All thanks to Ivan and all the main sponsors to make this workshop happened! This is a good opportunity for many photographers who want to explore and learn more with strobe photography, Profoto lights, Eizo monitor, the cable from Tether tools and hands-on with the newly launched X-H2. A total of 3 sessions were organized with 90mins per session and I participated in the first session.
Preparation in progress…Adjusting the light.Sharing session begins…
It’s a simple workshop. Ivan started off with a small sharing session together with Profoto and Eizo representatives. Explaining his workflow with strobes and the tools around it. Also explaining what is his preferences with the shots.
Left: sharing the beauty of strobe photography Right: Profoto A2Demonstration in process…Model: Phun
After all the explanations, the hands-on session commenced. Every photographer takes turn to explore shooting model with the strobes set-up.
He is very happy with the shoot begins… Thanks to Goh Bin Li for sharing his XF56mm f1.2 WR with me!PhunEnd of 90 minutes session, Ivan is “welcoming” us off.
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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This is my first time travelling oversea with a group of photography enthusiasts. It’s a short 2 days 2 nights photo trip in Melaka (also known as Malacca), Malaysia. To make this happens, Fujifilm Singapore organized together with Fujifilm Malaysia and a photography community called Photojam.
Fujifilm StudioLeft: Gallery FujiFanBoys 4th Annual Best Of Show winners Right: Waiting area
This is my first oversea trip since Covid-19 and I am pretty excited about it.
Left: Last-minute discussion? Right: After a briefing by Fujifilm Singapore
Throughout the trip, Fujifilm Singapore also brings some lenses and cameras for us to try and have a taste of those drooling gears. I have the opportunity to shoot with XF200mm F2 and the XF18-120mm F4 lenses.
How we spend time on a coach.Cleared path before the heavy traffic jam
On paper, it’s about 3 hours trip from Singapore. We kick off from Fujifilm studio at 7 pm and we should reach approximately 10 pm ish. But due to expected and also unexpected events like heavy traffic jams, the starts of the school holidays and bad weather conditions, we only arrived at the hotel at 1.27 am.
Left: Birds at the stopping area for a short break. Right: Always smile, always smile
The first event starts at 8am at Philea Resort, which means we have very short hours of rest time before we have to go for breakfast and board the coach.
Bird photography at night.
Nevertheless, everyone manages to wake up and proceed as planned. As a start, the organizer planned models to shoot around the resort. Little do we know, Sigma Malaysia is invited to join in the fun as well.
Breakfast area at Noble Resort Hotel Melaka (Formerly known as Novotel Melaka)Left: Boarding the coach for our first event Right: Our tour guide shares itinerary for the day First stop, Philea Resort & SpaChit chatting with our Malaysia photographerCameras and lenses loaning session commence. Jere sharing what it is like to have GFXLeft: Tour guide, 小鸿 Right: Busted shot
Jasper preparing drinks for everyone.
Left: Proceed to shoot destination Right: Make-up artist / model?Shot with X-T3 and XF200mm f2Our Fujifilm staff, Jasper, working hard carrying the heaviest and most expensive X-mount lens.Both shots with X-T3 and XF200mm f2.
Lunch and photo sharing session by Malaysia photographers at LTP Riverview restaurant.
After a short break, we also have a chance to do Photowalk at the Street Paul’s Church, Red Square and Jonker Street.
Left: Always challenge the signboard Right: Peace Left: Always challenge the signboard Right: PeaceShe’s adorable!Remember to roar!Left: Another adorable little one. Right: Huge sky…
The good people in Fujifilm Malaysia, Sigma Malaysia and Photojam invited us to chill in the roof garden of our neighbouring hotel. The night view is indeed remarkable.
The night view.
The second day morning is the same spot as Photowalk but with models again. Of course, we have a choice to continue to have Photowalk or model shootings.
The morning sun…It’s an ad…XF18-120mm f4XF18-120mm f4Firers watch your front!Left: I saw a neko chan. Right: Just playing with XF18-120mm
Just love it.
