Any news on the 8-16/2.8?

[notnotmaurice]

With the 5Div out (and looking pretty great) and my 10-24/4 continuing to drive me insane, the allure of canon's system with it's fast, weathersealed wide is getting harder to resist. I'd appreciate any news you can find, FR1 wild speculation even, about the 8-16. Anything you can tell me about why it's not at photokina or on the roadmap, when/if it's coming, even if that just goes into the main FR feed, would be extremely useful!

Edited August 26, 2016 by notnotmaurice

[milandro]

in May this year we were told that this lens might come but in any case nowhere soon. So give up your hopes to see it at the photokina.

 

http://www.fujirumors.com/?s=8-16

 

I don’t know why your 10-24 drives you insane, I had a very pleasant experience with it. Whatever drives you insane with it, I suspect, won’t improve by buying an even shorter zoom lens.

 

In my opinion, having had a 10-24mm for more than a year, I am not so quite sure of what would a 8-16 really add to that experience and I can only think that that option would come at some detriment of the 10-24 ( which is by the way an outstanding lens) sales.

 

Fuji is duplicating many lenses now, often with the rationale of offering smaller lenses to be used on the optical viewfinder line ( the X pro) or adding the weather resistance which few really ever test by photographing in pouring rain.

 

The more you segment the market the more you compete with yourself. 

 

I sold my 10-24 because I was mostly using it only on the wide end ( and because i got a 18-55 which I didn’t have in the beginning) and made enough money to buy a 8mm fish eye and a 12mm non fish eye by Samyang, both outstanding lenses which can hold their own, anytime, against Fuji lenses.

 

Of course the fisheye is not the same thing as a non fisheye wideangle and the 12mm is a little bit less wide than a 10mm, but at this end of the lens spectrum we are talking of minute differences between focal lenses. Besides I’ve yet to find the need to have an autofocus lens when it comes to a lens that offer total sharpness at f8.

 

Achieving any degree of focus separation by selective focussing of extremely close up subject is of no interest to me and if I were ever to want to do that I wouldn’t use a wideangle although that is perfectly possible and even desirable in some very limited case.

[notnotmaurice]

The problem with the 10-24 is that it is slow, not weathersealed, soft for a fuji lens, and stabilized for no reason. I've had it for two and a half years, I've used it a lot but only because it's the system's only wide zoom.

 

A 2.8 wide is invaluable for concert and astro photos, and while the f4 works, it's a compromise.

 

This is a lens that is meant to be close to its subject, and one of the more interesting, dynamic subjects is water. This lens killed my x-t1 by letting an errant wave right into the lens mount last year, and nearly ruined a trip to Iceland because as soon as there's any humidity in the air (like say near any of their famously endless waterfalls) the lens locks up and tells the camera not to take photos. blow-drying your lens is not part of a healthy morning routine, especially at 4am rushing to catch sunrise.

 

This lens is the closest to average in fuji's otherwise stellar lineup of glass, even at f8, it's not exciting to look at the photos up close the way it is with the two 'red label' zooms, there's only so much they can do, but i think they choose to work towards size rather sharpness, which is a fine choice but not my preference. also the rounded aperture blades mean that this lens has one of the grossest sunstars of any high-end system.

 

The OIS however, was a terrible idea. Without any help, you can handhold a lens this wide at 1/15-1/8s, extending that out into times where any normal person wouldn't want to try to stand perfectly still and it makes sense to use a tripod anyway is silly, it just hurts quality. It's potentially useful for video, but it would be remarkable as one of the only things fuji have intentionally done to make video better in this system.

 

99% of the time i use this lens off the tripod, i wish i had access to faster shutter speeds, not slower ones. I don't know what kind of photographer fuji thinks this lens would be perfect for, but it's definitely not me, so excuse me for being desperate for news about a 2.8 WR replacement.

Edited August 27, 2016 by notnotmaurice

[Vidalgo]

Have no any complaints against 10-24, it's my workhorse (together with 18-55) for trips through urban jungles. I own it almost 2 years, purchased from Japan via an ebay store, because at that moment our local prices were too overpriced.

