Test driving the XF 100-400mm at the Calgary Zoo

[CplGumby]

I'm really torn as to my first world problems, do I get the XF 100-400mm lens or do I continue in the direction of my Nikon and get lenses for it. As I said, first world problems! I have the X-T1 and X-T2 and quite a few of the XF lenses already and because I love the Fuji system so much I really want to go 100% and leave Nikon behind. I also own the Nikon D500 and it is a wonderful camera too!

 

I use my D500 for shooting hockey and other action sports and my Fuji for everything else, however, my longest lens is the 70-200 f2.8 and I will be embarking on a trip (expensive one to boot!) to the Great Bear Rainforest so I am in the process of finalizing my lenses to make the most of it. So with this in mind, I decided to rent the XF 100-400mm and take it to the Calgary Zoo to see how it worked.

 

My disclaimer. I am by no means a professional. I make mistakes with my settings, don't know a boat load of lens review 'tests' and couldn't identify the difference between a pixel and a pokemon. These are just my impressions of a lens I had for the weekend and how I felt about it after. These are my humble, amateurish opinions.

 

Settings- I usually shoot manual focus with Back Button focus set up in Manual and shutter trigger focus on AF-S and AF-C. I had ISO set to Auto, Aperture set as wide as I could and tried to keep shutter above the reciprocal of focal length as a guide. The performance was on Boost mode

 

Build- It is a well built piece of kit but doesn't have the same solid, rich feel that the 50-140 has and it reminds me of my XF 55-200 lens in build quality. Plasticky but not cheap.  I had it on my X-T2 with battery booster grip and it balanced well but I don't think you'd want to use it on anything else. You have to use the lock as you experience lens creep when you are walking around.

 

Weight- The lens and camera with grip and batteries is heavy. Is it the same weight as the Nikon/Canon with extra batteries and the equivalent lens? Not a chance! As the Angry Photographer said, "Oddly enough you don't buy the Mirrorless system to be light, you're buying Fuji because it's o freaking fantastic!" Well Ok...he uses a few more colorful adjectives in there but you get the point. Asking about weight is a moot point. It's a big lens, it's going to weigh more. I felt it at the end of the day but it wasn't bad.

 

Focus- We went inside the Penguin hut (why they weren't outside is beyond me, I mean the Antarctic is a bit colder than Calgary but maybe we were too warm?) so the low light situation allowed me to test how it would cope. This lens really struggled in low light. The lens was hunting and couldn't seem to lock on. ISO was up around 12,800 so I had little hope for the images to turn out. As a result I didn't get any keepers. 

We moved outside and again I never felt the lens quickly lock on. I kept thinking to myself that if these animals were actually moving I'd be really struggling. I was shooting handheld and had the OIS on and off at times and still had trouble attaining focus. The funny thing is that two of the sharpest image I had were when my granddaughter told me to take a picture of these birds so I swung the camera around and quickly snapped the pictures off. Maybe that was the trick, maybe I was holding on to the image too long.

 

1.4 TC- I used the XF 1.4 Teleconverter on it which turned it into an F/8 on the long end and I didn't notice any diminishment in image quality. Probably because my picture taking sucked, having the TC on there didn't change my level of suckitude for the better or worse. Trust the more talented when they say that IQ doesn't suffer.

 

Handheld vs Tripod- I think if you were to have the lens on a tripod you would get crazy good results but my trip to the GBR will have me on a boat where a tripod is not a possibility so I wanted to test the handheld. 'They' say you get 3-4 extra stops with the OIS on but apparently 'Thay' are much better/steadier than me because I experienced less than that.

 

Verdict- Well, every system has it's strengths and weakness and try as I might I don't think the XF100-400 and the Fuji system is quite there yet for the Wildlife or Action genre. For ME anyways! One thing I did love was that I didn't have to crop at all! I love this focal length!

At $2,300 CDN I just can't justify purchasing this lens when I know that the Nikon 300 PF at $2,500 with the D500 is a rock star and the 80-400 with the same camera is more solid.

