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Help me choose my next lenses


Vasilis

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Hello X users,

 

   I'm planning to buy 2 or 3 lenses (out of 6 i carefully consider)  until next year to have them when i'm on holidays  .The fujinon lenses i own are  10-24,16-55,50-140,56 and 90 ,all for studio work except the wide zoom.My usual vacations set till now was 10-24/16-55 which lacks flexibilty during night shots .Weight doesn't matter ,i endlessly use the VPB XT2 with all of them . I currently consider  5 fujinon and 1 zeiss :

 

-14mm f2.8

-16mm f.1.4

-23mm f1.4

-35mm f1.4

-32mm f1.8 zeiss touit

-8-16mm f2.8 forthcoming ultra wide (stated on fujirumors)

 

   My first goal will be the 16mm since i've read reviews and seen many pics and the image quality is top notch ,eventhough i'm a bit skeptical about that focal length . The quality of 16-55 f2.8 ,50-140 f2.8  is on par and i know what to expect from the 16mm ,on the other hand there's a 14mm f2.8 which from what i see is optically correct and excellent without any distortion ,but won't catch the fast 16mm in terms of sharpness and bokeh  .

   Second choice will be 35mm 1.4 or 32mm 1.8 zeiss .I know that this focal length will be the last to consider as a vacation kit ,but it's the most popular among x users and i can't ignore it.I know their strengths and weaknesses /pros/cons and i'm 50/50, not sure where to side even the price gap.

    There's also a 23mm f1.4,but still not convinced about it's advertised sharpness when i check pictures through the internet ,compared to all  other candidates.

   Last but not least, If there's an announcement of the long rumored 8-16mm f2.8 ,i'll 100% go for it  and the other  lens will be 23 or 35 if i haven't already purchased the 16mm :wacko:

 

 

 

PS 1.  If there was a plan for a 33mm 1.0,  i would skip both 35 1.4 and 32 1.8

PS 2 . I didn't mention 23mm f2 and 35mm f2 since they're both closer to my 16-55 f2.8 f stop and both ugly .

PS 3.  People who own more than one of the above 6 lenses would be very helpful

Edited by Vasilis
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I own the 16mm, 23mm, and 35mm in the f/1.4 versions. These three form my main kit for most of my photography, with the 23 and 35 being on my camera about 85% of the time. You specifically mention night shots as one are that you need to cover. Are you wanting to do general purpose night photography or astrophotography (or both)? The 16mm has a fair amount of coma when used for astrophotography and a lot of people stop it down to f/2.8 for those types of shots, so it loses some of it's edge there. Among the Fuji lenses, the 23mm is probably the best I've used for astrophotography.

 

If you're looking for a wide angle prime for everything except astrophotography, the 16mm is by far the best in terms of image quality in my opinion.

 

Personally, I really enjoy street photography at night and have been very happy with the 23 and 35 for that use. The 23mm has lived up to being sharp and overall one of the best quality Fuji lenses I've used. 

 

I know that zooms are more convenient for travel, but after several years with Fuji, my kit has shrunk to the 16mm, 23mm, 35mm, and 55-200mm, for both everyday use and travel. I love those three primes enough that even with the "better" zooms like the 16-55mm, I will gladly trade a little versatility for the image quality (and image character) of the primes.

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