Man this is my first time seeing how you look like hahaha. And well, I didn't expect you to look like that. Of course I don't mean that in a bad way, just before idk voiceover videos just make you feel like a professional and well now you just feel like a friend. Love you videos, please make more.
Sigma actually announced that their 18-50mm f2.8 lens will come to the X-mount in December! Could be a great budget alternative to the 18-55mm with a wider aperture.
I only ever knew you as a disembodied voice, and now you are staring right at me! Nice to see you after having heard your voice so many times. I appreciate the thought you put into this video. I bought the 35mm few more or less on your recommendation for indoor, available light situations, and I don't regret it. So I expect this video will be a great starting point for many aspiring photographers.
Hi Christopher, nice to see you at last, I have been following your channel for several years now and have found your manner and delivery very good and helpful. I have beed a Fujifilm shooter ever since I started, nearly twenty years ago and now have several X series cameras and a hatful of lenses, for some reason you do not mention, until later, the ten to twenty four, one of my favourites, that wide angle so good for fenland landscapes. When I started I was very sorry that so few other lens manufacturers could provide X-mount lenses, I am glad to see that so changed, but so far none of them have really tempted me. Thank you again for this and to put a face to your voice at last!. Cheers, Richard.
I can definitely recommend the 35mm and the 50mm f2 lenses. Small, fast, weather sealed and with great autofocus. In fact, I went pro with these two lenses and they're still my main money makers.
My first Fuji lens was the 50 F2 for portraits, no regrets. I also bought the 23 F2 for landscapes, the Laowa 65mm for macro and the XF 100-400mm for wildlife portrait and landscape. I did tried and loved to use old M42 lenses with adapters, completely manual lenses are awesome. My lens collection is complete I think :)
Have similar story. Mine two main primes from beginning are 23 f2 and 50 f2. 23 f2 is more versatile but 50 f2 has a bit better image quality in my opinion. Also have as a kit lens 16-80 f4 and at the beginning I didn’t like it but on X-T3 body image stabilisation from lens is sometimes a blessing (especially with video). XF is for sure great but it’s pricey. But if you want good quality super telephoto is a way to go. I don’t have in my collection because I always wanted 90 f2 to be my longest focal length for portraits and wasn’t thinking about wildlife. Also M42 lenses such as legendary Helios 44 series are really fun option for really small money. With the same price I’ve got brand new ttartisan 35 f1.4 - also fun lens to use. On the other hand my most expensive prime was Chinese Laowa 9mm f2.8 - for around 400£/460€. I’ve noticed that now this lens cost around 100£ more than in 2021. Nice lens but camera shifts white balance a bit differently with that one and vignetting is really strong. With photos you can live with that but for videos is different story.
Nice video! My vote for a second lens to a kit zoom would be the Fujinon 50mm F2. It is excellent at all settings and focusing distances, enables portraiture work, weather resistant, good close focus capabilities, reasonable prices, plenty available 2nd hand.
Couldn’t agree more. From my lens collection (mostly medium lineup) - 50mm f2 is so far my favourite lens and the sharpest too. Mine is made from Japan. The other f2 which I have 23mm (from Philippines) isn’t that sharp wide open but would be awesome to have this focal length with the same quality as 50mm.
@@johndao5870 you are being hyperbolic, the 16-80mm is measurable sharper than the 18-55mm, it just isn't drastically sharper than one would expect due to their difference in price.
People call it a kit lens because it literally is. Fuji has 3 kits with the X-T4 and X-S10, the 15-45, the 18-55 and the 16-80. Some countries don't have all of them. For example, Japan (for some reason) only get the 15-45. Norway gets all 3. The definition of "kit lens" is "sold as a package with a camera for a discount on the total". In Norway, the 16-80mm F4 is discounted €450 when you buy it with an X-T4, or €300 if you buy it with an X-S10.
I have the 18-55 (which is a fantastic little lens) but I've been tempted by the 16-80. Prior to switching to Fuji I shot a d800 and the 24-120 was a great do-it-all lens. It wasn't as fast or as sharp as my 70-700 2.8 and it wasn't as optically delicious as my 105 f2 or 50 1.8 when shooting portraits but for run and gun stuff or events where the lighting wasn't terrible it was a delight. Also a great single lens to use for travel and family stuff. I imagine the 16-80 fills the same role as the zoom range is equivalent. Of course it's going to be compromised in some ways due to the 5x zoom but it would be the right tool for some people.
