XF14mmF2.8 R appears to be almost distortion free

by Rico Pfirstinger

I may have found some interesting news about the 14mm prime. Comparing the uncorrected version of a shot with its software corrected SOOC JPEG version reveals that Fuji’s new XF14mmF2.8 R prime lens is apparently almost perfectly optically corrected. This means that the lens doesn’t really need any substantial software corrections which typically have a negative impact on image quality, particularly near the edges of an image.

Have a look at this example (click on the images for high-res versions):

The image above was developed in RPP 64, a Russian RAW converter based on DCRAW that does not interpret or apply any optical correction metadata that the camera is storing in a RAW files.

The image below is a JPEG straight out of the camera that includes all software corrections in the metadata, since the internal RAW converter of the cameras does of course interpret and apply optical correction metadata stored in the RAW files.

It appears that there are only minimal differences between both versions. This suggests that the 14mm is already fully corrected in the lens and does not need any significant additional software corrections. This is good news, as it suggests that the lens (the examples are from a not yet fully suppoerted pre-production sample) will perform well not only in the center, but also near the edges of an image.

EDIT: To wrap things up, here’s also a Silkypix 5 version of this sample:

Since Silkypix is actually using lens correction metadata in the RAW file, this result pretty much overlaps with the SOOC JPEG.

If you want to see more 14mm samples, have a look at my Flickr set.

Rico Pfirstinger studied communications and has been working as journalist, publicist, and photographer since the mid-80s. He has written a number of books on topics as diverse as Adobe PageMaker and sled dogs, and produced a beautiful book of photographs titled Huskies in Action (German version). He has spent time working as the head of a department with the German Burda-Publishing Company and served as chief editor for a winter sports website. After eight years as a freelance film critic and entertainment writer in Los Angeles, Rico now lives in Germany and devotes his time to digital photography and compact camera systems. His book “Mastering the FUJIFILM X-Pro1” (Kindle Edition) (Apple iBook Store) (German version) is available on Amazon and offers a plethora of tips, secrets and background information on successfully using Fuji’s X-Pro1 and X-E1 system cameras, lenses and key accessories.