The exposure stepping issue is ridiculous and needs to be fixed by Fujifilm. Every single XF Zoom lens has this issue. Third party options do as well (the new Sigma 18-50mm has it while zooming). It's a severely underrated problem.
i have heard someone say that disabling "interlock spot ae & af" helps, because if you are using eye detect autofocus and the camera loses sight of your eyes, it will adjust exposure
I honestly think that having F4 through the entire focal length and being weather resistant is very compelling for hybrid shooters. That 18-120mm range is something I desire a lot, for hiking and keeping the bag light I would say is a good option. I'll try to hunt it down sometime next year.
This is my favorite Fuji video lens. Shooting Fuji exclusively since 2013 for photography in the beginning and later for hybrid photo/video shooting later (longer than anyone I know). If you're a photographer DO NOT buy this lens. Hence why Fuji launched it along side the X-H2s, which I own and love as well. Photographers were so butt hurt with the X-H2s release as well because they didn't understand it wasn't made for photographers. They were crying because their hipster dials weren't there and were afraid that was the direction Fuji was headed with all their cameras. I love that I can zoom in and out while shooting video without getting nearly as much of that exposure stepping flickering in the image (hopefully they'll fix it completely in the future) as you get with other Fuji lenses. Fuji joined forces with their broadcast team to develop this lens and you can tell they optimized it for the size, weight and price to make something that Fuji has been missing in their lens lineup for people who use their cameras for video NOT photography. Hopefully this is the beginning of an amazing video lens lineup Fuji will be building on in the future.
@@shalinpatel200 I used it for recording basketball games, works pretty well. The long zoom is great because I could zoom in on team huddles during time outs and then zoom back out. Using it on a tripod, I had one hand on the tripod arm, and the other using the zoom in / out functions on the side of the lens for a smooth zoom, rather than actually turning the zoom ring.
@8:38 it’s not the lens either, it’s Fuji. No matter what lens you use, that exposure stepping will occur on fuji bodies because that’s just how they made them. It’s really unfortunate it wasn’t addressed in the xh2 and xh2s
@@Iamtongue not sure tbh, it’s how fuji cameras have always been. But, they really need to fix it if they want start releasing videocentric bodies. This lens is clearly geared towards video yet, you can’t zoom with it while recording due to the camera’s limitations. Xt3, xt4, xh2 & 2s, they all do it - Makes no sense.
Don't know about sharpness and all that on this lens, but daaamn, your footage is great and especially the photos are gorgeous! Congrats! Just proves the point it's not so much about the gear but about the skillz of the photographer. Also, nice review!
Wonderful photos. I like the compression you achieved on some of your shots involving landscape. I appreciate that you are telling people that it isn't a photo first lens. it's a video first lens where sharpness is not prized the same way. That's not to justify what some see as fault, but people need to remember that it wasn't designed for photo only users. They will probably be happier with something else and that's okay. I'm thinking of getting it as I enjoy video a lot, but I'm undecided at the moment.
I think this is the best lens you can get for video...with the XH2s firmware update, i'm enjoying it alot more! I filmed some footage a week ago and was instantly reminded how good it was :)
I ordered this lens for sportsphotography, and filming, especially motorsports where I need panning, and therefore a wide zoomrange to shoot from distances between 50m and less than 2m away, also on a racetrack I would not have the possibility to change lenses, and even less to do this as quickly. Do you think I'll made the right choice with that one?
Hey, I wonder, is that shot at 2:02 with the old couple walking.. is that in Ericeira? I know it could be literally anywhere in Portugal but it really looks like a street I took some pictures in too over the summer.
hahah no it wasn;t there... it was north of lisbon 2 hours away.. It's where we went to see a castle i forgot the name but i dont think it was Ericeira.
@@Iamtongue oh interesting! My first thought would be Sintra, but it's only about an 45 minutes to an hour away from Lisbon (by car) and it's more fair to consider it a suburb than a separate city. Ericeira is about right for 2 hours away but doesn't have a castle anywhere nearby.
I tried to explain to someone that Hollywood filmmakers do not use the same lenses we do. they use vintage lenses and lenses that are made for video. You nailed it.
Great review, thank you! Do you know if there is any gimbal that can directly control the motor zoom? I'm concerned that touching the camera/lens while zooming will introduce unwanted movement, and it's also an uncomfortable reach while using a gimbal. I suppose the alternative is to screw Fuji's mini TG-BT1 tripod and remote to the bottom of the gimbal, but it would be better to have the zoom control together with the other gimbal buttons. Also, does your gimbal also control the XH2, at least for starting and stopping video? They all list the XH2s and don't mention the XH2.
