Fujinon XF 18mm Vs XC 15-45mm?

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You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.You should upgrade or use an alternative browser. Fujinon XF 18mm vs XC 15-45mm?

• Thread starter kyjol
• Start date Mar 14, 2019

K

kyjol

New Member

Hey everyone, I recently got an XE3 camera bundled with an XC15-45 lens, which I preferred to the 18-55 bundle because of the lower price and smaller form factor. I'm not very impressed with the lowlight capability of this lens, which is to be expected due to its budget nature. I am looking into buying a prime and the 18mm caught my attention. The reason for it is that: 1) It has f2 aperture vs the 3.5 on the 15-45 (no OIS though) 2) It's half the price of the Mighty 16 3) It's extremely compact Now, number 3 is a huge factor for me. Most of my travelling is carry-on backpacking where I need the lens to be super light and small, so the pancake like features of the 18mm are appealing. I realize it's an older lens and has its problems, but the only other one fitting my requirements is the 23mm f2, which also has its quirks. I shoot mainly street, some landscape, contextual portraits and boudoir. On the XC 15-45 I find myself using the wide end most of the time, sometimes wanting a small zoom. I think 18mm would be a good fit for my needs, considering the small size. I guess my question is, would it be a worthy upgrade for lowlight street over the budget XC 15-45? Should I maybe pursue the 23/f2 instead along with a Rokinon 12mm for landscape hiking?

rokphish

Well-Known Member

I'm throwing the new 16/2.8 into the mix for you to consider. K

kyjol

New Member

Thread starter It does seem impressive in the form factor! I'm a bit worried about aperture though and how it stacks up against the 18mm in lowlight. When shooting lowlight street I'd like to have the fastest shutter speed at a reasonable ISO to avoid noise and also blurring of moving objects (people). 1.4 would be ideal but these lens are huge for travel, 2.0 looks like a reasonable compromise, but 2.8? Not sure if it's not a stretch, or maybe it doesn't matter as much as I assume?

rokphish

Well-Known Member

you could browse flickr for xf 27/2.8 for comparative sample. But, if size is huge factor as you say, 18/2 will be it. I mentioned the 16/2.8 because you mentioned considering the 23/2, which is about the same size (slightly smaller than 23/2, about the same as 35/2) Last edited: Mar 14, 2019

Bandje

Well-Known Member

The answer to your question, is, I think: yes. The 18 mm would definitely be an upgrade over the 15-45 mm for lowlight street. I know this lens is not the most loved lens in the Fuji lineup, but it is one of my favourite lenses. Considering it's small form size and great image quality, it certainly is worth the upgrade (mind you, the AF is showing its age, the new 16 would give you an update on this). That said, the combination of the 12 mm and the 23 mm is also worth considering. My experience with the 12 mm and landscape hiking is very good, and the 23 mm will give you slightly more reach. I guess it depends how much want to spend and what kind of shooting you want to do most.

kyjol said: I shoot mainly street, some landscape, contextual portraits and boudoir. Click to expand...

For this combination of shooting I'd say a combination of the 12 mm and the 23 mm would be ideal!

Archie Macintosh

Well-Known Member

I use the 18mm almost exclusively in crowds, busy streets, markets and similar situations. It's small and discreet; and the depth of field at f/8 makes zone focusing a breeze. (I leave mine at 5 feet.) And it is, of course, the classic Winogrand / Robert Frank focal length for street photography, being equivalent to the 28mm they used on their full-frame Leicas. Low light will be trickier, because the narrow depth of field at wide apertures will mean you'll have to focus, and that in itself will make you work slower, quite apart from the fact that the AF with the 18mm is not the best. It depends a bit on what you're shooting at night - you may need a lens with faster AF if you're trying to shoot action at wide apertures in low light. Shorter focal lengths come with more distortion, which creates it's own picture problems. (Winogrand tried using a 21mm for a time, but found the greater distortion too great.) NB Ladies will not thank you for doing their portrait with a wide-angle lens! Last edited: Mar 14, 2019

Mike7

Well-Known Member

For street photography, I personally prefer 23mm (35mm equivalent for FF), precisely because of the friendly treatment of people. It is not as wide as 18mm, but it is optically better, it has WR and less distorts the picture. These are of course my personal preferences.

