This lens is legend... extremely close focus, lovely bokeh, fast aperture, weather sealed, clutch focus, sharp, and an astro beast. I have the Rokinon 12mm too and shoot them side by side, but it's the 16 every time that renders the night sky best.
On my wishlist with the 50-140 to accompany the 16-80. The 16mm is such a versatile lens. From environmental portraits, street photography and although not true macro really close up shots. You've reafirmed my desire to grab this but will need to save the pennies.. possibly rent it 1st... Another great review
I just purchased the 16mm 1.4 used through Adorama...after checkout they asked why I chose this lens. I gave you and the channel some mad props Thomas lol. Absolutely love your Fuji videos. Great job
This is one of the primes I'm looking/hoping to get next. The others are the 35mm and 56mm because I like to shoot landscape, street, portrait, etc. Congrats also on reaching 2k subscribers. It's a small humble start for sure but 2k is of hell of a way to come from say 200, well done mate. Obviously I haven't used this lens yet, but I do really enjoy the 16mm focal length for those great wide angles, but it's great to know it's a super crips and sharp lens and a super great value as well. Thanks for another great video my dude!
Cheers man, I have used every single lens Fuji make (I haven't tested every single lens yet though) but no lenses excited me and gave me that wow factor like the 16 1.4 did. And cheers for the support since wayyyy back buddy, all appreciate it.
I did didn't I? That is a awesome point if I forgot to put that in, I was very sick while editing this video and trying to focus was tricky. So thank you for mentioning that as it does make a fun pseudo macro lens.
tb- photography all good mate. You did a great job and this is a phenomenal lens. One of the other things I enjoy with this lens is the manual clutch to very quickly and accurately set infinity focus
Haven’t done much Astro but for landscape that’s my go to method to set focus. After seeing your Astro YT I have to try out Astro. Looking for a dark and clear Auckland sky. Soon I hope. 😉
I reckon 5 days either side of a new moon works great for galactic core Photography. And finding a good app that points it out to you really helps as well.
Gaining so much value from this wide-angle series. Widest angle I have right now is the xc 15-45mm. I'm saving up for a used 16mm f1.4 as we all hope for a covid-free tomorrow. Asante sana! (That's swahili for 'thank you very much').
Sup Thomas! Big fan here. I'm also from NZ lmao. Great to see a Kiwi photographer/cinematographer at RUclips. Just a question. Have you ever tried Fujifilm's Medium format system, and if so, what GFX lenses would you recommend? Keep up the food work, mate!
Look how well the 16-50 kit lens is doing stopped down. And you can get it for about 170 bucks. It's a user, and a sleeper. And crazy fast focus on my T2. Get it. And I have the 16 1.4 and the 90 2.0.
Unfortunately Laowa NZ didn't want to send me one to test and I haven't been able to find anyone with one so that review might be a long while off unfortunately. But I'll keep trying and share it as soon as I can
I would be really interested as to how this compares to the new xf18 1.4. I’m personally a fan of the 16mm field of view however the 18mm is probably going to be better at resolving higher resolution images that we expect with the new sensors to come from Fuji.
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography Good to hear that some of the older lenses should do well on higher megapixel sensors. Your reviews are the best I’ve seen, so thanks for taking the time to make them.
Hi Thomas thanks for the review. Sadly my 16mm is not what I would call sharp (maybe a lemon). I have tried it in all apertures on a tripod with IS turned off as with it on then it’s not worth £10. Using it hand held with shutter speeds 250 and above still the same so it’s been posted back to camera store and sadly with the xt4 as that was the reason I got into Fuji. Thanks for the videos I’ll keep watching the videos. Cheers
Any chance of you getting that new 18mm 1.4? I'd love to see how it stacks up. I believe it to be a bit sharper but I also sort of miss the 24mm focal length.
