The Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 DC DN for Fujifilm X Mount has been officially announced.
Down below are the first reviews:
I am terribly sorry…. terribly sorry that many of you had to wait so long to be featured.
But no matter how hard I work, especially in a crazy 2022, with 3 higher end cameras coming out and 4 XF lenses coming out, I simply could not find time to collect all your wishes and share them.
So I’ll do it today… I grabbed a large beer, took a deep breath, and worked to organise the wishes I have received over the last few months in this article.
So… down below it is: the FR-readers wishlist roundup
Fujifilm USA runs over the several 30ish-ranged Fujinon lenses, highlighting their differences and making a final recommendation.
Lots of choice in that range, but which one is best?
Fujifilm USA (video below) says the XF30mmF2.8 Macro is probably the best prime lens you should consider getting if you are new to the X system and you are looking to purchase your first prime lens.
Because it’s kind of the jack of all trades: it can do macro (the others can’t), it has extremely fast autofocus even at close distances (some of the other lenses have not that fast AF), it is very sharp, has low to no chromatic aberration, it’s ideal for high resolution X cameras (X-T5 and X-H2), and with $600 pricing it is still affordable for many people.
My take?
Well, I personally would still recommend the XF35mmF1.4 as first prime lens. It can’t do Macro, but it is still affordable and much faster with its 1.4 aperture. Plus it’s one of those character lenses that will give you magic results.
But certainly the XF30mm f/2.8 is also a wonderful and versatile option for a first prime lens.
You can watch the full video below.
If I am looking for unbiased, objective and competent reviews about anything electronics related, I often look at recommendations of Stiftung Warentest, a “German consumer organisation and foundation involved in investigating and comparing goods and services in an unbiased way. It was founded on 4 December 1964 by the Federal Republic of Germany as an independent foundation under civil law*”
Stiftung Warentest even gets €3.5 million a year from the German state as “compensation for the fact that it does not carry any advertisements in its publications because this could compromise its independence*“.
In short: those guys are not been flown around the world by companies in order to possibly get favourable reviews ;).
And now let’s come to today’s story, which we start with the easy one, the X100V.
Stiftung Wartentest declared the Fujifilm X100V the best fixed lens compact camera. That’s an easy one, as there is simply nothing that comes near to the X100V in terms of price, features and performance in this segment.
Out of all the mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras they tested, Stiftung Warentest declared the Fujifilm X-T4 their best allrounder camera, with a rating of 1.4 (max 1.0). You can read their test in German behind a paywall at their website here.
This is a nice “revenge” for the Fujifilm X-T4, a camera that has been a bit mocked by Fujifilm itself in their Fujifilm X-T5 launch promo ad.
Now, you know my take on this:
the Fujifilm X-T4 had to carry the flagship burden, hence it was forced to be exactly how it is (bigger, heavier, etc). But now that the X-H2/s finally came out, the Fujifilm X-T* line could go back to its roots again with the wonderful Fujifilm X-T5, hence it could become smaller, lighter, offer a 3 way tilt screen and overall just be more photography centric.
If it wasn’t for the selfie screen, I could have loved my Fujifilm X-T4 almost as much as I love my X-E3. But sadly even after years of use, I simply could not grow fond of it, even though I occasionally could appreciate the advantages of a fully articulating screen (even for photography only).
So I am happy to see the Fujifilm X-T4 getting this important recognition.
It is still a wonderful camera, and for some even preferable over the Fujifilm X-T5. And right now you can also get it with a discount.
Oh, and in the 12th position of this ranking we find the Fujifilm X-E4 ;).
* source – wikipedia
X-T5 USA Pre-Orders
Fujinon XF30mmF2.8 Macro Pre-Orderrs
X-T5 Other Countries
Just as we did for the top X series camera wish for 2023, we now launch the same survey for the GFX series.
Sure, there are not so many options in this case, since at the moment we have 3 different camera bodies: the GFX100 with integrated battery grip, the GFX100S/50SII and the GFX50R.
And considering that Fujifilm has even stated that they no longer see the need for a GFX50R successor (although later on other managers expressed their wish for that line to continue), we risk to remain with even less options in future.
But this is our space. Here we can wish whatever we want. So I will add a few options that are not impossible for Fujifilm to manufacture (leaving out the modular GFX, as that one needs the global shutter, and that seems to be still far away to become a regular feature in digital cameras).
So we will vote on the following cameras, assuming Fujifilm would use the latest generation sensors (which are the 26MP stacked and 40MP non-stacked sensors we find on our APS-C cameras, just the bigger MF version of it)
Loading ...And because it fits with our wishlist article today, I will share a mock-up made by Aperture Value on how he imagines the next Fujifilm GFX camera. You can see his video that includes the mock-ups down below.