Tilphot

Well-Known Member

The 18 is great for street and so much more, especially in low light. Even at f/2, you still have decent DoF in scenes like this (screenshot taken from Lightroom).

rokphish

Well-Known Member

Tilphot said: The 18 is great for street and so much more, especially in low light. Even at f/2, you still have decent DoF in scenes like this (screenshot taken from Lightroom). Click to expand...

somewhere in singapore?

Tilphot

Well-Known Member

rokphish said: somewhere in singapore? Click to expand...

Well spotted, yes! It's supposedly the best satay place in downtown Singapore, incidentally named "Best Satay" (7).

Warwick

Well-Known Member

If you have an X-E3 there are two lenses compact enough to allow you to slip your camera into a jacket pocket. They are the XF27mm f2.8 and the XF 18mm f2. Both are good lenses. I have both of them, and use one or the other of them on a daily basis. The 27mm is the most compact, but it lacks an aperture ring and it's 2.8 rather than 2. The 18mm is slightly bigger (but still pocketable, without the lens hood) - but some people find the 18mm field of view (=28mm in full frame terms) takes a bit of getting used to. You need to learn to be comfortable getting very close to your subjects. I love it, and Tilphot's image, above, shows the kind of results you can get with it. Others aren't so keen on it.

rokphish

Well-Known Member

I actually not getting it. The 18 should be the most widely comfortable focal length. Why? Because the same as phone's focal length, that is about 28mm (in 35mm format).

Mike7

Well-Known Member

Not everyone can tame perspective and distortion 28mm.

rokphish

Well-Known Member

Yeah, probably right. I’m just assuming we’re so used to it by the association of using phone to take photos.

joe aka back alley

Well-Known Member

all the lenses mentioned are very good to great lenses and excellent images can be made by all. the new 16 is a small lens and will soon be my daily driver. 28 is a comfortable lens to use and the 16 is a bit more tricky to master but it can be done with a bit of practice.

BloodNGutsMurphy

Well-Known Member

As its for compactness and lowlight I don't think the difference between f3.5 and f2.8 is worth it. So the 18mm f2 sounds right for you. Personally I hated the focusing and got the 23mm f2 instead, which I use most of the time on my X-E3. I recommend trying the 18 before buying. If you have come from a system with fast focusing like M43, half of the Fuji line up may also feel too slow for you. Definitely hold onto your zoom as it is awesome at the wide end. I have been getting bored of the 23mm and next will probably get the smaller 35mm f2 as the 18-55 focuses slower, despite having a modern focus mechanism. K

kyjol

New Member

Thread starter Reviving this to thanks everyone for the responses. I ended up buying a few fujicron lenses in Japan, including the 18mm f2, but also the 23mm f2 and 50mm f2. The last one is a little beast for portraits and I got some good shots with it. The 23mm f2 I am very satisfied with in terms of IQ and speed, the lowlight performance was a significant improvement over the XC kit zoom. That being said, it does feel a bit too cramped for street sometimes, especially as I have a tendency to go for cityscapes, contextual scenes and architecture. Had situations where I ran out of room to back up, lol. The 18mm f2 is better in that regard, and I love it's size, but the focusing can be clunky and is very loud. It made my turn-off preAF, which I didn't care about before, because the chatter was unacceptable. Now it's okay, and I also get better battery life, so that was a nice side effect. I'm still testing the 18 and it's overall not bad, I like this particular focal length as I was shooting with a phone before, so I am indeed used to it. I might keep both the 23 and 18, or get rid of one, time will tell.

BloodNGutsMurphy

Well-Known Member

I had better update too then, as the last post was me saying half the lenses are too slow. Since upgrading from an XE3 to an XT3 the old lenses focus about as fast as the new ones. Will be hard to resist the XE4 with the 27mm and 18mm. I could barely tell when I wore the XE3 with 23mm f2, the XE4 and 27mm will feel weightless. Therefore, consider sticking with any slow focusing lenses as when you next upgrade camera you too will be gobsmacked at what they are capable of. Post reply Insert quotes… Share: Facebook Twitter Email Share Link

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