@@johndao5870 optically very similar. U r in denial if u think 18-55 is superior. Also 1680 is WR, aperturing ring with number mark and 80mm is a great reach for landscape
Great recommendations! I would recommend to start with the cheap but good-quality lenses like 15-45mm, 35mm f2 and 50mm f2. Then if size and money is not a huge factor, slowly ugrade to the amazing new future-proof lenses: 18mm 1.4, 23mm 1.4, 33mm 1.4, and 56mm 1.2 etc. For wide angle needs the Viltrox 13mm 1.4 seems amazing. For macro needs 60mm f2.4 is good place to start if found cheap second hand, and later upgrade to 80mm which is the best macro lens ever made.
I'd also like to point out the 27mm 2.8. When paired with a x-e3 or other small body it's super pocketable and a great little package. If you prefer something wider the 18mm pancake is also great. The 50mm f2 is fantastic but I ended up selling mine pretty quickly when I found a deal too good to pass up on the 56.
I took several avenues with my X-S10. It came with the xf16-80 which is a great all-round zoom. I then got a cheap manual 7Artisans 60mm macro lens, which is a lot of fun for macro and decent image quality. I then got the Rokinon/Samyang 12mm for ultra-wide angle shots. And finally, the one I had been waiting a whole year for, then XF70-300mm finally came back in stock where I live and I snapped one up quick. It's an amazing telephoto zoom, love it!
and get them used! you can save so much money and if it turns out to be not quite the thing you wanted or needed, just sell the lens again for pretty much the same price. i got an 18-135 recently and only paid €400 (£330) for it. hadn't been used a lot so it was pretty much new. the tamron 18-300 would have been cool as well, but it's just way too bulky. now i'm looking forward to taking the 18-135 with me on a road trip this summer. other lenses will probably just be the samyang 12/2 and the viltrox 23/1.4. i also have the 18-55 and while i do appreciate this little rockstar, it's basically stuck in the bag all the time. 55 mm is just not long enough for me... yeah that's what she said as well, we know.
One other recommendation I'd make is adapting some vintage lenses, Helios, takumar etc. I've had good fun trying out different focal lengths on the cheap with adapted vintage lenses, fully manual but also £50 or less.
Using a speedbooster here can also be handy, a lot of vintage lenses can adapt to ef mount. Then you'll be able to use the vintage lens as it was originally intended without the 1.5x crop factor. Provided you're adapting 35mm film lenses at least. Viltrox make a nice and fairly affordable speedbooster for x-ef. Fuji cameras pair nicely with vintage lenses tbh, provided you're ok sacrificing autofocus
Or get a brilliant vintage lens for the same price as any of the lower-priced Fuji ones. I have adapted an absolute jewel of a Olympus OM 50mm 1.2 onto my Fuji and it is brilliant… and tiny!
In my film days, I liked shooting with Nikon film SLRs with fast 24/35/85mm lenses. When I began shooting Fuji APS-C digital mirrorless, I bought fast 16/23/56mm lenses. Later, I flanked my three Fuji lenses with a Rokinon 12mm f/2 and an adapted 135mm f/2 Zeiss. Then, I backed up my primes with the Fujin 16-55mm f/2.8 zoom and the Fuji 50-140mm f/2.8 zoom. What I really need now as an upgrade are some fast long Fuji telephoto prime lenses.
My advice would be to just buy whatever lens you want with confidence-Fuji really doesn’t make any BAD lenses. The majority are lovely but if you need a lot of SPEED stick with the “LM” models (except the 18-55 which IMO has lower accuracy/hit rate in tougher light).
+1 for the XC 35 f2. I would guess most people making the decision outlined in the video would be taking a lot of kid/pet pictures, and the 35 f2 is a great way to get started down that road.
My first Fujifilm lenses were the 23 1.4 and the 56 1.2. I never bought the kit lens although I’ve heard so many good things about it. Love the video format though. Thanks
I have purchased Fujinon 23mm f2 and Sigma 30mm f1.4. My plan was to test them during week, make decision and return one of them back to shop. I cannot be more suprised - I didn't need week, not day, not one hour. After few shoots I can tell you that Sigma for Fujifilm is much more SHARPER, of course it has BETTER BOKEH (I cant compare with fujinon 23 f1.4, but this one has old SLOOOWER AF speed).
