This is the 3rd of the abovementioned series. To be honest, I actually took the shots with both Sigma 23mm and XF23mm in October last year but it slipped my mind to share it. Recently, someone on the FB page asked about the comparison between these 2 lenses. From there, then I recall I had done that and started to dig around my hard drive.
Left: Sigma 23mm f1.4 Right: XF23mm f1.4 WR
Of course, like the past 2 posts, this comparison is not scientific, nothing technical or chart board to take reference and compare. All the photos are taken in my house.
Left: Sigma 23mm f1.4 Right: XF23mm f1.4 WR
The comparison is simple. Shoot at the respective lens’s Minimum Focus Distance (MFD), approximately 50cm and 100cm. Apertures range from wide-open, f2.8, and f4.
For a note, the MFD for the lenses are as of below: Sigma 23mm – 25cm XF23mm – 20cm
At MFD, XF23mm performs better in terms of sharpness at wide open and closer MFD. On the other hand, Sigma 23mm is a little bit softer at wide open but gets better from f2.8 and f4.
For 50cm and 100cm, the Sigma 23mm is a little bit softer at wide open as compared to the XF23mm. Otherwise, all other aperture values for Sigma 23mm are pretty on par with the XF23mm. If you don’t compare both directly, the Sigma 23mm is good.
In terms of value for money, I think Sigma is the better choice. You can save money on other lenses or accessories. If you are looking for the best of the best at this point, then the latest XF23mm will be your only choice in the market. What do you think?
Left: Sigma 23mm f1.4 Right: XF23mm f1.4 WR
Thank you for reading.
Disclaimer: 1. All the shots taken here are shot by me. 2. All 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.
One fine day, Meike contacted me to ask if I was interested in reviewing this lens. Of course I do and I told them I was going on a trip in a week. And 2 days before my flight, it arrived at my doorstep.
Meike 12mm f2Meike 12mm f2
Intro
I have reviewed the Meike 10mm f2 just less than 6 months ago. My verdict on that lens is that it has very usable wide-open image quality but the size and weight are the 2 drawbacks I have. Meike 12mm f2 addressed the 2 drawbacks but does it have the same usable wide-open image quality?
Meike 12mm f2
Let’s step back a little. This lens was announced in June 2022 and that makes this lens a year and a half years old now. Is this a real concern? Probably. Because this lens was made available before the release of the X-H2 and X-T5. The most common thing about these 2 cameras is that they house the X-Trans CMOS sensor 5 HR 40 megapixels sensor. (I am not worried too much about the X-Trans 4 sensor 26 megapixels sensor and I am pretty sure they just work fine with this lens.) So another question to me is, can the lens able to resolve the new sensor?
Just for info, it comes with an E-mount and M43 mount too.
Before I begin, thank you Meike for contacting me and sending this lens over. I appreciate their tremendous support in making this review a reality.
Design and Build Quality
The Meike 12mm f2 has the same metal built quality as other Meike manual lenses I have tested thus far. But what strikes me is how compact the lens is and it is great to hold in hands. Although it is only 227 grams, I can feel the well-balanced weight of the lens, especially when I mounted it on the X-T5.
This lens shares many similarities with most of its siblings except for the Meike 10mm f2. The aperture ring is de-click which can be easily rotated by accident. Rotating the aperture ring is smooth with very little or gentle friction against your rotation direction. I think this might benefit the videographers.
Both the aperture ring and the manual focus ring are smooth and also give different levels of friction feedback.
It comes with a 62mm filter thread. Pretty acceptable filter size for its size.
Image Quality
This lens gives an 18mm (in full frame equivalent) field of view which is indeed considerably wide. I could say the image quality at wide-open is similar to the Meike 10mm f2, and the results are very usable. Contrast and sharpness are good at the center and not so much at the corners.
The chromatic aberration (CA) is considerably well-controlled but I do observe some mild CA if I blow up the shot. As for vignetting, it is broadly there. In my opinion, it seems to be heavier than the Meike 10mm f2 but it can get better when you step down the aperture value to f5.6.
The sun-star result is pretty sharp, but not that tad sharp. Please be aware that the flare can be introduced if you are trying to get the sun-star shots and direct facing any light-emitting object in your framing.
Barrel distortion seems to be pretty well-controlled. At least I did not notice any curve around the edge of the corners but typical ultrawide distortion is there. So try not to put any human at the corners when you are shooting at your waist level.
Focusing
The manual focus ring has a different level of rotation friction as compared to the aperture ring. It gives a more dampening feedback, and I like it. As for the focus throw, it depends on the photographers’ preferences, some prefer to have a shorter focus throw while some do otherwise.
Well, the focus throw of this lens is approximately 110°. It takes me a while to rotate from one end to the other. Depending on how we see it, this might benefit the videographers and help the photographers nail the shot precisely.
Minimum Focus Distance (MFD)
This lens is capable of shooting as close as 20cm, which is pretty far for an ultrawide lens. You will get quite a lot of details apart from your subject. Nevertheless, it is a lens meant to be for landscape or other similar genres.
But the image quality seems not to be at its best. At wide-open, you will get to see not-so-good sharp results at the corners. Vignetting seems to be slightly stronger as well.
Price Point
It was priced at 189 USD and now it is running a discount to 159.99 USD on Meike’s website. This is quite a good price point. For a note: Meike 10mm f2 is selling at 349.99 USD. There are not much of manual ultrawide lenses in the market. TTArtisan 17mm f1.4 is the only one that I am aware of (at this point of writing) and it is selling at 118 USD. For about a 40 USD difference, I think it is worth getting the Meike 12mm simply because it gives a 5mm wider field of view.
