What is Fujifilm's sharpest lens for wildlife photography - PART 2 - Sharpness
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- čas přidán 26. 08. 2024
- 6 lenses, 2 teleconverters, 14 different combinations.
In this video I explain every lenses best aperture, the sharpest parts of each lens and how to get the most out of the gear you already have for wildlife photography...plus realize I massively miss spelled "Excellent"
Lenses tested (direct timecode links might not work straight, but ill get these fixed asap, feel free to jump to the desired time)
XC 50-230mm II, 2:16
55-200mm, 4:34
70-300mm, 5:16
100-400mm, 5:46
200mm, 6:19
50-140mm, 6:45
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Part 1 - Zoom
• What is Fujifilms best...
Part 2 - Sharpness
• What is Fujifilm's sha...
Part 3 - Autofocus
• What is Fujifilm's fas...
Part 4 - Teleconverters
• What is Fujifilm's bes...
Part 5 - Conclusion
• What is Fujifilm's bes...
Fuji's best settings for Astrophotography
• Fuji's best settings f...
Fujifilm's best wide-angle lens
• Fujifilm's best wide-a...
My cameras - Fujifilm XT4 - GFX 50R
My drone - DJI Air 2s
My studio video lens - Fujifilm 18-55mm f/2.8-4
My favorite lenses - Fujifilm 16mm f/1.4 & 50-140 f/2.8 / GFX 50mm
Tripod - Manfrotto BeFree Series
Studio Light - Godox SL60W
Microphones - Rode video micro & video Go
Bag - Lowepro flipside sport 15L AW
Hi Thomas your review on sharpness is so balanced. I have tested all these lenses apart from the 200mm for obvious reasons and agree with your conclusions except for the 50-230. When I sold Fuji cameras certain models of this lens were very variable in quality, the XC lenses generally were. When you find a perfectly assembled copy then hang on to it. I have tried about ten copies and only one was very good. The same is true with the 18-135. I tested four or five and one was brilliant and I foolishly didn’t keep it for myself. I now have the 70-300 which is an excellent lens and I am finding it, in real life results, superior to the 55-200. There is no doubt that the 50-140 is a magic lens every one of the four copies I tested were superb. 100-400 disappointing. I rate the 70-300 better than the heavy monster. Maybe there might be some variability in this new lens as well as I have only had the chance to test one sample which I will not be selling. Look forward to the rest of your reviews in this topic. Keep it up
Did you try more 100-400 copies? Mine is just excellent (when used properly, which took me quite some getting used to....)
@@lemiwings100 I was so annoyed by the balance of the lens with the weight and extension on any Fuji body that I don’t want to retry another copy but sharpness wise I find that the 70-300 is as sharp without the weight and balance problems. Still many love this lens. I thought it would be as sharp as the 50-140 but it wasn’t. A difficult act to follow. However I found using the 1.4x converter on both lenses was no better than cropping the original lens images
A lesson learned in an absolutely expensive way. Quality and focus in wildlife depends much more on heat waves than you can imagine. I use Nikon and Fuji alike, and autofocus fails every single time where heat waves, and this is not extremely so, comes into play. Springtime mid day in Scandinavia is more than enough to confuse autofocus
Haven’t clicked on a video as fast as I did this morning, saying I’m about to by a telephoto zoom lens. Great video. I appreciate the detail you put into your charts.
Thank you!
This really does inspire confidence for those that use the XC 50-230 for landscapes!
Yes my thoughts exactly, for landscape this lens is amazing
I was looking for this information for quite some time now. You did a great job in putting all this huge amount of data into a 10 minutes video!
thanks!
Happy it helped, cheers for the support
Man you are amazing, as someone who just bought their first fuji having these amazingly detailed videos really helps plan out which lenses I will get. Thanks for the great content!
Thank you! As someone who just share the content for the love of it I really appreciate comments like this
Great video as always! Thank you very much! I am really curious about the situation after using the teleconverters especially on 50-140.
