non-electronic contact. The similarity stops here. FunLeader 18mm f8 pro comes with an adjustable focus dial with distances between 0.3m, 0.5m, 0.7m, 1m, 2m, and infinity. If you are aware, the usual body cap lenses do not provide such functionality.
Fuji X-T5 . FunLeader Caplens 18mm f8 Pro @ 18mm . f8 . 1/80″ . ISO 640 . Nostalgic Negative
The idea of having an adjustable focus distance is excellent. It allows photographers to have close to manual lens shooting experience.
And very similar to changing the aperture on some manual lenses, changing between the focus distances gives excellent clicky feedback.
I do not have the first-generation cap lens from FunLeader, hence, I am not sure how much the image quality has improved in this pro version. In my opinion, the image quality is within my expectation. That doesn’t mean the image quality is excellent but acceptable for a cap lens.
I noticed that the photos look better with any focus distance except for infinity. For most focus distances, the results look good, adequately sharp with decent contrast in it.
At infinity, the shots sometimes look unexpectedly soft, lacking a certain level of sharpness, and contrast. Vignetting is pretty strong with this cap lens. On the other hand, thanks to the small aperture value, I do not observe any chromatic aberration.
By the way, if you are looking to create a sunny star shot from this cap lens, you should probably look out for another lens because this cap lens does not come with any aperture blade.
Honestly, for a cap lens to have an MFD of 30 cm is impressive. It is a tiny, extremely compact “lens” than any other lens out there in the market. For comparison, XM-FL 24mm has an MFD of 1 meter, 7artisans 18mm f6.3 is 35cm and the original cap lens is 80 cm.
Fuji X-T5 . FunLeader Caplens 18mm f8 Pro @ 18mm . f8 . 1/150″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . FunLeader Caplens 18mm f8 Pro @ 18mm . f8 . 1/85″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
As I mentioned earlier, the results at 30 cm are pretty usable. The sharpness and contrast are pretty good here.
Fuji X-T5 . FunLeader Caplens 18mm f8 Pro @ 18mm . f8 . 1/420″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic NegativeFuji X-T5 . FunLeader Caplens 18mm f8 Pro @ 18mm . f8 . 1/180″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative
Other
FunLeader is a thoughtful company. Knowing that most photographers will stick the cap lens to their camera, FunLeader still includes a pouch for the cap lens when it is not in use. “Lens” protection in a way.
Cap lens pouch
Something to note and maybe it is only me (user problem). I do encounter some dust trapped around the cap lens, especially the gap between the focus dial and the non-movable area. Some of the dust can be easily removed but some are just stubbornly stuck there.
Secondly, due to its slim design, the focus dial is slim too. Hence, it is a little hard to grab with big fingers. But I get used to it after a little familiarization.
Fuji X-T5 . FunLeader Caplens 18mm f8 Pro @ 18mm . f8 . 1/20″ . ISO 3200 . Nostalgic Negative Fuji X-T5 . FunLeader Caplens 18mm f8 Pro @ 18mm . f8 . 1/120″ . ISO 3200 . Nostalgic NegativeFuji X-T5 . FunLeader Caplens 18mm f8 Pro @ 18mm . f8 . 1/200″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Although it is not able to create a sunny star shot, it does have some flares when you are facing the sun.
For the price of 139 USD, it is not cheap as there are many fully functional manual lenses around this price or even cheaper. But if you want it, you will get it, right?
Fuji X-T5 . FunLeader Caplens 18mm f8 Pro @ 18mm . f8 . 1/6400″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative
Who is this for?
This wide-angle cap lens covers quite a good coverage of photography genres such as landscape, cityscape, and street.
Like all cap lenses, this cap lens comes with one and only one aperture, f8. If you are looking for challenging yourself shooting street with a fixed aperture lens, for the “Lomographic” fun and enjoying straightforward results, then this cap lens might be suitable for you.
Fuji X-T5 . FunLeader Caplens 18mm f8 Pro @ 18mm . f8 . 1/56″ . ISO 3200 . Nostalgic Negative
Also, the holiday season is coming and I think it is a great gift to your fellow photographer friends.
Conclusion
From this Caplens 18mm f8 Pro, I can see innovation from the company. FunLeader had made some good improvements from the first-generation cap lens such as improved MFD, lighter weight, and most important of all, focus dial. This focus dial is the first of its kind and no one else actually did it, except FunLeader.
If you are interested in getting this cap lens, the good guy at FunLeader has given me the coupon code “ALWINKOK” and you can enjoy 5% off with your purchase at checkout.
Thank you for reading.
Disclaimer: 1. All the shots taken here are shot by me. 2. Most of the shots are straight out of the camera with some shots edited via In-Camera Raw Processing. 3. The opinions are based on my experience. If there is any mistake, please kindly drop me a message and I will gladly make the amendment. 4. I reserve ownership of these images, if you wish to use my images, please notify me.
If you like my works, please follow me on either one of the 2 Instagram accounts:
TTArtisan has just announced yet another fast, bright lens. The TTArtisan 35mm f0.95 is the second lens after TTArtisan 50mm f0.95. If you are a fan of TTArtisan or somehow followed them closely, you will notice that they are slowly expanding and differentiating their product line-up. While they focus on compactness and portability lenses like the TTArtisan 25mm f2, they have another product line-up that goes “all-in” by creating the fastest, brightest lens they can. Can this lens do as good as its sibling? Let’s find out.
TTArtisan 35mm f0.95TTArtisan 35mm f0.95
Before I continue with my sharing, I thank TTArtisan for sending this lens to me. To the readers passing by this blog post, you can rest assured that I give my honest opinions on this lens, similar to the rest of the TTArtisan products that I have shared.
Intro
This is TTArtisan’s second 35mm (or 50mm in full-frame equivalent focal length) lens for the APS-C sensor. This focal length is also one of my favorite focal lengths, especially for street shots and simple portraits, and I believe there are many photographers who love this focal length too.
TTArtisan does a good job of distinguishing its lens design and this design element maintains the same as the TTArtisan 50mm f0.95. The zebra-like design, however, has received mixed opinions among photographers and some discussions are made among the groups.
The aperture ring is as good as the rest of the TTArtisans lens lineup. It gives a very comfortable clicky experience when you rotate the aperture ring. I do enjoy changing apertures because of that even when I am just holding my camera in my hand.
When I have this lens, there is no information about its specification and also its weight. So I use my wife’s kitchen weighing scale to weigh. It is 243 grams (258 grams with the lens cap). It is 168 grams lighter than the sibling so it is not the heaviest manual lens.