 

My interests are architecture, landscapes, interiors, street art, etc. This lens just right for me.

 

With usual precautions, like with any machine, I don't get any problems from raindrops or dust, hot weather or cold, whatever. It works!

 

OIS is really really good, I can go even up to 1/2-1/3 sec handheld at lowlight, with good repeatability. 

 

I believe that rumored 8-16/2.8 lens will be (if yes) the addition to the red-labeled line - bulky and costly, probably without OIS. And narrowed range of zoom. So, I'm not interested on it, as a replacement of my 10-24. As an addition? Even worse. Theoretically, adding a wide prime lens like 12 or 14 will let me more.

 

BTW, fisheye 8-16 zoom should be very funny stuff 

Or tilt-shift wide zoom. Why no. 

[milandro]

I don’t share any of your opinions about the 10-24. My experience and yours diverge so much that it would be pointless at this point to enter a diatribe about this lens in a thread dedicated to another lens.

 

We shall see if the lens to come will please you.

[frod]

Why not just turn the IS off if you don't like it? It should be off by default anyway.

Edited August 29, 2016 by frod

[darknj]

Again, it's a rumor...

 

I will gladly accept that it is a probable rumor but if you want super reliable source, you might need to start applying for a job at Fuji Imaging department and hope to move high enough on the food chain to get all the crunchy news before anyone else.

 

As for any kind of surprise appearance at Fotokina, it could be possible, but that would mean they would have been working in secret for that lens for at least the past year if not more.

 

The 10-24 is plenty enough for my usage and I don't feel the need for a 8-16 F2.8 lens, the extra stop of light is not that much needed, only WR part would be interesting to me, but then again the F2.8 version will be a lot larger to the point I will hate it when I need to travel around with it.

 

Like Milandro, I certainly do not share your view on the 10-24, it still a very compact with very good IS for those low light situations where you don't have any other choice but handheld the camera.

 

And if your current gear does not match your needs, you could be using the wrong things. Cameras are just tools after all.

[deva]

 

The OIS however, was a terrible idea. Without any help, you can handhold a lens this wide at 1/15-1/8s, extending that out into times where any normal person wouldn't want to try to stand perfectly still and it makes sense to use a tripod anyway is silly, it just hurts quality. It's potentially useful for video, but it would be remarkable as one of the only things fuji have intentionally done to make video better in this system.

 

99% of the time i use this lens off the tripod, i wish i had access to faster shutter speeds, not slower ones. I don't know what kind of photographer fuji thinks this lens would be perfect for, but it's definitely not me, so excuse me for being desperate for news about a 2.8 WR replacement.

 

 

I love the OIS on the 10-24... it means I can handhold lots of landscape photos in dimmer light. I've had sharp images at 1/2 second even. The 10-24 is one of my favorite Fuji lenses. It does amazing work on street events. I also especially like the OIS for crowds when I want to catch a bit of movement of people, but otherwise have the image sharp.

 

Now I expect that the 10-24 will become much used for video on my new X-T2 cameras. 

[deva]

oh, and if Fuji does make an 8-16 2.8, I would like it to have OIS. Fuji also needs to release a 16-55 2.8 with OIS for those of us who want to shoot video.

[Naddan28]

Biggest thing for me is to ensure it takes filters. I.e. No huge bulbous front element that stops the usage of CPLs and other filters.

 

I wasn't sure I'd be in the market for this but I could see it replacing my 14mm and potentially 16-55mm too.

[lauriebrett]

Biggest thing for me is to ensure it takes filters. I.e. No huge bulbous front element that stops the usage of CPLs and other filters.

I wasn't sure I'd be in the market for this but I could see it replacing my 14mm and potentially 16-55mm too.

Fully agree about ability to take filters. 62mm thread would be ideal for me, but whaterever as long as I can fit my Lee 100mm holder.

I'm not fussed about OIS, it would be smaller without.