Fuji 16-80 first thoughts and some unscientific tests

[SquarePeg]

First impression - the delivery box was bigger than expected but also lighter than I’d even dared to hope for! There was a lot of packing material in the delivery box so the actual lens box wasn’t too big.

Compared to the 28-55 kit lens:

On the Xt2

Compared to 18-55

 

[SquarePeg]

Balance on the Xt2 feels good. Body and lens fit in my every day camera bag in the pocket I normally use for the Xt2 + 18-55 without having to realign the dividers.

Love the aperture ring as it clicks for each stop and has a start and end point - compared to the 18-55 which rotates fully around and around... Focus ring is firm but smooth. Zooming was smooth as well. There are no switches at all on the lens for OIS on/off or for Auto aperture. OIS can be turned off via the menu. From what I’ve read, it knows when the lens is on a tripod and adjusts itself accordingly. Auto aperture is set using the aperture ring.

 

[SquarePeg]

Here are my non scientific tests of the advertised 6 stop OIS. Some of you may know that I rarely shoot hand held below 1/500 because I don’t have the best form and I’m a bit of a swayer. I was impressed that I was able to get some usable photos all the way down to .5 ss.

again unscientific but I tried to keep aperture and ISO as consistent as possible. To make it as hard as possible, these were at full zoom 80mm:

1/4 ss, ISO 200, f/4
Untitled by SharonCat..., on Flickr

1/2 ss, ISO 200, f/4
Untitled by SharonCat..., on Flickr

1 sec (had to change the aperture on this one to 7.1 as I was already at ISO 200)
Untitled by SharonCat..., on Flickr

 

[SquarePeg]

You can see that last one shows a bit of camera shake but not bad for 1 sec hand held.

eta - I took 2 -3 shots at each exposure and have posted the best ones for each shutter speed. All of the shots at 1/4 were sharp. 2 of the 3 at 1/2 were sharp. 2 of the 3 at 1 sec were considerably shakier than the one above.

 

[Derrel]

Good OSS!!!!!!! I have found that image stabilization makes slow speed panning really good! Slow speed meaning one third of a second to 1/8 of a second at the fast end.

 

[SquarePeg]

Good OSS!!!!!!! I have found that image stabilization makes slow speed panning really good! Slow speed meaning one third of a second to 1/8 of a second at the fast end.

Panning is something I need to work on. My current skill level at that can only be described as weak!

 

[jcdeboever]

Pretty good real life intial thoughts. This really is a desirable focal length fir a zoom. Thanks for the update.

 

[Derrel]

I see some panning in Yer future

 

[Destin]

I’m very tempted to sell off my 35 f/2 and use the money towards this lens. I thought about also selling the 90 f/2 for it, but the 90 is my favorite lens and I just can’t bring myself to get rid of it.

 

[weepete]

That looks like a great lens. I really like the 16-80mm focal lengths, I find that kind of range incredibly useful for general shooting on a crop sensor. I used a 17-70mm a lot on my old camera. That IS looks cracking too, down to 1/2 of a sec gives you a lot of creative freedom and it seems sharp with good contrast too.

 

[SquarePeg]

Pretty good real life intial thoughts. This really is a desirable focal length fir a zoom. Thanks for the update.

Haven’t had a chance to do any more testing or actual shooting- hopefully this weekend will take it fir a real world spin.

I see some panning in Yer future

could be rabbit...could be

I’m very tempted to sell off my 35 f/2 and use the money towards this lens. I thought about also selling the 90 f/2 for it, but the 90 is my favorite lens and I just can’t bring myself to get rid of it.

I rarely use my 90mm. I bought it with portraits in mind but my interest in shooting those is just not there right now.

That looks like a great lens. I really like the 16-80mm focal lengths, I find that kind of range incredibly useful for general shooting on a crop sensor. I used a 17-70mm a lot on my old camera. That IS looks cracking too, down to 1/2 of a sec gives you a lot of creative freedom and it seems sharp with good contrast too.

‘The Sigma 17-70 was on my Nikon almost every time I left the house. It’s a really great range. I don’t think I’ll miss the 2.8 if I can get good shots at 1/4... but still lots of paces to put it through.


I’ll post more test shots and a review as soon as I have some time to use it a bit more. I just updated the firmware on my Xt2 and the lens so I may run the shutter speed OIS tests again.

 

[Solarflare]

[...] There are no switches at all on the lens for OIS on/off or for Auto aperture. [...]

Drat. No OIS switch ? Not cool.

Good OSS!!!!!!! I have found that image stabilization makes slow speed panning really good! Slow speed meaning one third of a second to 1/8 of a second at the fast end.

Now THAT is SLOW. I use something like 1/60 sec with panning. Not that I would pan often, or shoot sports often at all.

 

[SquarePeg]

Drat. No OIS switch ? Not cool.

Per Fuji the lens can detect when it’s on a tripod and will turn off OIS. I haven’t used this on a tripod yet. But then again I usually forget to turn OIS off when using a tripod anyway...

I used the lens last weekend and loved having those extra stops. It doesn’t have the same punch as the 18-55 - I felt that the photos needed more sharpening and contrast in post than I normally would do but that could be a result of the lighting and subject. I was outdoors on a foggy and gray day photographing trees and snow. Not the best conditions. I plan to take both lenses out with me next time the weather is better so I can do some real world comparisons.

 

[photoflyer]

I thought about also selling the 90 f/2 for it, but the 90 is my favorite

I think you'd regret unloading it. Keep that one.