Left: Photographer and model Right: View from my hotel roomLunch before heading back to Singapore.
2 days 2 nights photo trip is a short trip. Although this is a short trip, it is a fruitful one. We get to know new friends from Singapore and Malaysia. Sharing many ideas and many gears discussion with one another.
I thank Fujifilm Malaysia, Sigma Malaysia and Photojam for their hospitality during this trip. Not forget to thank Fujifilm Singapore for organizing this wonderful UNESCO-listed Malacca.
Thank you Ron Lee, X-Photographer, for sharing this shot.
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.
First of all, I would like to thank Ms Carmen, Marketing Manager of Fujifilm Singapore, for loaning the XF18-120mm and X-S10. By the time this review is online, the units had returned back to Fujifilm Singapore.
In this hands-on experience, I used this lens for photography only and nothing related to videography. Because I do not know about videography, I shall leave it to the experts to review from the videographers’ point of view.
Conclusion (TL;DR)
I am doing something different and decided to push up my conclusion so that you guys can decide to skip or continue to check out this lens.
Over the course of 2 weeks, as a prime lens user, I enjoy every single moment of using it. It brings me back to the fun of using a zoom lens without sacrificing image quality. As for the power zoom functionality, it took me about half a day to get used to it. After all, I started learning photography in the “power zoom” era.
This is a constant f4 lens and it may not have a large aperture like f2 or f2.8 and might not please some potential videographers. But every lens created has its purpose and every lens does come with pros and cons. Just how we weigh them before getting the lens, it’s up to the individual.
Of course, if you are looking for a faster lens than this and they are already existed in the market, the red badge and the MK lenses.
Personally, this lens is a great lens that has great versatility. Fujifilm strikes a good balance between compactness and image quality, is lightweight and has very useful focal lengths. From a photographer’s perspective, this lens is on my recommendation list.
Fujifilm XF18-120mm f4 LM PZ WR was first teased in X Summit PRIME 2021 and finally announced in X Summit OMIYA 2022. And now, it should starts shipping in September 2022. This lens has a focal length that is equivalent to 27mm – 183mm in the 35mm film format which gives whopping 6.7x times zoom. It is probably the most versatile constant aperture zoom lens from Fujifilm yet.
During the X Summit OMIYA, Fujifilm emphasised that this lens is designed for videographers in mind and based on the expertise Fujifilm has in the broadcast industry. But can photographers use this lens for general photography purposes?
Design& Build Quality& Something more…
For a start, this lens is tall but a tad shorter than XF70-300mm. It comes with a 72mm filter size and internal zoom (yeah!). From the appearance, it gives an impression that this is a heavy lens but the 460 grams on this lens do not feel that way. The lens body is built out of polycarbonate material but I believe these are some of the reasons to explain why. (These are my guesses and not from any official Fujifilm statement.)
Fujifilm XF18-120mm f4 LM PZ WR and Fujifilm XF70-300mm f4-5.6 R LM OIS WR
First, it helps to reduce the overall weight. The lens is designed for portability so that videographers who wish to pair it with any cameras can balance it well and can use it handheld for long hours without stressing the arms.
Second, it might help bring down some costs and allow more potential videographers to reach out for this lens.
On a side note, when the lens and camera are mounted on a gimbal, the videographer does not need to recalibrate the gimbal when changing to any focal length.
Overall, the built quality is great and does not feel cheap at all. For forgetting that it comes with weather-resistant too!
If you have noticed, this lens does not come with an aperture ring. But it comes with 3 ways of zoom functionalities (zoom ring, zoom/focus control ring and zoom button) and a manual focus ring. It also comes with a button named Z/F (Zoom/Focus). This is also the first lens I have ever seen having 3 options to choose from. How do these 3 zoom functions work? Let me try to explain it.
