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FujifilmXF50mm f/1.0 RWR hands on PN’s editor Will Cheung tries out Fujifilm’s latest prime lens
be even better, the pictures I got out of this lens looked impressive. A few tripod shots of a brick wall also showed that the lens is very respectably sharp edge-to-edge at f/1.0. A proper resolution test will come when we get hold of a production sample. Across the frame, light evenness was very good from f/2 onwards and there were signs of gentle vignetting at wider apertures, but that’s easily correctable. In terms of the lens in use, I found the autofocus to be fast and sensitive with the camera in single point and zone AF modes. I did have the camera in AF+MF mode so I could tweak focus if needed – which I did quite often – but that’s because depth-of-field is very limited at the wide apertures, so precision is extra important. So far, so good. The XF50mm f/1.0 R WR is a fabulous lens and will undoubtedly appeal to documentary, social and street photographers. For such a fast optic, its price isn’t outrageous. Of course, final judgement will be reserved until we get to try a production sample. fujifilm.eu/uk
In the short time I had with the lens, I went for a walk around the town, keen to shoot as much as possible at the wider apertures – no point having a f/1.0 lens and using it at f/11. It was sunny and the required shutter speed was over the 1/8000sec top mechanical speed, but wasn’t a problem as the X-T4 automatically switched over to the electronic shutter with speeds up to 1/32,000sec. Of course, it’s when the light levels drop that fast lenses like this come into their own, enabling shake-free shots at medium ISO speeds for the best possible picture quality. The X-T4 has a five-axis 5EV benefit in-body image stabiliser, which obviously helps a great deal but not every buyer of this lens will have this body. So to see what sort of shutter speed I could get, I turned off the stabiliser and took sets of images at a range of slow shutter speeds. In this simple test, I think I’d be confident at shooting handheld at 1/30sec for pin-sharp shots without IBIS; with IBIS switched on I had a decent three out of five success with 1/2sec. Bearing in mind that my sample was pre- production and a full production sample could
A year after shelving the idea of an XF33mm f/1.0 lens, the XF50mm f/1.0 is available from 24 September with a guide price of £1499. I had the chance to use a pre-production sample fitted on an X-T4. The lens weighs 850g and the X-T4 610g, so it is slightly front heavy, though not excessively so and the lens sits comfortably in the left hand. There’s no lens image stabiliser, the aperture ring is click-stopped in 0.3EV steps with an A setting, like most XF lenses, and the broad manual focus ring is large with a smooth operation. Fujifilm tells us the manual focus responsiveness is greatly improved in this lens. The XF50mm f/1.0 is autofocus with a DC motor, not with the linear motor found on other XF lenses. I found AF quick, responsive and smooth, with a quiet whirr as the focus motor leapt into action. In quiet situations you will pick up the sound of autofocusing on video. The lens is compatible with the camera's face and eye detect systems. If you prefer to focus manually, the lens covers the whole focusing range in one third rotation of the focusing barrel. Manual focus is
selected from the camera body and there’s not the pull/push AF/MF clutch that’s found on some XF lenses. The lens focuses to 70cm and the filter thread is 77mm, a popular size. ABOVE It’s when there’s not much light around that fast lenses come into their own, but it’s important they perform well at their widest apertures. This image was taken on a pre-production lens and final lens quality may vary, but the signs are very promising. This was shot on a Fujifilm X-T4 at ISO 800 with an exposure of 1/850sec at f/1.0
Remembering cheetahs Leading nature photographers contribute to the latest book in wildlife series
The Photography Show goes virtual Enjoy the UK’s biggest photography show from the comfort of your sofa – and it’s all free
Remembering Wildlife series has sold more than 18,000 books since the first one was published in 2016 and raised over £634K for 45 projects across 23 countries. The fifth book in the series is all about cheetahs and features contributions from many leading nature photographers. “With only 7100 cheetahs left in the wild, we must act now. Their plight is incredibly severe and they need our attention more than ever,”
said Remembering Wildlife founder Margot Raggett. The new book is being launched at a special online event on 15 October with general admission tickets costing £23 each. The book is £45 plus postage of £4.10. There’s a one-week exhibition of images from the book, running between 12 and 16 October at London’s La Galleria Pall Mall. rememberingwildlife.com
The Photography Show & The Video Show usually takes place at the NEC in March, but with the lockdown, it was pushed back to September and then cancelled as an actual show. However, it’s now running as a two-day virtual event on 20 and 21 September. Photographers and video makers of every level are invited to register and it’s free – and of course being virtual means you
can enjoy the show from the comfort of your home. There will be more than 100 virtual exhibitors and a full timetable of talks, tutorials and demos, as well as opportunities to buy from the exhibitors at special show prices. To register and for full details of events, please visit the website below. photographyshow.com
Editorial team Editorial director Roger Payne Editor Will Cheung FRPS 01223 499469 willcheung@bright-publishing.com Digital content writer Lee Renwick leerenwick@bright-publishing.com Chief sub editor Beth Fletcher Sub editors Elisha Young and Felicity Evans
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