When you hold this lens, the first thing you will feel is the weight. Secondly, you can also feel how well the full metal and glass built quality are.
Image Quality
The depth of field of f0.95 is really very shallow and thus gives me an issue nailing the shots. When I manage to hit a focused shot, this lens can give a kind of soft and glowing character which gives us a kind of dreamy feel to the photos.
On the other hand, chromatic aberration and vignetting are observable, especially at wide open. This is an expected result (at least to me) but it can fix in post-processing.
In my test, nonetheless, shooting at f2 meets my minimum acceptance of a good level of sharpness and contrast. Again, this is my personal preference and yours might be different from me.
The focus throw is approximately 180° which gives an ample amount of “distance” for more precise and easier focus. This really helps a lot, particularly for photographers who are not getting used to manual focus.
Minimum Focus Distance (MFD)
Similar to most 35mm lenses out in the market, the MFD is 35 cm. In my opinion, nothing to complain about the MFD. Shooting at this MFD allows better subject-background separation but if you shoot wide open, you will get to see heavier dreamy soft shots than any other focus distance.
Given that it is one of the fastest lenses in the market, at 199 USD, I think the lens is well-priced and also slightly cheaper than its sibling. Moreover, the price is highly competitive as compared to its competitors.
This lens is a lens you can consider if you are a dreamy and soft photo lover and you know what you want to achieve with this lens. It is also lighter than its sibling, making it a better option if someone wants that fast and bright lens.
If you are a first-timer with manual lenses and you are unsure if you want to invest in them or are ready for the world of manual focusing lenses, then I think you can consider many other TTArtisan lenses that are an even lighter and more affordable option.
if you are like me who prefers the results taken at f2, shouldn’t it make sense for me to choose the other f2 lenses instead of this one? Yes, you can consider that but photographers always say that it is always to have such a lens on standby with you. Because you never know when you will need it.
Conclusion
Both siblings share a lot of common things like image quality, built quality, and the character of the lens. Everything I expect from this lens is within my expectation, which is a good thing. If choosing between the 2 siblings, I will prefer to get this lens over the other, all because of the weight and versatility.
TTArtisan shows no sign of stopping here and I am sure these benefits photographers like us as we have more lens options to choose from. My guess is that they are probably going to launch the 3rd lens for this category and I hope that 23mm will be the one. I am excited and looking forward to what TTArtisan has up its sleeve in the year 2023.
Thank you for reading.
Disclaimer: 1. All the shots taken here are shot by me. 2. Most of the shots are straight out of the camera with some shots edited via In-Camera Raw Processing. 3. The opinions are based on my experience. If there is any mistake, please kindly drop me a message and I will gladly make the amendment. 4. I reserve ownership of these images, if you wish to use my images, please notify me.
If you like my works, please follow me on either one of the 2 Instagram accounts:
My most anticipated camera is finally here. I skipped X-T4 not because it is not a worthy camera to upgrade. An improved battery and In-Body Image Stabilization are most welcome. But something I am unexpected back then is that it came with a fold-out fully articulated screen. Partly because I love how the 3-way tilting screen works for me and if I used a similar screen configuration like the X-T4 and X-S10, I have some parallax error when I fold out the screen for low-angle shots. Nevertheless, at that point in time, the choice of having an articulated screen is the best option as the X-T4 was positioned as a hybrid flagship camera.
Fuji X-T5
Now, X-T4 has 2 indirect successors, X-H2S and X-H2. They are the new generation hybrid flagship cameras in the Fujifilm line-up. Now it is time for Fujifilm to give us photographers a photography-centric camera and that’s true. During the X Summit Tokyo 2022, Yuji Igarashi san mentioned “FujiFilm will never forget photograph, which means, we will never forget its photographic cameras.” This is where I think Fujifilm is clear and remain committed to photographers like us and of course, hearing our voices and caring about our feedback.
Fuji X-T5
Before I continue further, I would like to thank Ms. Carmen, Marketing Manager of Fujifilm Singapore, for arranging and loaning the X-T5 for review. By the time this post is online, the camera unit had returned back to Fujifilm Singapore.
Fuji X-T5
Design, Build Quality, Handling & The Shutter…
X-T5, in general, maintains the same good retrospective design. It obtains many similarities to X-T2/T3 such as a 3-way tilting LCD screen and compact size (actually a tad smaller). Not only that, but it also takes something good (and bad) from the X-T4 too.
Dials, dials, and dials. This should be one of the many reasons why we love Fuji. And the dials aren’t disappointing us. They are good to turn and give one of the best tactile feedbacks thus far. But there is one dial that I am not sure fits the “Photography first” philosophy and that is the “Still/Movie mode dial”. How I wish that X-T5 has the same “Metering” dial placement as the X-T3 instead of the “Still/Movie mode dial” found in the X-T4. But I guess, one needs to know how to be contented. (Metering mode can be accessed via the “Up” selector button.)
With the redesign of the camera grip, it now feels better to hold than the X-T3. But if you have big hands like me, I will suggest you get a handgrip to have that extra confidence to hold the camera.
The weight of the X-T5 is slightly heavier than X-T3, 557 grams against 539 grams (both with battery). In practice, it is hard to tell which one is heavier with them holding onto your hand. But definitely lighter than X-T4’s 607 grams.
Since X-T5 inherits almost everything internally from X-H2, I will not discuss much over here. It comes with the X-Trans CMOS sensor 5 HR and the X-Processor 5. In short, the photography performance is identical during my test (except for the videography).
Since it has the same sensor and processor so everything should be the same, right? In my opinion, yes. Or at least I do not see anything different. One word: awesome!
Based on my camera usage, I feel that the autofocus performance is (almost) no different from the X-H2. Of course, it is also depending on which lenses you are using. Combining X-T5 with newer lenses makes the overall experience snappier, locking onto the subject faster and more accurately. While the older lenses (particularly without Linear Motor), are slower but are still not far off too.
How about comparing both X-T3 and X-T5? In my opinion, you can really feel the difference in AF performance and accuracy rate between both of them, regardless of the newer or old lenses.
IBIS
X-T5 can also achieve up to 7 stops compensation with some lenses up to 5 stops. Yes, the same as X-H2 and X-H2S. So technically I should be able to obtain a good 1/2-second result like the one I did in X-H2 and X-H2S. Well, close enough. I manage to get a 1-second hand-held shot.
According to CIPA, the battery life of NP-W235 on X-T5 can achieve 580 shots while 680 shots on X-H2. In my test, I spend about 40% of the battery life in return for 350+ shots. Doing some mathematics calculations, it should achieve about 700 shots or more. Of course, we need to include many factors like how we use the camera, the environment, etc.
