FUJIFILM FUJINON ASPHERICAL SUPER EBC XF 14mm 1:2.8 R Lens (f/2.8)
Overall Rating:
The 35mm/full-frame equivalent of this lens is roughly 21mm and has a 90.6° field of view. It's made in Japan and was introduced 12 years ago when it debuted at a price of $900 USD.
Performance
Another sharp Fujinon lens! Chromatic Aberration: not enough to worry about. Vignetting: Also very slight which is impressive considering how close the rear element is to the CMOS sensor. Distortion is another non issue with this lens. It is not like most DSLR wide angles that distort heavily. And, honestly, this is not an ultrawide angle lens. On a full frame (36x24mm sensor), 20mm is the beginning of the ultrawide angle so this lens just barely misses the mark at 21mm FF equivalent.
Closest focus is about 7.08 inches which is OK, not great.
This 14mm lens (21mm full frame equivalent) is very sharp wide open at f/2.8 and only gets better as it is stopped down. Diffraction does not begin until about f/8 or f/11 which also is excellent.
Autofocus performance is excellent. This is Fujifilm's fastest focusing lens.
Construction
Build quality is excellent. It's all metal construction. The size of the lens is about the size of the Fujinon 18-55mm/2.8-4 so it is fairly compact. The aperture ring is no looser than the one on the 18-55mm lens. Unlike the 18-55mm, it does not spin endlessly which is a plus. It could use a lock on the A setting (for Automatic Aperture) so that one doesn't accidentally move it out of this position. There is a clutch in the lens that engages the manual focus plus it has a DOF scale once the clutch is engaged. When the clutch is disengaged, the focus collar does not move making it easy to take the lens off and put it on the body.
Some nice-but-not-so-important features of this lens are that it uses the same hood, filters and lens cap as the Fujinon 18-55mm/2.8-4 R LM OIS lens so if just carrying these two lenses then it means having to carry less equipment around.
Bokeh
Perhaps bokeh is not that important for such a wide angle lens... but for closeups it should matter. Closest focus is about 7.08 inches and the bokeh when focused this closely is nice and smooth.
Infrared
Infrared performance is excellent. There are no infrared hot spots and images are sharp.
Complaints
It is hard to find complaints about this lens. But, it is a little overpriced. It is such an excellent performer that maybe this can be overlooked. The prices have come down a bit which means suddenly everyone that paid the higher prices has seen the value of their lenses go down. Generally, lenses do not depreciate as much as bodies do.
Specifications
- 10 elements in 7 groups including 2 aspherical and 3 extra low dispersion elements
- Close focus to 18cm/7.1in
- f/2.8-f/22
- Angle of view: 91.7°
- Rounded diaphragm with 7 blades
- Weight without caps is 235g/8.3oz
- Filter attachment size: ø58mm
- Price: $900 USD (2012)
- EXIF: XF14mmF2.8 R
Images
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