Love this new format! You’re as good at being a talking head as you are at being a hand model! 😁 My 18-55mm zoom came with the X-S10, so I got a head start there! I also picked up the 35mm F2 prime. However, I like taking pictures of birds and flowers (I don’t know people), so I desperately wanted a 70-300mm. But those are impossible to find new or used below retail price. I settled on a used copy of the 55-200mm, which I expect to arrive in the mail today!
I only have TTArtisan 27mm AF in my Fujifilm camera (as I intended it to be as small and as light as possible). It might not be the sharpest or brightest lens, but it's just perfect for me. I also a nikon shooter and purchase a f to fx adapter. With my series E manual lens it's just great. Underrated lens.. again, not the sharpest but produce a really dreamy images that I love ❤
little note about the 18-135mm : that lens is quite old (has been released alongside the X-T1 in 2014 IIRC) and you have HEAPS of them on the second hand market. I was able to get one for about 330€, which was an outstanding value also, I would really recommend to get your Fuji camera with the 18-55 kit lens instead of the 15-45 or the 16-50 as you can score a very nice deal if it comes bundled with the camera
I prefer primes and my autofocus lenses consist of just these three: Viltrox 13mm F1.4, Fuji 50mm F2 and Viltrox 85mm F1.8. No regrets (happy to see they are also all mentioned in this video😉). Besides I also own around 10 manual focus lenses (mostly old M42 mount lenses used with an adapter) but I must admit I only use those on rare occasions.
Chris, great to see much more of your handsome face! Don't be shy in the future. I have been very pleased with the "kit" lens that came with my XT2, still pleased with the results, however have purchased a mint 2nd hand 23 1.4 & 18-135. That glass covers virtually all my needs, however am saving for the wide angle zoom as like landscape shots. Love your videos.
I also use the 18-135 a lot, didnt think I would after reading so much bad things regarding that lens, got it with a X-pro 2 for a bargain. I´m surprised that it´s pretty sharp :)
I have the 18-55mm kit lens which came alongside my XT-3. Since then I have bought the Fuji XF55-200mm and XF35mm F2. Very pleased with all three as they fully meet my photography needs.
BTW. The 15-45 isn't the only kit lens. Fuji has 3 kits with the X-T4 and X-S10, the 15-45, the 18-55 and the 16-80. Some countries don't have all of them. For example, Japan (for some reason) only get the 15-45. Norway gets all 3.
two kit lens I would recommend keeping is the 1855 and 1545. 1855 is just overall decent and check all boxes in a "budget way" , great for travel usage. 1545 is just so brilliant in 15mm that you can use the lens as a 15 prime, it is really sharp af.
I had the 18-55 to start and went for a buget but super effective combo : the fuji 35 f2 (XC) and the viltrox 85. They are soooo fun and th IQ is just phenomenal. I do use both for landscape, concerts, portait, family events and even a little bit of street photography, without a problem (plus the 35 for a bit of video). Now am saving for the tamron 18-300 and after maybe the Samyang 12mm manual for some astro (but it can wait) and I'll have a very complete kit.
Nice video. However it's worth mentioning that 'upgrading' to the 18-135 or 18-55 will result in losing some valuable wide angle capabilities. Also, I think the XC 50-230 is worth mentioning as a possible choice to complement your kit lens (or the 55-200).
My 18-55mm Fuji seems to be sharper when I change my camera Image Stabilisation setting to Shooting Only (from Continuous). A bit of web research suggests this may be because Continuous makes vibrations build up in the lens. I think this might even account for the variation in people's reviews of this lens. I'm really enjoying having the 18-55mm, 14mm and 56mm lenses.
@@OttosTheName Seemed to make a notable difference for me - less ghosting/halo-ing etc at the edges of things. Which was a relief, as I was pretty gutted when I first bought it. There's a fair bit of chat on the internet about 'good copies' and 'bad copies' of the 18-55, but it's interesting that peopel who've had multiple versions of it seem to say they were consistent ... which might be more evidence that it's camera settings that made the difference. I'm very happy with the lens, and have it on my X-T30 while I have the 14mm and 56mm primes in my slingbag. I did consider swapping the lot out for an X-T4 (which has IBIS) and the beefy 16-55mm lens, but that's a heavy combo to have in my hand.