 

I've attached some pics of the Zoo critters to give you an idea. There has been some post-processing done but not too much. A bump of the exposure meter here, a dab of clarity there. Since I can only load a few to the board, the rest are available for viewing here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/39537600@N04/albums/72157679634366666

 

 

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[erwiurewurwehu]

thanks for an honest review. I am starting to get used to the X-T2 with the 100-400 and it can be challenging to set up focus correctly. I would love to try a D500 and see how that works.

[CplGumby]

thanks for an honest review. I am starting to get used to the X-T2 with the 100-400 and it can be challenging to set up focus correctly. I would love to try a D500 and see how that works.

I'd be curious to know what you find for settings that work for you. I'm sure that's half my problem.

[erwiurewurwehu]

I'd be curious to know what you find for settings that work for you. I'm sure that's half my problem.

 

Zone focus and AF-C with back button focus work best for me. Usually a 3x3 zone which I often move one step up and a little to the side to get the head in focus. I have moved AF-On to the front Fn button which works well for my hands, so I have "front button" focus. I have also learned to shoot with small bursts to avoid viewfinder lag.

 

Here are some zoo pictures I took and think worked out well.

 

 

[Tikcus]

When usig a super telephoto you need to be careful about your depth of field and shooting wide open

 

if your subject is 20 meters away

 

@400mm and shooting at F5.6 on a 1.5x crop sensor 

nearest acceptable sharpness =19.72m

Furthest acceptable sharpness =20.29m

Total DOF = 0.58m

 

Stopping down two stops to F/11

 

nearest acceptable sharpness =19.45m

Furthest acceptable sharpness =20.58m

Total DOF = 1.14m

 

If you hold focus for too long and the object moves slightly it aint going to be in sharp focus shooting wide open at such long focal lengths

[Nick05]

What setting did you have the IS set to? I found I had issues mostly with the IS in the past when set to continuous. When I turn it to shooting only, images seems to be way sharper. When set to continuous I found the photos to appear soft or slightly out of focus or blurred. This it true with the other lenses such as the 55-200mm as well.

[Lumens]

I picked up the 100-400 a while back and find it is no different than my Canon 7D/100-400 combo.  I would suspect the same for the Nikon system.

 

What I am saying is it takes a few months maybe even longer to learn how to use an outfit (of any brand/combo) properly.  I had somewhat the same review just after I picked up the 100-400 lens - I had some struggling with it.  But after using it for a few months and learning how to apply the settings and use the Auto-Focus to my advantage.  I now find the system to be very much on par with any DSLR.  The Auto-Focus has no problems whatsoever if it is set properly for the conditions.  It just takes some practice to know what setting/ when - and I am still learning..  I believe it might take a book to explain each detail, but for the most part, until you have a particular camera/lens in your hands long enough you don't really learn how to use it.

 

Right now I am struggling with the XT-2/16 f1.4 combination.  What an INCREDIBLE lens! But every once in a while I get into a scenario where I don't use it properly.  Still learning the lens.  That's what it is about.  It takes time/practice with any lens - some more than others.

 

As for which brand to go with it is hard to say.  I really got some good times from my Canon gear, but now I love my Fuji.  You just have to go with what you feel most comfortable with and learn to use it.  It's like my Fly Fishing gear - the more I force it to practice the better it gets.  In fact the gear I leave in the closet even gets better the more I force my current gear to practice!

Edited January 30, 2017 by Lumens

[CplGumby]

What setting did you have the IS set to? I found I had issues mostly with the IS in the past when set to continuous. When I turn it to shooting only, images seems to be way sharper. When set to continuous I found the photos to appear soft or slightly out of focus or blurred. This it true with the other lenses such as the 55-200mm as well.

I tried the OIS both on and off. I had AF-C and set to zone focus with a 3x3 square.

[CplGumby]

I picked up the 100-400 a while back and find it is no different than my Canon 7D/100-400 combo.  I would suspect the same for the Nikon system.