Surprisingly, this lens comes with metal petal lens hood. This definitely gives a good gesture as not many manual lens manufacturers provides one. The look of the lens hood seems to be pretty fragile but when you hold it, you will know it is actually quite well made.
Like most manual lenses, the actual “infinity” is not at the end of the manual focus ring. It is somewhere where the “infinity” symbol is. One of the readers also informed me that it can be manually calibrated. I did not try it but I think it is possible.
Also, this lens has this phenomenon that color temperature changes between cool to warm) according to the aperture value set. If you are shooting in raw, not too much of a concern but if you are shooting purely in jpeg, maybe this is something you should take note of.
Who is this for?
This lens literally says it is meant for landscape, cityscape, astrography, and architecture genres but this is not limited to any other genres that I do not mention over here. The creativity with this lens is yours.
I can’t say much for professional photographers but I also not saying this lens is not suitable for professional photographers to commission their works. But this lens is very suitable for budget-oriented photographers looking for a decent alternative to Fujifilm’s ultrawide lens offering.
One small detail here. You might notice that the f2 is pretty much the farthest away from the other aperture values. I am not sure why is that so. Maybe it can benefit us somehow? If you know, please share it with me.
Conclusion
There is only one manufacturer ever made such a fast and compact lens beside Meike and that is Rokinon 12mm f2 and it has been in the market for years. I believe some manufacturers will catch up some days if this focal length and aperture value makes a hit.
Although not the best, this lens optic does resolve fairly with the new X-Trans 5 HR sensor. At least I did not observe extreme softness in the image quality like I do in other lenses. Sharpness and contrast are there when I nail the shot totally.
This lens is very good for beginners or photographers who hardly use such an ultrawide lens. Firstly, it is not expensive to own one. Secondly, it is compact and easily kept in the bag or inside the dry cabinet.
In my opinion, it is very clear-cut for me to choose this lens over the Meike 10mm f2. Both have very comparable great image quality but the 12mm f2 wins on the size and the cost. (I know I have repeated many times but this lens is this worthy.)
Meike 10mm f2 and Meike 12 mm f2
I do not mind sacrificing a 2mm (3mm full frame equivalent) lesser field of view and size does matter, especially when bringing it on a holiday trip overseas. I would rather bring a smaller alternative lens to lighten my shoulder (yes, 227 grams versus 550 grams and every gram counts in order not to injure my shoulder).
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 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:
When comes to 35mm f0.95, we are not lacking of any choices in the market. To name a few: Mitakon ZhongYi 35mm f0.95, TTArtisan 35mm f0.95, 7artisans 35m f0.5 and Meike 35mm f0.95. And then, here comes the latest 35mm f0.95 competitor from Brightin Star. This was only announced in September 2023. Can it stand out from the rest?
Brightin Star 35mm f0.95Brightin Star 35mm f0.95
Intro
Brigthin Star is a name that may not be familiar to everyone. In case someone ever wonders, the name “Brightin Star” is a direct translation of their Chinese brand name, 星曜. It is a strange and catchy English name but good enough to get my attention. I also tried to understand more about this company. Unfortunately, there is very little information about them. So based on my limited capability, this company started off in 2019 (at least from the news announcement they had made) and they did make several manual lenses (both full frame and APS-C) for various mounts like M-mount, E-mount, and M43 mount, etc.
Brightin Star 35mm f0.95
Design and Build Quality
It has been a long time since I mentioned how much I like the design, the color, and the handling of the lens. Yes, this lens design pretty much resembles Leica lens design. Not a bad thing and pretty much other manufacturers did something similar as well. Nevertheless, the lens design from Brightin Star is aesthetically pleasing.
The 50mm (in full frame equivalent) lens is about 370 grams. You can feel how dense the lens is and how well the built quality is when you hold it in your hands. You can imagine how many glasses are there in this lens. As expected, this lens is metal-constructed.
It comes with a 52mm filter-size thread. It’s a very good welcome for not burning a deep pocket for filter fans. One interesting detail here, the rear mount comes with black/grey coated. It gives a very premium feel to the overall viewing experience.
The aperture ring is great. It gives you very good clicky feedback when you rotate it. Ergonomic wise, you have no issue with changing the aperture as it has ample amount of space especially for those who have big fingers.
As for the lens cap, it is a capped-on metal lens cap. Unlike other capped-on lens caps, it has a kind of cushion and you can feel it is there. It gives me a kind of satisfaction whenever I remove and put on the lens cap.
Image Quality
The image quality is phenomenal. It is probably the best f0.95 lens I have tested thus far. The result is not perfect but better than some of the counterparts I have tested. Typically, shooting at f0.95 will present you glowing and soft effect, but this lens does not behave this way. I know some photographers prefer glowing and soft effects, but I personally prefer this.
If you blow up the shot, you are still able to see the softness of the result. When comes to contrast and sharpness, it is also slightly better.
I have low expectations when comes to chromatic aberration and vignetting at wide open. Well, chromatic aberration seems to be present mildly in my tested shots but not that obvious. As for vignetting, it is present and considerably heavy as expected. Of course, the overall image quality improved from f2 onwards. And it looks the best at f2.8.
Fuji X-T5 . Brightin Star 35mm f0.95 @ 35mm . f16. 1/50″ . ISO 1250 . Nostalgic Negative
The fall-off between the focused subject and the foreground/background is a pleasure to view at. Not forgetting that shooting at f0.95, the focused subject is very pop out from the others and it should be expected to have this result.