With the advantage of 40 megapixels, I hope they will update X-T5 (and X-H2) with more aspect ratios such as X-Pan 65:24 and any other ratios that GFX gets to enjoy. Although cropping can be done in post, but it will be even better if we have this option right from the camera.
I have mentioned this before in my X-H2 review but I want to highlight it here again. 40 megapixels is a big resolution and I believe not everyone who upgrades to X-T5 wishes to have kept the 40-megapixel raw file. I hope to see if there is an option as to what raw resolution (i.e. large, medium, small) we want to keep, similar to other brands with such offerings. This can be done easily via firmware updates.
If Fujifilm reads this, I hope they can consider these as future firmware updates.
Something worth taking note of:
When you turn the ISO dial, make sure that the Drive dial is not turning together with the ISO dial. Because in my testing, I do turn the Drive dial by accident. Thanks to my big fingers. So if goes unnoticed, you will be taking an HDR shot.
The 3-way tilting LCD screen has a good resolution pump. This does help a lot especially when I do I use focus peaking for my manual lens shooting and also improves viewing the image sharpness.
Unfortunately, the EVF resolution remains the same but I am still happy.
There is a 160-megapixel pixel-shift capability too. A good add-on from the X-H2. Unfortunately, I did not spend time testing out this.
Who is this for?
For photographers who have been using Fuji X-T1, X-T2, and X-T3 or X-Txx series, or even the X-Txxx series and are keen to look for a camera body upgrade. This is the camera you can consider getting and I believe it should last us many years ahead.
For X-T4 photographers, you may consider if you really need to upgrade. Personally, I think it is still a good camera to shoot with.
For beginners, this camera is no doubt a great camera to pick up if you have the budget. Photography is an expensive hobby. The investment you put in is not only a camera body and a lens. There are many accessories that need to be filled too. If you have a tight budget, my suggestion is to get a lower-end body with a better lens(es). Because glass is always more important.
There are many influencers ranting about why X-T5 overlapping X-H2 and many other things about X-T5. But I can see why and what all this ranting is about. Simply they are not familiar with Fujifilm and Fujifilm’s new directions. They choose to rant than spend time understanding what Fujifilm has changed and the decision Fujifilm made and why X-T5 exists in the first place.
In my opinion, this camera definitely has the biggest upgrades for photographers who are still using X-T3 and earlier models. Gives us the 3-ways tilt screen, IBIS, a good AF system, a new processor, 40 megapixels resolution, and a sleeker retrospective design. From a photography perspective, Fujifilm is not skimmed on the functionalities of the X-T5. In fact, all the X-H2 photography functionalities are packed into X-T5.
This camera checks all the upgrades and I believe this is the camera that many Fujifilm fanboys and fangirls will be upgrading with. All because X-T5 is worthy.
I have placed my order and so do some of my friends. Do you think X-T5 is a good camera? Share with me and discuss.
Thank you for reading.
Disclaimer: 1. All the shots taken here are shot by me. 2. Most of the shots are straight out of the camera with some shots edited via In-Camera Raw Processing. 3. The opinions are based on my experience. If there is any mistake, please kindly drop me a message and I will gladly make the amendment. 4. I reserve ownership of these images, if you wish to use my images, please notify me. 5. The camera firmware is 1.42. 6. The photos are resized to 30% of the original size except for cropped ones. If you wish to see the original file, contact me and I am happy to share it with you.
If you like my works, please follow me on either one of the 2 Instagram accounts:
TTArtisan focuses very much on portability and compactness and TTArtisan 25mm f2 is another product born from this idea.
TTArtisan 25mm f2
Before I begin, I thank TTArtisan for their tremendous support towards me. For readers out there, you can rest assured that I am and always give my honest opinions for their products and that’s including this lens.
TTArtisan 25mm f2TTArtisan 25mm f2
Intro
At 38mm full-frame equivalent focal length, it reminds me of the point-and-shoot film camera back in those days. I remember it was just a fixed focal length and I think it was quite common back then before it goes wider and wider and wider…
The design element of this TTArtisan 25mm f2 follows exactly the same as the TTArtisan 50mm f2. Modern, minimalistic, and sleek are probably the best words to describe this lens.
The aperture ring still comes with that enjoyable and satisfying clicky experience. As for the manual focus ring, it is still as smooth as the other TTArtisan lenses. Basically, you are assured that this lens’s quality is maintained at TTArtisan’s standard.
The lens cap is the screw-in type. It is up to individuals to love it or hate it. As for me, more like I have to get used to it.
At 167.4 grams, the weight of this lens is really good to hold. Although it is not as light as the newly announced TTArtisan AF 27mm f2.8, it is still the lightest among their manual lens lineups.
There is one thing that I have never mentioned in all my manual lens reviews. In case you wonder, the lens does protrude a little when you rotate the focus ring to the Minimum Focus Distance (MFD).
It has a small filter size of 43mm. If you are looking for a hood to put it on, it is still able to find one online. Please note that no hood is included.
Image Quality
The image quality from this lens is surprisingly good and I meant it. Who would expect a lens that is so affordable yet has decent image quality? Typically we expect some will cut corners somehow.
Also, you will also observe some vignetting for wide-open shots. This is a common behavior for TTArtisan lenses and this applies to other third-party lenses too.
From MFD to infinity, the focus throw is approximately 160°. In my view, this compact lens gives quite an ample amount of “distance” for more precise focusing.
Like most manual lenses, the result is might not at its sharpest at the infinity marking. Rotate slightly backward on the focus ring to get a better result.
This lens has an MFD of 25 cm which means it can do quite a close-up shot if you want to. You will also notice some softness when shooting at MFD wide-open. I think it is acceptable and pretty much-expected behavior.
While I thought that the TTArtsian 50mm f2 is the cheapest lens, this 25mm has set a whole new record of 55 USD. Yes, this is how much this lens costs. It can go even lower with occasional promotion from TTArtisan.
There are always pros and cons for all lenses. This lens is no exception. Well, it depends on how you see this negative thing. If you point the lens facing to a light source at a specific angle at f2, you will have a light-blooming effect. Some people love it, and some people don’t. As for me, I kind of love it as it gives an additional special character to the lens. The blooming effect will get reduced with a smaller aperture. But beyond the light-blooming effect, it can also introduce some unique flare. So please beware. Lens hood might be able to solve this problem. If you happened to own this lens and a compatible lens hood, please let me know if it does solve it.
This is easily one of the most affordable and usable lenses to consider if you want to experience what it is like using a fully manual lens. The focal length of this lens is very easy to adapt to and is very suitable for genres like street, journalist, documentaries, landscapes, cityscapes, and even portraits.
