I thought it was overpriced until I held one in B&H NYC this week. This lens is a work of art, really. I've got a 300mm f/2.8 for my Nikon FX system, but this lens here is exquisite. I may be selling some lenses to get it. The dilemma is a 50mp Medium format camera and lens, or just this lens here. Tough one.
Hi Dustin. Thorough review & greatly appreciated. Just a side note here. I found that on my XT-3 cameras, I had to go into the camera menu & turn “off” the large LCD & EVF indicators that appear in the view finder & LCD screen. When turning this function “off” it simply makes the size of the fonts smaller. Without making this change in the camera menu, the focus hold or focus preset buttons on the 200mm f2 lens barrel would NOT work. I do not know if this step is necessary on newer Fuji camera bodies.😊
Superb! Congratulations on beginning what will hopefully be a long series of Fuji lens reviews with this stunning lens. Decently on the top spot of my wish list. Greetings!
For the quality, feature set and the sports car look, this lens is a steal for the sports shooter and sits in the ranks comparable to the Nikon and Canon 200 f/2.0 lens. Fuji's current promotion is $4,999.00 with the TC and that is stunning.! Will it come down in price in the future? Only if you can pick up a used one and I doubt that anyone will want to let their copy go. Both Nikon and Canon lens in this class maintain their market value and draw for the professional sports shooter and I suspect that this Fujinon lens will not falter in price or demand. As a professional sports photographer, I recently switched from the Nikon system to the X-T3 and will be picking this up before the promo ends.
Agreed this is a stunning hunk of glass that will only appeal to that "niche" market, meaning that the price will not likely come down significantly anytime soon. I spent several decades shooting for Wires and Newspapers, hauling around those monster Canon L glass (300 and occasionally 400 2.8) frankly it got old after a while. Though I no longer shoot sports or news, I can definitely see renting this for a particular assignment when such optics are needed (really could have used this for an air show that I shot last week). I made the switch to Fuji two years back and while I do not see adding this to my arsenal of glass, it's nice to know that it is out there in the rental market and that Fuji seems to be giving a nod to the photojournalism arena.
Thorough and concise. Post Dustin Abbott review, I'm going to rent one as the final step before making that large purchase. Thank you once again, as I've not seen anyone else review this particular lens as in-depth as you have.
The difference is that I don't go to trade shows and quickly handle lenses there. I get them later, take my time with them and try to get a "feel" for them.
Just finished reading your written review of the Fuji 200mm f2. You said it can operate at -10 Celsius, which might mean something to you living in Canada 🇨🇦; but I am at the other end of the temperature scale. I live in Mesa, (Phoenix), Arizona; our record temperature 🌡is 122 Fahrenheit in the long summer. Summer days with a temperature of 116F or 117F is not uncommon. Did the Fuji 200mm F2 say how hot it can get in normal operations?
The paint finish on it should mean that it will do better than a comparative black lens in those conditions. I grew up in Scottsdale, so I'm very familiar with that heat!
Hi Dustin, nice review. I agree with your review, on the whole. I shot with this lens extensively in testing for Fujifilm NA during the SCCA National Championships Road Races at Sonoma Raceway in October, 2018. You can read my review of this lens for motorsports at FujiRumors. Also, one doesn't need to shoot this lens wide-open, that's what the other apertures are for; this provides greater DOF than your example with dog photos. Also, all pro sports shooters lock AF first before actuating the shutter to obtain focus acquistion, lock, and tracking on moving subjects, this applies to Canon DSLRs, as well. Just some small notes for the sake of accuracy: This lens provides a 300mm FOV in 35-e, not 305. The 1.4 X tele on the 200 = 280mm, not 300. Using the 1.4X on the 200 gives a 420mm f/2.8 in 35mm equivalent FOV. The nice thing is that this lens is _considerably_ lighter than a Canon 400 f/2.8, so for a motorsports photojournalist, that is a very large weight savings, and concomitantly, wear & tear on the body over the course of a long, 3-day race weekend. Also, the X-T3 shoots at 11 FPS MS, not 10. Overall, having shot with Canon's 300mm f/2.8 and 500mm f/4 for professional motosports for well over a decade, IMHO, the Fujinon XF200mm f/2.0 is the finest super telephoto I've ever used. Cheers.
Hi Stephen - I'm actually using the figures from Fuji. The lens is obviously longer than 200mm, actually, or at the least the crop factor isn't a perfect 1.5x. They are the one that provide the 305mm and 427mm figures: www.fujifilm.ca/products/digital_cameras/x/fujinon_lens_xf200mmf2_r_lm_ois_wr/specifications/index.html
I would like to know what focus settings worked best on the XT-3 for the dog moving toward you. What did you mean when you locked into the subject? Did the subject have to be stopped to lock in? What focus mode did you use? This seems like a dream lens for wildlife and sports. Have you used the 100-400? How does it compare? Thanks for the in-depth review.
I haven't used their 100-400 yet (I'm pretty new to Fuji). I used both electronic and mechanical shutter for those bursts, the default tracking mode, and all points avaialable (I believe)
thank you...have you used the Fuji 100-400 and or the same lens with the 1.4 converter granted the F stop isn't comparable but do you think is a very good second choice? I have gotten very good results out of mine. you can get a D850 and a new 500MM from nikon for the price of this Fuji! I’m basically looking for a wildlife tele.
Hi Dustin. This should perform spectacular as an Astrophotgraphy imaging telescope.... and there is no 300mm full frame equivalent telescope at F2 that purpose.... so FUJINON should start to advertise this lens as an Astrophotography tool. Thanks For share..
Ahh, but there's always a huge difference between the price of F2.8 at 200mm vs F2 at 200mm. You can get a Canon 200mm F2.8 Prime for $750; the 200mm F2 costs $5700. A Canon 300mm F2.8 (which is similar to this lens) is $6100; the ancient 300mm F4 costs $1349. There's a huge difference in what it costs to achieve that kind of maximum aperture and focal length combination.
Hi Dustin, hope you are doing well :) I love that you are reviewing the Fuji System :) Having said that and being still a user of Canon and also Fuji, I think that the only thing that this lens has as cons is the steep price!!!! For me it's a pass for now .... Though I might wait for some time! Who knows if the prices may come down sometime . Thanks for a great review! Cheers from Uruguay.
This lens was a sales flop, which if rumours are true, the reason Fuji did not pursue longer prime teles. Honestly, the $6k was a bit much for a 200mm, I know the FF equivalent is a 425mm with the included 1.4 Converter, but still, it should have been a 300mm for that price. I did rent one for an air show assignment and yeah it was as advertised, still, I felt no real desire to purchase one at the time. That said if I can pick up a used/refurb for sub-$3,000, yeah I would likely pull the trigger.
Fair enough, though that's not the same thing. A 200mm F2 (like the Fuji) acts like a 300mm F2.8 on crop, while the 135mm F1.8 acts like a 202.5mm F2.5 on crop.