I’ve had this lens for just over a month and I can confidently say this is an excellent lens, totally up to Fujifilm standard. This is a sharp lens in the centre; at some focal range’s it’s softer in the corners than at others. This lens is sharper than older ‘loved’ Fujifilm lenses. It comes down to what the lens was designed to do and what you want it to do. I use it for product photography and video (alongside the 23mm f1.4 mk2). This is the best Fujifilm lens I have used for video. It’s more than sharp enough for website and social media content. It renders colour beautifully like all Fujinon. All my product shots are taken at f5.6-f8 so the f4 doesn’t bother me. It’s light which is a big plus for me. A common filter size for CPL and ND’s. PZ with parfocal is a god send for product video… DP review are idiots.
Nice, is this the zoom lens that has the button/switch option for stepped or stepless aperture changes? That Double decker bus shot in London was EPIC was that max zoomed for the compression?
I feel like this lens would’ve been a slam dunk at f2.8 instead of f4. Even if it cost 2-3x as much; That or with OIS. Seems solid as far as image quality. I’d rather use the Tamron 17-70 2.8 though. It’s a real sleeper lens for the Fuji system. Doesn’t reach quite as far, but it’s faster and it has OIS.
@@meteturhan3505 well with the exposure flickering it won't be possible on this lens either. I have the 16-55 f2.8 and when I'm in autofocus i don't really mind the fact that it isn't parafocal, what I do mind, is the fact that the exposure flickers!
Many zoom lenses with a fixed aperture will not have a fixed transmittance as you zoom. Some camera makers will try to compensate by altering the lightness of the image to mask that behavior, though if they get it wrong or so not do it smoothly then it can cause noticeable brightness stepping.
nothing it's all preference. But filmmakers tend to like the soft look that comes from a video that cinematic look, stuff shot on film... fuji's video just looks too sharp so it goes against what they like.
The exposure change is simple. Just iris changes to maintain constant aperture. 2023, and still no firmware to address it. Fuji is probably the only company in the world with this issue. Never seen it on Canon, Sony, or Nikon.
Hi Tongue, nice review If this lens was wider i'd have got it in a heart beat. Parfocal for video is great as is powerzoom. I really want fuji to make a wider lens that is parfocal with the power zoom the exposure change is slightly annoying but, less of an issue if it is predictable (like if it happens at certain focal lengths) F/4 is fine for me, as is no stabilisation even on the X-T3,, as I use a gimble and with a shutter speed on 1/48 low light is less of an issue. but fuji please give me a 12mm or 14mm at the wide end, and anywhere from 20mm to 35mm at the telephoto end. Just make sure it has internal zoom so the balance on gimble does not change when zooming... Or just guve me the 10-24 with powerzoom and parafocal focusing
Funny how Fuji's first PZ lens can't even change the iris in a stepless manner. It could be a body issue too. Those exposure changes from zooming doesn't happen on any other system.
Great lens and you nailed it! Good to hear your story. Is this lens good enough for handheld and pan/tilt movements? Most of the video’s on RUclips show me Tripod images or zoom movements. On a wedding I shot handheld and like to pan left or right. Do you think it will give some jittering images on a ibis camera (Xh2s)?
yes it will... i used it with a small rig cage and a handle the other day, and i thought i was panning so smoothyl... but when i looked at my footage i see the ibis was fighting against my movemnet... i hope this could be fixed in a firmware update. Otherwise i would try to turn off the ibis all together.
@@Iamtongue Thanks! Too bad. Do you think it’s a combination of the body and this lens? Because, for example, my 16-55mm or 18mm 1.4 don’t give me this jittering. Maybe this lens communicate different with the body (which is strange for a typical video lens). Thanks again!
To be honest I have no clue, I'm thinking it could be a weight issue... It is kinda light...So maybe if I were to rig it out some more it will be fine. But then again like you said, you are using it with the 18mm f1.4 and I think that is lighter than the 18-120mm f4. So i honestly dont know lol
@@Iamtongue - the 2.8 would be lovely! though the zoom stops at 50 ... and I have a 18-55mm kit lens already. so I'm not sure if I want to duplicate the zoom range.
Thanks for your video! I recently switched from a Canon 5D IV (with several f/2.8 L zoom lenses) to Fujifilm X-H2s and the 18-120mm f4 for travel. I'm a "dad-tographer" hobbyist shooting mostly photos, so I'm willing to have reasonable-looking images without necessarily needing professional quality. I'm very happy with the size, weight, and versatility of my Fuji kit. Although I'm still not super happy with the image quality when comparing it to my previous Canon kit that cost and weighed 3x more. Tradeoffs, right? I'm considering adding the Sigma 18-50 f/2.8 as a second travel lens (along with the 18-120) for lower-light uses. Keep up the good work!
