C. Frost XF 18mmF1.4 Review: “This Lens Must Have Traveled Back in Time from Some Technological Advanced Future”

image courtesy: FujiRumors ;) - background image taken with X-E3 at 18mm (using XF18-55) in Orvieto (Umbria- Italy)
image courtesy: FujiRumors ;) – background image taken with X-E3 at 18mm (using XF18-55) in Orvieto (Umbria- Italy)

Christopher Frost reviews the XF18mmF1.4 R LM WR and he seems to be moderately satisfied with the performance of this lens ;).

In short:

  • gorgeous built quality second to none
  • manual focus turn smoothly but responds jerky
  • fast autofocus and completely silent
  • very small lens for such a well built and fast lens
  • spectacular sharpness all over the frame from center to corner even at f/1.4
  • one of the sharpest APS-C lenses he has ever seen. What an achievement by Fujifilm
  • negligible distortion
  • at f/1.4 strong vignetting
  • close up image quality at f/1.4 is excellent
  • almost no coma smearing
  • bokeh looks lovely and smooth
  • even at f/1.4 no real chromatic aberration, Fuji performed some magic trick
  • he feels this lens fell from a space ship or has been transported back in time from some technological advanced future
  • it is virtually perfect
  • much better IQ than the XF16mmF1.4
  • stellar optic and highly recommended

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Fujifilm X-Pro1 Retrospective – 10 years of Fujifilm X-mount: The Start of X-Trans, Vintage Fun, Film Simulations and More

This month marks the 10th anniversary of the X mount system, so DPRTV takes a fresh look at the Fujifilm X-Pro1, the system’s first camera, to see how it holds up a decade late.

NOTE: we are talking X Mount MILC cameras, not X series cameras in general. The X line started of course with the original Fujifilm X100.

Gosh, what memories came up to me, after all this time.

For example when Jordan highlights how bad the video quality of the X-Pro1 is. True, but when Fujifilm removed an X-Pro1 firmware because of a bug on the video side of things, 99,9999% of X shooters owning an X-Pro1 were like “what, this thing can shoot also video?”

Or all the the glory and struggles related to Fujifilm’s new X-Trans design. Lots of myths and fakes had to be debunked in this regard.

Look, I was always honest to look at the advantages of Bayer vs X-Trans and vice versa, but at the end I am very happy that the Fujifilm X-H2 will have an X-Trans sensor (at least one of the two). And I am not alone, as the vast majority of you guys is happy about this too.

And yes, Kaizen, that’s something the X-Pro1 got lots of. But on the contrary of what many think, still today Fujifilm leads the pack when it comes to updating their cameras. I elaborated it more in depth here.

But most importantly, the joy to use a Fujifilm camera is still the same, also after 10 years. In fact, Chris seems to have loved to shoot the X-Pro1 even more now as opposed to when it came out 10 years ago.

So, with all that said, here is are DPRTV’s impressions after shooting the X-Pro1 again 10 years later.

Little curiosity: I find it cool that Chris took all the pictures using the original XF lens trinity launched along with the X-Pro1.

  • he enjoys using the optical viewfinder (the X-Pro1 has a hybrid viewfinder
  • great vintage look
  • aimed to work best with smaller primes
  • great for street shooters
  • compact camera with compact primes
  • the X-T1 opened the system to lots more people. The whole Fujifilm system grew from there
  • X-Pro1 was the first camera using an X-Trans sensor
  • thanks to X-Trans Fujifilm could get rid of the aliasing filter, which would have removed some sharpness to the images
  • now it is much easier to edit X-Trans files
  • X-Trans avoided a lot of the problems with moire for photos
  • but at that time, it was hard to work with X-Trans files. Adobe struggled with X-Trans files and 10 years later people still complain about this
  • Fujifilm started its reputation for great colors in JPEGs and great details
  • the X-Pro1 did not have many film simulations
  • in 10 years we have gained so many more film simulations. The latest Fujifilm cameras have even more vintage film simulations like Nostalgic Negative and Classic Chrome, etc
  • Chris is impressed but how accurate the optical overlay still is with its frame lines (compensating for parallax)
  • not great AF controls. Best solution: single AF with focus and recompose. It’s pretty snappy used this way
  • terrible camera for video
  • it’s incredible that just 10 years ago Fuji was so bad in video, but now for Jordan Fujifilm cameras are among his favorite cameras to shoot video
  • Chris had a lot of fun shooting the X-Pro1 again
  • even if it is 10 years old, it still felt quite current in a lot of ways
  • X-Pro1 got tons of Kaizen firmware updates
  • maybe Fujifilm does not do Kaizen so much anymore [admin note: I disagree, and I elaborated why here]
  • Fujifilm has come a long way and now dominates APS-C and MF market
  • Fujifilm still holds on on that vintage feel and heritage build up 10 years ago
  • Chris didn’t appreciate the X-Pro1 when it came out, but for some reason he now enjoyed it shooting again
  • X-Trans files of X-Pro1 still have very interesting character

X-Trans Related Articles

Celebrating Fujifilm…

Long live the glorious Fujifilm X-Pro line.

Viltrox 13mm f/1.4: Hitting Fujifilm Where it Hurts Most

Mattias Burling published its Viltrox 13mm f/1.4 review. Down below you find the video as well as a summary.

  • Viltrox hits Fuji where it hurts.
  • wide fast Fujinon lenses are quite expensive
  • XF16mm f/1.4 costs $1,000, and its worth it, as the image quality is that good
  • but the XF16mmF1.4 is big and heavy, so Mattias left the 16/1.4 often at home and used the XF18mmF2 and XF16mmF2.8 instead
  • Viltrox 13mm f/1.4 costs around $500
  • if you don’t use the Viltrox 13mm f/1.4 as your main lens, then it is definitely good enough
  • there is some barrel distortion that you have to fix in post (Fujinon lenses correct internally) and it’s not perfectly sharp from corner to corner but for Mattias needs it is certainly sharp enough
  • he used it on a lower resolution Fujifilm X-M1 and he is please with the results
  • autofocus is quite fast, any shortcomings in terms of AF are probably related to the Fujifilm X-M1
  • sun flares are quite manageable and nice looking
  • a bit of vignette, but easy to remove in post
  • all metal built
  • smooth focus ring
  • clicked aperture ring and just stiff enough
  • if you want a fast, wide AF lens for the Fuji system without spending too much money, this is pretty much it, as image quality is not bad at all

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We Got You Covered!

This Guy Sold his Canon Gear to Switch to Fujifilm X and Here is Why

Today we are going to tell you the story of Paul, who sold all his Canon R gear for Fujifilm X.

So what motivated him to switch? You can see his videos and read a summary down below.

The Fastest Growing Fujifilm Group

Paul, or When Fuji Colors Matter

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