I’ve been asking Fuji for it since launch and they just aren’t sending it, so unlikely sorry man, Covid in NZ has made things pretty tricky for me to get gear would be my guess, and things are only getting worse here at the mo
Hey nice feedback. I wud really love to shoot some good pics of d moon n other astronomical pics. I have a x-a1 n kit lens 16-55 n 50 -230 n m fairly new to photography
With the release of the new 18mm 1.4 coming out, I feel like I'm splitting hairs comparing them. Whenever you get a chance to review it we would like to know what you think about the comparison between the two! I think maybe the new 18mm will have better corner sharpness even from 1.4 but has less magnification and close focus.
Good review Thomas! I have actually a question; how to "zoom in on screen not on lens"? 16 1.4 doesn't zoom .. what specific zoom are you referring pls?
If you spin the top right hand wheel on the back of your camera it should zoom in on your screen. This doesn't effect your final image, it just gives you a closer view of what you're trying to focus on. You can also press that wheel in like a button to go straight to max magnification. Hope this helps and make sense.
I have owned both and up selling the 16mm as I personally like a wider field of view. But I am most likely about to buy t again as I miss it's insane detail and perfection. But my personal preference aside the 16mm f/1.4 is the better of the two lenses
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography Thanks for the absolutely swift reply. I'm deciding between the two and currently have the 10-24mm f/4. Love its versatility, especially at wider FOV (ex. 10mm) which has a "you can walk into the picture"-type of feel that I find wonderful. But like you said, the 16mm f/1.4 is near-perfect, and just like you, I'm a pixel-peeper. If only I could have both!
Do you do much astro or plan to? A three shot pano can also get you that 10mm feel, but flawless if done with the 16mm. But a pano doesn't suit every single situation
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography I'd love to do astro eventually, but my interests are more in nature and landscapes. I think panoramas are a great alternative, but in practice, I find myself composing in-camera, often avoiding the extra layer of failure that comes with taking panoramas. I think for my use-case, the 10-24mm is a great option. But given the similar price on the used market, the 16mm f/1.4 can't be left unconsidered. Do you think the extra technical proficiency of the 16mm f1.4 is worth switching? Looking at your results and those of other photographers, the 10-24mm is a wonderful lens. So if it works for you, it'll most definitely work for a beginner like me.
You sound a lot like me when I started out and I didn't miss the 16mm until years after selling it. Just be aware of the 10-24mm soft spots and I'm sure you will love it.
Great review. Thanks! How good is this for vlogging - sitting at the table and do some teaching videos style with a background like in this video? Would you recommend it or it's better to get 16-80 or even 15-45 as a kit with Fuji X-S10?
It's not wide enough to use a arms length. But if vlogging is your main goal I think there are better options. As a cheap option I really like the 15-45 or 18-55. But for Photography the 16mm f/1.4 is stunning.
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography Thanks. BTW, what is it in your hand when you demonstrate AF of different lenses? Is it a wireless remote for Fuji cameras? Will it work with X-S10? I want to find a remote for X-S10 and apparently, there is no such thing.
It is the remote for my studio lights sorry. While the Fuji app can be very buggy, once you find out a good way to get it connected it is pretty great.
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography Yep. The app + X-S10 works pretty flawlessly with a Samsung tablet I bought a couple of months ago and it straggles terribly with my 3 y.o. phone.
I am sure I mention how in one of the videos but I can't remember which. I have some printed sheets with different densities of lines per millimetre. Under the the same strength light from the same distance. I take several photos of those sheets in the middle and in each corner of the frame, for a bunch of different zoom ranges (if it's not a prime) and every single aperture of each lens. Plus I shoot in jpeg so post sharpening doesn't effect it Then I zoom into 1100% and measure and record the details. It takes quite a while for each lens but was the fairest and most consistent way I could think of to do so. I have a few other steps to cover for human error etc as well but that's the jist of it.
Forgive my ignorance, but on your "cheat sheet" you posted in the video at 5:45 as a starting point for doing astrophotography, what does the "K - 4000" represent? I understand the shutter speed, ISO and f/stop setting recommendations, but not sure what you're referring to here. Thank you.
