Fujifilm XF10-24 mm F4 R Optical Image Stabiliser Lens

Product Information

Whilst the “red badge” XF8-16 f2.8 is a stunning lens optically and weather resistant, it is much larger, heavier and cannot accommodate a standard filter system which makes it a no no for landscape and long exposure photography. So, for many, the XF10-24 is the super-wide solution. Midway through my testing, I received a demo copy of the Zeiss Touit 12mm f/2.8→. I was mostly interested in how it compared the the XF 10-24mm F4 OIS and XF 14mm F2.8. Zeiss has a very different look and feel for their lenses. I’m not crazy about the look, for whatever that’s worth. It just doesn’t fit with the X Series system. Manual focus is by-wire, meaning the manual focus. ring is merely an encoder that talks to a computer that moves the lens. Above left: Fuji XF 16mm f1.4 at f4, above right: Fuji XF 10-24mm at 16mm f4. 100% crops from corner of JPEGs

If this 1,200×900 pixel crop is about 3" (7.5cm) wide on your phone, then the complete image printed at this same extreme magnification would be about 11 × 16" (0.9 × 1.3 feet or 25 × 40 cm). For the manual focus ring to work, you have to change the setting on your camera. Otherwise the ring is ignored in autofocus. Even in manual focus, the ring is never connected to the lens; it's connected to a computer which in turn moves a motor in the lens to focus. As you can see in the product pictures, it complements the latest Fujifilm X-T4 flagship camera very well. It doesn't feel at all front-heavy and more than matches the body in terms of its build quality. Like many others I then got the 16-55mm which has been my workhorse for 3 years. It always feels heavy but really does do everything well (fast focus, very sharp and great into the sun). I did try the 10-24 for a short while, as an alternative to my Zeiss 12mm but I didn't really gain any focal length advantage when used alongside the 16-55mm (and it is not as well coated as my Zeiss). You should get the standard zoom to start - wide angle is nice for landscape, but it’s easy for all of your shots to look the same if everything you shoot is wide angle. On a recent Grand Canyon trip I used the 18-55 and I rarely felt like I was missing much on the wide end - on the other hand, I used the long end quite a bit. 16-55 would have been perfect, although maybe a bit large for the longer hikes. 18-135 would be a great range too. I’m sure the 10-24 is a great lens, it’s just not as versatile.Since the XF 10-24mm has a maximum aperture of f4, the first three rows on each table show an expanded crop from the XF 16mm f1.4 at f1.4, f2 and f2.8. As you can see in the first table, the XF 16mm f1.4 performs very well in the corners even when wide-open at f1.4. As you close the aperture, you’ll see a lightening in the corners, revealing the inevitable presence of vignetting, although it’s fairly mild and essentially gone by f2.8. CA isn't too bad from what I've seen so far; definitely better than some of the other wide lenses I've used.

Watch out for distortion from converging verticals, try and keep the camera level in both axis. Sometimes this is not possible so my workaround is to shoot slightly wider then correct the convergence in post processing. With a minimal focus distance of 24cm (9.4″), you can get in quite close and capture some dramatic angles, especially at the 10mm end.The lens is otherwise characterized by these rings. The aperture ring is closest to the mount. Then there’s a zoom ring. And in the front is the focus ring. The zoom ring has a textured rubber area to it.

The focusing ring is about 1/2'' wide, made of polycarbonate with deep grooves that offer excellent tactile feel. The lens uses a fly-by-wire system in its lens focusing operation, so the focusing ring is not actually directly connected to the lens elements in a mechanical way. Rather, turning the focusing ring moves the elements electronically. In practice this means the focusing ring will turn forever in either direction, and you'll have to rely on the on-screen readouts to know if you have reached minimum or maximum focus. Also note that my tripod did not move between images. Only my lens changed or, in some cases, the whole camera was swapped out, but realigned to the markings on my support system. XF 16mm F1.4 WR Fujifilm have implemented a brand new, more sophisticated gyro sensor in this lens, which increases the effectiveness of the image stabilisation system by one stop from 2.5 to 3.5 stops on Fujifilm cameras that don't have in-body stabilization (which is most of them). OIS is the image stabilizer. Leave it on as shown here, except if you're on a tripod for long exposures. I started with the 18-55mm along with the Zeiss 12mm. Despite liking the 18-55 size, I was forever wanting it to go a bit wider for landscapes, it isn't great shooting into the sun (nearly always requiring photoshop work to minimise internal reflections) and the aperture ring/switch arrangement is small and fiddly.And let us not forget the OIS, the optical image stabilizer being a huge benefit for the many Fujifilm X Series cameras without IBIS. The XF 10-24mm is weather-resistant and the XF 14mm is not.