FUJINON XF100-400mm F4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR
I purchased this lens after much debate this past December. I also waited for a possible year end deal from Fuji, well that did not come about.
Nevertheless, the lens quickly proved it’s merit...
I acquired the lens because of an upcoming trip to the Dominican Republic, followed by a 3 week de- tour via Mexico City, to the fishing, in recent years also well established surf town of Puerto Escondido. In the Dominican Republic (short: DR), I did visit my home base until 2010: Cabarete. Cabarete is foremost a water sports mekka, known for it`s Windsurfing, more recently Kitesurfing and the classic regular Surfing. Located on the north shore of the DR Cabarete faces the Atlantic Ocean and many of the storms and low pressure systems originating over the North American continent, traveling east out over the Atlantic Ocean, often sending good size to large waves south to the northern edge of the Caribbean. This of course is mostly a winter time scenario. Things become more moderate in the spring and throughout the summer. Than hurricane season starts, jet an other weather pattern…
I tested the lens briefly at a local game park, mostly for sharpness and focus accuracy. The results looked promising! A few days later I got to use the lens together with my Fuji XT-3 for the first time at El Encuentro, a local surf beach a few miles outside of Cabarete. I remember downloading roughly 200 images and after an initial check for in focus images, sharpness, or lack of good composition, I threw out 20 images. That is 10%, in my book this is outstanding for fast moving action sports!
Of course, after double checking the 180 remaining images many more ended in the round file. When you shoot sports you shoot sequences and many sequences turn out to be benign, or end with a fall… Surprising was to me how many critically sharp images I ended up with. Shooting DSLR`s a few years back I would end up with images of various degrees of sharpness. That may have improved, but I wouldn't know, since I shoot mirror-less since the Fuji XT-1?
I did notice that within a sequence I would occasionally end up with an individual image that was soft, in all cases it looked like it was an image where the surfer put on the breaks, to drop into the tube or did a top turn, changing direction and slowing down. Here, I would probably have to experiment a bit more with the different continuous auto focus modes to remedy this. In most cases the camera and lens were tracking again accurately after one, but never more than 2 images.
There were those sequences where the camera lens combination would never acquire focus at all, but, these instances were extremely rare.
In addition I also tested the Fujinon Teleconverter XF1.4X TC WR on the lens. The focal length is now 560mm or in full frame terms, with crop factor 840mm. Even now I was able to keep up with my subjects as far as the autofocus is concerned, I barely noticed a difference in speed. The sharpness still looked good, but the contrast looked a bit flatter. I can correct that easily in Lightroom.
Overall I am quite impressed with the lens. In the past I tried to make due with the Fujinon XF 50-140mmF2.8 R LM OIS WR and added alternatively a 2x converter, but the results never quite satisfied me, the sharpens was lacking, the focus speed with the 2x slowed down a bit also.
The zoom ring feels a bit stiff and I realized, that I need to grip the lens firmly to zoom in or out.
So for the last trip I left the 50- 140 at home and took the big beast with me. I never regretted this decision, but I did notice the weight of the lens, at 1350 Grams it is heavier.
I use a Peak Design 10 Liter Sling bag and I immediately noticed that this lens would not fit upright even off camera. So I looked for a backpack style replacement. I ended up with the Vanguard Alta Rise 45, not too big and with a decent harness to carry a bit of gear. Than again, this may be an other review in the making…
FUJINON XF100-400mmF4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR in use on a Fujifilm XT-3