K is a white balance setting where you get to pick a number/temperature (Kelvin). A bit of personal taste comes into it as some people like their skies bluer than others. But setting your white balance to 4000 Kelvin is a good place to start. Hope this helps/make sense
I get the feeling Fujifilm NZ don’t feel that supportive of this channel as my gear has pretty much stopped arriving unfortunately, and I grow tired of constantly asking
Ohh that's sad, I really hope they change their mind. Your channel has been super helpful in deciding where to spend my money with Fuji. Thanks for your hard work!!!
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography I want to try wide-angle landscape and a little bit of astro, but light pollution is an issue here, so I guess I wont do it that often.
I haven't had them side by side to compare sorry, for stills I would call them all pretty much silent, or for video manual focus or external mics remove just about any sound issues
sorry, I commented on the 16mm 2.8 instead of this one. I just got this lens, I wont be getting the x-t4 till next month. This is my first lens of this kind. I noticed when rotating the aperture ring, the blades wont move, they stay wide open. Is this normal? is it cuz the blades only activate when connected with the camera? thank you for the help.
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography thank you. I only have old 35mm camera lenses, and those i can see the blades change sizes when rotating the ring. I was worry for a minute there lol so Im guessing when changing the F stops the evf will give me a reading for that specific F stop, but the blades will only move once the shutter is fire, is that correct?
And you can have the choice for it to simulate the exposure as well. But once you half press the shutter it will show you true DOF and exact exposure etc.
Interesting that your lens had very little coma and other flaws, I've seen lots of other tests and examples that had reallyyyy bad coma. Lenstips review of it for example showed absolutely massive coma. It seems to be a bit of a lottery
Very interesting, I actually talk a little about the variables of my testing and how I do it in next week's video. Though my Astro video covers the Astro testing for all aberrations, not just coma
This lens is legend... extremely close focus, lovely bokeh, fast aperture, weather sealed, clutch focus, sharp, and an astro beast. I have the Rokinon 12mm too and shoot them side by side, but it's the 16 every time that renders the night sky best.
Niiiiiiiice
On my wishlist with the 50-140 to accompany the 16-80. The 16mm is such a versatile lens. From environmental portraits, street photography and although not true macro really close up shots.
You've reafirmed my desire to grab this but will need to save the pennies.. possibly rent it 1st... Another great review
Cheers John always appreciate your comments.
And you have a great eye for lenses, the two you mentioned above i adore.
I just purchased the 16mm 1.4 used through Adorama...after checkout they asked why I chose this lens. I gave you and the channel some mad props Thomas lol. Absolutely love your Fuji videos. Great job
Cheers man, really appreciate it
This is one of the primes I'm looking/hoping to get next. The others are the 35mm and 56mm because I like to shoot landscape, street, portrait, etc. Congrats also on reaching 2k subscribers. It's a small humble start for sure but 2k is of hell of a way to come from say 200, well done mate. Obviously I haven't used this lens yet, but I do really enjoy the 16mm focal length for those great wide angles, but it's great to know it's a super crips and sharp lens and a super great value as well. Thanks for another great video my dude!
Cheers man, I have used every single lens Fuji make (I haven't tested every single lens yet though) but no lenses excited me and gave me that wow factor like the 16 1.4 did.
And cheers for the support since wayyyy back buddy, all appreciate it.
This is my combo, 16 35 & 56 all fastest available
@@TimHunold yeah that's a great combo to have man, if I had the money I'd have those 3 already for sure!
Awesome objective shootout between these lenses. Thank you for the hard work! Subscribed!
Thank you!
Finally! My favourite is here 😀
Congrats on 2k man.
Oh shit I should have mentioned the 2k in the video, but thank you for noticing!
tb- photography Not a prob 👍
This one is my Landscape and Astro lens, I wish it was a hair wider but that’s what stitching panos is for hah.
I very much understand that, my personal preference is wider as well.
Awesome review bro. Perhaps you should also mention how close this lens can focus as well
I did didn't I? That is a awesome point if I forgot to put that in, I was very sick while editing this video and trying to focus was tricky.