@@mikefoster6018 I must have gotten two bad copies. Photos taken with that lens appeared soft and smudgy to me until at least f5.6 or so. I replaced them with the 15-45mm which is way sharper but the power zoom really sucks and build quality not as good.
@@mr.b4444 I own both but confess the 15-45mm has sat in my drawer for two years. I'm definitely getting sharp enough shots from my 18-55m for most things. If it matters, apparently some were made in China (after a tsunami etc) and mine is marked as Philippines, so maybe suc hthings make a difference.
Thanks for the tip ….. I have had some horrible images from the 18-55mm yet many good ones, so will try this out …. Just gave it a first go inside and the images were all excellent, so maybe there is some bug in the firmware (I have updated the firmware when I purchased it, but maybe still some issues?) …. Thanks again!
Great vid for newer users of interchangeable lens fujis. I got into Fuji on the cheap and am adoring my very cheap, very bright manual focus lenses. But it's a different photography ethos in a sense. You can get spectacular pictures for peanuts, but you need to work a bit harder for it.
Avenue 5: Adapt vintage lenses! Can be really cheap (or really expensive because you now have opened the gates to lens hoarding hell) and really great.
Already have the 16-50mm kit lens and the 27mm xf pancake, my wishlist in a rough order (always experimenting with the kit lens to see which focal lengths i like the best) is: [ ] Viltrox 13mm f/1.4 [ ] Fuji xf(or xc if wr isn't important) 35mm f/2 [ ] Fuji xf 23mm f/2 [ ] Sigma 56mm f/1.4 [ ] Tamron 17-70mm f/2.8 or sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 [ ] Fuji xf 18mm f/2.0 Sticking to the f/2 versions of the Fuji lenses as these seem to be the best value for money, the f/1.4 versions are just too much for me to justify
A Fuji lens I really think you should try is the Laowa 4mm circular fisheye lens. It's the widest lens you can get for any consumer camera I think. I want one myself for street photography as weird as that sounds. Why do what everyone else is doing when I can do something cool and unusual 😅
Just checked in since a while, nice to see you mate and as usual great collection of lenses. You helped me a lot with my Canon cams. Keep going, really appreciate your vids. Have a great week, cheers from Germany.
Wonderful list, well done as always Christopher! Would love to hear an overview from you of the Fuji, Sony, and Nikon systems. Your reviews have an even keel and would love to glean from your experiences... I'm a Nikon shooter but also looking into Sony (A7iv) and Fuji (X-H2S). Thanks Brother. Edit-Update: Just bought an A7IV :D. Would still love the comparisons!
Nice to see you! Very useful overview of Fuji options. I have three XC zooms, 15-45, 16-50, and 50-230. I got the 16-50 because I didn’t like the power zoom on the 15-45 so will be selling it. Following your earlier review I got the XC 35 f2 and agree it is a fantastic lens for the money. I think I want to go wider in future so will take a longer look at some of your 3rd party wide suggestions. Love the video!
14mm f2.8 is old and hunts focus a bit, but with that focal length mostly everything is in focus anyway. Optical correction in camera (my XT3) really makes verticals stand up straight.
Excellent content Christopher. I’ve just acquired an XT-1 body so this video is exactly what I need. I found your channel recently and subscribed straight away….you have an easy to understand way of describing all the good and not so good points of the equipment you review. Thank you
Love your new format. I think this is great for everyone do get some nice suggestions what to get. I'm curious if you will also make a video for other mounts :).
Hello guys! What do you suggest for real estate photography/videography? I was thinking about Viltrox 13 f1.4 but I’m wondering if I don’t need a bit wider focal length. For this purpose I’ve bought Laowa 9 f2.8, Chinese lens which wasn’t cheap by any means and it’s quite fun to use but has two flaws. First is heavy vignetting which in photography is easy to get rid off - worse is for videos. Second - Fuji sensor receive colours a bit different with that one. More “dirty” magenta side of white balance. With all native Fuji lenses colour reproduction is is really similar. Here you have to work more in post.
For light weight traveling I use the 15-45mm, it is very sharp. I really hate the power zoom though. I had the 18-55 and was never impressed with the overall sharpness. I owned two and got rid of both of them. I also own the 16-80 which is a bit heavy but a decent lens.