OH man if you're coming from the L glass than you're definitely going to see a downgrade in quality for sure. But like you said there are tradeoffs for this haha. I also have the sigma 18-50mm in my posession and that thing looks like a steal! Enjoy the fuji system and thanks for the support mark.
Well if you are to bring the Sigma 18-50mm, perhaps the other lens that you should get is XF70-300 for telephoto or 90mm for prime/portraiture. It doesnt make sense to take 18-50mm with 18-120mm
@@simonckyong That’s a great point, Simon. I was thinking the 18-50 would be the “fast” lens for darker situations, while the 18-120 would be the “everything else” lens. But you’ve helped me realize that one stop isn’t enough difference to justify the extra lens. Perhaps the 33 f/1.4 that I already own will be the better “fast” lens (even though I prefer zooms for travel). I’m already considering the 70-300, though I wasn’t planning to take get it before my trip. I’m trying to keep it light and minimize changes, but perhaps I’ll be glad to have the longer reach.
This lens doesn’t compare well to canon l glass for photographers. It will appear to be a downgrade. Want the equivalent of the canon image quality get the new xf wr lenses or 16-55 2.8, 50-140 2.8. Those are stellar
@@simonckyong Just a quick follow-up. I just returned from my trip to Europe with my family. I ended up taking the 18-120, 70-300, and 33 f/1.4. Out of 1,740 photos, the 18-120 took 1,685; the 70-300 took 49, and the 33 took only 6! I was pleasantly surprised at the versatility-to-quality ratio of the 18-120. Sure, the image quality is noticeably less than the Canon L glass I had before. But I can't point to any of my photos where a better lens would have made the difference between a good, keeper photo and a bad discard one. And I would even say that keeping one lens for most of the trip gave me opportunities that I may have missed if I had to stop and change lenses more. My lesson learned is that the tradeoff of a lower-quality lens (18-120) was worth it for my purposes (capturing family memories, sharing online, and a few small prints).
Yes, this lens has been dissed by DPREVIEW, but they are being called for this in other reviews like yours. This first and foremost is a videocentric lens. So why did they clarify it as a Stills lens when it's not. I just bought an XF100 400 for landscape.
@Iamtongue I bought the Cotton Carrier Cs G3 to carry it around. I went to B&H to test 8f it would be too much to carry around and hold. I'm 6 feet 230lbs, and used to hit the gym and bench press 375lbs. I am getting older but I am still strong enough to carry around I think. It won't arrive until Tuesday or Wednesday it seems. I'll let you know in a week.
Nice one! Need to get my hands and try one of those too! The video examples you gave for video look pretty good! And yeah, sharpness is overrated... even though this looks sharp enough for me
I was pretty par-agreed through out. My biggest grip is the focus shift as well, I'd rather have worse or no image profile and no shift. when you set the lens on manual focus, its pretty evident that its not parfocal at all, its just designed a way that the focus motor an keep up with the zoom.. and that is possible whey it can't zoom any faster than it does... that just my guess. To be honest I think they should have just scrapped that manual focus ring, I would have loved a dedicated aperture ring in place of it.
I have no source that this is a bad lens. This is for SURE a VIDEO focused lens. Like the Sony APSC 18-105F4. All features only make sense for moving pictures, like power zoom, the zoom rocker, the zoom/focus pull buttons and of course the internal zoom. Having no IS is only relevant for video - BUT if you want to get serious for video you will not shoot handheld anyway! On a gimbal the internal zoom is a great benefit, as well as the power everything I mentioned above. Because those can be used by an app or the Fuji stick/tripot thing. And now all these features make sense. Regarding quality: YT compresses everything that much that noone can judge anything afterwords! I uploaded a 5.7K 17:9 422 and received a UHD 8 bit upload. Does it look similar? NO.
Exposure stepping should be gone. But it does not keep the focus point while zooming and the AF cannot compensate elegantly for that - so it is worthless for video and for photo. No questions asked.
Fuji makes plenty of better lenses for shooting pictures of brick walls and test charts, but there's nothing else like this lens to run and gun through a day of mixed video and general photography (so long as you remembered to throw an F2 prime in yer pocket for low-light shooting). It's not the best lens for any particular kind of shooting, but it's a very good lens for a great deal of shooting situations. DPreview got this lens wrong and they owe it a proper review.