So thank you for mentioning that as it does make a fun pseudo macro lens.
tb- photography all good mate. You did a great job and this is a phenomenal lens. One of the other things I enjoy with this lens is the manual clutch to very quickly and accurately set infinity focus
Do you find it's spot on accurate for astro?
Haven’t done much Astro but for landscape that’s my go to method to set focus. After seeing your Astro YT I have to try out Astro. Looking for a dark and clear Auckland sky. Soon I hope. 😉
I reckon 5 days either side of a new moon works great for galactic core Photography.
And finding a good app that points it out to you really helps as well.
Gaining so much value from this wide-angle series.
Widest angle I have right now is the xc 15-45mm. I'm saving up for a used 16mm f1.4 as we all hope for a covid-free tomorrow.
Asante sana! (That's swahili for 'thank you very much').
Fantastic upgrade, and sadly I get the feeling a global free tomorrow is a long while away.
And chur bro (that's Kiwi for, thank you my friend)
Excellent work. Thank's for all the effort put in to this video. Please continue with your reviews.
Thank you! And I will, really appreciate the support.
Fantastic review... Really like the video and the effort you put into it
Thank you! I very much appreciate the support
Another great informative review Tom.
Thank you!
you deserve more subs and views buddy. You might have just made up my mind for me
This is a outstanding lens man, you would be disappointed.
And the world knows it so if you treat it right it will hold it's value for years
Great Vid Brother! 2k subs man! hell yes!
Cheers bro, support lately has been awesome
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography That's awesome bro, it's all completely deserved!
Sup Thomas! Big fan here. I'm also from NZ lmao. Great to see a Kiwi photographer/cinematographer at RUclips.
Just a question. Have you ever tried Fujifilm's Medium format system, and if so, what GFX lenses would you recommend?
Keep up the food work, mate!
Yes I own a 50R but haven't tested the GFX lenses.....yet.
And cheers for the support and man I really appreciate it.
Very professional, congratulations.
Thank you!
Great video
Thank you!
Awesome, another beaudy mate 👍🏻
Always appreciate it buddy.
Look how well the 16-50 kit lens is doing stopped down. And you can get it for about 170 bucks. It's a user, and a sleeper. And crazy fast focus on my T2. Get it. And I have the 16 1.4 and the 90 2.0.
Great review! Would love to see you review the Laowa 9mm f2.8 for fuji
Unfortunately Laowa NZ didn't want to send me one to test and I haven't been able to find anyone with one so that review might be a long while off unfortunately.
But I'll keep trying and share it as soon as I can
I would be really interested as to how this compares to the new xf18 1.4. I’m personally a fan of the 16mm field of view however the 18mm is probably going to be better at resolving higher resolution images that we expect with the new sensors to come from Fuji.
The 16mm is already capable of doing just that from my tests, the biggest difference I think between the two will actually be AF speeds
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography Good to hear that some of the older lenses should do well on higher megapixel sensors. Your reviews are the best I’ve seen, so thanks for taking the time to make them.
Hi Thomas thanks for the review. Sadly my 16mm is not what I would call sharp (maybe a lemon). I have tried it in all apertures on a tripod with IS turned off as with it on then it’s not worth £10. Using it hand held with shutter speeds 250 and above still the same so it’s been posted back to camera store and sadly with the xt4 as that was the reason I got into Fuji. Thanks for the videos I’ll keep watching the videos. Cheers
Any chance of you getting that new 18mm 1.4? I'd love to see how it stacks up. I believe it to be a bit sharper but I also sort of miss the 24mm focal length.
I’ve been asking Fuji for it since launch and they just aren’t sending it, so unlikely sorry man, Covid in NZ has made things pretty tricky for me to get gear would be my guess, and things are only getting worse here at the mo
Hey nice feedback. I wud really love to shoot some good pics of d moon n other astronomical pics. I have a x-a1 n kit lens 16-55 n 50 -230 n m fairly new to photography
You have all the tools you need to start, get out there and start practicing
With the release of the new 18mm 1.4 coming out, I feel like I'm splitting hairs comparing them. Whenever you get a chance to review it we would like to know what you think about the comparison between the two! I think maybe the new 18mm will have better corner sharpness even from 1.4 but has less magnification and close focus.