Zoom ring – It works like what it is intended but with a little twist. The focal length actually changes “electronically”. The experience is different from what the usual manual zoom ring has, it does not have that “instant” zoomed focal length. What it gives is a steady zoom in and out. However, I will not recommend photographers to use this zoom ring to change the focal length from 18mm to 120mm and vice versa. The throw is approximately 360° from 18mm to 120mm which takes me 4 times to complete. (Update: the production unit takes approximately 90° from 18mm to 120mm) What I do is to use it as a compliment to the next zoom functionality. For example, some small fine-tuning to the focal length which I feel is easier than using the zoom/focus control ring.
Zoom/focus control ring – When I use this control ring, it kind of reminded me of my first camcorder. Clockwise for telephoto-zoom and anti-clockwise for wide-zoom. It is that simple. Sometimes, I overshoot the desired focal length, and I come to have a habit of using the zoom ring to adjust. At least it works for me. Of course, you still can use the zoom control ring to adjust to the desired focal length.
Zoom button – there are 2 buttons, the “up” button for telephoto zoom and the “down” button for wide-zoom. Basically, you press once and it will zoom in or out all the way. Press the button again to stop zooming. I did not use these buttons after exploring how it works and I believe this is more useful for videographers.
Image Quality
Usually, when comes to a zoom lens, especially having such a long zoom, I have this mindset indicating that the image quality is probably somewhere sub-par or slight above sub-par image quality.
Well. I think I have to change my way of thinking. The image quality is great. Sharp and have a good level of contrast. I enjoy the results coming out from this lens. The optical is really great even at wide-open.
It may not have the most bokehlicious result but it does render pretty smooth for a zoom lens. It does not give harsh and hard bokeh at all. As for the sunny star, this lens doesn’t seem to give a sharp one, even at its smallest aperture.
From my observation, chromatic aberration and vignetting are nowhere to be seen or at least very mild. This is something I am not surprised about as Fujifilm has controlled well in this aspect, especially for all the recent newer lenses.
Focusing
When comes to focusing, I have this repute that the focusing speed for a zoom lens is generally slower than a prime lens. Again, I was wrong but not completely wrong. Under the sun, focusing is pretty fast across all focal lengths. Though it is not blazing fast like the new generation prime lenses like XF23mm f1.4, it is just a tad slower. But when comes to low light situations, the wide to mid-tele focal lengths are still considerably fast. You will know that it is not as fast as the day but it is still within my acceptable range. At 120mm, the little struggle comes in. But I still manage to lock my focus after a few tries. For all that, I think it is expected behaviour for a long focal length like other lenses.
One thing to note is that this lens is capable of optically parfocal, which means my subject is able to stay in focus throughout the entire focal length. But I think it is more useful for videography than photography?
The MFD is 60cm. At 18mm, I am not able to get close up, rather, I am pretty far from my subject. When you shoot at 120mm, it appears to be fairly close to the subject. Yet far from what a macro lens can achieve.
If you power off your camera, the focal length will be where you left off. Say if you shoot at 50mm and then power it off and on again after some time, it will remain at 50mm. That’s also applied even if you swap lenses and then swap back.
If you want to use this lens to shoot streets, you can but this lens is not as discreet as compact prime lenses. Some strangers might even notice you first before you shoot them.
This range of focal length is always very competitive and Fujifilm has quite a few zoom lenses somewhat close to one another in the market. Namely, XF16-80mm, XF18-135mm, and the most underrated XF18-55mm. Not forgetting about the recently announced Tamron 17-70mm f2.8 and upcoming Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 too. Having said that, the most direct competition, for now, is the XF16-80mm.
Both are constant f4 lenses. The typical advantages between both lenses are pretty noticeable. One wider, one has more reach, OIS versus non-OIS. While I do not test the XF16-80mm fully, I understand from some photographers that the lens is soft at wide open. And I may be biased, but the X18-120mm seems to have better image quality. Nevertheless, at the end of the day, both lenses serve different groups of photographers.
Who is this for?
For travelling photographers who might want to go as light as possible, this lens is also a good option to choose from. As this is an f4 lens, which also means that it might be a little struggling for night street shoots, I will suggest pairing it up with an In-Body Image Stabilization camera or an ultra-fast prime lens to go along with it.