Sharpness being the end all be all of lens quality is something that needs to die imo. There are many desirable aspects to image quality outside sharpness. I like the almost vintage like qualities this lens adds to photos, it’s like a zoom version of the og 35mm 1.4 from an image character standpoint, and nets that soft almost film like halation look without the use of a filter like the glimmerglass 1, that’s typically glued to most of my lenses. Great for travel, great for videography, it’s just a good all around lens with some character.
Sharpness for video doesn't matter as much so in that sense, this lens is a success, and photographers should not even look at and complain about this lens because it wasn't even engineered for photos to begin with. But for photos, isn't sharpness the ultimate end goal? To have a sharp photo where details are visible. If I want softness, I can always use vintage lenses, voigtlander Noktons, or glimmerglass, or a real film camera. But I find lenses less sharp than the new 1.4 primes to be undesirable for general use.
@@professionalpotato4764 for me and my type of photography no sharpness isn’t the end goal. There’s a place for it and I can always use a diffusion filter and adjust in post but there is something to be said about a lighter more compact character focused lens that imparts a “look” on the images or video captured. No matter how much clarity, texture, Gaussian blurs, mask layering, etc. one does nothing replicates an at the time of capture effect for me. Don’t get me wrong, I think there is a place for sharp, larger, professional type lenses but I don’t subscribe to it being an end all be all for lens manufactures. I think fujifilm gets that and is why they releases lenses like this, the og 35mm 1.4, the 18-55 lm ois, the og 55, etc.
@@AnthonyJGianotti I kinda get what you mean. I too enjoy character, and I adapt vintage glass for that, always bouncing between clinically clean vs character depending on my mood. I have my eye on the Voigtlander Nokton 23mm f/1.2 but I'm waiting for a good deal on those. Totally agree that no amount of filters or post production can emulate a lens with good character.
I’ve been looking at reviews for this lens but it always seem to be on the x-h2s or like a year old. So thanks for this. Im getting into videography with my xT3 and I want to use what I have. BUT I do want to get a lens for video instead of changing with my primes and readjusting the gimbal. This let me know this should be good for me as a starter lens for video. I know videographers like to use manual the most so I know I’ll be going to that soon enough, but until then I’d like to have something for jobs and you helped me decide that this is it.
All Fuji zoom lenses have the issue with exposure stepping which simply make fuji gears not professionally reliable. It is a huge flaw in their product and brand, and it's even impossible to apprehend why Fuji ignore customer's complains about it. That's why I've decided to leave the Fuji eco-system and switch to Panasonic which has recently released a S5Mii that beats all Fuji in every aspects from autofocus to secure zoom shooting.
That’s not good to hear. I don’t use zooms anymore and especially for video.. So I wasn’t aware of this continuing issue. I’m curious about the s5 mkii as well. That’s what I wanted as my full frame camera instead of a Sony but the af sucked at the time.
The statement from other photographers about pictures from Fuji cameras looking too sharp is silly. On YT You'll find lots of videos where people comparing Sony and Canon with Fuji and I've never seen a single test where Fuji lens was sharper.
Why do you think I'm watching you instead of Dpreview? Because that site lost its credibility loooong time ago, ever since they moved to Seattle and they became carpet baggers at the service of Amazon. The same goes for Chris & his mate. They lost their credibility the moment they left The Camera Store. They became influence whores that the camera makers could wine & dine so they can promote their wares. This is not your case. Now comes the One Dollar Question: Someone is selling this lens, used and in good condition. If I went to the store I'll be spending about 400$ more, BUT... I see that it has an internal motor to zoom. Wouldn't it be better to go brand new instead of finding out a couple of months later WHY was he selling it? Motor problems? Your opinion (advice) will be highly appreciated. You are a great facilitator. Stay on that path, please. Cheers!!
I usually find ppl who sells their Fuji gear tend to sell it at a lower price because they want to get rid of it. This is how I usually get good deals out of them. But obviously you should do your due diligence try the one in the camera store and try the other fellow and see if it performs the same.
@@IamtongueYes the Nikon 24 -120 F4 is available in both Nikon F Mount and as of 2023 is available in the Nikon Z Mount. The 24- 120 is a great all round vocal length so Nikon has never made a 24-105 F4 as far as I know. Maybe back in the day on the more older F Mount Lenses.
Disagree, the 16-80 is a truly awful lens. It's basically the 18-120 but useless for video and without any party trick to make up for the small aperture and poor image quality. And now they've made it the only kit lens option for all the new cameras to get rid of old stock so they can cancel it since the 18-120 is a strict upgrade.