As for the sun-star result, seems to be the same as the rest of the 35mm f0.95 lens. They are okay but not a tad sharp. Do bear in mind that flares will be introduced as well but I quite like how the flares are created.
Fuji X-T5 . Brightin Star 35mm f0.95 @ 35mm . f16. 1/450″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Minimum Focus Distance (MFD)
37cm MFD is fine. Not the shortest or as close to the one from TTArtisan (@ 35cm), but not the worst too. Nevertheless, it does not lose out too much for MFD per se.
As for the image quality, I think this is the weak point of this lens as it provides poor contrast and sharpness. Something to take note of.
Focusing
The focus ring is relatively smooth and there is nothing much to feedback about. It comes with minimal friction and it is comfortable enough to rotate the focus ring.
As for the MFD to infinity, the focus throw is approximately 100°. Also, pretty much the same as the other 35mm f0.95 lenses out there, and it also gives a fair amount of “traveling” for precise focusing.
Similar to the rest of the manual lenses, the infinity is not directly opposite to the MFD. In order to have the true infinity, you have to rotate back a little to achieve it (somewhere the infinity symbol is).
Price Point
At 199 USD, it is priced the same as the TTArtisan and 7artisan variants and slightly cheaper than the Meike at 259 USD and even cheaper than Mitakon at 399 USD.
If you have noticed, this lens does not come with f5.6. It jumps from f4 to f8, skipping two full stops worth of light. It is a strange lens design and this is my first time encountering this. But does it really affect my day-to-day usage with this lens? Probably not. If I want to bring this lens out for a shoot, what’s more important for me is the usability of the shots taken at wide-open, in this case, f0.95, rather than the missing out of f5.6.
Fuji X-T5 . Brightin Star 35mm f0.95 @ 35mm . f0.95. 1/80″ . ISO 800 . Nostalgic Negative
If you are the kind that is into unique details, this lens comes with a black/dark grey coated rear lens element. While it does nothing but aesthetics, at least this is something different from the other manufacturers.
If you are new to manual lenses or you want to have an experience of what f0.95 is, this is one of the many manual lenses you can consider getting. With its focal length, this lens is pretty much suitable for many genres such as street, cityscape, portrait, documentary, and etc.
As for professional photographers, I believe you know whether you will need this lens for your professional works or causal.
Conclusion
I genuinely love this lens. Despite its shortfall on the MFD and missing f5.6, it is a great f09.5 lens to own. It has been a long time that I have enjoyed shooting at wide-open. I have more shots taken at f0.95 than in any other aperture value because I feel it should be the way. Plus given its 199 USD price point, I think it is pretty worth it. It may seem biased but really, it’s not.
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 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:
TTArtisan has been very quiet about what is coming next in their product lineup. I also noticed a slowdown in the number of new lenses launched by the company. Also, after the launch of the TTArtisan 27mm f2.8, there was no teaser or hint of what was coming next in the autofocus lens lineup until recently in September 2023.
This is TTArtisan’s second autofocus lens for the Fuji X-mount and it is released almost a year after the launch of the TTArtisan 27mm f2.8. The 27mm lens from the manufacturer was a big hit back then. Everywhere was literally out of stock and the manufacturer is trying to fulfill the backlog orders for weeks or even months. 35mm is a very focal length and I am excited to see how popular this lens can be.
Before I proceed further, I would like to thank TTArtisan for sending this lens over to me. I appreciate and thankful for their support. Having said that, the review is truly my own opinions and TTArtisan has no influence to it.
Design and Build Quality
From the lens appearance, it is minimalistic and clean. This also means the lens does not come with an aperture ring like the TTArtisan 27mm f2.8, just a smooth rotation focus ring.
It’s lightweight, at 199 grams. In case someone wonders, it weighs 224 grams with the lens hood and 238 grams inclusive of the rear “lens cap”. The metal-built quality is very similar to other TTArtisan manual lenses that I have tested thus far. I have to say it is a pretty decent-built lens. It comes with a metal rear mount and the overall handling of the lens is good too.
One of the most exciting things, in my personal view, is the lens hood. This 50mm (in full frame equivalent) lens comes with a decent built square lens hood and the design of the lens hood is just simply beautiful. The hood complements the overall lens look and feel so well, I have had the hood permanently mounted onto the lens since then.
The filter size is pretty small, at 52mm only. Oh, by the way, it does not come with weather resistance.
Image Quality
Speaking of the image quality, I have to say it’s a huge improvement over my past experiences with the other TTArtisan lenses. Although it is not clinically sharp or corner-to-corner tad sharp, it is so much usable at wide-open. If you read some of my past opinions with the TTArtisan lenses, you will notice that I always find the usable aperture is usually 1-2 stops from the base aperture value. I am happy to use this lens at wide-open.
Vignetting is there at f1.8 and it seems to be a bit heavier than other lenses but it is not much of my concern as we can either post-process it or step down to f2.8 onwards for improvement.
With the help of the Stepper Motor (STM), the focus is pretty fast in most situations. The focusing speed is pretty good between MFD and infinity. Having said that, it is not as snappy as the XF33mm f1.4. To be fair, they are in different categories and focus groups.
During low light situations and under harsh sunlight environments, I do experience focus pulling or being unable to focus correctly. But it recovers after I point to another subject and then to the one I want. I hope there will be future firmware upgrades to address this issue.
