Fujifilm Fujinon XF 14mm f/2.8 R Lens Review

Handling and features
Performance
Verdict
Specification


This ultra wide angle prime lens for the Fuji X-Pro1 interchangeable lens camera provides a field of view equivalent to a 21mm lens on a 35mm camera, sports a maximum aperture of f/2.8 and costs around £770.

Fujifilm Fujinon XF 14mm f/2.8 R Handling and features

Metal and high quality plastics have been used for much of this lens' construction, which results in a light weight, yet robust build. The lens weighs around 230g, which is very light for an optic covering a wide angle of view.

Focusing is performed internally so the 58mm filter thread does not rotate or extend, making it perfect for use with polarising and graduated filters. A petal-shaped hood attaches to the bayonet around the front of the lens to help shield against extraneous light that may cause flare. The focusing ring is well damped, making fine adjustments easy to apply. Sliding the focus ring back towards the camera reveals a distance scale and a useful hyperfocal scale is provided on the lens. Auto focus is reasonably quick and very precise thanks to the latest firmware upgrade for the X-Pro1. An SD card with the latest camera firmware comes supplied in the box with the lens also.

As is the case with other XF series lenses, this 14mm lens has  a manual aperture ring. This aperture ring has each full stop marked, but has click stops for each intermediate 1/3 stop setting, and an 'A' setting for automatic operation. The aperture ring only requires a light touch to adjust the setting selected.

Fujifilm Fujinon XF 14mm f/2.8 R Performance

At maximum aperture, sharpness in the centre of the frame already reaches outstanding levels and clarity towards the edges of the frame approaches very good levels.

Stopping down to f/5.6 results in extremely high levels of clarity in the centre of the frame and excellent sharpness towards the edges of the frame.

Resolution at 14mm

How to read our charts The blue column represents readings from the centre of the picture frame at the various apertures and the green is from the edges. Averaging them out gives the red weighted column. The scale on the left side is an indication of actual image resolution. The taller the column, the better the lens performance. Simple. For this review, the lens was tested on a Fujifilm X-Pro1 using Imatest.

Chromatic aberrations are extremely well controlled, barely exceeding half a pixel width as the lens is stopped down beyond f/8. This extremely low level should be difficult to spot, even in images with high contrast towards the edges of the frame.

Chromatic aberration at 14mm

How to read our charts Chromatic aberration is the lens' inability to focus on the sensor or film all colours of visible light at the same point. Severe chromatic aberration gives a noticeable fringing or a halo effect around sharp edges within the picture. It can be cured in software. Apochromatic lenses have special lens elements (aspheric, extra-low dispersion etc) to minimize the problem, hence they usually cost more. For this review, the lens was tested on a Fujifilm X-Pro1 using Imatest.

As might be expected from an ultra-wide angle lens with a moderately fast maximum aperture, falloff of illumination towards the corners at f/2.8 is quite noticeable. Here the corners are 2.36 stops darker than the image centre and visually uniform illumination  isn't achieved until the lens is stopped down to f/8 or beyond.

Distortion is remarkably low for an ultra-wide angle lens. Imatest could only detect 0.15% barrel distortion, which is a negligible amount.

A petal shaped hood comes supplied as standard with the lens, which does a decent job of protecting the front element from extraneous light that may cause flare. A slight loss of contrast can be seen when shooting into the light at wide apertures, but otherwise this lens is very resistant to flare.

Fujifilm XF 14mm f/2.8 R Sample Photos

Value for money

There are currently no direct alternatives for Fujifilm's XF compatible cameras. The price of around £770 may seem a little steep, but it is a fair price when considering the performance it delivers.
 

Fujifilm Fujinon XF 14mm f/2.8 R Verdict

Ultra-wide angle lenses don't generally get much better than this optic. Sure this lens isn't cheap, but you get a lens that is more than capable of delivering superb results with extremely low distortion, barely any sign of chromatic aberrations and outstanding sharpness.

The general build and feel of this lens is also excellent, and the hyperfocal scale on the lens barrel is a useful addition.
 

The Fujifilm Fujinon XF 14mm f/2.8 R lens offers superb performance and is extremely well built.

Fujifilm Fujinon XF 14mm f/2.8 R Pros

Extremely sharp in the centre
Excellent sharpness towards the edges when stopped down
Lightweight
Useful hyperfocal scale
Excellent build
Virtually no distortion
Low CA levels

Fujifilm Fujinon XF 14mm f/2.8 R Cons

Falloff of illumination towards the corners can be quite pronounced

FEATURES
HANDLING
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY
OVERALL

Fujifilm XF 14mm f/2.8 R Specifications

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