Yeah if I get it I'll 100% be comparing it to the 16mm 1.4
18mm 1.4 is better for video and 16mm 1.4 if you mainly want photography and save money in the process..
Good review Thomas! I have actually a question; how to "zoom in on screen not on lens"? 16 1.4 doesn't zoom .. what specific zoom are you referring pls?
If you spin the top right hand wheel on the back of your camera it should zoom in on your screen.
This doesn't effect your final image, it just gives you a closer view of what you're trying to focus on.
You can also press that wheel in like a button to go straight to max magnification.
Hope this helps and make sense.
Loving this series!!
How is your general stance when it comes to the 16mm f/1.4 vs. 10-24mm f/4? If you could only choose one, which one would it be?
I have owned both and up selling the 16mm as I personally like a wider field of view.
But I am most likely about to buy t again as I miss it's insane detail and perfection.
But my personal preference aside the 16mm f/1.4 is the better of the two lenses
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography Thanks for the absolutely swift reply.
I'm deciding between the two and currently have the 10-24mm f/4. Love its versatility, especially at wider FOV (ex. 10mm) which has a "you can walk into the picture"-type of feel that I find wonderful. But like you said, the 16mm f/1.4 is near-perfect, and just like you, I'm a pixel-peeper.
If only I could have both!
Do you do much astro or plan to?
A three shot pano can also get you that 10mm feel, but flawless if done with the 16mm.
But a pano doesn't suit every single situation
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography I'd love to do astro eventually, but my interests are more in nature and landscapes.
I think panoramas are a great alternative, but in practice, I find myself composing in-camera, often avoiding the extra layer of failure that comes with taking panoramas.
I think for my use-case, the 10-24mm is a great option. But given the similar price on the used market, the 16mm f/1.4 can't be left unconsidered.
Do you think the extra technical proficiency of the 16mm f1.4 is worth switching? Looking at your results and those of other photographers, the 10-24mm is a wonderful lens. So if it works for you, it'll most definitely work for a beginner like me.
You sound a lot like me when I started out and I didn't miss the 16mm until years after selling it.
Just be aware of the 10-24mm soft spots and I'm sure you will love it.
Great review. Thanks! How good is this for vlogging - sitting at the table and do some teaching videos style with a background like in this video? Would you recommend it or it's better to get 16-80 or even 15-45 as a kit with Fuji X-S10?
It's not wide enough to use a arms length. But if vlogging is your main goal I think there are better options.
As a cheap option I really like the 15-45 or 18-55.
But for Photography the 16mm f/1.4 is stunning.
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography Thanks. BTW, what is it in your hand when you demonstrate AF of different lenses? Is it a wireless remote for Fuji cameras? Will it work with X-S10? I want to find a remote for X-S10 and apparently, there is no such thing.
It is the remote for my studio lights sorry.
While the Fuji app can be very buggy, once you find out a good way to get it connected it is pretty great.
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography Yep. The app + X-S10 works pretty flawlessly with a Samsung tablet I bought a couple of months ago and it straggles terribly with my 3 y.o. phone.
....I should make a video about connecting the app to old phones.
Over the years I've found a few tricks to make it work on a lot of phones
Great analysis! How do you measure the sharpness?
I am sure I mention how in one of the videos but I can't remember which.
I have some printed sheets with different densities of lines per millimetre.
Under the the same strength light from the same distance.
I take several photos of those sheets in the middle and in each corner of the frame, for a bunch of different zoom ranges (if it's not a prime) and every single aperture of each lens.
Plus I shoot in jpeg so post sharpening doesn't effect it
Then I zoom into 1100% and measure and record the details.