For photographers who want to let their older Fujifilm cameras have their “second life”, you can consider getting one too. It might spice up your love with the cameras again.
TTArtisan surprised me once again with this lens. At USD 55, this is the cheapest manual lens ever produced by TTArtisan yet. But they do not compromise on both build quality and image quality. In fact, I am surprised by how usable the images are at wide open and the build quality is as good as other TTArtisan lenses. This is easily a recommendation from me to a photographer wanting to experience manual lenses.
I love to see more of this compact lens series with an affordable price point in the near future. Please continue to give us some surprises.
Thank you for reading.
Disclaimer: 1. All the shots taken here are shot by me. 2. Most of the shots are straight out of the camera with some shots edited via In-Camera Raw Processing. 3. The opinions are based on my experience. If there is any mistake, please kindly drop me a message and I will gladly make the amendment. 4. I reserve ownership of these images, if you wish to use my images, please notify me.
If you like my works, please follow me on either one of the 2 Instagram accounts:
TTArtisan had been teasing us about their very first autofocus (AF) lens since September 2021. While there was very little information shared about the 32mm f2.8 lens, the only thing we know is that it will be available for various camera systems.
TTArtisan AF 27mm f2.8
However, the much anticipated AF lens did not arrive in many systems except for the Nikon Z mount. What I have understood from TTArtisan is that they faced some challenges in the process of manufacturing it and they did not share more in-depth about it. Nevertheless, I am glad they have finally announced their first AF lens and release for sale!
Before I share my experience with this lens, I would like to thank TTArtisan for sending this lens for my review. I appreciate their support to make this post a reality.
Intro
I believe this focal length has caught almost everyone by surprise and that’s including me. Why TTArtisan released this 40mm full-frame equivalent focal length as their first AF lens for Fujifilm and not the 35mm or 50mm equivalent focal length?
According to TTArtisan, they are focusing a lot on portable and compact lenses. Considering the size of this lens, it suits well with the retro style of Fuji camera bodies and together in a smaller package for easy to carry around for street photography.
Design and Build Quality
Just like the other TTArtisan lenses, it comes with a metal-built body (made of aviation aluminum). But I have to say that when I first hold it, it feels very light. Unlikely the usual weighty lenses, this lens is unbelievably light. According to my wife’s kitchen weighing scale, it weighs at 89 grams only (and 93 grams with the lens hood).
Considering how compact the lens is, the build quality is good. Over here, TTArtisan does not take a shortcut, it does come with a clickable aperture ring and a manual focus ring. The click, however, seems to be stiffer than the other TTArtisan manual lenses. But I accept it since it is so compact.
On the other hand, the manual focus ring is buttery smooth as usual.
One interesting thing to note, TTArtisan has finally come with a lens hood and it is a light small metal piece of protection like the one found in XF27mm.
The lens cap is no longer metal built and unlike screw-in types like 50mm f0.95 or capped-on types like 23mm f1.4. Now it is the pinch-to-release type and it is made of plastic. The good thing is that it can cover the lens with and without the lens hood on.
For a note, it comes in 2 colors: Black and Titanium. From the official post, I think the Titanium looks good.
At wide open, you will notice the heavy vignetting at the corners and it is more obvious when focusing at infinity. It seems to be inherent in the same characteristic as many other TTArtisan lenses. But it can be easily corrected via post-edit.
If you know me, I usually increase 1-stop of the aperture instead of using the widest aperture on most of the TTArtisan manual lenses. But the image quality results from this lens at f2.8 are actually nice, sharp, and totally usable.
This lens comes with Stepper Motor (STM) which is also stated to adopt the “STM+leading screw”. I am unsure what that actually means, but to my surprise, this lens has a very silent and smooth focusing system. But how fast is this lens performing?
Based on my test with 2 camera bodies (X-E3 and X-Pro 3), this lens’s autofocus (AF) speed is very much dependent on the camera bodies. On X-E3, its AF is quite slow as compared to X-Pro 3. After all, the camera body does play a part in the lens focusing speed. So to be fair to the lens, it performs pretty decently fast and it is internal focusing!
Minimum Focus Distance
The Minimum Focus Distance is 35 cm. In real life scenario, it is not as close as I thought it would be. In spite of that, it does help to separate the main subject from the others very well.
This lens comes with a unique rear lens cover. It is actually a dock with a built-in USB C port (yeah!) connection that allows firmware upgrading in the future. That’s sweet.
Rear lens cover (also docking station)Left: USB-C port Right: TTArtisan AF 27mm f2.8 with docking station
My suggestion is to leave the rear dock cover at home and use another rear lens cover to cover it or just stick it with the camera body.
Oh yes, this lens is not weather resistant but given the price of this lens, I accepted that.
Who is this for?
It is a street lens. Having said that, I could recommend everyone to get one. Especially one who wants to try out what a 40mm focal length is like, use it as a lens cap, give this manufacturer’s lens a try or gift your photographer friends (the Christmas season is around the corner).
With the release of this lens, it means TTArtisan is the latest manufacturer joining other manufacturers like Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, Viltrox, and Rokinon/Samyang in offering third-party autofocus lenses for the Fuji X-mount system.
At the price of 149 USD, I can’t help to think it is the cheapest option to get as an AF lens in the market. It is, even more, cheaper than the XF27mm f2.8 WR which costs 399 USD. I mean I cannot find any reason not to recommend this lens to everyone. It is a nice small and compact lens that can go easily with any Fuji camera.
TTArtisan really makes a bold move in this and this is a good start. I am happy to see them onboarding into this X-mount journey and giving us photographers one more option to choose from.
As I mentioned earlier, TTArtisan is working toward portable and compact lenses. It’s a good hint of what will be TTArtisan’s next AF lens to be there for us in the near future. I am hoping for an 18mm f2 lens (or similar), what will be your wish lens?
TTArtisan AF 27mm f2.8 with square hood
Thank you for reading.
Disclaimer: 1. All the shots taken here are shot by me. 2. Most of the shots are straight out of the camera with some shots edited via In-Camera Raw Processing. 3. The opinions are based on my experience. If there is any mistake, please kindly drop me a message and I will gladly make the amendment. 4. I reserve ownership of these images, if you wish to use my images, please notify me. 5. Thank you Ivan Wong from Lightsmith Co for lending me the X-Pro 3.
If you like my works, please follow me on either one of the 2 Instagram accounts:
4 months later, here comes the second flagship camera from Fujifilm, the X-H2. Every camera manufacturer usually releases one flagship camera to showcase the state-of-the-art technologies that they offer. But this is not the case for Fujifilm, they have a different approach, instead of releasing one flagship camera, they release two flagship cameras.
