Is this lens that could be useful for your photography? Well, make your research and I will share a review below for you to check out.
Personally I own the spectacular Fujinon XF80mmF2.8 macro and that’s more than I deserve for my humble macro photography skills. But yeah, even though I got it during one of the official Fujifilm rebates, it still costs much more than the TTartisan 100mm f/2.8 Macro.
TTaritsan 100mm f/2.8 2x Macro for Fujifilm X mount Amazon US, Amazon CA
TTaritsan 100mm f/2.8 2x Macro for Fujifilm G mount Amazon US, Amazon CA
DPReview has published its review of the the Fujifilm X-T50.
They have lots of great things to say about this camera, and also about the new kit lens, the XF16-50mmF2.8-4.8.
From the great JPEG and RAW image quality and the color profiles, the size and weight, the control dials (they appreciate the film simulation dial) and so forth.
In fact, it would be right on track to snap the Gold Award, if it wasn’t for two issues: the price and the autofocus performance.
Summer holidays are basically over. Call back your engineering team, let them read this article, and it should take them 5 minutes of hard work to get the AF fixed.
PROS
Good image quality in JPEG and Raw
Great selection of color profiles and a good dial to control them with
Quick-access Auto lever is a fun touch
Size and weight make it very portable
Wide variety of inexpensive, relatively fast primes available
Built-in flash is a nice-to-have
Robust video features
Has enough dials to give you control without being overwhelming
CONS
The price
Autofocus tracking performance is noticeably a step below peers
Switching between face and subject detection is a two-step process
Joystick and Q-menu button can be a little hard to reach
I am 57 years old and I have been a press photographer in Belgium for over 30 years.
Like every year, I reported on the parade of July 21, 2024 for the Belgian national holiday in Brussels. This annual report is often an opportunity to renew my archives of the royal families by taking beautiful portraits of them.
When Fujifilm asked me to become their ambassador, I didn’t hesitate for a second. I exchanged my old guns for lighter Fujifilm equipment.
My Fuji equipment: two X-H2S bodies, the traditional optics and also the famous XF 150-600 mm
This fabulous optic allows me to take portraits of members of the royal family with beautiful ambient light.
I placed the 1.4X multiplier on the optics which allows me to work at 1260mm!
I must first of all say that the autofocus, which was sometimes a little hesitant, seems very efficient to me since the latest firmware version. There is no more hesitation, the focus is direct. Small drawback, the aperture… at 1360 mm I have to work at a diaphragm of f:11 at 1250 iso. For a speed of 1/100. I use a lightweight monopod. The subject does not move and this speed is enough. I often run the reports through the Topaz software which increases the sharpness and allows for higher sensitivity subjects to remove slight noise. Although the noise is less and less present at high sensitivity with the XH2 S, the Topaz software allows you to work at high sensitivity without any fear.
Another positive point is the lightness of this lens and its stabilization which brings a lot of comfort to shooting.
In addition, the optical unit moves internally which provides additional comfort when shooting!
If we publish the aperture, this optic in 24/36 conversion allows us to cover focal lengths from 225 mm (without the 1.4X) to 1260mm with the 1.4X. With the multiplier. An absolute weapon in many situations which allows me to compete with my colleagues and produce often different images.
It is without hesitation that I take this lens as soon as I can, which remains light for its focal length and which brings me different images.
I work in RAW and develop them with Capture One software.
All this pictures are done front of the king’s palace in Brussels during the national parade. The distance between the photographers and the royal family is approximately of 70 meters.
Princess DelphineKing PhilippePrincess DelphinePrincess DelphinePrincess Elisabeth
I do use third party batteries and I know many of you do too.
However (and that’s valid also for other companies as far as I know), if you use third party batteries in your Fujifilm cameras, and that third party battery is cause of a problem (for example it swells up and gets stuck in the camera), then, even if your camera is under warranty, you won’t get the problem fixed free of charge. On the other hand, if you use the original battery, for as long your battery is under warranty, every problem caused by the battery itself to the camera will give you access to free warranty repair.
That’s why, if you want to go the 100% safe route during the time you camera is under warranty, you might want to stick with original batteries, so if any problem happens caused by the battery, it will be fixed under warranty.
In all my years using third party batteries, I had my first third party battery fail last year, where my Patona swelled up in my X-E3 and I had to fiddle around to get it out. Luckily my X-E3 did not get any damage, but if it would, I would not have been able to fix it under warranty.
If your gear however is out of warranty anyway, that is less of a problem.
I understand that this dial is polarizing, but ultimately I got quite some feedback from readers who did start to use film simulations more often due to the fact that they have such quick and intuitive access to them thanks to the dial. So for some this dial is definitely welcome.
And today we can tell you this: the film simulation dial won’t be a one-time only experiment and therefore unique to the Fujifilm X-T50.
In fact, I have been told that also the upcoming Fujifilm X-M5 will feature the film simulation dial.
Now, I do not know how it will be implemented. The original Fujifilm X-M1 had a PSAM dial and an unmarked dial, so maybe the film simulation dial will replace the unmarked dial? I have no answer to this but I will let you know as soon as I can.
What is sure according to our sources: the film simulation dial is there.
But as much as I find the film simulation a good idea (for certain cameras) my top hope is that the Fujifilm X-E5 (yep, there will be one ;)) will have this dial here.
