Review by Markus Stamm, published April 2019

Introduction

The result is a lens that is as bulky as its name and even bigger and heavier than the already fairly huge XF 90mm f/2.0, even though it is shorter in focal length and one-stop slower. 'Keep it compact' was obviously not on the list of design goals.

The lens body has such a huge diameter that it extends below the bottom plate of most XF bodies, including the X-Pro1 we used for this review. Ironically, this makes the lens a bit awkward to use on a macro focusing rail.

Given the high weight, it's slightly surprising that most of the lens body consists of plastic with only a few metal parts, like the aperture ring and the mount. Compared to the XF 90 for example, it feels less sturdy, but still the build quality, besides the material used, is on a very high level. Everything is tightly assembled and the broad rubberized focus ring operates smoothly. And, as it is common with XF lenses, it works by wire, so even when you switch the lens to manual focus mode (which needs to be done on the camera, the lens has no AF/MF switch), it's still the autofocus drive that sets the focus position in small steps when the focus ring is turned manually.

There is one thing the XF 80 has in common with the XF 90: the loose focus group. The focus group (and likely the stabilizer, too) needs power to be held in place, which means that when the camera is switched off or the lens is not mounted on a camera body, these groups follow gravity and rattle inside the lens whenever it is moved. Once powered on, the lens groups generate all kinds of buzzing noises, even when autofocus is disabled and OIS is switched off. If you're looking for a lens to occasionally shoot video with - this is not it.

The aperture ring has very distinctive 1/3EV steps, but unfortunately does not offer a lock in the 'A' setting, so it's easily possible to accidentally switch to f/22.

As already mentioned, the lens is weather- and dust-resistant, thanks to no less than 11 seals. It is also designed to work at temperatures as low as -10°C.

A quite long barrel-shaped hood is part of the package, which is also made from fairly cheap-looking (and feeling) plastic. With the huge hood mounted, the working distance at maximum magnification comes down to a few centimeters, potentially scaring away animal subjects and blocking the sun or an artificial light source.

There are two switches on the lens body, one to enable or disable optical stabilization and another one that works as a focus limiter and has three settings: full focus range (25 cm to infinity),limited to 'normal' focus distance (50cm to infinity) or macro only (25cm to 50cm).

There is only one color option for this lens (black). It is fully compatible with both current teleconverters (XF1.4X TC WR and XF2X TC WR).