X-H2X-H2
Come to think of this, we have this conception that the flagship camera has to be the one and only one on the top of the lineup. But it is totally common in the mobile phone industry, many manufacturers announced dual, trio or quartet flagship models. Think Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi. I have nothing against this strategy. Instead, I feel that this is a good move to allow photographers to choose the right option for their needs (speed, resolution, or both) and budgets for their investments.
Before I continue with the review, I would like to thank Ms Carmen, Marketing Manager of Fujifilm Singapore, for arranging and loaning the X-H2 for review. By the time this review is online, the camera unit had returned back to Fujifilm Singapore.
In this hands-on review, I will do the same approach as I did with the X-H2S; to use various lenses to see how the lenses perform with this new 40 megapixels camera.
Everything about its design, build quality, handling, shutter, and EVF are exactly the same as the X-H2S. Since it is totally the same experience so I will not repeat them over here. If you are interested, you can read it in my X-H2S post.
Over here, Fujifilm uses the X-Trans CMOS sensor 5 HR (not the HS, and since the Resolution is the key thing and hence the “R”). The X-Processor 5 is the same as the one equipped with the X-H2S. Similarly, it has the Nostalgic Negative film simulation too, the second APS-C camera to come with this film simulation. Again, I just want to highlight it because I like this film simulation.
Not everything is exactly identical to the X-H2S. Fujifilm has something up its sleeve with this camera. In fact, there are 2 exciting improvements over the X-H2S (at least in my opinion).
The first exciting improvement is that it has the lowest base ISO since X-T3 was introduced with base ISO 160. It is now at ISO 125, which technically speaking will gives a cleaner and higher quality photo.
Left: Fuji X-H2 . XF50mm f1 WR @ 50mm . f1 . 1/7500″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative Right: Fuji X-H2 . XF50mm f1 WR @ 50mm . f1 . 1/300″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
The second one is even more attention-grabbing, it has a maximum electronic shutter speed of 1/180,000, an increase of approximately 2.5 stops compared to other X-Series cameras (maximum at 1/32,000). In practical usage, I can shoot wide open without the help of using a Neutral-density filter. But I have no idea when I will need this blazing fast shutter speed but it is always good to have this functionality ready.
Image Quality
When rumours are flying around the internet sharing about 40 megapixels sensors, I am sure everyone who reads it is excited but what worried the most to the majority of the photographers including myself is whether the older lenses cannot resolve the sensor well. I am also sure that I am not the only pessimistic person here.
Left: Fuji X-H2 . XF50mm f1 WR @ 50mm . f1 . 1/480″ . ISO 400 . Nostalgic Negative Right: Cropped
According to the Fujifilm website, they have listed what lenses at wide open can achieve edge-to-edge, high-resolution performance, allowing the photographers to fully experience the 40 megapixels sensor has to offer. They also highlight that lenses that are not listed will allow photographers to experience improved resolution performance of 40 megapixels.
Okay… Although the message here seems to be a little bit grey area but it sounds not too bad or so it seems to be. It still makes me wonder how good can the old lenses (and 3rd party manual lenses) resolve this high-resolution megapixels?
Left: Fuji X-H2 . XF50mm f1 WR @ 50mm . f1 . 1/75″ . ISO 160 . Nostalgic Negative Right: Fuji X-H2 . XF16mm f1.4 @ 16mm . f4 . 0.35″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Truth be told, the images from those lenses turn out to be just fine or slightly better (depending on the individual perspective). They are not as bad as I thought they would be. My personal conclusion is that the old lenses and other manual lenses can resolve newer sensors. But the clarity level might not be as great as the newer lenses or the lenses that Fujifilm listed out there.
Undoubtedly, the number “40” is a new achievement in the APS-C camera category. The previous largest resolution I know is 33 megapixels from Canon. Although getting larger megapixels is always a good thing to have, retaining a decent amount of quality details is more important in my opinion. I’m glad X-H2 delivered it quite well.
Left: Fuji X-H2 . XF50mm f1 WR @ 50mm . f1 . 1/120″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative Right: Fuji X-H2 . XF16mm f1.4 @ 16mm . f5.6 . 1/750″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
There are 2 ways to make full use of the 40 megapixels. The first one is to print out at a whopping 8 meters x 6 meters print but unfortunately, not everyone has the space to hang it. So we talk about the second way and that is having the luxury to crop. While it cannot compare against the GFX cameras that come with 50 megapixels or 100 megapixels, it still has quite a good resolution to crop. Having said that, I am not a person who loves to crop photos. But with this amount of resolution, it does help to do some slight adjustments or creative crop to the photos for me.
Fuji X-H2 . XF23mm f1.4 WR @ 23mm . f5 . 2″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic NegativeOne of my favourite crop ratio – 65:24
Performance
The autofocus performance for this camera is blazing fast with newer lenses. As for older lenses (especially without Linear Motor), the camera is still able to perform faster and snappier than equipping them on my X-T3. So I can say that the X-H2’s AF performance is kind of subject to what lenses you are using but the experience is not too far off.
What about comparing both X-H2S and X-H2? Well, the X-H2S indeed performs faster but just narrowly faster. You can only tell the difference when you test both cameras side by side.
Under decent street light situations, the AF performance is decently fast. That said, it is also depending on what lenses you are using to shoot as some older lenses might affect the AF performance by a little.
The eye-AF performance is sufficiently better than the previous generation processor and image sensor. It is much stickier than before and can detect the eye even if the person is putting on a mask. Similar to X-H2S, if there is more than one person in the frame, you may experience the eye-AF jumping back and forth.
IBIS
Consistent with X-H2S, the X-H2 also achieve up to 7 stops compensation with some lenses up to 5 stops. I test with the legendary XF 35mm f1.4 and with some luck, I can manage to snap 0.7-second exposure handheld. For XF18-55mm, I am able to accomplish a 1/2 second result at a higher success rate with my shaky hands.
For my usage in the past 2 weeks, I took about 700 shots in one of the days and it is left with approximately 25%. So 1 battery can definitely last me for a day. If I going to overseas travelling, I think bringing 2 extra batteries is more than enough. I probably will not even need to change the battery as often as I did with my X-T3 (which I need to change every half day).
To my surprise, according to CIPA standards, the battery life is rated as 680 shots. So I think they might have tested the battery with maximum performance while I using the normal performance.
40 Megapixels is a lot and I believe not every photographer wants to have that full resolution, especially in RAW. At least a friend of mine who is a full-time photographer told me that. He explains that the nature of his work does not require such a big resolution as it will take up more of his processing time.
