Fuji X-Pro1

Fujifilm keeps on rolling out interesting prime lenses for the X mount - 4 out of 5 lenses have a fixed focal length and looking at their current road-map there are two more ahead in 2013. The next building block in their lineup is the new Fujinon XF 14mm f/2.8 R thus an ultra-wide lens equivalent to 21mm on full format format cameras. The combination of wide field-of-view and comparatively high speed comes at a price in the true sense. At 900$/EUR it is the most expensive Fujinon as of the time of this review. The Pentax DA 14mm f/2.8 EF IF, an APS-C SLR lens, costs about 25% less just to provide a reference. So we can be curious whether the difference in price also translates in high(er) quality....

Verdict

The Fujinon XF 14mm f/2.8 R is a highly attractive ultra-wide lens with few shortcomings. The most important factor for an ultra-wide lens is certainly image sharpness and the Fujinon delivers here. It is bitingly sharp in the image center and good to very good in the outer image region. The very low CAs contribute to the high quality perception. Distortions are basically absent - even in RAW data - which is surprising for such a wide lens and even more so for a mirrorless one. The primary weakness of the Fujinon is the very high amount of vignetting. Most RAW converters as well as the camera (JPEGs) can (mostly) compensate this automatically though. Looking at the close focus results, the bokeh is rather typical for an ultra-wide lens - it's rather nervous - which probably originates in the aspherical design.

The build quality of the Fujinon is very high and as such in line with the other Fujifilm offerings. It's mostly made of metal but since Fuji tried to minimize the weight it doesn't feel as rock solid as a Leica lens for instance. However, this is mostly a subjective impression. Objectively there's little to complain except for the lack of weather sealing. Some users may not like the fact that it is comparatively large which is certainly true compared to a pancake lens such as the XF 18mm f/2 R. However, it is no brick either and the bigger the better in terms of potential image quality. The AF isn't really a decisive factor for such a lens but Fuji did a good job here actually - it is both quite fast and near silent.

The pricing feels a little steep but it is fair enough in relation to the high performance. Therefore also highly recommended!

Highly Recommended

Optical Quality: 3.5 / 5
Mechanical Quality: 4 / 5    
Price/Performance:    3.5 / 5

Unlike other mirrorless system providers, Fuji follows a top down approach in terms of target audience. Thus they are creating interest among professionals and prosumers first. After the release of 3 high quality prime lenses they are now tackling the mainstream market with a standard zoom lens - the Fujinon XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LM OIS. You may argue that it is just another kit lens but unlike its remote cousins it is obviously one stop faster. If you buy it as part of a camera kit it is pretty affordable but its naked price tag of more than 650EUR/US$ makes it obvious that Fuji still doesn't want to play in the low end market. Interestingly the lens features an image stabilizer which is the first time Fuji has implemented this in a XF lens.....

Verdict

The Fujinon XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LM OIS may be the hottest reason to enter the Fuji system. It is amazingly sharp throughout the zoom and relevant aperture range. The amount of lateral CAs is generally quite low with the exception of 55mm @ f/4. The Fujinon is not without flaws, of course. Technically it suffers from a high barrel distortion at 18mm and the vignetting is a bit too high at max. aperture. However, these aspects are taken care of either by the camera itself or external RAW converters so you don't need to worry from a user perspective. The quality of the bokeh (out-of-focus) blur is pretty good for a standard zoom lens but it cannot rival the best prime lenses, of course. The build quality is on a very high level but then you also expect no less from a lens in this price class. It is a bit worrisome, however, that this is the 2nd out of 5 tested Fuji lenses with a rather significant centering defect. We hope that this is not a trend that we will have to confirm once more in the future. Interestingly Fuji has modified the AF mechanism in this new lens. Unlike the gang of 3 prime lenses (18mm, 35mm, 60mm) it is quite fast and basically silent so Fuji is definitely on the right track here. Fuji's new image stabilizer is, of course, also a welcome new feature. In a nutshell - you can't go wrong with the Fujinon XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LM OIS ... if you can get a good sample.

Optical Quality: 3.5 to 4 / 5   

Mechanical Quality:4 / 5

Price/Performance:4 / 5