That's two weeks away sorry but the info is done, next week's video is about autofocus including with the TC though and I think it's really interesting
Dude, love your videos, great as always. I think the big advantage of the 70-300 is its flexibilty. The Focal range is incredibly versatile and it's generally useful for many shooting types. I guess it was to be expected that it's not great at the long end... unfortunate nonetheless. Before buying I saw a comparison between the 55-200 and 70-300 which showed the latter to be a bit better throughout the focal range than the former, so it was a win win for me as I also get to shoot birds and wildlife now lol. This score at 300mm is surely better than a crop at 200mm
Absolutely it's better at 300 than a 200mm crop, plus it's speedy AF and weather sealed etc
This confirms the impression I had when shooting the 50-140 vs. 100-400. The first is phenomenally sharp and I really love its output. The second is in an obviously lower league IQ-wise. Which is really a shame, as one needs at least about 300mm for a lot of wildlife. I wish Fuji made a 300mm F4 combining the benefits of both these lenses!
Check in in two weeks time to see how the 50-140 compares with the teleconvertors holding it back
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography -- looking forward. I suppose it would be an interesting option if the 50-140 with the 2x converter actually outperformed the 100-400. Heck, even with the 1.4x some I'd be able to get close enough to at least some wildlife. :)
Hahahah you'll soon see
Your videos are awesome. They bring so much insight and detail. Keep it up as you’re doing a fantastic job.
Thank you!
Really glad to have subbed. Great stuff.
Thank you!
Hmm great detail - your testing is thorough. I wished I’d watched this before I stumped up AU$980 for the new 70-300mm I’d watched a number of reviews before settling on it but when I got it, while the contrast is decent, it isn’t showing me as much detail at 300mm as I hoped. I’ve been used to using high end Pentax lenses and while the 70-300mm isn’t at all bad, it’s not quite what I hoped. I’m not crying over it. Just wished my research had been more thorough (normally I take months to decide on a purchase, not a few days)
Very informative and some good advice at the end.I would be very interested to see how they all score at 140mm however.
Unfortunately that wasnt a option with the 200mm f/2
Love the details in your videos Thomas! Keep them coming :) eagerly looking forward to the review on 1.4tc with the 100-400, a setup i constantly use and love
Spoiler for a few weeks time, overall the combo does well
Thanks for a great video! I’m really enjoying this series! It’s helping me a lot as I’m about to make the shift from DSLR to mirrorless.
My main focus is wildlife photography and out of all the mirrorless cameras I’ve researched, Fuji has the best options within my budget range! The only down side is the lack of lens options compared to other brands on the market.
I’ll definitely be finishing this series before I make a final decision🤠
Keep up the great content!💪🏻
Thank you! I really appreciate the comment and hope it helps
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography any time!💪🏻
Thank you so much for all the work you do. I very much enjoy your videos and go back to them time and time again!
Thank you! I really appreciate it
Thanks Thomas, really informative and helpful. Another outstanding video.
Thank you! I really appreciate it
I've got the 200mm f/2, and it's stoopid sharp. I shoot senior pics with it, and you'll have all kinds of retouching to do, because it resolves everything, haha. So much that I don't want to use the new 40mp sensors with it. 26mp is enough. Haven't seen any videos for awhile, are we going to see any more GFX lens reviews?
I’ve been doing a few videos a month?
Not sure about GFX reviews, the last one got a lot of criticism as viewers didn’t like my review style of it.
Good to see you again! Your testing methods are probably becoming the best and most comprehensive even though you're newer than some other Fuji technical review channels. :)
Cheers mate, hopefully the translation is coming across simple enough.
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography I understood it well and I didn't know how to read those charts to begin with :)
Perfect
Wow, this is amazing. Thank you! Ironically, I was just about to buy the 70-300mm. Now I'm worried. lol.
My copy is superb. Better than the 55-200 especially with less fall off at the longer focal length range.
I wouldn’t worry too much, especially for the price point. As he said, technically still an excellent lens.
This point exactly
I would love it if you would make more please translated sharpness graphs for other Fuji lenses
I tried the 100-400mm, 50-140, 70-300, and 200mm at a store. Except for the 70-300mm, the lenses are surprisingly HEAVY and bulky. I cannot imagine moving around the Peruvian jungle with so much weight. It is relative too: the 100-400 seemed heavy, then try the 200mm and the 100-400 seemed lighter! Perhaps it is better to have the 70-300mm for hiking and a lot of moving around, and another lens if you are going to be stationary.