He hopes to see Fujifilm will take into consideration updating the firmware and implement the option to select the RAW size (i.e. M size RAW and S size RAW). The current setting only allows having M size JPEG and S size JPEG while keeping full resolution RAW.
After my 2 weeks of testing, I believe the X-H2 will be the popular option among the dual flagships. Putting the price aside, both cameras’ performances are very identical. Given that the X-H2 has more functionalities improvements like lower base ISO, faster electronic shutter speed and 8K video, I do see why it is more popular than the X-H2S.
Now, what excited me is the X-T5. While no one knows when it will be announced and arrive on our shores, but what X-H2 has internally might shed some light on how X-T5 might have. I hope it will keep most functionalities minus the 8K video and some of the videography functions. Sorry, I wish the X-T5 to be a photographer’s camera again and not a hybrid camera like the X-T4.
Who is this for?
This is a great, heavy-duty workhorse camera and I highly recommend it to professionals and pro-consumers who can take advantage of the high resolution it has to offer. If you are struggling between the dual flagships, head down to the camera store and try it out and compare both of them. However, if the photographer wants to own both the speed and resolution, buy both and you can have the best of both worlds.
As for me, it is not for me. As I mentioned before, I am still waiting for the X-T5 arrival and I hope it will have the X-T3 flip and tilt screen. My piggy bank is waiting to get smashed.
Fuji X-H2 . XF50mm f1 WR @ 50mm . f1 . 1/750″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-H2 . XF50mm f1 WR @ 50mm . f2 . 1/220″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative65:24 Cropped
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Disclaimer: 1. All the shots taken here are shot by me. 2. All of the shots are straight out of the camera with some edited via In-Camera Raw Processing. 3. The photos are resized to 30% of the original size except for cropped ones. If you wish to see the original file, contact me and I am happy to share it with you. 4. I reserve ownership of these images, if you wish to use my images, please notify me. 5. The camera firmware is 1.00. 6.The opinions are based on my experience. If there is any mistake, please kindly drop me a message and I will gladly make the amendment.
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I think TTArtisan has a soft spot for “50mm” and they released the 50mm f0.95 not too long ago. And now, TTArtisan had just released its third 50mm lens and it is the most compact 50mm lens TTArtisan ever made but it is the slowest in the lineup yet.
TTArtisan 50mm f2
But there is something different about this lens from the other 50mm lenses and that is this lens is designed as a full-frame lens but can also be mounted with various APS-C lens mounts (i.e. X-mount, M-mount, E-mount, RF-mount, Z-mount and M43-mount).
Fuji X-E4 with TTArtisan 50mm f2
Does that mean the image quality is better because the optical glass is bigger than the APS-C sensor size? Let’s find out.
TTArtisan 50mm f2
Before I start, I would like to thank TTArtisan for sending me this lens for review and it is my privilege to do so. But you can rest assured that this review will be based on the lens I received and it is purely on my own opinion.
The design is different from that of 50mm f0.95 and 23mm f1.4. You will not see the zebra-like design in this lens. Having said that, it gives a minimalistic and more modern-look design.
The aperture ring and the manual focus ring are still the same quality as any other TTArtisan lenses. The enjoyable clicky feedback on the aperture ring is one of my favourites among other 3rd party manufacturers while the manual focus ring is giving a satisfying smooth experience.
In my opinion, the sharpness is decently sharp at wide open. Speaking of shallow depth of field, f2 gives a considerably good separation between subject and background. Of course, it is not as shallow as other faster prime lenses can give. Shooting at f2.8 or smaller apertures gives a better rendering of sharpness and contrast. However, I am pretty satisfied with the image quality at f2.
In my testing, chromatic aberration and vignetting are surprisingly better (based on my past experiences with other TTArtisan lenses). Although they are slightly observed especially when you are shooting wide open. Nonetheless, they can be fixed in post-processing, so this is the last I should worry about.
From MFD to infinity, the focus throw is approximately 160°. In my view, this compact lens gives quite an ample amount of “distance” for more precise focusing.
Like most manual lenses, the result is might not at its sharpest at the infinity marking. Rotate slightly backwards on the focus ring to get a better result.
At 75mm (in full-frame equivalent), the 50cm MFD is no different from other 50mm lenses. I was expecting that the MFD will be further because of the compactness of the lens but I was wrong. At least this is something I think is quite a remarkable achievement from the TTArtisan engineers.
When shooting at MFD, I do notice a little softness in the image. From my standpoint, I think it is totally acceptable.
Price Point
At 69 USD, this is one of the most affordable lenses TTArtisan offers. There is another 69 USD lens (at least at this moment in writing this review) from TTArtisan and that is 35mm f1.4.
For 69 USD, the amount is not that painful to spend. If you are new to photography and also wish to have some hands-on with a full pledge manual lens. If you want to attempt to try some portrait shots, this is also a good lens to try. Besides that, this lens can also be used for other genres like street, documentaries, landscapes, cityscapes and product shots.
There is another group of photographers who should consider this lens too. And they are photographers who are still using the older camera models and can consider getting this lens to spice up some love with the cameras and shoot.
TTArtisan never fails to surprise photographers with their new lenses. They always have something to fill in those “gaps” in their lenses lineup. This makes me think about what is up on their sleeve.
Personally, I love to use this lens simply because of its compactness, nice-looking design and not compromising on the image quality that much. I think this lens is best matched with the X-E series and X-A series for achieving the most compact package.
Meanwhile, I am still hoping TTArtisan will release the first autofocus lens for Fujifilm.
Fuji X-T3 with TTArtisan 50mm f2
Thank you for reading.
Disclaimer: 1. All the shots taken here are shot by me. 2. Some of the shots are slightly edited in Lightroom Classic to my preferences. Otherwise, the shots are straight out of the camera. 3. The opinions are based on my experience. If there is any mistake, please kindly drop me a message and I will gladly make the amendment. 4. I reserve ownership of these images, if you wish to use my images, please notify me.
If you like my works, please follow me on either one of the 2 Instagram accounts:
Usually, for the same focal length, there are basically 2 paths for making it. The first one is to make with better optic, faster, brighter and premium price tagged lens. The second one is to make a smaller, compact and wisely priced lens. And this Laowa 10mm f4 is the later one. Laowa Lenses (also known as Venus Optics) has been in this optic industry for almost 10 years. They have created many unique innovative lenses such as 24mm T14 2x PeriProbe, 4mm f2.8 fisheye and fast f0.95 Argus series of lenses. And this 10mm f4 is their newest creation.