Because it has such great versatility, it can be used for almost anything from streets, editorial, documentaries, landscapes, cityscapes, product shots, and even portraits.
For photographers who do videography occasionally, I also think this is a good piece of glass to have.
Thank you for reading.
Disclaimer: 1. All the shots taken here are shot by me. 2. Some of the shots are straight out of the camera while others are edited via In-Camera Raw Processing and Capture One. 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:
I have organized quite a few small groups of photo walk for the past 2 years but this is the first photo walk organized under the name of FujiFanBoys Facebook Group. I am excited because this is my first attempt to organize with Ivan Joshua Loh with such a huge group size together. In case you wonder, this is a whopping 40 pax group size.
Not only that, we have lens support from 5 amazing brands: Fujifilm, Sigma, Tamron, TTArtisan and Voigtländer. Really appreciate their kind support!
This first walk is not an easy one, to begin with, the weather decides to rain heavily in the morning. Instead of starting photo walking at 8:45am, we delay it an hour later. Now come to think of it, the rain actually gives us a good opportunity to mingle around with the group before the walk.
Morning coffee before the photo walkGathering at open space. Trying out the new X-H2S and XF150-600mm.Rain starts. Everyone taking cover while taking the opportunity to mingle and try out the new gears.Briefing commences…Have a can of beer before the photo walk starts.The walk.Hello to Otter from Zouk Otter FamilyThe photographers.
Despite the rainy morning, I am glad that the majority of the FujiFanBoys and FanGirls choose to turn up for the walk! Hope we will arrange another one soon!
Photo by Jere of Fujifilm.
Thank you to Sean for taking this portrait shot of me with the new X-H2S and XF18-120mm
Thank you for reading.
If you like my works, please follow me on either one of the 2 Instagram accounts:
Thanks to my friend Ivan Wong for giving me the opportunity to play with his latest lens, the Voigtländer Nokton 35mm f1.2, for a week. Unfortunately due to my unforeseen workload, I only get to try this lens for 4 days before I have to return the lens to him. So this is a pretty short hands-on experience compared to the usual one.
Voigtländer Nokton 35mm f1.2
Voigtländer Nokton 35mm f1.2
Voigtländer Nokton 35mm f1.2
Voigtländer has been a long time manufacturer in the market, they have been manufacturing beautifully crafted lenses for M mount, E mount, Z-mount and m43 mount. Now they have extended their portfolio to craft lenses for the X-mount. Their first lens in the X-mount portfolio is nothing but one of the popular focal lengths among the photographers, 35mm (50mm in full frame equivalent).
Design & Build Quality
We do see some manufacturers having the same lens design but different mount. However, Voigtländer completely designs a new lens design for Fujifilm X-mount. Some might say it’s a pity that it does not have similar design elements like other Voigtländer lenses or missing out on the design language that Voigtländer has. Personally, I think it is okay. After all, the design is still beautifully designed.
This 196 grams lens has a solid metal constructed body and I can actually feel how dense the weight of this lens is when I hold it in my hand for the first time. The aperture ring clicks give me very satisfying feedback and the manual ring rotates smoothly with a bit of friction without much force needed.
It comes with a pretty small 46mm filter size and comes with a metal screw-in hood. But I believe that, for a reason, the photographers who purchase this lens do not wish to put on the lens hood.
At wide open, this lens gives you a kind of glowing and soft look where the blur falls off quite beautifully and is comfy to my eyes. It also provides a characteristic flare if you face the sun or strong light directly. Unfortunately, I fails to create one that is as beautiful as I saw on the web.
If you want to have a decent sharpness in the image, I recommend shooting from f2 onwards. The results are pretty good and usable at f2. Besides sharpness, contrast is decent too.
I have a high expectation (later on this) with this lens when it comes to chromatic aberration and vignetting. Luckily, I am not disappointed. They are very well controlled as I did not observe them from my shots.