In my opinion, focusing breathing is pretty far. I’m not sure if it impacts photographers but this likely impacts videographers.
Minimum Focus Distance (MFD)
The MFD is 60cm and, this is probably the biggest drawback for this lens. I think I have been spoiled by the MFD offered by other lenses and it set up my expectations for what a 35mm lens’ MFD should be.
So I asked the engineers from the TTArtisan and try to understand what was the decision behind this. And this is the answer from them:
“Considering that the 35 lens is mainly for humanistic photography and portrait photography and there will be less close-up shooting, and also considering the focusing speed and lens size, the minimum focusing distance has been compromised.”
Having said that, MFD at 60cm is totally fine for day-to-day casual street shots and even portrait shots. It only hinders me when I want to take a close-up food shot or a close-up shot of a small subject.
For comparison, the closest autofocus lens that I can think of is the XC 35mm f2. It is priced at 199 USD. While I am unsure if it has fully stopped production, I think if you can spend that extra 50 USD, then XC 35mm should be a better deal (but without the lens hood). After all, it is an XF 35mm f2 optic in a plastic body. On the other hand, 50 USD can get you some filters and accessories, or just save that 50 USD.
All in all, I have to say it depends on the individual photographer’s needs and wants.
Others
Speaking of firmware upgrades, this lens shares the same docking rear lens cap as the TTArtisan 27mm f2.8. It acts as both the lens cap and there is a USB-C port for future firmware updates. Similar to my suggestion on the 27mm, I will suggest photographer keep this unique rear lens cover at home.
There are many 35mm lenses in the market and we are not lacking in it. But because it comes at a very attractive price, I think it is very competitive in the 35mm continent.
In my opinion, this lens is suitable for those who do not have this focal length or are new to photography, you can take this opportunity and give it a try. Besides the X-mount, it comes with the Sony E-mount and Nikon Z-mount too.
In terms of genres, it’s a good street, portrait, cityscape, and landscape. Product shot is possible too but depending on the kind of product shot you are shooting, the limited MFD might be affecting you.
Also, this is probably another good gift option for any photographer friend that you want to give.
Conclusion
Although a little compromise on the MFD in return of the lens size and focusing speed, I was pretty satisfied with the overall performance such as the image quality and the focusing speed.
Also, TTArtisan launched the lens at the price of 149 USD. It is not easy to maintain the same starting selling price as the TTArtisan 27mm lens with the recent inflation around the world. Nonetheless, this lens is set to give young or budget photographers another option to choose from besides manual lenses but I will recommend everyone to give a try with this lens.
Now, TTArtisan also teases about another upcoming portrait lens, 56mm f1.8. Will it priced the same at 149 USD? I think if everything about this lens is great, could pricing it at 200 USD or 250 USD be a big hit? We shall wait for the good news to come.
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:
23mm focal length (35mm in full frame equivalent) is one of my favorite prime lenses. If I can only bring one lens out, this is the focal length I will bring. No second thought. And now, Sigma has this amazing lens ready for the X-mount, L-mount, and E-mount.
Sigma 23mm f.14 DC DN Contemporary
Intro
Sigma 23mm f1.4 DC DN Contemporary was released officially in September 2023, but it was announced way back in April 2023.
Sigma 23mm f.14 DC DN Contemporary
If I remember correctly, this is Sigma’s 4th prime lens. It may not sound a lot, but Sigma did cover basically the most commonly used focal lengths for street photographers.
Sigma 23mm f.14 DC DN Contemporary
Before I proceed further, I would like to thank Mr Lawson from Sigma Marketing (Singapore) for loaning me this lens for review and Kai for making the arrangements. I appreciate their support in making this review a reality.
Design and Build Quality
From the first look, this lens shares many similarities with the other Contemporary series like the Sigma 18-55mm, Sigma 56mm, etc. The lens gives a very minimalistic look, nothing fancy, just a low-profile lens design. The lens is made of “Thermally Stable Composite” (TSC) polycarbonate material, which gives a very high quality, well-built lens body.
At 335 grams, this lens is very comfortable to hold, and it comes with a 52mm filter size (For your information, it is the same filter size as the Sigma 30mm f1.4). It also comes with a plastic lens hood.
In the same manner, 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.
I think this is probably the better image quality as compared to the other Sigma prime lenses. At wide open, the image is great, sharp, and contrasting. If I set XF23mm f1.4 WR as the benchmark, this Sigma lens is just one tier lower. This is very impressive in my opinion.
The blur transition between the focused and non-focused object is not the best I have since but it is decent too. Not harsh or distracting.
Vignetting is there at wide-open. But again, not a critical concern to me. Chromatic aberration is nowhere to be found or at least I did not spot one during my course of testing.
If anyone is concerned about the sun star result, it is okay, not the best but also the worst.
Focusing
With the help of the stepping motor, the lens performs very well. In most situations, the focus is quick (not the fastest) and accurate. So far, I have not experienced any miss-focused shots which I think is another great experience to have.
But under challenging situations like a dim environment, it does pose a bit of a challenge to focus. This is pretty much the same behavior as most lenses in the market.
The focus ring is smooth as expected. Nothing to complain about. Also, Sigma did a good job at controlling the lens breathing. Not too much of a concern for photographers, but if you intend to use this lens for videography, I think it might be a good option.
Minimum Focus Distance (MFD)
While 25cm MFD is not the shortest for this focal length, it is pretty usable. It is still allowing photographers to take close-up subject if he/she wants to. The image quality might seem to be a little softer at wide-open. Unless you do pixel peeping, it is barely noticeable.
