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.
In their usual very entertaining way, Chris and Jordan from DPRTV share their best and worst camera gear episode for 2021.
Instead of the best stills and hybrid camera categories (as they did last year), this year they axed the hybrid category and replaced it with the best video camera, which has been won by the DJI Ronin 4D. I wish they would have kept the hybrid category.
Also, there is not one overall best lens, but best lens for M4/3, APS-C and Full Frame. Medium Format is not contemplated in the lens options, so the stellar Fujinon GF80mm f/1.7 (which I use every now and then with very gratifying results) had no chance to participate to this years’ DPRTV selection.
Fujifilm GFX100S: they love image and build quality. Really premium medium format sensor with more approachable price point. Makes high end medium format accessible to a lot more people. You can’t find the camera anywhere, as everybody wants one.
Look, I own the Fujifilm GFX100S and I admire it. It stunns me over and over again. And if you want the best image quality, more then you could ever desire, then go for it. But as much as I admire it, I can’t fall in love with it as I do with my Fujifilm X gear, since it lacks of manual controls. To be clear, it is fast and stupidly easy to operate. But just not as fun. So Fuji, take the X-T form and function, and make a GFX out of it, pretty much like this prototype you’ve showen to us in the past.
And yet, it has captured some precious family memories at a quality I do not deserve :).
click the image to find out what FujiRumors considers Fujifilm’s top product for 2021
Top Fujifilm Related Product 2021
There won’t be any more announcements in 2021, so time to look back at the Fujifilm year 2020 and vote which one according to you was the top product of the year launched by Fujifilm.
And why not, let’s include also the third party autofocus lenses for Fujifilm launched (or announced) this year as well as the latest Instax products.
The patent for a Fujinon XF35mm f/3.5 or XF35mm f/3.5 has been spotted by Asobinet. Down below the details (google translated):
As of November 1, 2021, Fujifilm’s patent application has been published. It includes some small, lightweight standard single focus examples that will be the “35mm F3.5” for APS-C mirrorless cameras.
[Publication date] November 1, 2021
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY: Imaging lens and imaging device
[Application date] April 23, 2020
[Name or name] FUJIFILM Corporation
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image pickup lens which is compactly configured, has good optical performance, and is advantageous for speeding up focusing, and an image pickup device provided with the image pickup lens.
Some might think it is the patent for the GF30mm f/3.5, but Asobinet remarks how considering the angle of view this should be an APS-C lens.
Asobinet remarks: “Considering the filing time, it may have been a proposal that was being considered in the process of commercializing the ” XF27mmF2.8 R WR “.
As always, keep in mind that 99,9999% of the patents we report about will never see the light of the day. Just search for “patent” on FujiRumors, and look at all the stuff that has been spotted in 10 years of blogging and never became a real product at the end.
In that article, I promised that I would also write an article about the exact opposite, meaning sharing a list of critiques on Fujifilm that I totally understand and I agree with.
You can find it down below.
And of course, feel free to add your own critiques on Fujifilm in the comments down below.
In episode 22/23 of the Fujifilm X Lab series, Fujifilm managers and engineers gather together to talk about the inside story and what they call the “development secrets” of the new generation fast f/1.4 prime lenses, the “XF18mmF1.4 R LM WR“, “XF23mmF1.4 R LM WR” and “XF33mmF1.4 R LM WR“.
It’s once again in Japanese and we rely on the automatic Google translation tool, which is far from optimal. I went through this pain for you and summed it up below. However, if any Japanese FR-reader has the time and would like to make a better translation for us, feel free to drop it down in the comments or send it over to me at fujirumor@gmail.com.
With that said, down below are the key points of the video as we as the video itself.
Fujifilm has been awarded with 34 Good Design Awards for a wide range of products, from software, to X-Ray products to projectors and of course also X/GFX gear.