It is what it is, there a very few super zooms that perform as expected! Don’t like super zooms, however they are good travel lenses when the destination doesn’t have stunning landscapes! 😅. Don’t move to Sony just have both and bring the fans to the dark side! Now which side will be the dark side? 🤔Sony or Fuji? Kuaaaajajajajaaaa 😈
@@Iamtongue Ok, Ok, I’ll say it! Fuji, just because they are the most diehard unbeliever’s, Fuji’s zooms are not good (Since back in the days it has been that way; they seem to lean towards primes)😂🤣, their AF still needs work, I don’t care about what people say. My GFX and my XH2s are fine but not good enough against the competition, yet they have an army of diehard fans (worst than Leica’s). 😂🤣😂
Hey tongue hi there, just farting about looking at lenses and a vid on the 16-55 led me to the 18-120 then this video, found a mint used one with 12 month warranty for £479 GB so i grabbed hold……. If its as goid as my 16-80 which is fine but everyone hates, I’ll be happy…….. plus i aint making tv shows forvthe bbc
![[ENG] Fuji 16-80mm F4 Vs the new 18-120mm F4 - Which one will I keep?](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/zm3BuVzx1CA/mqdefault.jpg)
This man said “dehpreview” lmao
Haha I said it twice too 😂
Ofcourse he’s Filipino 😜 pipty pibe (55)
@@shinzychan5117 im vietnamese 🥲😭
@@Iamtongue Không ngờ anh là người Việt Nam luôn í. chào anh!
@@dienkhanhphung5078 Tôi cũng bất ngờ luôn, tưởng là Trung hoặc Đài gì đó
The exposure stepping issue is ridiculous and needs to be fixed by Fujifilm. Every single XF Zoom lens has this issue. Third party options do as well (the new Sigma 18-50mm has it while zooming). It's a severely underrated problem.
It makes NO sense at all.
i have heard someone say that disabling "interlock spot ae & af" helps, because if you are using eye detect autofocus and the camera loses sight of your eyes, it will adjust exposure
yes, ,my 1655 F2.8 did that as well
I honestly think that having F4 through the entire focal length and being weather resistant is very compelling for hybrid shooters. That 18-120mm range is something I desire a lot, for hiking and keeping the bag light I would say is a good option. I'll try to hunt it down sometime next year.
@@lionheart4424 weather resistance is very underrated, esp in wetter climates (Ireland here)
This is my favorite Fuji video lens. Shooting Fuji exclusively since 2013 for photography in the beginning and later for hybrid photo/video shooting later (longer than anyone I know). If you're a photographer DO NOT buy this lens. Hence why Fuji launched it along side the X-H2s, which I own and love as well. Photographers were so butt hurt with the X-H2s release as well because they didn't understand it wasn't made for photographers. They were crying because their hipster dials weren't there and were afraid that was the direction Fuji was headed with all their cameras. I love that I can zoom in and out while shooting video without getting nearly as much of that exposure stepping flickering in the image (hopefully they'll fix it completely in the future) as you get with other Fuji lenses. Fuji joined forces with their broadcast team to develop this lens and you can tell they optimized it for the size, weight and price to make something that Fuji has been missing in their lens lineup for people who use their cameras for video NOT photography. Hopefully this is the beginning of an amazing video lens lineup Fuji will be building on in the future.
LMFAOOO at hipster comment 😅😂 I honestly love this lens for video. I hope Fuji creates more lenses like this.
Hi. Do you know if this lens would be good enough for sports videography? Like recording a game for example?
@@shalinpatel200 I can’t say I don’t use it for sports.
@@shalinpatel200 I used it for recording basketball games, works pretty well. The long zoom is great because I could zoom in on team huddles during time outs and then zoom back out. Using it on a tripod, I had one hand on the tripod arm, and the other using the zoom in / out functions on the side of the lens for a smooth zoom, rather than actually turning the zoom ring.
@8:38 it’s not the lens either, it’s Fuji. No matter what lens you use, that exposure stepping will occur on fuji bodies because that’s just how they made them. It’s really unfortunate it wasn’t addressed in the xh2 and xh2s
interesting, what's the reason behind this? I'm not a technical person
@@Iamtongue not sure tbh, it’s how fuji cameras have always been. But, they really need to fix it if they want start releasing videocentric bodies. This lens is clearly geared towards video yet, you can’t zoom with it while recording due to the camera’s limitations. Xt3, xt4, xh2 & 2s, they all do it - Makes no sense.
Great images and sample videos. Thanks!
Thanks
Don't know about sharpness and all that on this lens, but daaamn, your footage is great and especially the photos are gorgeous! Congrats! Just proves the point it's not so much about the gear but about the skillz of the photographer. Also, nice review!
