Voigtlander 18mm - The Most Exciting Lens For Fujifilm In Years!

Voigtlander 18mm f2.8 Color Skopar for Fujifilm X-Mount

I have been waiting for this for years! A small and compact, 28mm (full frame equivalent), manual focus lens, with focus tab. This just might be the best street photography lens for Fujifilm, ever!

As an owner of the Voigtlander 27mm f2 Ultron (review coming shortly), I already know that the built quality on the new 18/2.8 will be premium. The focus will be smooth and the aperture ring will have just the right amount of clicks stiffness. The 27/2 is a great little lens, but for street photography using zone focus, this will be amazing!

My one concern is the very short distance between 2 meters and infinity. The 27/2 has the same travel distance between 3 meters to infinity and I found that to be very short. But I did get used to it fairly quickly, plus the 18mm will have much more depth of field than the 27mm

I still love my original Fujifilm 18/2, but it’s never been the best lens for zone focusing on the street.

I’ll review this as soon as I get my hands on one, but needless to say…I’m excited!

Will Sports Finder Mode Turn A 16mm f2.8 into A 28mm?

I’ve had a recent comment on my review of the Fujifilm XF16mm f2.8 R WR from Kid Sodbrennen about using this lens with the Sports Finder Mode in the newer Fujifilm cameras. Kit reckoned it would crop in to match a 28mm. After doing a quick test, I replied that it was not as wide as a 28mm. But testing further for this post, I have come to change my mind. The problem was that I was basing my opinion on the 18mm f2, which is actually more like a 27mm.

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The 16mm f2.8 is actually a bit wider than the 16mm f1.4. As you can see from the two example photos above, the f2.8 is more like a 15mm. 1mm doesn’t add or subtract to a longer lens, but on a wide Ange lens this can make a big difference.

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As you can see from the image to the left, the 18mm with a 1.5x crop comes in at 27mm. The picture on the right shows the 16mm f2.8 using the X-T3’s Sports Finder Mode, which has a 1.25x crop. So assuming the 16mm f2.8 is actually a 15mm - 15 x 1.5 = 22.5. 22.5 x 1.25 = 28.1.

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But if you compare the pictures above, one shot on the X70 and the other shot on the X100V with the 28mm WCL-X100 conversion lens, the 16mm f2.8 using Sports Finder Mode is indeed just like a 28mm.

The downside to this is that you are throwing away megapixels, but I’m still shooting street with my X70, which has a 16.3mp sensor, as opposed to the newer 26.1mp sensors in the latest cameras.

Apart from the X100V, my only camera with Sports Finder Mode is my X-T3, which I would never use for street photography. So I guess I won’t get the chance to make use of this setup. But I’m sure with the X70, X100V with the WCL, and the X-Pro2 with the 18mm, I’ll manage for now.

But imagine a new 18mm f2 mkII and an X-E4 with an X100V style flip-out screen (for shooting from the hip). That would be an awesome street camera!

UPDATE:

An X-E4 was indeed released with an X100V style flip-out screen. Unfortunately it has no front focus selector, no View Mode button, and of course, no D-Pad. Not only that, it has less Fn buttons that might have allowed to compensate for these short-comings. I really fear for the future of Fujifilm’s next generation of cameras. But at least it’s saving me money by forcing me to stick with older models :o)

Meike 25mm F1.8 - A £65 Lens Review

£65 for a lens. I know what you’re thinking. But if you really are thinking what I think you’re thinking…think again.

During a recent trip to Milan where I shot with an X100F, X-Pro2 and X70, the latter of which I was zone focusing for street photography. I started thinking I would like a manual focus lens for the X-Pro2. I have the 16mm and 23mm, which along with the 14mm are the best manual focus x-series lenses available, but I wanted an old school manual focus lens. I wanted something small with depth of field markings. I also wanted something around a full-frame equivalent to a 35mm, but I wasn’t really interested in using a lens mount adapter. So a quick search on the web, a few YouTube videos later and I had settled on the Meike 25mm f1.8. It was a bonus that it was available for just £65 on Amazon.