Laowa 10mm f4 Cookie
I am glad that I have a few days of opportunity to try this lens before it was sent back to its headquarters in China.
Fuji X-E4 with Laowa 10mm f4 Cookie
On a side note: this lens comes with various mounts too (i.e. RF, Z, E and L mounts).
Laowa 10mm f4 Cookie
Design and Build Quality
The lens is compact, hence, the name “Cookie”. Probably Laowa is trying to come up with a new term rather than using “pancake”. Nonetheless, I can’t help to compare it with the XF27mm f2.8 WR and the overall size is somewhere close to each other. Laowa 10mm is about Ø59.8mm X 25mm while XF27mm is Ø62mm x 23mm. However, the weight of the Laowa 10mm is heavier (130 grams against 84 grams).
This 15mm (in full-frame equivalent) lens comes with solid and good-built quality. Everything in this lens body makes of metal, including the rear bayonet. This Ø37mm filter threaded lens comes with a clickable aperture ring and a smooth focus ring. Anyway, it does not come with a lens hood.
The lens cap is of the traditional “squeeze to release” type. Nothing special to shout about. Not forgetting that this lens comes in 2 colours, black and silver.
Image Quality
This cookie lens offers an impressive 109.3° angle of view. But I have to say that it is not the best image quality I have ever seen. I mean when I first know of this product and its price tag, I set my expectation lower
At wide open, you will be greeted by a very heavy vignetting result. You can correct it in post-edit or set it to a lower aperture like f5.6 or f8. Also, I felt that the image is better and sharper if you step down the aperture to f5.6 or f8. At f4, the image seems to be softer and with less contrast.
Distortion is also noticeable at the corners and this is an expected result for such an ultra-wide angle. Hence, I can only suggest you take note of the distortion unless it is intended that way.
Another remarkable thing about this lens is its minimum focus distance, 10cm. Basically, I am shooting very close to the subject and the shadow of the lens is probably in the photo as well (if you shoot facing downward).
If you shoot at infinity, the result is actually not sharp at the infinity marking. You have to rotate the focus zoom slightly backwards to get the right infinity shot. I can’t tell you how exactly backwards it is as I am afraid that the lens I am tested with may have a different “right” infinity spot than the copy you have. But you can also explore it yourself and you will get it.
Another thing to note is the thin focus ring and aperture ring. I have a pair of huge hands and fingers which is a little challenging for me to rotate the rings. My personal uneducated guess is that to achieve a compact size, making the width of both rings thinner might be a decision made by the company.
A new photographer who does not wish to spend a fortune and does not mind having a manual lens to have an ultra-wide angle shooting experience.
Conclusion
During my test, I do miss quite a fair bit of shots and it is likely due to my incapability to nail the focus well. Nevertheless, I have mixed feelings about this lens. The photos sometimes turn out to be better than I have expected but sometimes it turns out to be soft.
At f4, it is not the brightest ultra-wide lens I have ever used and it is obviously meant for outdoor day use, such as architecture, landscape, creativity, abstract, and maybe a little bit of street. You can do some indoor/night shots if there is sufficient strong light to accompany you.
This cookie lens has a few competitors (Rokinon 10mm f2.8 and Samyang 12mm f2.0) in this price bucket. If you like something compact and do not mind the slower aperture, then this should be your choice. Because none of them beat the compactness of this cookie lens. Alternatively, Laowa also offers a more premium ultra-wide lens, Laowa 9mm f2.8, with 200 USD more.
Thank you for reading.
Disclaimer: 1. The lens is from Laowa Optic and I have returned it by the time this article is available online. 2. Most of the shots are straight out of the camera with some shots edited via In-Camera Raw Processing. 3. The opinions are based on my experience. If there is any mistake, please kindly drop me a message and I will gladly make the amendment. 4. All the shots taken here are shot by me. I reserve ownership of these images, if you wish to use my images, please notify me.
If you like my works, please follow me on either one of the 2 Instagram accounts:
Before all else, I would like to thank Ms Carmen, Marketing Manager of Fujifilm Singapore, for loaning the X-H2S for review. By the time this review is online, the camera unit had returned back to Fujifilm Singapore.
X-H2S
Get started
After months of waiting and numerous rumours flying over the internet, the X-H2S was finally announced in X-Summit OMIYA 2022, together with XF150-160mm and XF18-120mm. Fujifilm categorised it as a flagship model, which means the best of the best technologies Fujifilm can offer is in this camera body (or maybe together with the upcoming X-H2). If I remember correctly, The “H” in X-H stands for “Heavy-duty”.
X-H2SX-H2S
If you have watched the X-summit, you will know this flagship model addresses three groups of categories: sports photography, wildlife photography and videography.
X-H2S
While I do not belong to any of the three categories and I do street photography most of the time, my perspective of using this camera will be more on people on the streets and things revolving around the streets.
Also in this hands-on sharing, it is based on a photographer’s point of view as I am not a videographer trained. To test with people on the streets, I have also used various lenses of mine to see how well this camera can perform.
Fujifilm has come thus far when comes to image sensors and processors. Now, Fujifilm has come out with its first-ever Stacked-Back Side Illuminated (BSI) X-Trans CMOS sensor 5 HS and X-Processor 5. With this new processor, Fujifilm has also introduced Nostalgic Negative film simulation to the APS-C camera. Nostalgic Negative was only made available to GFX (first with GFX 100S) series only. I know not many people actually talk about this film simulation but I just want to highlight how much I like this film simulation after I tested out the GFX 50S II.
When I first saw the camera, it was resemblant very much to the GFX100S/50S II. It is also a totally different design from its predecessor, X-H1. This is a good way to distinguish between models. The new X-H2S can be distinguished easily at a glance too, especially since there is a label “S” on the front of the camera body.
The magnesium build camera is sturdy, durable and solid to hold. Something I am expecting from a flagship camera. The weight of the camera is 660 grams but personally, I do not feel it is heavy to hold and I think that because the weight is well distributed across the camera body.
For a note, it is just 53 grams heavier than X-T4 and 13 grams lighter than X-H1.
Handling
X-H2S has an ergonomic handgrip design but some photographers might think it is too large to hold, particularly photographers who have smaller hands. As for me, probably because I have large hands, it is very comfortable to grip. The feeling reminds me much of the good grip I had with my DSLRs back in those days.
Overall buttons are comfortable to press with good tactile feedback. The Focus stick is large and good to navigate focus points and between menus. Nothing to complain about here.
