Back in 2015 Andy Mumford, a full time landscape photographer, switched from using a full frame system to the Fuji X system and in this video he talks about what effect it’s had on his photography, both professionally and personally.
The video would be worth to watch also just for the stunning images he shares (including some from around my home in the Dolomites). So go check it out.
I feel he nicely brings to the point what it means to shoot with Fujifilm cameras. And I also agree that if you don’t print enormous images, then 16 or 26 megapixel are more than enough.
I do love to print my images, too, and so far the largest I have hanging at my home is a 90x60cm (35×23 inches) image taken with the 24MP Fujifilm X-E3, which looks absolutely perfect, even when watched in “photographers mode” (meaning not watching from the normal distance as every non-photographer would do, but by going very close to it and basically pixel peeping with the eyes ;))
Also Andy, who rarely prints beyond 1 meter (39 inches) is totally fine with the current resolution Fujifilm cameras offer.
I guess also Viltrox struggles with the worldwide parts shortage and in fact in today’s video, Damian, who is testing the lens right now, confirms that Viltrox had to postpone the release for this lens once again. Viltrox now told him they pushed it back to 2022.
The good news: the review samples are now out, so I guess it can’t be that long of a wait anymore.
Speaking of review samples, Damian is the first to publish his first look on the Viltrox 13mm f/1.4 AF XF.
It’s a nice video which includes lots of samples and autofocus demos (for stills and video). So definitely check it out.
Personally I am happy to hear that Damian considers the Viltrox 13mm f/1.4 XF the sharpest (and best) Viltrox XF lens so far with excellent autofocus (also face detection) and very usable in the center even at f/1.4 (a bit less usable in the corners wide open). The clicked aperture ring is a bonus for me although I’d have hoped for a bit of lighter lens (it weights 420g).
It’s not free imperfections, like a noticeable vignetting wide open and some distortion and chromatic aberration, but considering that many will mostly use it for landscape photography (and hence stop down anyway) and especially considering the price of $469, to me it looks like a good value for money lens.
Now let me say this.
I generally prefer Fujinon X (or GFX) mount lenses, and not because they are better in terms image quality (if a lens is more affordable, then I can accept to give up a bit of IQ), but if there is one thing that I love about the X/GFX system, then it’s the colors I get from it (with Astia being my favorite all-rounder film simulation).
And in my experience, whenever I use third party lenses on my Fujifilm cameras, the colors simply don’t come out the way I am used to (and love it) from the Fujinon lenses. In fact, this is one of the main reason why my Fujinon XF10-24mm has basically replaced my Samyang 12mm f/2 in my camera bag. Not because the Samyang is bad, not at all (look, I have taken some of my most loved images with it). But sometimes I can be terribly lazy with post processing my images, and I know the XF10-24mm will nail the colors the way I love it more than my Samyang 12mmF2 would, and hence spare me some time in post.
In short: if you love film simulations, like I do, native Fujinon lenses will deliver better results, or let’s say results that more faithfully reproduce the vibe and tone Fujifilm intended to give us with the various film simulations.
Ah, speaking of colors, Damian says that the Viltrox 13mm f/1.4 XF colors are on the cooler side.
With all that said, I think Viltrox made a very smart move with this lens, as Fujifilm itself is not offering anything that can closely match the Viltrox 13mm f/1.4 in terms of focal length and aperture. The closest competitor at this point is the Samyang 12mm f/2, which is smaller than the Viltrox 13mm f/1.4 and also weather sealed (the Viltrox is well built, but not weather resistant). However, the Samyang is also slower and more expensive.
So overall a great addition for the X mount system and a lens that I am hugely interested in if it performs decently also for astrophotography.
Sean Reid at www.reidreviews.com has recently published two new Fuji G system reviews.
The first is a detailed 18 page side-by-side field and studio test of the GFX 100S and GFX 50S II. It looks at autofocus speed, buffer capacity, resolution, vignetting, color rendering and various other aspects of these cameras’ performance. The second is a full field and studio review of the GF 50/3.5 tested on the GFX 100S and GFX50S II.
I asked Reid if he could share an aspect of his test results that might be particularly interesting to Fuji Rumors readers. He noted this:
When photographers think about using a very high resolution (in terms of MP count) camera with a given lens, it is common to be concerned about whether the camera will reveal weaknesses in that lens. But the GF 50/3.5 actually performs even better, off axis for example, with the GFX 100S than the GFX50S II.
The year is ending, the internet is flooded by “best and worst” articles and videos, and at some point of the ranking the Fujifilm GFX system always comes out on the very top positions.
Now, nobody can predict the future in the long term. So if the GFX system will keep up rising or not remains an open question whose outcome will depend on many things.
But if we look back on how it all started with the GFX system and where the system is now, then we can surely say that Fujifilm has set some solid fundaments on which they could potentially build up something very special.
So, in order to honor the big GFX year that we just had, we celebrate today with a dedicated GFX roundup that you can find below.