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A picture of my son after a paint ball session on a grey November day. A few small adjustments in Lightroom

BUILD QUALITY

Build quality on this multi-coated lens is fantastic. All metal construction with 7 elements in 5 groups and smooth aperture and focus rings. The lens feels solid and has a bit of weight to it. It actually looks and feels like a vintage lens in so many ways, helped I’m sure by the Voightlander style focus ring.

WHY BUY THE MEIKE 25mm v THE FUJIFILM 23mm?

Fujifilm lenses are fantastic but they are all, focus by wire, which basically is an electronic sensor, rather than a mechanical focus ring. So the focus rings continuously turn with no hard stop at either end. Sure the 14mm, 16mm and 23mm all have a clutch mechanism and have a definite stop at either end of the range, but they are not linear (except when using X-T3 or X-Pro3 linear focusing mode). The Meike 25/1.8 is just like a vintage lens in that the focus mechanism is mechanical and has hard stops at either end of the focusing range. I wish Fujifilm would make a full-frame equivalent 28mm & 35mm lenses that are not focus by wire. Proper street lenses similar to the Leica Sumicrone 28 & 35mm. Let’s hope they replace the current 18mm f2 with something like this, with hyperfocal distance markings. That would be worthy of a mkII version.

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IMAGE QUALITY

The picture on the left (finger in the earhole) is straight out of camera (SOOC) and the one on the right has the following adjustments in Lightroom Classic.

• +0.20 Exposure

• +15 Contrast

• -20 Highlights

• +48 Shadows

• +15 Clarity

• +15 Texture

Adjusting contrast etc has pushed the saturation a little, and looking at it hear, I wish I had dropped it back down again. I’m too lazy to go back and fix it, so the yellows are a bit strong on this one. But I like the tones from this lens. These are the tones I always wanted when I used to shoot with Nikon DSLR’s, but I could never quite get there, even in post.

I’m impressed with how the Meike lens renders colour. It’s rich and warm, plus there seems to be an earthy brown tone, which I really like. There is a difference in exposure by around -1/3 of a stop from what you see in the EVF to the darker image captured, but you get used to that and compensate as you shoot.

LIKES

• Great build quality

• Small size

• Multi-coated

• Smooth aperture and focus rings

• Depth of field markings

DISLIKES

• The centre markings are not quite in the centre

• I wish the markings for feet or metres were in a different colour

• Clickless aperture (It’s ok but I prefer clicks)

This one was shot using the Acros film simulation. It’s been given a bit more punch in LR, but the JPEG was nice too.

CONCLUSION

I’m really enjoying using this lens. My X-Pro2 suddenly feels like an old rangefinder film camera. It slows the process down and that can be a good thing. Colours are also nice and it’s sharp enough (especially at street photography apertures such as f8 or f11. At £65 it is a no brainer to pick one of these lenses up and give it a try.

Buy on Amazon

Fujifilm XF16mm F2.8

AND THEN THERE WERE 4 (or is it 5?)

So the 16/2.8 has arrived and it joins the Fujicron trio of 35, 23 & 50mm f2's (that's if we don't count the original small 18/2. More on that lens later). These three lenses were a runaway success for Fujifilm and the quality is stunning. They are small, well priced and so much easier to carry around than the larger f1.4 or f1.2 versions. People often question whether you should buy the f1.4 over the f2, shallow depth of field over size and weight, or even why Fuji should make two versions of the same focal length blah blah blah blah blah. But I think the great thing about these small lenses are that not everybody can afford to shell out loads of money on the bigger faster glass. These Fujicron lenses might be the only way someone on a tighter budget can own the equivalent to a wide angle 24mm or a decent 75mm portrait lens, and that's good enough reason for their existence in my book.

WHY BUY THE 16/2.8 IF I ALREADY OWN THE 16/1.4 VERSION?