Glad you enjoyed it! I appreciate you taking the time to watch my videos ☺️
This is a great and useful review. Thank you! I appreciate your applying real world standards to your assessment.
Glad it was helpful!
Wonderful photos. I like the compression you achieved on some of your shots involving landscape. I appreciate that you are telling people that it isn't a photo first lens. it's a video first lens where sharpness is not prized the same way. That's not to justify what some see as fault, but people need to remember that it wasn't designed for photo only users. They will probably be happier with something else and that's okay. I'm thinking of getting it as I enjoy video a lot, but I'm undecided at the moment.
I think this is the best lens you can get for video...with the XH2s firmware update, i'm enjoying it alot more! I filmed some footage a week ago and was instantly reminded how good it was :)
I ordered this lens for sportsphotography, and filming, especially motorsports where I need panning, and therefore a wide zoomrange to shoot from distances between 50m and less than 2m away, also on a racetrack I would not have the possibility to change lenses, and even less to do this as quickly.
Do you think I'll made the right choice with that one?
Hey, I wonder, is that shot at 2:02 with the old couple walking.. is that in Ericeira? I know it could be literally anywhere in Portugal but it really looks like a street I took some pictures in too over the summer.
hahah no it wasn;t there... it was north of lisbon 2 hours away.. It's where we went to see a castle i forgot the name but i dont think it was Ericeira.
@@Iamtongue oh interesting! My first thought would be Sintra, but it's only about an 45 minutes to an hour away from Lisbon (by car) and it's more fair to consider it a suburb than a separate city.
Ericeira is about right for 2 hours away but doesn't have a castle anywhere nearby.
I tried to explain to someone that Hollywood filmmakers do not use the same lenses we do. they use vintage lenses and lenses that are made for video. You nailed it.
yup thats why you have folks like dehancer making grains and film emulations for these digital cameras!! they just want that filmic look
@@Iamtongue I agree 100%. I love Dehancer
Great review, thank you! Do you know if there is any gimbal that can directly control the motor zoom? I'm concerned that touching the camera/lens while zooming will introduce unwanted movement, and it's also an uncomfortable reach while using a gimbal. I suppose the alternative is to screw Fuji's mini TG-BT1 tripod and remote to the bottom of the gimbal, but it would be better to have the zoom control together with the other gimbal buttons. Also, does your gimbal also control the XH2, at least for starting and stopping video? They all list the XH2s and don't mention the XH2.
I have no clue sorry man
Outrageous 😲 How dare they 😤 Vids and photos looks amazing 🤓👍
haha thanks man! it's not a bad lens! I'm loving it
The issue with exposure changes while zooming - is it happening if you have full manual exposure mode?
Yes
Good review of a subpar lens. I think the non-AF MKX zooms would be a better choice.
Yes 👍
I’ve had this lens for just over a month and I can confidently say this is an excellent lens, totally up to Fujifilm standard.
This is a sharp lens in the centre; at some focal range’s it’s softer in the corners than at others. This lens is sharper than older ‘loved’ Fujifilm lenses.
It comes down to what the lens was designed to do and what you want it to do. I use it for product photography and video (alongside the 23mm f1.4 mk2). This is the best Fujifilm lens I have used for video. It’s more than sharp enough for website and social media content. It renders colour beautifully like all Fujinon. All my product shots are taken at f5.6-f8 so the f4 doesn’t bother me. It’s light which is a big plus for me. A common filter size for CPL and ND’s. PZ with parfocal is a god send for product video…
DP review are idiots.
Man, the more i shoot with the lens the more i love it! I've been using it to film my youtube videos and its great!
Nice, is this the zoom lens that has the button/switch option for stepped or stepless aperture changes?
That Double decker bus shot in London was EPIC was that max zoomed for the compression?
yup it was shot at 120mm! and no the lens doesnt do that unfortunately...
I feel like this lens would’ve been a slam dunk at f2.8 instead of f4. Even if it cost 2-3x as much; That or with OIS. Seems solid as far as image quality. I’d rather use the Tamron 17-70 2.8 though. It’s a real sleeper lens for the Fuji system. Doesn’t reach quite as far, but it’s faster and it has OIS.
Yeah but it's not parfocal, which makes zooming in or out while recording impossible. Great photography lens tho.
@@meteturhan3505 well with the exposure flickering it won't be possible on this lens either. I have the 16-55 f2.8 and when I'm in autofocus i don't really mind the fact that it isn't parafocal, what I do mind, is the fact that the exposure flickers!
Many zoom lenses with a fixed aperture will not have a fixed transmittance as you zoom. Some camera makers will try to compensate by altering the lightness of the image to mask that behavior, though if they get it wrong or so not do it smoothly then it can cause noticeable brightness stepping.
