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Fujinon XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR - Review / Test - Sample Images & Verdict |
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Lens Reviews -
Fujifilm X
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Page 3 of 3
Sample Images
Click on an image to download the full-size variant.
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| Make | FUJIFILM |
| Model | X-T30 |
| ISO Speed | 400 |
| Focal Length | 255.5mm |
| Aperture: | f/6.4 |
| Exposure | 1/110s |
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| Make | FUJIFILM |
| Model | X-T30 |
| ISO Speed | 500 |
| Focal Length | 150.0mm |
| Aperture: | f/7.1 |
| Exposure | 1/1700s |
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| Make | FUJIFILM |
| Model | X-T30 |
| ISO Speed | 125 |
| Focal Length | 229.7mm |
| Aperture: | f/6.4 |
| Exposure | 1/420s |
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| Make | FUJIFILM |
| Model | X-T30 |
| ISO Speed | 400 |
| Focal Length | 600.0mm |
| Aperture: | f/9.0 |
| Exposure | 1/1600s |
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| Make | FUJIFILM |
| Model | X-T30 |
| ISO Speed | 400 |
| Focal Length | 351.8mm |
| Aperture: | f/7.1 |
| Exposure | 1/120s |
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| Make | FUJIFILM |
| Model | X-T30 |
| ISO Speed | 400 |
| Focal Length | 600.0mm |
| Aperture: | f/8.0 |
| Exposure | 1/420s |
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| Make | FUJIFILM |
| Model | X-T30 |
| ISO Speed | 400 |
| Focal Length | 327.6mm |
| Aperture: | f/7.1 |
| Exposure | 1/280s |
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| Make | FUJIFILM |
| Model | X-T30 |
| ISO Speed | 640 |
| Focal Length | 199.3mm |
| Aperture: | f/6.4 |
| Exposure | 1/900s |
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| Make | FUJIFILM |
| Model | X-T30 |
| ISO Speed | 640 |
| Focal Length | 294.5mm |
| Aperture: | f/6.4 |
| Exposure | 1/340s |
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| Make | FUJIFILM |
| Model | X-T30 |
| ISO Speed | 640 |
| Focal Length | 600.0mm |
| Aperture: | f/8.0 |
| Exposure | 1/420s |
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| Make | FUJIFILM |
| Model | X-T30 |
| ISO Speed | 400 |
| Focal Length | 600.0mm |
| Aperture: | f/8.0 |
| Exposure | 1/250s |
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| Make | FUJIFILM |
| Model | X-T30 |
| ISO Speed | 640 |
| Focal Length | 600.0mm |
| Aperture: | f/8.0 |
| Exposure | 1/240s |
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| Make | FUJIFILM |
| Model | X-T30 |
| ISO Speed | 640 |
| Focal Length | 351.8mm |
| Aperture: | f/7.1 |
| Exposure | 1/750s |
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| Make | FUJIFILM |
| Model | X-T30 |
| ISO Speed | 640 |
| Focal Length | 467.6mm |
| Aperture: | f/7.1 |
| Exposure | 1/170s |
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| Make | FUJIFILM |
| Model | X-T30 |
| ISO Speed | 400 |
| Focal Length | 377.7mm |
| Aperture: | f/8.0 |
| Exposure | 1/1250s |
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| Make | FUJIFILM |
| Model | X-T30 |
| ISO Speed | 400 |
| Focal Length | 467.6mm |
| Aperture: | f/7.1 |
| Exposure | 1/280s |
Competition
Fujifilm isn't alone in the super tele zoom game anymore. Tamron has joined forces with Fujifilm, and their 150-500mm F/5-6.7 Di III VC VXD (shown in the center) is now available in X-mount. Now you may frown upon this lens because it's "merely" an adapted full-format lens. They have been offering this lens for a while now in E-mount. As you may notice immediately from the picture below, the Tamron lens is far more compact when retracted. However, it's also slightly heavier due to its full format origins (thus bigger glass elements). Besides offering 100mm less, it is marginally faster at 500mm (f/6.7 vs f/7.1 on the Fujinon at 500mm). This may be an advantage on a 40-megapixel sensor - although 40 megapixels on APS-C will push most lenses beyond their natural limits in any case. The Tamron lens is here for testing at the moment in Sony E-mount, so we can't comment on its performance other than the lens has received favorable comments on other sites. It's also $500/EUR more affordable. Keep in mind, however, that it has an extending zoom mechanism which is not ideal in terms of long-term durability compared to the Fujinon. And nothing beats 500mm but 600mm, of course. If you don't require 500mm or 600mm, there's also the Fujinon XF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR. It's also a RED badge lens and pretty good, indeed. The 100mm setting also allows for more versatility for in-room sports or (basic) people photography.
Visual comparison courtesy of camerasize.com.
Verdict - Part I - Field Impressions
Let's split the verdict into two parts this time because context is important. Lab results are one thing, but that's the beginning of wisdom and not the end of it. Yes, the Fujinon XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR is a slow lens. However, we can see where Fujifilm is coming from here. If you've ever carried a 600mm f/4 lens into the outdoors, you know that it's a PAIN. And slow lenses are simply more compact and lightweight. Realistically, Fujifilm won't be able to compete with a full format 600mm f/4 anyway, but they can compete with similar super-tele zoom lenses. The other aspect that you have to keep in mind is that outdoor conditions are less than perfect most of the time. There's atmospheric interference from heat or haze at longer distances, and there's always a bit of wind at least. In real life, you rarely achieve the same maximum sharpness as in lab conditions.
So while the MTFs may not be top-notch, they are more than just "good enough" in the real world on 26-megapixel sensors at least. 40 megapixels may be a different story. Thus based on real-world use, we are happy with what the lens can deliver ... and specifically that the burden of carrying it around wasn't unbearable.
Verdict - Part II - Technical Aspects
In technical terms, the Fujinon XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR is a victim of its slow speed. From a lab perspective, the results are very good until about 500mm, with "very good" meaning that 99% of the users will be perfectly happy. At 600mm, you may miss some biting sharpness - more so on 40-megapixel bodies. Image distortions are surprisingly low, even in RAW images. It's almost hard to believe that there are "mirrorless" lenses that can still do that. The same applies to vignetting, so it's obvious that the lens has not been "underdesigned" like so many others. Lateral CAs are slightly higher than you may expect from a pro lens, but you won't notice this with auto-correction anyway. The bokeh quality is similar to what we have seen from other tele zoom lenses - meaning that out-of-focus highlights can be a bit busy in difficult scenes.
The build quality of the lens is excellent and aligned for professional use. We especially like the non-extending zoom mechanism, although it comes at the cost of being a longer lens at shorter focus distances compared to an extending zoom design. However, it just provides better protection against the elements. The pearl-white-ish color scheme of the body may not be to everybody's taste, but it surely does the job of reflecting heat better than anything black. The lens is also specced for use down to -10C so that winter may come after all. The five f-stop image stabilizer is pretty efficient for a lens of this class. As far as the AF goes - at this point, we only had a "measly" X-T30 for testing, but even so, the AF speed was pretty snappy and reliable. It'll be better on a pro-grade camera body such as the X-H2 and X-H2s, of course.
Overall - well done, Fujifilm. Whether this is a lens for you depends on your budget and your speed requirements. The speed and optical quality have been balanced with portability. Ultimately, we think that this was a good choice within the scope of the X-mount system. Therefore highly recommended (for the use on 26-megapixel cameras).
Mechanical Quality:
★★★★★
What does this mean ?
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