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RUMOR: XF100-400 and XF120mmF2.8 delayed!


Patrick FR

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Let's see, the Fuji road map still says 1st quarter 2016 so I have to believe - no delay.  

 

It is still due on or about 2nd/3rd quarter.  Just how things go - development is never easy something always goes wrong and timing is never as expected.  Although I see Fuji does have a good track record for being on schedule.  Many of the items I see have come out when expected.  I just have a habit of not believing until I see the announcement.  Less disappointment that way.

 

For me I just know it is on its way and I am excited for it to come out.  I just hope they can keep the price within wallet size reality :)

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I'd hope for the $2000 - $2500 range, because both Canon's and Nikon's new generation lenses in that range are under $2500. Fujinons don't tend to be more expensive than their direct competitors in other mounts, although they sometimes seem so because Fuji doesn't make the cheaper alternatives that Nikon and Canon offer (there's no 70-300 on the Fuji roadmap, and those tend to be less than half the price of 100-400s)...

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The 120 captured my interest. I almost hope it is a long, large, fast lens. Light gathering at that range is challenging but IQ is Fujinon's marketing line.

 

The 100-400 could change to start at 120 to even 200 if that would help increase aperture. At that range, stabilization and light gathering are more important to me than zooming.

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Unfortunately, at that range, size and weight (with the weird exception of diffractive/Fresnel lenses, which have the same front element size, but can bend light more tightly, and are shorter and lighter as a result) are determined almost exclusively by maximum aperture at maximum telephoto. A 400 mm f4 is the same diameter, about the same length (and only a little lighter than - zoom groups do weigh something) a 200-400 f4.

 

The f5.6 maximum aperture at 400mm of all the lenses in the class of the proposed Fujinon is the result of Newton's Laws, and any lens that was f4 at 400mm would have a 105mm filter size, and would probably look a lot like Canon and Nikon's 200-400 f4s. If Fuji were to do that, they'd probably start it at 140mm, to match the existing 50-140 (the Canon and Nikon lenses are meant to pick up where 70-200 f2.8s leave off). As a matter of fact, I don't know why this lens  doesn't start at 140. The rationale for the range of the SLR lenses is that they start more or less where extended range standard zooms leave off (e.g. 24-85, 28-105). The big, heavy 200-400 pro lenses match the 70-200. 100 does Fuji little good - the lens should either reach down to 55, to pick up the standard zooms,or start at 135 or 140, to match the 50-140 and the superzoom. The better choice is probably 135 or140 - this will be an expensive lens and likely to live alongside the 50-140 in many bags, and image quality improves as zoom range reduces

 

400 means f5.6, unless you want to pay in size and weight (and cost) - a 400mm f4, whether prime or zoom, has a similar front element to a 300 f2.8, and costs about as much. Most manufacturers have chosen to make their reasonably sized zooms that get to 400mm variable aperture f4-f5.6 rather than constant f5.6.

 

An interesting lens to think about, and one that may make more sense than this one (depending on whether any Fuji body autofocuses at f8 - 400mm plus the converter is a REALLY long, if slow, lens), is a 140-300 f4. That COULD be a constant f4  - 300/4 is only 75mm, so a 300 f4 can have a 77mm filter size if the barrel is extremely slender, and it can have an 82mm filter with no issues at all.  It's only a 2x zoom, so image quality could be VERY high. What makes it get interestingly long is that it'll autofocus with the 1.4x converter without a problem (it's a 420mm f5.6 with the converter on). If it were designed specifically to go with the converter, the image quality loss from using it could be minimized. It's a slightly lighter, faster, somewat higher quality lens most of the time. When you need absolute maximum reach, put the converter on, and you have a 420mm f5.6 lens, giving a full-frame equivalent well over 600mm. The only reason not to go with this design (most people with a really nice Fujinon collection will be willing to invest in the converter, especially if it also performs well on the 120 macro) is if the 100-400 would be usable with the converter as well. If that combination will focus reasonably and deliver image quality (wildlife with manual focus or poor AF is a drag), Fuji becomes one of the few systems with a reasonably priced 800mm+ equivalent. At least the Nikon version of an 80-400, and I believe the Canon as well, is really iffy with teleconverters. Fuji may or may not be able to overcome this... The most reasonably priced way of getting into the 800mm+ equivalent range right now is one of the third-party zooms that reach 500 or even 600 mm, plus a crop body. None of those lenses performs like a Fujinon. Nikon's new 200-500 is the only first-party option I know of (apart from $10,000 exotic primes and 200-400 f4s with converters)  that gets close (few reviews as yet, but it is a relatively inexpensive lens, clearly positioned well below the 80-400 and presumably the Fuji). I'd guess the new Nikkor will probably perform similarly to comparably priced Tamrons and Sigmas, but that is a guess based on its positioning, not experience or even extensive reading.

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