This lens comes with a 30 cm MFD which is the same as the XF33mm f1.4 and Sigma 30mm f1.4. At this distance, you can get stronger glowing and softer results. Not forgetting that the depth of field is very shallow when you shoot wide open.
I mentioned about me having high expectations about this lens. Allow me tell you why. According to the official suggested retail price, it costs USD 649. It is rather expensive for a manual lens. For reference, XF33mm is selling at USD 799 and Sigma 30mm f1.4 is at USD 339. If you want to justify the high price, what I can think of is the brand itself, fast aperture, compact, made in Japan and unlike other manual lens manufacturers, it does equip with electronic contact. I think it should suffice to justify, I guess?
If you are a photographer who wishes to gain some experience with pure manual lenses and you do not mind not knowing your aperture setting, there are many other manual lenses for your consideration. The price between Voigtländer and other manufacturers is a huge gap. From a money perspective, I personally do not recommend you to buy this lens unless you know what you are doing.
Assuming you want to buy this lens, but you have no idea what genres is it suitable for. I think you do not need to worry about this. Because this focal length is very versatile and it covers generally most genres such as documentary, journalism, street and portrait.
Thanks to the electronic contact, this lens gives me a very good manual lens experience. It allows me to know what is my aperture setting like the other autofocus lenses. But the price of this lens position itself clearly from the rest of the manual lens manufacturers. The image quality is indeed better than the other manual lens manufacturers but the result isn’t too far off by a mile.
Having said that, I am still glad that Voigtländer is joining the Fujifilm community and not forgetting that the 23mm f1.2 is launching soon. All in all, I hope to see more lenses from them and benefit the photographers.
Disclaimer: 1. The lens is from a friend of mine and I have returned it to him 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 I start with this experience sharing post, I would like to thank and appreciate Mr Lawson from Sigma Marketing (Singapore) for providing me with the loan of Sigma 56mm f1.4 Contemporary DC DN.
Sigma 56mm f1.4 Contemporary DC DNSigma 56mm f1.4 Contemporary DC DN
Intro
Fujifilm has never lacked of lens choices for portrait shooters to choose from. And there are even massive options available from the 3rd party manual lens manufacturers but not so much for autofocus lenses. I think this is the right time for Sigma to jump into the Fuji X-mount bandwagon with its trio lenses, especially the 56mm f1.4.
Sigma 56mm f1.4 Contemporary DC DNSigma 56mm f1.4 Contemporary DC DN with 2 XF 27mm f2.8 WR
56mm (85mm in 35mm format equivalent) is one of the popular focal lengths among portrait lovers. That’s because the mid-tele focal length gives good compression and shallow depth of field. But before going down further. I have to confess that I do not own the XF 56mm f1.2 or any 3rd party autofocus lenses of the same focal length. Hence, I am unable to make a good comparison between them. But what I can do is share my experience using this lens with the readers and hope the readers will have a good perspective of this lens.
Fuji X-T3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f4 . 1/80″ . ISO 400. Classic Chrome
I have reviewed the Sigma 16mm f1.4 and Sigma 30mm f1.4 and now the Sigma 56mm f1.4 Contemporary DC DN is on the table. This is the last piece of the trio prime lenses and let’s see how good the lens performance is.
Design & Build Quality
The lens built shared the same design elements as its brothers, giving us a low key minimalistic look. I get more enjoyment with the looks, especially the black labelled wordings on it. Similarly, this lens is also made of “Thermally Stable Composite” (TSC) polycarbonate material. Overall, it provides a very well-built lens body that is easy and lightweight to hold. Something to note, the lens does attract some fingerprints on the glossy material. Although it can be easily wiped off with a piece of cloth, it can be a little annoying and hard not to notice it.
Left: Fuji X-T3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f1.4 . 1/1100″ . ISO 160 . Classic Chrome Right: Fuji X-T3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f1.4 . 1/1800″ . ISO 160 . Classic Chrome
In my opinion, when I talked about the compact lens, a reasonably small filter thread size and weight are part of the elements. This lens comes with a 55mm filter thread and weighs only 280 grams. So I think this lens qualifies as a compact lens.
