Fuji XF18-55mm zoom lens quiestion

[kuau]

I am about ready to pull the trigger on the XE-1. I have been renting it for the past few days with the 35/1.4 lens. Great combo btw.
My question is since I shoot most of the time at F8, does one feel the new zoom shoot at F8 will be as sharp as the fixed 35 @F8
I am debating on whether to get both the 35/1.4 and 60/2.4 or just get the zoom.

Steven

 

[scifitographer]

no zoom lens will be as sharp as a prime. unless it's a really good zoom vs. a really crappy prime. but that's the trade off you get for having zoom capabilities.

 

[Chuck Jones]

Steven, I haven't tried this particular zoom, but generally speaking scifitographer is correct. Most zooms are a trade-off. They are slower, without the same quality level, but offer the convenience of a single lens vs needing to carry several and change. That said, I have tried both the 35mm f/1.4 (excellent) and the 60mm (more than acceptable). For myself, it's the primes all the way. To me, the extra speed alone is worth the price and the tradeoffs.

 

[corposant]

I am not so sure I would just write off zooms altogether. Primes are nice because they can be fast and small without making any design compromises. There are some nice zooms for other platforms that are excellent if you don't need anything faster than f/2.8. Without seeing the size or distortion profile of the 18-55, if you are going to be stopped down, I wouldn't be afraid of considering it over the 35/1.4.

 

[Shashin]

Why not wait for the zoom to be reviewed? I doubt anyone can give more than blanket statements which don't always hold true. In the 70s, you could always say the zoom would be worse, but not today.

 

[kuau]

Thanks everyone, for now I ordered a XE-1 with the 35/1.4 and purchased a used 60 for 500.00.
I will rent the zoom lens and do my own side by side comparisons when the lens starts to ship.

Steven

 

[ustein]

>and purchased a used 60 for 500.00

Not a big fan of this lens. AF is very slow and not even sure it is precise. The only lens I really like is the 35mm.

 

[kuau]

Uwe,
Oh well, AF speed I don't care about though I hope it's IQ lives up to the MTF chart that Fuji posts.

 

[pophoto]

no zoom lens will be as sharp as a prime. unless it's a really good zoom vs. a really crappy prime. but that's the trade off you get for having zoom capabilities.

Actually, this is becoming less true in recent days! I'm pretty much an all out prime person, but its about being relative here and often than not you will be right, and probably here too!

Primes tend to offer much larger aperture, by upto 2-3stops in general, but focus shift play a factor of undermining primes. Two zooms come to mind where they have outperformed primes in resolution and center to edge sharpness, the Nikon 14-24mm, and the Canon 24-70mm II L. Size and weight is another factor, but not by much!

 

[scifitographer]

"unless it's a really good zoom vs. a really crappy prime." there was a reason why i said that.

at $2300 (USD) i certainly hope the 24-70 at least comes close to being a sharp as a prime. i own one too, but i can't say it's sharper than some of my less expensive, faster primes, even stopped down. the 85mm f/1.8 and original 100mm f/2.8 macro come to mind, and you could buy both of them and still have almost $1000 left for the price of the 24-70.

keep in mind that fuji is selling this lens at $900, not much more than their primes lenses, which are superb. i doubt the zoom lens quality is going to blow the primes out of the water. i hope it does, but just being practical here.

 

[pophoto]

"unless it's a really good zoom vs. a really crappy prime." there was a reason why i said that.

at $2300 (USD) i certainly hope the 24-70 at least comes close to being a sharp as a prime. i own one too, but i can't say it's sharper than some of my less expensive, faster primes, even stopped down. the 85mm f/1.8 and original 100mm f/2.8 macro come to mind, and you could buy both of them and still have almost $1000 left for the price of the 24-70.

keep in mind that fuji is selling this lens at $900, not much more than their primes lenses, which are superb. i doubt the zoom lens quality is going to blow the primes out of the water. i hope it does, but just being practical here.

Actually I was just trying to add on top of your statement!
I was referring to the L primes (24, 50, 85) I own, but I feel that the new Canon 24-70L II might be sharper, but do not own one, but online reviews are certainly suggesting so, especially in resolution with regards to Canon releasing a 30+MP camera in the future! So good prime vs good zoom!

But like I said, in most cases you will be right and the zoom will not better the primes than offer the user versatility!

 

[pophoto]

at $2300 (USD) i certainly hope the 24-70 at least comes close to being a sharp as a prime. i own one too, but i can't say it's sharper than some of my less expensive, faster primes, even stopped down. the 85mm f/1.8 and original 100mm f/2.8 macro come to mind, and you could buy both of them and still have almost $1000 left for the price of the 24-70.

That's interesting and good to know! Something to consider if I need to cross that road, although both lenses are beyond the 24-70 range, and teles are hard to beat for sharpness.

Okay sorry, I won't rob this thread further of Canon discussion

Although the Fuji released MTF Charts and offering OIS, certainly adds to the line up!

 

[corposant]

keep in mind that fuji is selling this lens at $900, not much more than their primes lenses, which are superb. i doubt the zoom lens quality is going to blow the primes out of the water. i hope it does, but just being practical here.

Not sure where you are, but it's $700 here, and $400 with the purchase of an X-E1. If at f/5.6 it's close to where the 35mm is at the same aperture, I would say it's a good enough value to have for the flexibility and image stabilization.