XC 50-230 any good? I'd say it is.

[marcelo_valente]

There was a topic already with some shots taken by many people with the XC 50-230, but I could not find it today.  I took my XC 50-230 for a stroll this past weekend, something I had not done before.  I've had the lens for a while but did not have a real oportunity to put it to the test.

 

So, my conclusion is that it is a pretty good lens, and if you need that extra reach, but do not want to spend all that money on the XF 55-200, you can get the cheaper, lighter and longer reach XC 50-230 with no worries and regrets.

 

Here are some examples:

 

First.  Check out that reach!

 

At 50MM (notice the Seisho-no-ie holy grounds to the left):

 

FXE26346.jpg by Marcelo Valente, on Flickr

 

AT 230mm.  Well...that got close enough, and sharp enough, for me.

 

Seisho-no-ie holy ground by Marcelo Valente, on Flickr

 

Now a couple of closer look shots of that sail boat: (go to flicker and zoom in.  pretty sharp I think)

 

FXE26349.jpg by Marcelo Valente, on Flickr

 

FXE26350.jpg by Marcelo Valente, on Flickr

 

Another at 230mm.  This one testing out the image stabilization.  I was in a moving vehicle when taking this shot of the pretty lady riding her horse.

 

FXE26443.jpg by Marcelo Valente, on Flickr

 

Another at 230mm also in the moving vehicle.

 

FXE26420.jpg by Marcelo Valente, on Flickr

 

Well, what do you think?  Good enough?

[Dis]

This lens is OK optically. It's light and built better than other consumer plastic lenses. Nevertheless it still feels cheap after XF lenses. The AF is silent and quite slow but so is 55-200's one. This lens extends a lot while zooming so it's a real air pump. One can feel the strong air flow through the viewfinder. Thus in theory this lens can push dust to the sensor due to the lack of sealing. I haven't seen this in practice though. To me the most serious flaw is the lack of controls. I don't like fuji cameras rear and front dials so I rarely use them when shooting other lenses but with 50-230 front dial is the only way to adjust the aperture. There are two possibilities to switch from manual aperture to automatic. You weather have to go all way down to f/22 with the front wheel wich is quite slow way. Or you can waste one Fn button for this. The OIS switch is even worse as the only way to change it is burried in the menues. In the end 18-135 has replaced my 50-230 as its marginally heavier but can be used as a single lens when I need to stay really light which is quite often requirement for shoots I use slow zoom lenses. I found out that I need 135-230 reach quite rarely so it's OK for me. 18-135 allows to shoot faster thanks to it's controls and much snappier AF. It also adds weather sealing unlike 50-200.
The botton line: this lens is quite good and cheap but you have to be sure you're OK with really slow shooting and plastic feeling.

[milandro]

well Marcelo you already had shown how good it was in another thread that I had started and to which you took part before.

 

http://www.fuji-x-forum.com/topic/292-the-humble-though-honorable-xc-50-230mm-f-45-67/ This link 

 

Yes, very good!

 

I have yet to find any shortcomings in this lens and for anyone using the long lenses (and this features still, to date, the longest Fuji focal length) occasionally, as I do with long lenses I can’t think of a better way to spend very little money

 

[milandro]

this lens never ceases to amaze me, in fact, so much so that I’ve bought a second one! 

 

Well, it is like this...

 

A friend of mine was looking to buy one and these are only at the €200 if you buy them as part of a kit or if you buy them secondhand, so, I sold him mine together with the 10-24mm ( another story) and bought it again as a part of a kit.

 

Talk about enthusiasm!

 

Now of course you test your new lenses but we have a particular spell of bad weather so I decided to test it indoors and with the curtains only partially open with the very low light of a heavily clouded Autumnal Dutch sky. I can’t tell you how many EV ( because I no longer have an exposure meter telling me that)that is but is is not a lot.

 

I guessed that would dispel the rumors of those (who obviously never used this lens) that this lens wouldn’t be able to perform in low light.

 

Set the ISO at 1600 and shot the TV guide . Shot at 230mm 1/60 OIS on freehand.