Left: Fuji X-T3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f1.4 . 1/5800″ . ISO 160 . Classic Chrome Right: Fuji X-T3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f1.4 . 1/5400″ . ISO 160 . Classic Chrome
Likewise, this lens is also equipped with dust and splash resistant sealing that helps to protect the lens from certain weather/environmental conditions. Last but not least, it does not come with an aperture ring either.
Image Quality
According to Sigma Marketing, each and every part of this lens was designed in 2018 (except the mount). Fast forward to 2022, how does the optical quality perform in real-world situations? If you read about how well the Sigma 30mm performed, then you can conceivably conclude that this is as good as that piece of glass or possibly even better. At wide open, the sharpness, details and contrast produced by this lens are comfortably good for my liking.
Fuji X-T3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f1.4 . 1/4000″ . ISO 320 . Classic Chrome
I do observe some mild vignetting when I shoot at f1.4 but I think that is acceptable. If vignetting is a problem, you can either stop down to lower aperture or remove it via post-processing. As for the chromatic aberration, I do not think I observe any or I barely notice it during my tests. I think Sigma engineers are really doing a great job in this department.
Left: Fuji X-T3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f8 . 1/640″ . ISO 160 . Classic Chrome Right: Fuji X-T3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f16 . 1/170″ . ISO 160 . Classic Chrome
For the sunny star result, the shot taken at f8 produces a softer and less rounded result. Contrastingly, the result looks sharper at f16 and more pronounced than that of f8.
Fuji X-T3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f1.4 . 1/17,000″ . ISO 320 . Classic Chrome
For a portrait lens, what a photographer wants from a portrait lens is bokeh. Who doesn’t love beautiful bokeh? This lens probably does not produce the best bokeh but rather a pretty decent and comfortable to the eyes. Although the bokeh ball is lemon-shaped like at wide open, it does not distract me from looking at the main subject.
Fuji X-T3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f8 . 1/125″ . ISO 160 . Post-edited Left: Fuji X-T3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f8 . 1/125″ . ISO 160 . Post-edited Right: Fuji X-T3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f8 . 1/125″ . ISO 160 . Post-edited
Focusing
Thanks to the stepping motor, the focusing experience is a great one. It is silent, fast and *accurate. I cannot hear a single motor sound produced by the stepping motor while I am focusing. Apparently, my shutter is louder.
Fuji X-E3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f1.4 . 1/11,000″ . ISO 400 . Classic ChromeLeft: Fuji X-T3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f1.4 . 1/110″ . ISO 160 . Classic Chrome Right: Fuji X-T3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f1.4 . 1/350″ . ISO 320 . Classic Chrome
Unlike its brothers, this lens does not inherit the focusing accuracy issue. On the flip side, I do encounter some rare auto-focus hunting at times. It does not matter whether I used it during the day or night, indoor or outdoor. While I tried to replicate the focus hunting issue right from the moment I experienced it, I failed. The lens somehow just does not has this hurdle anymore.
Fuji X-T3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f1.4 . 1/1800″ . ISO 320 . Classic ChromeFuji X-E3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f1.4 . 1/5000″ . ISO 400 . Classic Chrome
But do not worry about it. As I understand from Sigma Marketing, their team is constantly updating their lenses to improve the focus quality and accuracy.
Minimum Focus Distance (MFD)
This lens’ MFD is at 50cm. For a glimpse comparison, XF56mm f1.2 is 70cm, XF50mm f2 is 39cm and the XF50mm f1 is also 70cm.
While it is not as close as the XF50mm f2, it is definitely better than the other 2 Fuji lenses have to offer. Does MFD matter? In my case, the answer is yes. It allows me to have a shallower depth of field between the subject and the background.
Left: Fuji X-E3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f1.4 . 1/26,000″ . ISO 400 . Classic Chrome Right: Fuji X-E3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f1.4 . 1/23,000″ . ISO 400 . Classic Chrome
Certain lenses have some level of softness when you shoot at wide-open and at MFD. Fortunately, this lens is otherwise, it is surprisingly sharp & usable. I actually like how it renders and it does not have very harsh bokeh results.