I have a couple of setups. One is all about widest apertures and quality over size, which has my X-T3 & X-T2 bodies, plus all the best glass. There'e the 50-14/2.8, 16-55/2.8, 90/2, 56/1.2, 35/1.4, 23/1.4 and of course the 16/1.4. My other setup is my everyday carry around and street photography bag, which is my favourite because it's the one that is all about personal photography, rather than work. This small setup can change now and then, but it's basically an X100F, X70 and X-Pro2 with the Fujicron lenses. I have the 35/2 and the 50/2. I don't own a 23/2 because my X100F is pretty much always with me. So by adding the 16/2.8, I will have a full frame range from 24mm to 75mm. Or to break it down, with the 1.5 crop on the Fuji X sensor, my 16, 18.5 (X70), 23 (X100F), 35, and 50mm lenses will give me 24, 28, 35, 50, & 75mm in full frame terms. All of this fits in a Billingham Hadley Small Pro or an ONA Bowery. Not only am I keeping this setup as small and lightweight as possible; I also know that when I grab my backpack for a shoot that all my working lenses are in there and not in some other bag.

PHYSICAL SIZE OF THIS LENS

The 16/2.8 is tiny, even (slightly) smaller in height than the 35/2. But compared to the 35/2's 43mm filter size, the 16/2.8 has a 49mm. This makes the front end wider than all the other Fujicron's, and in my opinion, the best looking of this range of inexpensive primes. Let's face it, they are not the best looking bunch, mostly due to that weird tapered design (which helps not to obstruct the optical view finder of the X-Pro2). The 35/2 is passable, the 23/2 is fugly, the 50/2 would be just as ugly, but gets saved by the wider lens hood. But the 16/2.8 is actually quite attractive due to it's dumpy design with a wide front, which means less taper.

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE 18/2?

So the 18/2 was one of the three original XF lenses back when the first Fuji ICLC (the X-Pro1) came out. Some people knock it, but it's actually a great little lens, even though it's getting a bit long in the tooth. The 18/2 is as near as damn it a 28mm lens in full frame speak. 28mm is fantastic for street photography, and I think Fuji should take this opportunity to go full Tonto. Get right off the reservation by making an all metal, non fly-by-wire lens with a proper depth of field scale that is easy to read. So basically a small lens that has hard stops at either end of the focus range (not a continuous wheel). 

• A focus ring that has hard stops at either end of the focus range (preferably not fly-by-wire.

• a focus tab to allow guessing focus without looking at the lens or through the viewfinder.

• A proper depth of field scale that is wide enough to read (the 14, 16 & 23mm lenses DOF scale is too cramped).

• Depth of field scale would be nice in orange

• A clutch would be nice for selecting AF or manual focus, but not if it makes the lens too large.

I suppose what I’m looking for is something as close to a Leica Summicron 28mm f2.

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I haven’t had a lot of time to use the 16/2.8 due to shoots over the weekend that needed much longer lenses. But I managed a little bit at a jazz gig and a little bit of street photography. But I can say that this lens is not the sharpest wide open at 2.8 (especially at close focus) but is definitely sharp at f4. That’s how the 23/2 was when I had one from Fuji for a couple of weeks too. There is also a bit of chromatic aberration, but nothing major an it’s usually an easy fix in post. There is also a bit of distortion at the edges, but you would expect that on a 24mm focal length. If these few things are a deal breaker for you, you should definitely get the 16/1.4 instead. However; If you are looking for a small, lightweight and sharp (f4 and beyond) lens with super fast focusing and is water resistant, then the 16/2.8 is for you.

Just like the other Fujicron lenses, the 16/2.8 is extremely well built and has just the right of resistance on the focus ring and aperture ring. I’m really happy with it and look forward to using it on a few trips abroad this year. If you own any of the other lenses in this range, you already know what to expect. As long as this focal length is not too wide for you, I would highly recommend the XF16mm f2.8.

Check out my post Fujifilm 16mm f2.8: Too Wide? on my street photography blog for more pictures using the 16/2.8, but here are a few examples to wet your whistle.

You can buy the Fujifilm 16mm f2.8 at Amazon UK

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