Can we get an update review on the sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 art adapted on a mirrorless APSC body. I’m in love with the result on my fujifilm and Sony bodies.
For daily use the 23mm and the 16-80mm are great, for portraits the viltrox 56 1.4 or one of the many awesome vintage lenses, the 85mm 1.8 from canon was great adapted on Fuji (and sony for that matter). For ultra wide I used the 10-18mm from canon, sadly it worked only on mf and I didn't like how it rendered the image.
Sigma 18-50 F2.8 will be released in December 2022, can't wait to see how it performs on fuji I'm currently using an adapted sigma 18-35 1.8 on my x-h1 and boi its heavy
Chris, appreciate this video format. I have the Fuji 18-55, 35 1.4, and 23 1.4. Very pleased with all of them. Big fan of 18-55. However, they are all auto focus lenses. Notice you have done many reviews of manual lenses for Fuji. Are there any that stand out in the 23mm or 35mm focal length? Excellent reviews and commentary.
Great overview Christopher. I have the XS-10 with the 18-55mm f2.8-4 lens which is a great little set-up. I am not sure yet which other lenses to get; I mainly shoot wildlife so looking at the XF 70-300mm (but it's hard to get still in the UK) or I might wait & see if that 150-600mm comes out. Plus hopefully, Sigma & Tamron will release some more lenses too :-)
I went the other route with body only + 23mm f2 (partly based on your review) because I was after weather resistance and a fairly wide aperture. So I am v interested to hear your thoughts. Who knows I might get a kit lens second hand after all
For now I'm sticking with the 18-55. Sadly there doesn't seem to be a great affordable or compact 18mm option. The Fuji f2 doesn't seem to be better and only a stop brighter (and you lose OIS) and the TTArtisans 17mm f1.4 seems to be all over the place. The copy you reviewed looks great, but I've seen a bunch of really bad sample photos too. I'm hoping they update the old xf18mmf2 at some point. If it ever gets weather sealing and they make it a bit sharper in the corners I'll jump on that immediately.
@@pifilos Humongous and so expensive. I should have clarified that affordable and compact are big selling points to me. It IS indeed a great option, but it's the only one and a bit out of some peoples reach.
Hey Christopher, amazing review. Thank you! Please help me. I can get the 16-55 at 637USD almost new and 16-80 at 517USD almost new too. I'm using an X-S10, I don't mind the weight and my main goal is quality photos, videos, and lifetime usage for trips, portraits, family, landscape, and street. I am also planning to get the 70-300mm in the future for my safari trips. I'm just planning to stick with just two lenses, a medium, and a telephoto. With a 120USD price difference, is it worth it to invest with the 16-55? And, if you'll only get one lens for the rest of your life, would you choose the 16-80 over the 16-55 due to its versatility? Thanks again and cheers!
I'd say the choice for the primary lens comes down to the 16-55 and the 16-80. Both produce great images viewed on a large monitor at 4k, but neither allow crazy levels of image crop {naturally if you did pixel peep you would find the 16-55 has higher detail on e.g. fine branches of trees etc}. If I could only take one lens it would probably be the 16-80. Great flexibility of focal range, very good IQ, excellent image stabilisation [sharp images even at 1/4 - 1/8 of a second handheld i.e. allows low light low ISO landscape photography] [18-55 isn't wide enough at the wide end, 35mm f1.4 looks great but inflexible - though its so light you can bring along some macro tubes and an IR filter and have some extra options in the bag, samyang 12mm fine but not going to be a primary lens though also sufficiently light to just have in your bag for extra options] {what I really do is either just bring the 16-80. or bring the 16-80 + 35mm 1.4 in the bag + samyang in the bag. or if I'm really going all out for IQ and heavy kit then primarily bring the 16-55 + 50-140... and some others besides... but maybe I've just bought too much kit!?}
hi christopher i really enjoy your way of reviewing camera lenses. can you give your opinion between the fuji xc 35mm f2 lens and viltrox 13mm f1.4 which is better for portrait and landscape if you have to choose one. please share your opinion if you are willing to reply thank you very much😊
Ohhh man! Even when you're talking in front of the camera, I feel like It's a voiceover synchronised with the video!😅 I think it'll take time to remove it from my head, after watching your reviews for past 7 years...