Now that i have seen this video carefully for the third time I realize that the 70-300mm is not relatively worse. I think it is good to know that at their maximum focal lengths this lens suffers at the edges. But that is not a fair comparison, It would be more interesting to measure them at the same focal length. In any case, the lesson is aim at the center!
Another thought is that the subject matters: for birds in flight one needs the 267mm reach (400mm at 35mm), and ideally 400mm reach (600mm at 35mm). For large wildlife the required focal length could be less.
Clearly when it comes to wildlife there are a million different options and conditions, beat settings etc and while I can't cover them all, over this whole series I'm gonna try my best to simplify them down.
And while I won't be able to answer everything hopefully I'll be able to share enough information for everyone to make the best purchase to suit thier needs or improve thier shots with the gear they have.
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography these videos are great! In depth analysis as in you astrophotography series which I enjoyed very much. Looking forward seeing next weeks’ videos.
Next week's is a big one actually, the final should be the week after
Fucking knowledge. That’s what this channel is full of
Hahaha thank you
Fantastic video, I love my XC 50-230mm! Though I did note a funky spelling of ‘excellent’ throughout the video?
Hahaha yeah a few have pointed that out to me *face palm*
This was very informative and interesting, thank you!! For a while now I've been browsing and trying to figure out if I should get the 50-230mm or wait and invest in the upcoming 70-300mm, so again, this was very interesting to see!
What I don't get however, is why the images taken with the 50-230mm just seem to have less of a "pop" in comparison to for example the 50-200mm. It's hard to explain in words, but there's for example one video on here on YT where a guy compared the two lenses, where he took a photo of the same subject. I could still tell which photo was taken with which lens, even though the sharpness seemed to be similar (zooming in, the edge sharpness looked quite similar). I also did a blind test with some non-photographers, and they could tell too. There's just some kind of... "pop" that makes the image look more pleasing. I can't wrap my head around what it is though. I also see this "pop" in e.g. Leica and Zeiss lenses. When I googled this, I found people talking about this as well, and they referred to it as "micro contrast", but no one seemed to explain WHAT it is. Any ideas?
This is what I mention in the 50-230 part of the video in that it's contrast is low, but it's detail is high, the best way to improve this is to give your images a smidge more clarity in editing that usual.
Think of it as the lines are sharp but instead of the edges being black and white it's more like light grey and dark grey
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography Thank you again!! Yup, saw that part in the video, but I thought the contrast still seemed not THAT far off from e.g. the 50-200 except in the corners, but guess it makes more difference to my eyes than I thought! And very interesting you mentioned clarity! When I was working with my first camera+lens (a canon kit lens), I remember always using the brush adjustment tool with slightly increased clarity and exposure for certain areas, but didn't feel the need to when I started working with Fuji glass - now I know why!
Okay so, I'd really appreciate your advice! I spend a looong time editing my photos (@ stefan.milijasevic at IG if you wanna check, where I'm still posting my old Canon photos), would you say the 50-230mm would actually work for me if I push the editing, or is the 70-300mm a worthy investment? I'm planning on mostly using the telephoto end, as I plan to use it for better reach!
Both will do what you need fantasticly, find a second hand 50-230 for real cheap and if it's not doing it for you by a new 70-300.
But make sure you buy the 50-230 mark II, not the mark I
Excellent training video! Small point, Excellent is intentionally misspelled in your slide deck? Cheers!
I promise you there are a lot more spelling mistakes than that throughout my videos and unfortunately none of them are intentional.
But thank you very kindly for the comment.
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography Spellcheck? -:)
@tommarin3801 unfortunately most video editing software doesn’t offer this
An interesting video.
One thing I have found is that good light is often not available so I am mainly interested in performance at say ISO 3200. If you are not planning to already could you do a comparison at this high ISO so we ca see how the lenses Perform is less than ideal circumstances which is often the case in rain forests etc.
It would be nice to see some images of a static real life subject to see what the differences really mean. A set of downloadable images at the end of the series would be great so we can see for our selves what your results tell.