Price Point
Okay, this is “straightforward” and also “challenging” at the same time.
Let’s talk about “straightforward” first, if you are on a budget and compare it with the XF50mm f2 (*SRP SGD749, USD449). I think the Sigma 56mm (SRP SGD688, USD479) is pretty worth it. Hear me out. While you sacrifice the weather resistance that Fuji 50mm f2 offers, you have one full stop of light at your disposal. It is always an advantage when you have that extra stop of light, it will come in handy when you need it. More light is a higher priority in my case.
Fuji X-T3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f8 . 1/300″ . ISO 320 . Classic ChromeLeft: Fuji X-T3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f1.4 . 1/125″ . ISO 500 . Classic Chrome Right: Fuji X-T3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f1.4 . 1/80″ . ISO 160 . Classic Chrome
Here comes the challenging part, Sigma is actually priced right between another 2 third party manufacturers, Viltrox and Tokina. I believe you know which one costs higher and which one is more pocket friendly. I cannot speak on behalf of these 2 manufacturers about their portrait lenses because I did not try them out before. What I searched online is that they shared some similarities (with a little 10% difference) like weight, filter size and MFD. I think it is best for you to visit your local stores to have some hands-on experience with these 3 lenses.
Fuji X-T3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f1.4 . 1/680″ . ISO 320 . Post-editedLeft: Fuji X-E3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f2 . 1/2400″ . ISO 200 . Classic Chrome Right: Fuji X-E3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f1.4 . 1/9000″ . ISO 400 . Classic Chrome
*SRP – Suggested Retail Price
Conclusion
This is a decent portrait lens for its price and compactness. In these few weeks of hands-on, I enjoy shooting with this lens a lot. I mean, I actually used it for street photography and cityscape besides shooting portraits. It gives me a new perspective and sees things differently from my usual 23mm and 35mm focal length.
Left: Fuji X-E3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f5 . 1/1800″ . ISO 400 . Post-edited Right: Fuji X-E3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f7.1 . 1/1000″ . ISO 200 . Classic Chrome
The optical quality does not tell this lens is actually designed in 2018 and the results are truly usable and sharp and contrast at wide open. In short, Sigma delivers great results in its “Contemporary” series. I am actually excited and looking forward to that one day when Sigma updates its “Contemporary” lenses and distinguishes itself among the third party manufacturers.
Left: Fuji X-T3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f1.4 . 1/300″ . ISO 160 . Post-edited Right: Fuji X-T3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f1.4 . 1/480″ . ISO 320 . Classic Chrome
Who is this for?
For photographers who are just picking up and want a portrait lens with a modest budget, this might be a wise choice for you. This lens gives you an extra stop of light as compared to XF50mm f2 and is more economical than XF56mm f1.2. It really strikes a good balance in terms of price and performance while minimising the compromise that it has.
Fuji X-T3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f1.4 . 1/125″ . ISO 320 . post-edited
Fuji X-T3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f1.4 . 1/220″ . ISO 320 . Post-edited
For street photographers who love to shoot at a distance away from the subject, this is also a good choice but, of course, it does not have as much flexibility as the Sigma 30mm has.
Left: Fuji X-T3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f1.4 . 1/80″ . ISO 640 . Post-edited Right: Fuji X-T3 . Sigma 56 mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f1.4 . 1/125″ . ISO 2000 . Post-edited
Thank you for reading.
Disclaimer: 1. The lens is a loan unit from Mr. Lawson from Sigma Marketing (Singapore). By the time this review was online, the lens had returned back to Sigma Marketing (Singapore). 2. The lens firmware that I am using is version 1.00. 3. Some of the shots are straight out of the camera while others are edited via In-Camera Raw Processing and Adobe Lightroom Classic & Capture One. 4. 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. 5. 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:
Alwin Kok 