It takes quite a while for each lens but was the fairest and most consistent way I could think of to do so.
I have a few other steps to cover for human error etc as well but that's the jist of it.
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography Awesome, love the time and detail you put into the reviews and comparisons!
Thank you, I truly appreciate the support.
Wonder how it'll stack up against the 18mm 1.4? ;)
The 18mm 1.4 is stunning
I just bought it yesterday
Congrats!!
Forgive my ignorance, but on your "cheat sheet" you posted in the video at 5:45 as a starting point for doing astrophotography, what does the "K - 4000" represent? I understand the shutter speed, ISO and f/stop setting recommendations, but not sure what you're referring to here. Thank you.
K is a white balance setting where you get to pick a number/temperature (Kelvin).
A bit of personal taste comes into it as some people like their skies bluer than others.
But setting your white balance to 4000 Kelvin is a good place to start.
Hope this helps/make sense
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography Gotcha, thanks man, really appreciate it. Have the lens and need to get out and use it more!
No worries at all and yes you should 😊.
Can you make a video of your editing process for Astro photos? :)
That process is being refined as we speak and that video is hopefully not too far off. 😀
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography I'm looking forward to it. I own a 16mm lens but never take any astro photo with it :(
It's a stunning lens even outside of Astro.... But they is a lot of potential there
Still waiting for the review of the 18mm 1.4 0=
I get the feeling Fujifilm NZ don’t feel that supportive of this channel as my gear has pretty much stopped arriving unfortunately, and I grow tired of constantly asking
Ohh that's sad, I really hope they change their mind. Your channel has been super helpful in deciding where to spend my money with Fuji. Thanks for your hard work!!!
Cheers I appreciate it, there is more content in the pipe line, but I think it will be more educational and less review ish if that makes sense
I cant decide if I should wait for the XF18 1.4 or just buy this, maybe they fix the issues that the XF16 has wide open
What kinda stuff do you want to Photograph?
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography I want to try wide-angle landscape and a little bit of astro, but light pollution is an issue here, so I guess I wont do it that often.
For just landscapes then the 16mm is stunning.
You'll never shoot landscapes at f/1.4 etc and it's stunning at the more practical apertures
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography Thank you very much for your advice, guess I will go with the 16mm, I am still curious how
The 16mm might be the best lens Fuji make, this is argueable of course but reviews for it are outsanding.
More so than any other lens
How does the noise and sluggishness of this lens compare to the 23mm and 35mm 1.4 motors? Is it as bad?
I haven't had them side by side to compare sorry, for stills I would call them all pretty much silent, or for video manual focus or external mics remove just about any sound issues
I wish I saw this channel before
I'm happy you've found it now 😊
sorry, I commented on the 16mm 2.8 instead of this one. I just got this lens, I wont be getting the x-t4 till next month. This is my first lens of this kind. I noticed when rotating the aperture ring, the blades wont move, they stay wide open. Is this normal? is it cuz the blades only activate when connected with the camera? thank you for the help.
Yes that's normal and will only change once you press the shutter button.
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography thank you. I only have old 35mm camera lenses, and those i can see the blades change sizes when rotating the ring. I was worry for a minute there lol so Im guessing when changing the F stops the evf will give me a reading for that specific F stop, but the blades will only move once the shutter is fire, is that correct?
And you can have the choice for it to simulate the exposure as well.
But once you half press the shutter it will show you true DOF and exact exposure etc.
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography OK, I think I got it now. Thank you for your help, I appreciate it.
Interesting that your lens had very little coma and other flaws, I've seen lots of other tests and examples that had reallyyyy bad coma. Lenstips review of it for example showed absolutely massive coma. It seems to be a bit of a lottery
Very interesting, I actually talk a little about the variables of my testing and how I do it in next week's video.
Though my Astro video covers the Astro testing for all aberrations, not just coma
@@ThomasBusbyPhotography looking forward to that video! You've quickly become one of my go-to sources for lens reviews :)
I appreciate that comment very much hahaha, thank you