Silly question here 🖐🖐🖐(as I haven't dabbled in video yet but am looking to start), what's wrong with a video being too sharp?
nothing it's all preference. But filmmakers tend to like the soft look that comes from a video that cinematic look, stuff shot on film... fuji's video just looks too sharp so it goes against what they like.
The exposure change is simple. Just iris changes to maintain constant aperture. 2023, and still no firmware to address it. Fuji is probably the only company in the world with this issue. Never seen it on Canon, Sony, or Nikon.
we need a firmware update.
Tamron had a similar issue on one of their zooms for Sony a while back
Would you mind doing a comparison between this lens and XF1680 f4?
If I can get that lens in my hand I could.
Finally, someone who understands this lens … It's like a budget Cabrio XK20-120mm T3.5 lens for the rest of us and I love it!
it's great! Tahnsk for watching
Idk if it’s just my copy, and I haven’t seen it mentioned but is your lens a bit loud when zooming in and out?
Define loud? I know it makes some noise and you can hear it when the room is quiet.. but when you’re out and about I can’t hear it..
@@Iamtongue loud enough to be picked up by the mic. Seems like it’s louder when I manually zoom as opposed to using the switch.
@@JoseHerrerawl I will let you know, i had it since it was released to the public and i didn't run into this problem
Hi Tongue, nice review
If this lens was wider i'd have got it in a heart beat. Parfocal for video is great as is powerzoom.
I really want fuji to make a wider lens that is parfocal with the power zoom
the exposure change is slightly annoying but, less of an issue if it is predictable (like if it happens at certain focal lengths)
F/4 is fine for me, as is no stabilisation even on the X-T3,, as I use a gimble and with a shutter speed on 1/48 low light is less of an issue.
but fuji please give me a 12mm or 14mm at the wide end, and anywhere from 20mm to 35mm at the telephoto end. Just make sure it has internal zoom so the balance on gimble does not change when zooming... Or just guve me the 10-24 with powerzoom and parafocal focusing
a powerzoom 10-24 would be dope!
Funny how Fuji's first PZ lens can't even change the iris in a stepless manner. It could be a body issue too. Those exposure changes from zooming doesn't happen on any other system.
Great lens and you nailed it! Good to hear your story. Is this lens good enough for handheld and pan/tilt movements? Most of the video’s on RUclips show me Tripod images or zoom movements. On a wedding I shot handheld and like to pan left or right. Do you think it will give some jittering images on a ibis camera (Xh2s)?
yes it will... i used it with a small rig cage and a handle the other day, and i thought i was panning so smoothyl... but when i looked at my footage i see the ibis was fighting against my movemnet... i hope this could be fixed in a firmware update. Otherwise i would try to turn off the ibis all together.
@@Iamtongue Thanks! Too bad. Do you think it’s a combination of the body and this lens? Because, for example, my 16-55mm or 18mm 1.4 don’t give me this jittering. Maybe this lens communicate different with the body (which is strange for a typical video lens). Thanks again!
To be honest I have no clue, I'm thinking it could be a weight issue... It is kinda light...So maybe if I were to rig it out some more it will be fine. But then again like you said, you are using it with the 18mm f1.4 and I think that is lighter than the 18-120mm f4. So i honestly dont know lol
this lens is awesome haha! I’m gonna quote my wife here and say “I’ve had worst”
Agreed
*worse
@@jl9752 ohh my bad
Thanks so much! I'm looking at this lens for a zoom lens for filming ... and based on your review ... it seems to be great for that!
Yup! I think it’s great for video but if you need something brighter I would look into a sigma 18-50mm f2.8 as well.
@@Iamtongue - the 2.8 would be lovely! though the zoom stops at 50 ... and I have a 18-55mm kit lens already. so I'm not sure if I want to duplicate the zoom range.
Thanks for your video! I recently switched from a Canon 5D IV (with several f/2.8 L zoom lenses) to Fujifilm X-H2s and the 18-120mm f4 for travel. I'm a "dad-tographer" hobbyist shooting mostly photos, so I'm willing to have reasonable-looking images without necessarily needing professional quality. I'm very happy with the size, weight, and versatility of my Fuji kit. Although I'm still not super happy with the image quality when comparing it to my previous Canon kit that cost and weighed 3x more. Tradeoffs, right?
I'm considering adding the Sigma 18-50 f/2.8 as a second travel lens (along with the 18-120) for lower-light uses.
Keep up the good work!
OH man if you're coming from the L glass than you're definitely going to see a downgrade in quality for sure. But like you said there are tradeoffs for this haha. I also have the sigma 18-50mm in my posession and that thing looks like a steal! Enjoy the fuji system and thanks for the support mark.