 

Well, I don’t know about you but to me this is a very good performance! ( better even on the original than the rendition of the attachment here!)

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[Reactivestills]

I enjoy using this lens a lot. Great for landscapes and floating around the city. Only €200 from eBay new. Bargain I'd say

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[Reactivestills]

A few more...

 

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[milandro]

repetita iuvant ?

[marcelo_valente]

Bad hair day there on the first shot. Hahahhahaha

 

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[marcelo_valente]

I went to Spain in September and took the XC 50-230mm with me.  I did not use it that much, but I had a chance to take it to the Bioparc in Valencia to give it a good try.  Great lens!  Also, when people look at you using it, they all comment: "look at the size of that lens!" haha it does get pretty big when at 230mm.

 

Here are some of my favorites, and in the end the link to the album in flickr with all of the images.

 

Suricato. Bioparc Valencia. Spain by Marcelo Valente, on Flickr

 

Giraffe. Bioparc Valencia. Spain by Marcelo Valente, on Flickr

 

 

Bioparc Valencia. Spain by Marcelo Valente, on Flickr

 

Chipanzee. Bioparc Valencia. Spain by Marcelo Valente, on Flickr

 

Chipanzee. Bioparc Valencia. Spain by Marcelo Valente, on Flickr

 

Bioparc Valencia. Spain by Marcelo Valente, on Flickr

 

https://flic.kr/s/aHskoNGFs1

[milandro]

bad, bad lens 

[perfis]

I got this lens as part of a kit containing the X-M1 and the two XC zoom lenses (all for just 530 €). I haven't yet upgraded the camera but will soon buy the X-T10 (for which I just acquired a second-hand 35mm f1.4). The long XC zoom lens is optically very good in my judgment, witness the zoo pictures by Marcelo Valente in this thread. Along the same lines I enclose pictures of a peregrine falcon (f10, 182mm, 1/420s, ISO 500) and a yawning lion in Copenhagen Zoo (f6.7, 230 mm, 1/170s, ISO 400). Zoom in and admire the majestic beauty of the falcon or check if His Majesty has a sore throat but remember the pictures have been heavily downsized. The OIS of the XC lens(es) also works well. X-M1 with XC lenses may be a modest combination but delivers excellent image quality.

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[johant]

This lens is for sale in various camera outlets (like the Foka outlet store) right now. There are two things I'm worried about:

 

- how is the mechanical construction quality, given that even the mount is plastic?

- how is the AF at the long end on a X-E1, given the small aperture (f/6.7)?

 

Thanks!

 

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[milandro]

The feel and construction of the lens are very good. It has no play and it doesn't feel cheap. I have actually had two copies of this lens.

 

One I bought from someone who had bought it in a kit, then sold it(at cost) to a friend who wanted the lens but didn’t want to buy it from a stranger or buy a whole kit. He just cam back from a trip to Myamar and loved the lens.

 

I bought a second copy as part of a kit with a X-E1, 18-55mm and 50-230. Kept the lenses and sold the body, new. Kamera Express has this set ( you have to search on their shop on line and tell them that they have to ppply the “ set” price otherwise they would try to sell you the separate parts.

 

The entire KIT costs €699 for the black version!

 

http://www.kamera-express.nl/product/12197858/fujifilm-x-e1-zwart-xf-18-55mm-xc-50-230mm-zwart/

 

 

You can find plenty of these lenses at €200 or less. If you buy a X-T10 with 16-50 and 50-230 both lenses only add €200 to the price of the camera! ( €999 but there is now a €100 but some shops will still sell the kit for €899 ).

 

http://www.kamera-express.nl/product/12208573/fujifilm-x-t10-zilver-16-50mm-ois-ii-50-230mm-ois-ii/

 

 

Performance

 

It focuses very fast because of the internal focussing even at the most extended focal length. When the new software came I tested the predictive tracking focussing with this lens. ( a function that is really not important for me) but it worked just fine.

 

The OIS of the version 1 is very good but they say that the version 2 has an even better one. 