It is priced at 549 USD. For comparison, XF23mm f.14 WR is priced at 899 USD, Viltrox 23mm f1.4 is priced at 325 USD, Voigtlander Nokton 23mm f1.2 is priced at 599 USD (not quite a fair one but I just throw it in for price sensing purpose).
The “metallic” surface of the lens is prone to fingerprint smudge but this is the same across all contemporary prime lenses thus far. But not too much of a worry as it can be removed easily with a cloth.
If you are new to photography or want to own the first decent-quality prime lens but are on a budget, I will always recommend a 23mm prime lens as a start. Because as a prime lens, it is versatile for the street, cityscape/landscape, documentary, environmental portrait, astrophotography, editorial, and the list goes on.
Hence, this Sigma 23mm f1.4 can be one of your considerations. There is not much of a 23mm focal length competition just yet. I know there is a brand or 2 that have the intention to enter this 23mm segment but I am totally not sure how good their lens and the image quality will be. But Sigma has been around since 1961 and has been accompanying many photographers in their photography lives. So the image quality is at a certain standard.
As a third-party lens, Sigma 23mm f1.4 set a benchmark for many others to follow. Fantastic image quality, decent focus speed, and comfortable lens handling. As for the lens build, it may not be as good as what metal built quality is but it is definitely a premium polycarbonate build quality. Trust me, I experienced the not-so-good one.
Sigma may not seem to release lenses aggressively for Fujifilm. But if we look back, it is otherwise. In fact, Sigma had released lenses for Fujifilm at a good momentum throughout the years. Today, Sigma has released a good range of prime lenses for street photographers.
Finally, I have to say this is by far one of my favorite Sigma lenses and I hope Sigma will continue to support the Fujifilm X-mount and also probably the G-mount soon?
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 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:
This is the second of the above-mentioned series. I have recently tested the Viltrox 27mm and much earlier with the TTArtisan variant and the Fuji variant. So in the name of fun, I am trying to compare the image quality among the 3.
From left to right: XF27mm, Viltrox 27mm, TTArtisan 27mm
Of course, this comparison is not scientific, nothing technical or chart board to take reference and compare. Photos are taken in my house.
The comparison is simple. Shoot at the respective lens’ Minimum Focus Distance (MFSD), at approximately 50cm and 100cm. Apertures range from wide-open, f2 (only applies to Viltrox), f4, and f5.6.
For a note, the MFD for the lenses are as of below: Viltrox 27mm – 28cm XF27mm – 34cm TTArtisan 27mm – 35cm
In my opinion, Viltrox seems to be the better one in overall performance out of the 3 and it also has a very usable MFD. Of course, better image quality comes with some sacrifice: weight and price. It is selling at a retail price of 549 USD as compared to XF27mm at 399 USD and TTArtisan 27mm at 159 USD. So which one will you get? Image quality over everything? or Striking a balance between image quality and weight? or Getting the best value?
Thank you for reading.
Disclaimer: 1. All the shots taken here are shot by me. 2. All 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:
Viltrox started off with a very good strategy by introducing the first ever pro lens from the company, the Viltrox 75mm f1.2. It was a success, and many photographers who own it love it. Does this Viltrox 27mm f1.2 have the same mojo? Time will tell. But for now, Viltrox is busy fulfilling the orders. (Viltrox loves the Fujifilm community because both lenses are available for Fujifilm at the beginning.)
Left: Viltrox 27mm f1.2 with lens hood Right: Viltrox 27mm f1.2 without lens hood
Intro
Viltrox has been teasing this lens as early as April 2023. While I am not sure if it gets the attention it intended for from the rest of the photographers, it did raise my eyebrows when I first aware of this teaser. A 27mm lens is going to be the next pro lens from Viltrox is going to be an interesting one.
They do away with the usual standard focal lengths like 23mm or 35mm and choose 27mm instead. But is that really a wise choice?
Putting that aside, there is a saying that 40mm (in full frame equivalent) is a sweet spot between 35mm and 50mm (in full frame equivalent). One step back, you can get 35mm. One step forward, you can get 50mm. But I think only if the surrounding allows us to do so.
Also, I have a “cast in stone” impression with the 27mm (or 40mm in full frame equivalent) lenses are tend to designed as compact as possible. Making it an everyday lens for every photographer. But Viltrox’s approach is totally different, giving us the best possible optic one ever desires for this focal length.
Similar to the Viltrox 75mm f1.2 (I will just mention 75mm from now onwards), the metal-built quality is identical, solid, great build, and feels premium. So is the weight too (560 grams).
It also comes with a plastic lens hood. Although I feel that it should come with the metal hood to suit the “Pro” name, I guess this is to reduce the overall weight of this gigantic lens.
Image Quality
The image quality is fantastic, clinically sharp, and deep contrast. At wide-open, the subject is pop and clearly separate from the off-focus foreground/background beautifully. Just like the 75mm, the shots are totally usable.
The question here again is whether clinical sharp is a bad thing or a good thing? The answer is subjective to individual photographers. For me, I’m okay with either sharp or not sharp, it’s the lens characteristics. If I want to bring it out for a shoot, it means I have my expectations for what the results coming out from the lens.
Also, it has zero cchromatic aberration but with little vignetting can be observed if one is nitpicking. Removing vignetting should be easy with post-processing software, so I am not so bothered by it.
The sun-star result is not the best but pretty decent with a nice shape.
This lens comes with an STM Stepping motor. It gives a fast and silent experience. It is very snappy and probably even better than the 75mm that I tested sometime back.