The Shutter
The newly developed shutter button is very sensitive and I have to learn to adapt to it. For most Fuji cameras, I depress half the shutter button for focus and then depress it fully for taking the shots. But then, the shutter button of the X-H2S is probably set it up higher than the other Fuji cameras. I basically snap the shot when I depress “half” the shutter button. It took me a few shots to find the sweet spot. Sometimes I do forget and history repeats itself. It is not something difficult to familiar with, it just takes a while for my muscle memory to familiarise itself.
On a side note, I love the shutter sound. A gentle and very satisfying “tid” sound.
The Viewfinder, The LCD Screen & the Sub-Display
I have to say the viewfinder is really a pleasure to use. The 5.76M dot OLED with a 120fps refresh rate is one of the best improvements Fujifilm has made. It makes the viewing experience so smooth as if I am shooting through an optical viewfinder. (Remember to set to EVF frame rate priority to enjoy the 120fps, otherwise, it is default at 60fps.)
However, the LCD screen keeps the same 1.62M dot resolution as the X-T4 but is still better than my X-T3. The display is indeed sharper and it is a good screen to meet my needs.
The “always-on” sub-display reminds me of the DSLR’s sub-display but better. As a sub-display, it provides all the necessary current settings and information to allow one to have a quick view.
The image quality is great and that is across all ISO ranges that I used in this test. Honest speaking, I cannot find anything to fault it. Personally, I feel that the image quality has some improvement at the high ISO range, especially on the ISO 3200. Not a dramatically huge difference but you can tell. Other than that, it is hard to tell the difference between X-H2s and X-T3.
The autofocus performance of the camera is kind of limited by the lenses. Because the performance of this X-H2S is really fast, it does push the limit of the older lenses to work faster. If the lens is on the slower side (for example a lens without Linear Motor), you can feel that it works slightly slower and also missing out on some focus tracking (but it picks up pretty fast). That said, the newer lenses (such as XF 23mm f1.4 WR) are really designed to optimise with X-H2S than the older ones. All in all, the autofocus is really snappy and accurate. The older lenses do feel snappier too than having them on my X-T3.
The focus tracking is a real improvement here. The eye-AF together with the Subject Detection such as “Animal”, “Bird”, “Automobile”, etc does pick up well and is quite sticky to the respective subject, especially a moving one. But if there is more than one subject in the frame, then that is another story altogether.
On paper, it states that it can achieve up to 7 stops of compensation with some lenses can only go up to 5 stops. In the real world, how stable is it with my shaky hands is more matters to me. The results show everything. I have tested with 4 lenses and it turns out that the IBIS is impressive. Whether it is combined with an OIS lens or not, my handheld results are pretty consistent and terrific.
I notice there are some people who commented about the battery life that does not last for the whole day. But in my 2 weeks of testing, it lasts me for the whole day with 35% remaining the least, that is about 500 shots taken.
Based on the CIPA standard, the battery life is rated as 720 shots. And based on my calculation, it is about there. So I think the rating from CIPA is quite consistent with my experience.
Although battery consumption is subjective to individual usage and many other external factors to be considered, all I can say is that this NP-W235 battery is definitely better than the NP-W126S on my X-T3. If your photography consumes more battery power, then just bring another one. If bringing two batteries is insufficient, then make it three.
PASM dial is something I familiar with for a long time, especially since I used DSLR before. I do not hate it nor I am happy to see it. It just reminded me of how I should operate the camera differs from the one with Fuji-style dials.
I do miss the Fuji-style dials with this X-H2S but handling the PASM dial is not a show stopper for me.
Something else…
The focus mode selector switch has been replaced by the “fn3” button in X-H2S. By default, fn3 is set as the “focus mode selector” function. If you are a person who switches various modes a lot, this might be a little ignoring to you as it takes you to a screen to select the focus mode with your D-pad and the “OK” button to enter instead of instantaneously switching with the switch.
Another thing that I do not mention is the memory card. It comes with 2 slots, one for CFexpress Type B card and another for UHS-II. Because I do not have a CFexpress Type B card which unable to verify the capability of read/write speed of the camera when shooting at 40 fps.
Probably some photographers might notice this. The front dial is now not clickable.
One last interesting thing to share, X-H2S is the first Fuji camera that comes with a variable shutter speed. It calls “Flickerless S.S. Setting”. You have to enable “Flicker Reduction” first before you can set the “Flickerless S.S. Setting” on. This helps to eliminate flickering lighting from indoor LED lighting, bulb and monitor screen, etc. Only Manual and Shutter priority modes can enjoy this functionality.
Feedback
For the next generation of X-H series, I hope that the position of the Focus stick to be a little lower, probably beside the AEL button will be a better option. Whenever I want to change the focus point, I need to shift my thumb much higher to reach for the Focus stick and by doing so, I have to reorientate my hand placement on the handgrip.
Another thing I hope Fujifilm can do is on the focus mode selector. Instead of the cumbersome control, you may consider making the fn3 button to toggle between the modes. I believe it will be easier for photographers who need to toggle often. Probably it can be added in a firmware update.
Above are some of the little feedback or more like my personal preference.
In my own words
The grip, the sub-display and the overall size of the camera pretty much reminded me of the good old DSLR era. Oftentimes it also reminded me of how far technology has come.
After 2 weeks of use, I believe Fujifilm has delivered the flagship model very well and beyond my expectation of what a flagship camera can be: a hybrid, heavy-duty camera for both worlds.
For Fuji enthusiastic (who like dials, dials and dials) like me, I will not get it for my personal causal shooting. Yes, the stacked BSI sensor is very attractive to me. The focusing speed and the AF tracking are something my current X-T3 cannot do with. What I can hope is that the future X-T5 has most of what X-H2S or X-H2 has to offer together with the X-T3 flip and tilt screen and I will be ready to smash my piggy bank.
Who is this for?
This is a flagship camera and also a workhorse that is designed with professional photographers (and professional videographers) in mind. It has the best performance Fujifilm has to offer to date. But that does not mean non-professional photographers should not get it. If camera size is not a factor, this X-H2S will be a camera you can consider as it is the pinnacle of Fujifilm for years to come.
Also, Fujifilm also confirmed they will be releasing X-H2 which comes with 40 megapixels in the X-Trans 5 HR. X-H2S focus on speed while X-H2 focus on fine details. Only the photographers themselves will know which camera can meet their demands in photography and the photography genres they are shooting.
Fujifilm just laid out them for you to choose from.
Disclaimer: 1. All the shots taken here are shot by me. 2. All of the shots are straight out of the camera with some edited via In-Camera Raw Processing. 3. I reserve ownership of these images, if you wish to use my images, please notify me. 4. The camera firmware is 1.01. 5.The opinions are based on my experience. If there is any mistake, please kindly drop me a message and I will gladly make the amendment.
Alwin Kok 