 

Version 2 has also a shorter minimum focal distance but those things are of little to no importance to me. I have the 60mm macro after all.

 

It feels rather solid to the touch and use. I have used this lens on a X-M1 ( which I am sure wasn’t better than the X-E1 a camera that I’ve also had and which I had to bring back to the shop, they gave me the X-M1 as a body to borrow while my camera went for a long and useless roundtrip to Germany where it was supposed to be repaired but wasn’t, which is why I exchanged it for a X-T1)

 

You are welcome to come and try any time Johan

[johant]

Foka sells the lens alone (without a camera) for €170 at the moment

 

Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll make the jump for that price ... if it doesn't feel right, I can always return it (and they give 24 months warranty).

[milandro]

enjoy!

[Vidalgo]

The feel and construction of the lens are very good. It has no play and it doesn't feel cheap.

Mine too.

 

Very handy to attach or remove that lens because the rear side don't have rings or switches, and have just a right size.

 

- how is the AF at the long end on a X-E1, given the small aperture (f/6.7)?

I often use it at f/9...f/11 (where it has max resolution) with X-T1 and don't have any unusual problem of AF at daylights.

[johant]

enjoy!

Held the lens in my hands, tested it on my X-E1, and indeed the AF is fast enough for me (indoors), and the lens does not feel "cheap".

 

I don't like the plastic lens mount, and the rear lens cap is a joke (how much more would a real cap cost?), but the lens does what it should do, and you can't argue the price (€170 with 2 years warranty).

 

So I'm the owner of a XC 50-230 lens now. Purpose is to use it as a "zoo zoom", and to see how well it works with the MCEX-16 extension ring.

 

Btw, mine is the "OIS II" version, so it should have the improved OIS?

[milandro]

Johan, companies look for minute ways to make a saving, Yamagisawa saxophone company produced a model where they put a Bb plastic spatula ( and few other things) to make it cheap enough for students.

 

The main money saving in the case of the cheaper Fuji lenses are yes,  the materials and the fact that these lenses are assembled in China rather then in Japan ( apparently also some of the more professional line are too but they are clearly indicated as such on the lens) like the 27mm.

 

The plastic bayonet and transparent soft plastic cap of the 16-50 and 50-230 are the usual way to save money used by camera companies for years, you can easily change the cap and I think it is actually possible to replace that bayonet with another made of metal, provided you mount correctly the electric contacts.

 

But I am not going to bother.

 

someone made a youtube video of the exact combination that you are looking to use

 

[johant]

A bit more reach would be nice but here are some first shots (50% crops):

 

 

[milandro]

you could use the tele converter but it would be really asking too much from this lens.

[marcelo_valente]

Johan, companies look for minute ways to make a saving, Yamagisawa saxophone company produced a model where they put a Bb plastic spatula ( and few other things) to make it cheap enough for students.

 

The main money saving in the case of the cheaper Fuji lenses are yes, the materials and the fact that these lenses are assembled in China rather then in Japan ( apparently also some of the more professional line are too but they are clearly indicated as such on the lens) like the 27mm.

 

The plastic bayonet and transparent soft plastic cap of the 16-50 and 50-230 are the usual way to save money used by camera companies for years, you can easily change the cap and I think it is actually possible to replace that bayonet with another made of metal, provided you mount correctly the electric contacts.

 

But I am not going to bother.

 

someone made a youtube video of the exact combination that you are looking to use

 

Packaging is also much different then the xf packaging.

 

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[johant]

you could use the tele converter but it would be really asking too much from this lens.

 

Sounds like overkill ... the MCEX-16 extension tube works nicely though (here at 50mm).

 

[milandro]

I thought you wanted more “ reach"

[jlmphotos]

Thank you for posting.  Not sure what the price of the 50-230 is but I snagged my 55-200 for $499 And I thought that was a great deal

 

[johant]

Thank you for posting. Not sure what the price of the 50-230 is but I snagged my 55-200 for $499 And I thought that was a great deal

I paid €170 for the 50-230. I'd say that is acceptable for a "vacation tele zoom". I use short primes most of the time anyway.

 

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