 

What I am saying is it takes a few months maybe even longer to learn how to use an outfit (of any brand/combo) properly.  I had somewhat the same review just after I picked up the 100-400 lens - I had some struggling with it.  But after using it for a few months and learning how to apply the settings and use the Auto-Focus to my advantage.  I now find the system to be very much on par with any DSLR.  The Auto-Focus has no problems whatsoever if it is set properly for the conditions.  It just takes some practice to know what setting/ when - and I am still learning..  I believe it might take a book to explain each detail, but for the most part, until you have a particular camera/lens in your hands long enough you don't really learn how to use it.

 

Right now I am struggling with the XT-2/16 f1.4 combination.  What an INCREDIBLE lens! But every once in a while I get into a scenario where I don't use it properly.  Still learning the lens.  That's what it is about.  It takes time/practice with any lens - some more than others.

 

As for which brand to go with it is hard to say.  I really got some good times from my Canon gear, but now I love my Fuji.  You just have to go with what you feel most comfortable with and learn to use it.  It's like my Fly Fishing gear - the more I force it to practice the better it gets.  In fact the gear I leave in the closet even gets better the more I force my current gear to practice!

Really good point!

I'm the first to admit that it's probably me and you're right about learning the camera. I'm a long time Nikon user and still use it for certain things like shooting hockey so I'm experienced with the Nikon system but because I'm using two systems I'm not as experienced in the Fuji system. I've heard great things about the lens and it probably struggles in low light no more than a Nik/Can 4.5-5.6 lens. 

[CplGumby]

When usig a super telephoto you need to be careful about your depth of field and shooting wide open

 

if your subject is 20 meters away

 

@400mm and shooting at F5.6 on a 1.5x crop sensor 

nearest acceptable sharpness =19.72m

Furthest acceptable sharpness =20.29m

Total DOF = 0.58m

 

Stopping down two stops to F/11

 

nearest acceptable sharpness =19.45m

Furthest acceptable sharpness =20.58m

Total DOF = 1.14m

 

If you hold focus for too long and the object moves slightly it aint going to be in sharp focus shooting wide open at such long focal lengths

I know this rule and yet I completely forgot it!

Doing the math the falcon was about 18 ft away and with the lens at 400 and F5.6 it only gives me 1 1/2in dof. This helps explain why old shakey hands couldn't get focus on the eye. Even if I did the Beak would be out of focus.

Thanks for the reminder!

[Nick05]

I tried the OIS both on and off. I had AF-C and set to zone focus with a 3x3 square.

There is a setting in the camera settings menu that allows you to set the OIS to a couple settings. It is called "IS Mode". Mode 1 Continuous and Mode 2 Shooting Only. I find I get much sharper images when using Mode 2 Shooting Only. I tried it a few years ago, set my camera that way, and found I ended up with better results. When I get a new body, I do not remember to set it that way until I begin looking at the images and think the lens was defective. I'm not sure if it is because when it shooting only, i have to steady myself more to compose the shot or if it has to do with something like in the article linked below.

 

http://digicamhelp.com/camera-features/shooting-modes/is-modes/

[Adam Woodhouse]

When you get up to the focal lengths this lens gives, regardless of camera model ... it takes lots of practice.

 

For $75/CAD I picked up a 1980's 200-500/5.6 manual focus Tamron (the thing looks like a bazooka) and use a Nikon/Fuji adapter and I learned right away that even on a tripod, it takes lots of practice to get anything that looks any good due to DOF and camera shake.

[CplGumby]

When you get up to the focal lengths this lens gives, regardless of camera model ... it takes lots of practice.

 

For $75/CAD I picked up a 1980's 200-500/5.6 manual focus Tamron (the thing looks like a bazooka) and use a Nikon/Fuji adapter and I learned right away that even on a tripod, it takes lots of practice to get anything that looks any good due to DOF and camera shake.

Bazooka or a club?? That thing is massive!! Ha! Ha!

[Aswald]

I've never seen a Lion on snow.

[CplGumby]

I've never seen a Lion on snow.

We all had that same comment!! Me neither, I thought they would have been inside.

I went back the following weekend and they were out and it was -22C that day (-27 with windchill). I guess that mane serves another purpose!