alternative lenses for nature photography?

[LeesKeys]

For nature photography, is there any alternative to the XF100-400mm lens? I'm retired, and that's way outside my budget. Even a 3rd party fixed focal manual focus lens which could be adapted to my X-S10 would be ok. I'm thinking the answer to my question is No 🤔. I have an XC50-230mm, but need more magnification.

[jerryy]

Actually there are a lot of long lenses you can get. Just to drop a couple of big names, Sigma and Tamron make plenty of long lenses well suited for nature, they come in either Canon or Nikon mounts, which, with an appropriate adapter will give you great images.

Samyang / Rokinon have plenty as well with direct Fujifilm mounts. Just look on the various used markets to find ones that fit your budget.

If you do not mind the strange bokeh, mirror lenses in the 500mm - 800mm range are usually considered a good low cost approach.

So there are a lot out there.

[LeesKeys]

Thanks!

Can Sigma lenses be mounted on Fuji X cameras? Would an adapter be needed? if so, can you recommend one?

[jerryy]

Right at this time of writing, you will need an adapter for the current line of Sigma lenses, whether they are fitted for the Canon mount or the Nikon mount. Smart adapters will let you auto-focus, change apertures, as well as storing the EXIF information in the image. Mechanical only adapters limit you to manual focus and no EXIF information, but are a lot less expensive. I have not used any of the Nikon mount <-> adapter lenses, but I have had really good results using the Canon mount <-> ( mechanical and smart) adapters.

Sigma is sending out rumors about making X-mount lenses, but if they do, there will not be many used ones for a while.

Lots of folks like Fringer smart adapters, but there are plenty of great options. Checking in with the folks in the forum about adapting lenses to Fuji cameras and see what they have to say.

[LeesKeys]

Thanks for the info Jerry. A lot more options than I realized.

With a manual focus third party lens, would the manual focus assist in my X-S10 still work?

Edited March 12, 2021 by LeesKeys

[jerryy]

29 minutes ago, LeesKeys said:

Thanks for the info Jerry. A lot more options than I realized.

With a manual focus third party lens, would the manual focus assist in my X-S10 still work?

I do not have a X-S10, so I cannot say one way or the other. But, ..., focus peaking works with my manual focusing Rokinon lenses on my X-T30.

[CatsAreGods]

5 hours ago, LeesKeys said:

Thanks for the info Jerry. A lot more options than I realized.

With a manual focus third party lens, would the manual focus assist in my X-S10 still work?

Yep. I use focus peaking on reverse adapters and two Minolta-era long lenses with mine, works great!

[LeesKeys]

I decided to try the Tokina 400mm mirror lens. Ordered from Amazon, and a free return if I don't like it.

[jerryy]

That one looks to be a good choice especially since it is sold as a x-mount lens, so you do not have to worry about adapters.

This review shows some good results:

https://www.fujixpassion.com/2020/08/21/tokina-szx-400mm-f8-reflex-mf-first-impressions-review/

Let us know how it turns out and post some images!

[jerryy]

17 hours ago, CatsAreGods said:

Yep. I use focus peaking on reverse adapters and two Minolta-era long lenses with mine, works great!

Which ones are you using? I have a 200mm parfocal which gives good images though it is a bit heavy.

 

edit: it is a Minolta MD 75 - 200mm f4.5 parfocal lens. I have it “glued” to a Fotasy MD-FX (manual of course) adapter.

Edited March 13, 2021 by jerryy

[CatsAreGods]

8 hours ago, jerryy said:

Which ones are you using? I have a 200mm parfocal which gives good images though it is a bit heavy.

 

edit: it is a Minolta MD 75 - 200mm f4.5 parfocal lens. I have it “glued” to a Fotasy MD-FX (manual of course) adapter.

I have the iconic 70-210 f4 "beercan" telephoto (I saw a lens today by either Sigma or Tokina with the same specs and wondered if it's a copy) and a 500 Tamron f8 mirror lens, both used with a Maxxum and then a Sony S58 (I also have a Tokina 11-16 for the Sony, this works even better on the Fujifilm because I don't really have to focus it). I generally keep the aperture setting on the adapters somewhere in the middle unless I really need it wide open.

[Contes]

I am going to upgrade from my XF 50-200mm to the new XF 70-300mm that I'll combine with Fuji's XF 1.4x teleconverter.

Compared to full-frame values, this is a bump from 75-300mm for the former, to 147-630mm for the latter with TC. More than twice the focal length--can't wait!

[LeesKeys]

Received the

On 3/13/2021 at 1:29 PM, jerryy said:

That one looks to be a good choice especially since it is sold as a x-mount lens, so you do not have to worry about adapters.

This review shows some good results:

https://www.fujixpassion.com/2020/08/21/tokina-szx-400mm-f8-reflex-mf-first-impressions-review/

Let us know how it turns out and post some images!

Received the Tonika SZX lens today. It is very sturdy and solid. Smooth focus. Mounts easily onto my S-10. I've only taken a few pics. Today it's been very rainy in eastern NC. I took some pics through my dining room window which placed the camera about 15 feet from the bird feeder.  The camera was on a sturdy tripod. I was very close to the window and I don't think shooting through the glass had any appreciable negative effect on the results.

See link for pictures. The first picture is straight from the camera.  Although I was able to focus fairly easily on the birds beak, the body becomes progressively out of focus towards the tail due to the extremely shallow depth of field.  Although it was a very overcast day, I was underwhelmed by the lack of contrast produced in the image. I ran the image through two programs- Topaz AI Sharpen to sharpen it up , and ON1 to add microcontrast and selective sharpening. The result (2nd picture) is acceptable although not breath taking.  Not sure about keeping the lens yet. I'll shoot some more tomorrow and hopefully it will be sunnier than today.

Pictures here

[jerryy]

It looks like it cleaned up pretty well in the second photo. Hopefully it will be one you like.