Say a stuffed toy bird or something
Looking forward to your next video
I am a little unsure of what you mean by lens performance at high ISO? I understand the part about having downloadable images to compare etc though
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography I may be wrong in my assumption. Currently I use Mu-43 gear and to me the pro lenses seem to give better contrast/clarity at high ISO values. I suppose it may not be the lenses but something else. I suppose I am not really explaining it very well, not really sure how to put it.
Anyway watching the series with interest as I am saving for a Fuji camera and your videos will help me decide which lenses to buy as a start.
I maybe wrong as well but from what I have found ISO and lens don't have much of a connection, I think it's more of a ISO vs Sensor thing, but once again I might be wrong
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography My assumption was probably wrong, not that it would probably make a difference for me anyway. I tend to by the best I can afford and just use the gear regardless of the results, and to be honest I was always happy with the results
I'm new to photography so this may be obvious, but in the aperture vs sharpness graphs, what exactly is sharpness measuring?
Essential how much detail your photo will have as you change your aperture
Oops on the excellent spelling. Well, half of this is detail......
This is great
Thank you!!
liked, from my model 3 seat :-)
Hahaha like a champ
Thanks!
Would be great to if you could provide a pdf og the charts :-)
Unfortunately this way at least I get a little trickle of income from CZcams, if I released a PDF all my hard work would just disappear into the internet and I'd get no credit.
Hope you understand
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography You certainly deserve the credit; I wasn't aware of that dilemma. A pity though, since a pdf would help make your work much more helpful for a lot of people...
How so?
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography Very few people are able to appreciate the work you have done, and the amount of information you provide, at the speed you present it. A pdf, or even better a printout of one would allow us the time we need to make the comparisons that are relevant to us - and to reflect on them.
Now, I understand the reason you are hesitant about providing a pdf, and I can certainly make me own workaround by making the screen captures I need in order to digest your work. It is just that most people will not do that, and they will not receive the max benefit of your work. That is what I consider a pity :-)
I do 100% agree with everything you've said, I think for future videos I might even just suggest pausing the video and taking a screen shot (aside from the videos I've already recorded but haven't uploaded yet)
i already own the 50-140 and grabbed a 1.4x TC a couple weeks ago to try out on some birds at the beach and i got some birds in flght too! I'm trying to figure out what lens I would get next to compliment my current zoom set up, to reach even further as I'm not gonna put a 2x TC on this 50-140 lens nor buy one. anyone know whats the deal with the xf 150-600 or when it will come out this year!!?!!
Honestly if Fujifilm haven’t said a date OR if there isn’t a rumoured date on fujirumors I wouldn’t trust any other source.
I really like the 100-400 but yes if the 150-600 comes out this year and I was wondering about that or the 100-400, I think I’d wait
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography I think I'm gonna wait and see if we hear any news from fujirumors this month or next! I follow them and trust them as well. might do an alaska trip this spring or summer but until I schedule It I can play the waiting game! that new 150-600 might be the fix we all need! lol
I have to agree with your findings/report on the 70-300. It’s soft. Mediocre at best. I could probably edit the snot out of one and get a somewhat decent pic but I was disappointed in that lens. Hope to see more of your videos soon!
You might want to check your spelling. Exelcent vs Excellent.
Hahaha there is one in nearly every single video, I’m shocking at it it turns out.
Great video, but omg man you should try to get to the point quicker
Sorry mate but far more comments are focused on going slower, feel free to skip through my videos until you find the content you like though
The 70-300 should be better than this given its novelty. Really disappointing. I doubt it's even as good as the cheap 70-300 DX Nikon for DSLR.
I don't know how good the Nikon is to compare, but it's still a AMAZING lens, it's just competing against other amazing lenses
It is far better than the Nikon 70-300 which was one of the most unreliable lens Nikon produced the VR was always breaking and there was great variability in quality in production. I am an ex Fuji/Nikon camera and lens seller from the UK.
@@garymanning4578 I had the 70-300 and thought it was very good for the price (which is about half of what Fuji wants for theirs, which is another part of the problem). The sample RAW images I've seen from the Fuji lens don't inspire confidence.