Also, there are times that the lens does not focus well which usually happens while shooting at MFD or a highly exposed area. But this don’t happen every single time so I believe this can be fixed in future software release.
The lens/focus breathing is good here. The focus distance did not change dramatically as you change the focus distance from MFD to infinity and vice versa. In my opinion, this is a thoughtful engineering from the Viltrox engineers. Although this does not impact to photographer, this can be a great deal for a videographer. As far as I know, many cinematic videographers use this focal length for their shoots.
Minimum Focus Distance (MFD)
28cm MFD may not sound like a big deal but in fact, it is impressive. For reference, it is much closer than XF27mm f2.8 WR (@34cm) and TTArtisan 27mm f2.8 (@35cm). With this close MFD, photographers can take the opportunity to get closer to the subject and give a stronger compression with the background.
549 USD is the price. Is it expensive? For comparison, XF27mm f2.8 WR is selling at 399 USD at B&H, TTArtisan 27mm is 159 USD and lastly, Voigtlander 27mm f2 is 595 USD. So it is kind of hard to determine whether 549 USD is really expensive or worth buying. It’s all up to the individual.
It also comes with a USB-C port right at the rear lens. This also means future firmware improvement to the lens is possible.
The USB-C port
Viltrox 27mm f1.2 shares a lot of similarities with the 75mm counterpart. This also means things like missing aperture ring lock release that prevents accidental switches. But this is not a deal breaker.
Who is this for?
This lens is not a usual lens in terms of size and weight. Using this lens as a street lens is fine but not sure if one can sustain carrying it over time.
From what I see, professional photographers should benefit from using this lens for their works. What genres will be quite dependent on what the photographers want to achieve with this lens? In general, it can cover typical genres that I always mentioned in other posts.
Conclusion
I think this is the right move from Viltrox where 27mm is indeed in a good spot in the overly crowded market space with 23mm and 50mm/56mm focal lengths. Also, let’s not forget that the price is really attractive if you are comparing it with other f1.2 and f1.4 range of lenses.
If you put size and weight aside, you will be rewarded with fantastic image quality and I couldn’t ask for more from it.
Viltrox has quite a number of lenses up its sleeve for the Fujifilm community. But for now, there is a leak with the Viltrox 20mm f2.8 and it is expected to be arrived in Q4 2023. Also, a LAB series that is meant to be superior to the Pro series? I think we will know the answer in the future.
Viltrox 27mm f1.2
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:
Yongnuo has been in the photographic industry for over 10 years and they are no stranger to making autofocus lenses. In fact, for 50mm focal length per se, they have about 10 different 50mm lenses for different mounts up in their online store and this Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 DA DSM Pro is the first for Fujifilm X-mount.
Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 DA DSM ProYongnuo 50mm f1.8 DA DSM Pro
Intro
The first time I learned about this lens was on a rumor website in May 2023. My thought is that this might be a direct competitor to the XF50mm f2.
Fuji X-E3 with Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 DA DSM ProFuji X-E3 with Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 DA DSM Pro and lens hood
And today, it’s right in my hand and let me give you my opinion after a short 2 weeks of day-to-day hands-on with the lens.
Special thanks to the nice people at Yongnuo for sending me this lens. Without their support, this blog will not be here.
Design and Build Quality
When I first unbox the package, the prominent OLED screen appears in front of my very eyes. This less than 2cm screen (in diagonal) reminds me of some of the Nikon Z-mount lenses. Obviously, it is meant to show some information.
Picking up the lens the first impression that this lens gives me is a very clean and simple design. From the lens appearance, it lacks the physical aperture ring. So here is the interesting part. There is a function switch 1 and 2. Toggling to switch 1 gives you the capability to change the aperture while the other gives you focus ring control. Oh yes, the ring itself is very smooth. More about this later.
The metal-constructed lens (or so it seems) weighs about 378 grams. The rear mount is metal too. I can feel the weight when I hold it on my hand but it’s not as heavy as the number stated. Overall, I feel it has a very solid built quality.
The filter size is 58mm which is very decent and small. Also, it comes with a lens hood.
Image Quality
At wide-open, the shots are phenomenal or I should say it exceeds my expectations. The contrast and sharpness are pretty decent and I am not able to spot any softness in the photos. Vignetting and chromatic aberration are well-controlled too.
At f1.8, it does not give a strong/heavy background blur like the one with f1.2 or f1.4 but good enough separation between the subject and the off-focused foreground/background. The blur result does not look very busy or harsh, which is comfortable in my opinion.
The sun star gives a good soft star shape to the photo. If you are aware, there is a lens flare introduced as well. For photographers who do not like lens flare, please do note. Also, I have the lens hood mounted but somehow there is still a lens flare, it could be my handling problem.
Thanks to the digital stepping motor, the focusing performance is fast but not as snappy as the new generation Fuji lenses (for example: XF23mm f1.4 WR and XF56mm f1.2 WR).
I have no complaints about the fast focusing performance, however, I do encounter some off-focused results when the focus box is green. Luckily, when I experience this issue, the off-focused preview is quite obvious. This happens when I aim at darker environments like under shadow or in a dim environment. The good thing is it happens rarely in my course of testing.
Although it is not as close as what XF50mm f2 offers (39cm), MFD at 45cm is still pretty decent. It still provides a good close-up result of the subject without losing details.
It is priced at 265 USD on the Yongnuo official site. As compared to XF50mm f2 (449 USD), I have to say it is a sweet price point and very competitive pricing among third-party manufacturers.
Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 does not have any direct competition of the same focal length and aperture value. But somewhat close will be Viltrox 56mm f1.4 (329 USD) and Sigma 56mm f1.4 (429 USD). Of course, I am comparing based on brand new units and not comparing with second-hand/pre-owned lenses of the above-mentioned lenses.
There is a USB-C port on the lens for future firmware updates and it is positioned exposing on the outside of the lens, unlike other manufacturers that locate the USB-C port at the rear mount. It comes with a rubber to seal the port but I am afraid it could be potentially missing someday and leave the port exposed by accident.
Left: Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 USB-C port with rubber cover Right: Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 USB-C without rubber cover
For a note: the terms DA and DSM are “Digital APS-C” and “Digital Stepping Motor”.
Feedback
Although this is a pro lens from Yongnuo, there is no weather resistance found in this lens. I think this can be a good improvement for their next-generation pro lenses.
This lens comes with a unique aperture ring and focus ring combination. Somehow this might be a problem here. After I set my aperture value and leave the function switch as “1”, there is a possibility that I might accidentally change the aperture value again without knowing. This does happen to me even if the lens comes with an independent aperture ring. So in order to prevent such a thing from happening, I will have to remember to toggle the function switch to “2”.
Following this, the screen only provides an aperture value. I hope to see more likable to see the focal range I am at when I am toggled to function switch 2.
I also noticed that I am unable to control the aperture value via the camera front control dial. I think this will be nice if the Yongnuo engineers can help to implement this. I also think that this would be nice if the photographers had the option to choose their preferred way of controlling the aperture value.
Lastly, the manual focus throw is long. It takes me quite a long while to focus from minimum distance to infinity. No matter how slow or fast I rotate the focus ring, the momentum is constant. As this is a digital focus throw, I hope that Yongnuo will improve on the manual focus throw to be dependent or react to how fast or slow I am focusing. Having said that, this is not the top priority.
Who is this for?
In my opinion, this lens is great for photographers who want a small lens that covers mainly the portrait genre. Of course, this lens is also capable of covering landscape, street, product, and documentary photography.
The way I see it, this lens is all out to directly compete with the XF50mm f2. I think it’s a good competition. This not only gives Fujifilm a second thought about refreshing its F2 lens lineup, but it also gives photographers more options to pick. As much as I give a number of feedbacks, I do feel this is a very solid lens in terms of optical quality, performance, built quality, and of course, attractive price point.
As I stated in my title, Yongnuo has a good start with launching this lens. I hope the future lenses coming out from Yongnuo will be even better or at least should maintain this benchmark.
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:
Ever since Fujifilm opens up its X-mount protocol in 2020, we get to see more and more new third-party manufacturers releasing autofocus lenses for Fujifilm gradually. This is definitely a joy for Fuji photographers because we have more and more options to choose from.
Meike 85mm f1.8Meike 85mm f1.8
Intro
This time, Meike is the manufacturer attempting with its new 85mm f1.8 but this is not the first autofocus lens from the manufacturer. Meike has manufactured another autofocus lens as early as 2018 but that is for another mount, another brand.
Before I proceed further, I would like to thank Meike for sharing this lens for the review. I appreciate their kindness!
Price Point
I place this section first among all. All for a reason, it is priced at 200 USD. For reference, Viotrox 85mm f1.8 II is priced at 399 USD. Let’s be realistic, we should not set the expectations sky-high for an autofocus lens with this price point and there will be some trade-offs. So it is dependent on the interested photographers willing to accept the trade-offs.
The first thing I notice about the lens design is that it reassembles a lot to the Canon EF85mm f1.8 but is not 100% identical. The lens design gives a very simple, clean, and minimalistic look. Nothing fancy shout about. Since it gives a minimalistic look, this also means that it does not come with an aperture ring.
The lens comes with a polycarbonate build quality but I have to say that it is not the best one out there in the market. I can feel that it is more plasticky than other polycarbonate-built lenses but the 386 grams lens feels light to hold on my hand.
It comes with a 67mm filter thread size which is decent for the aperture value it gives. No comment on this. And it does come with a lens hood too! It does not come with a weather-resistance seal as well, and I think I can accept that.
Image Quality
At wide-open, the shots are acceptable. They are not clinically sharp with some lacking of contrast. The images look fine if you are not nitpicking or pixel-peeping. Vignetting and chromatic aberration are present but manageable. But if you step down to f2.8, the image quality shows improvement.
The background blur is a little harsh for my liking. The transition between the off-focused and the subject is not the best but still within my acceptability.
All thanks to the STM stepper motor, the focusing is also pretty silent throughout my testing. Focusing surprisingly well. It gives excellent focusing speed and accuracy in most situations. I do encounter some hiccups but mostly under dim light situations and do note that some other higher price tag lenses also have very similar focusing behavior. So I think it is fair for Meike 85mm at this price point.
The MFD is 85cm and I think it is pretty okay for a 85mm lens. The image quality doesn’t get worse at wide open, it maintains the same characteristics and behavior of the lens. In my opinion, it is pretty usable for social media purposes.
This lens comes with a Mirco-USB port that sits right at the rear mount where we can update the lens with future firmware for a better user experience.
This is the second cheapest autofocus lens in the X-mount market. The cheapest one still belongs to TTArtisan 27mm f2.8 (149 USD).
With its affordable price point, I think this lens is very suitable for photographers who want a portrait lens but do not wish to invest in more expensive options or wish to attempt to try taking shots with this focal length (127.5mm in full frame equivalent). In terms of genres, it can be used in most of them, such as general street, product, portrait, and landscape.
It is not the best-built and best image-quality lens but not the worse in the market, and it is also not competing against the top tier lenses. We are coming to the end of this post, and we all know what the trade-offs are with this lens. But they are traded-off for a reason, to allow more photographers have access to this focal length at an afforable price tag. I know I have reiterate a number of time about the price tag with this lens but I just can’t help tying them together.
Based on my past experiences with Meike lenses (Meike 35mm f0.95, 60mm f2.8, 7.5mm f2.8, and 10mm f2), I believe Meike can do a great job and giving the best they have in terms of build quality and image quality if they want. But for now, they give one more option for budget-minded photographers.
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 and Capture One 2023. 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:
When comes to ultrawide zoom lenses, we have limited options to choose from other than. the Fujifilm lens line-up. Namely, XF8-16mm f2.8 and XF10-24mm f4.
And that has been this way for a while until this new Tamron 11-20mm f2.8. Will this lens be worth our eyes on it? Let’s find out.
Tamron 11-20mm f2.8
Intro
Tamron introduced this 16.5mm to 30mm (in full-frame equivalent) for Sony for quite a while before Tamron makes it available to Fuji X-mount. This is an attractive focal length that does not has the widest nor it has the most tele focal length like the other 2 ultrawide lenses that Fuji is offering. But does it has its spot in the whole Fuji lens lineup (including third parties)?
If you just want to know my opinion, scroll all the way to the conclusion session.
Tamron 11-20mm f2.8
Before I continue further, I would like to special thanks to Cles Distribution of Tamron Singapore for allowing me to loan the Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 Di III-A RXD (Model AFB060X-700) for Fuji X-mount for this blog review. At the time of releasing this review, I have returned the loan unit to Cles Distribution.
Tamron 11-20mm f2.8
Design and Build Quality
Right off the bat, you will notice that the lens starts at 20mm (which is at the tele end of the focal length) and not at 11mm. The lens will zoom externally but not be extended by a lot. That’s considered a good thing for an external zoom lens. So in short, 11mm is at the lens’ longest end.
One might wonder why this lens is designed differently and unlike the typical lenses that “starts” at the widest focal length and “ends” at the tele focal length. I guess that 20mm is closer to street photography focal lengths like 18mm and 23mm, where this focal length has a higher usability rate than 11mm. Or maybe I think too much and it is just engineering design to make it as compact as possible.
This lens has the same polycarbonate build quality with a metal rear mount bayonet as its other sibling lenses (Tamron 18-300mm and Tamron 17-70mm). This does not mean the lens is not good. It feels fine, sturdy and does not feels any loose end or anything bad.
This 67mm filter-size lens weighs 335 grams. It does have weight when I hold it in my hand but not feel heavy. It also has a good balance with my X-T5 too. (Do you know that both Tamron 18-300mm and Tamron 17-70mm share the same filter size too?)
Similar to other Tamron lenses, it also lacks an aperture ring. It may sound like a deal breaker to many photographers. But after a while, I have gotten used to controlling the aperture values via the front command dial.
The image quality is great. Or at least I am more than happy with the results it provides across all the focal ranges at wide open. For a zoom lens, the contrast and sharpness are great. If you are comparing it with a prime lens, it is not as superb as a prime lens. But who will compare the zoom lens with the prime lens?
Vignetting is mild and it can be noticeable if one is to nitpick the photo. Chromatic aberration is well-controlled. Distortion control is pretty good here. While I am not sure if it is done through software or not, at least the results straight out of the camera are pretty decent for distortion.
Focusing speed is fast but not as snappy/instantly as Fujifilm’s new prime lenses. But I notice one phenomenon. If I focus on a darker area/spot, there is a chance the lens is unable to focus correctly or off-focused. But if I relocate my focus point to a brighter area/spot, it works and focuses fast.
This phenomenon does not matter if it’s outdoor or indoor, daylight or low light environment. It’s a unique behavior that I observed thus far with this lens.
Putting that aside, this lens comes with RXD (Rapid eXtra-silent stepping Drive) stepper motor unit which allows it to focus silently. This is very good for street photographers and significantly better for videographers when they use this lens for video productions.
Minimum Focus Distance (MFD)
Tamron is doing a great job when comes to MFD. Both the Tamron 17-70mm and Tamron 18-300mm give very impressive MFD and this lens is no exception. The MFD is 15cm at 11mm and 24cm at 20mm.
As for 20mm, it can also capture very close to the subject but the wow factor is all on the 11mm.
Price Point
Given it is priced at 829 USD, I think it is a good price point. For instant, XF 8-16mm f2.8 and XF 10-24mm f4 are priced at 1499 USD and 999 USD respectively.
While this lens does not come with weather resistance, it does come with Moisture-Resistant Construction and Fluorine Coating that offer additional protection when outdoor shooting.
Technically, Fujifilm gives a very clear option for photographers to choose from. If you have a reasonable budget on hand and don’t mind the bulky lens build, XF8-16mm is the choice. Otherwise, XF10-24mm is the best alternative with a reasonable price tag.
With the Tamron 11-20mm f2.8, Tamron steps-in in the right spot with the right price tag. It gives many Fujifilm photographers one of the best alternative options to choose from.
With decent image quality at wide open, decent weight and size, and decent build quality, this is the lens I will recommend for photographers who are looking for one with a bang for the buck.
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 and Capture One 2023. 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:
Alwin Kok 