Well if you are to bring the Sigma 18-50mm, perhaps the other lens that you should get is XF70-300 for telephoto or 90mm for prime/portraiture. It doesnt make sense to take 18-50mm with 18-120mm
@@simonckyong That’s a great point, Simon. I was thinking the 18-50 would be the “fast” lens for darker situations, while the 18-120 would be the “everything else” lens. But you’ve helped me realize that one stop isn’t enough difference to justify the extra lens. Perhaps the 33 f/1.4 that I already own will be the better “fast” lens (even though I prefer zooms for travel).
I’m already considering the 70-300, though I wasn’t planning to take get it before my trip. I’m trying to keep it light and minimize changes, but perhaps I’ll be glad to have the longer reach.
This lens doesn’t compare well to canon l glass for photographers. It will appear to be a downgrade. Want the equivalent of the canon image quality get the new xf wr lenses or 16-55 2.8, 50-140 2.8. Those are stellar
@@simonckyong Just a quick follow-up. I just returned from my trip to Europe with my family. I ended up taking the 18-120, 70-300, and 33 f/1.4. Out of 1,740 photos, the 18-120 took 1,685; the 70-300 took 49, and the 33 took only 6! I was pleasantly surprised at the versatility-to-quality ratio of the 18-120. Sure, the image quality is noticeably less than the Canon L glass I had before. But I can't point to any of my photos where a better lens would have made the difference between a good, keeper photo and a bad discard one. And I would even say that keeping one lens for most of the trip gave me opportunities that I may have missed if I had to stop and change lenses more. My lesson learned is that the tradeoff of a lower-quality lens (18-120) was worth it for my purposes (capturing family memories, sharing online, and a few small prints).
Nice review bro! Looks like a great lens.
thanks man. its an awesome lens!
Yes, this lens has been dissed by DPREVIEW, but they are being called for this in other reviews like yours. This first and foremost is a videocentric lens. So why did they clarify it as a Stills lens when it's not.
I just bought an XF100 400 for landscape.
damnn the 100-400mm? How is it
@@Iamtongue I went hiking with it once. Never again.
@@Battlem0nk LOL
@Iamtongue I bought the Cotton Carrier Cs G3 to carry it around. I went to B&H to test 8f it would be too much to carry around and hold. I'm 6 feet 230lbs, and used to hit the gym and bench press 375lbs. I am getting older but I am still strong enough to carry around I think.
It won't arrive until Tuesday or Wednesday it seems. I'll let you know in a week.
Nice one! Need to get my hands and try one of those too!
The video examples you gave for video look pretty good! And yeah, sharpness is overrated... even though this looks sharp enough for me
Ya it's sharp enough for me as well! haha Thanks for watching bro
I was pretty par-agreed through out. My biggest grip is the focus shift as well, I'd rather have worse or no image profile and no shift.
when you set the lens on manual focus, its pretty evident that its not parfocal at all, its just designed a way that the focus motor an keep up with the zoom.. and that is possible whey it can't zoom any faster than it does... that just my guess. To be honest I think they should have just scrapped that manual focus ring, I would have loved a dedicated aperture ring in place of it.
I have no source that this is a bad lens.
This is for SURE a VIDEO focused lens. Like the Sony APSC 18-105F4. All features only make sense for moving pictures, like power zoom, the zoom rocker, the zoom/focus pull buttons and of course the internal zoom.
Having no IS is only relevant for video - BUT if you want to get serious for video you will not shoot handheld anyway! On a gimbal the internal zoom is a great benefit, as well as the power everything I mentioned above.
Because those can be used by an app or the Fuji stick/tripot thing. And now all these features make sense.
Regarding quality: YT compresses everything that much that noone can judge anything afterwords! I uploaded a 5.7K 17:9 422 and received a UHD 8 bit upload. Does it look similar? NO.
Do you recommend this lens solely for video purposes sir?
It’s a great photo lens as well
My favorite right after 23mm f1/4
Exposure stepping should be gone. But it does not keep the focus point while zooming and the AF cannot compensate elegantly for that - so it is worthless for video and for photo. No questions asked.
Great video 👍
yjsmld ,sm@
Fuji makes plenty of better lenses for shooting pictures of brick walls and test charts, but there's nothing else like this lens to run and gun through a day of mixed video and general photography (so long as you remembered to throw an F2 prime in yer pocket for low-light shooting). It's not the best lens for any particular kind of shooting, but it's a very good lens for a great deal of shooting situations. DPreview got this lens wrong and they owe it a proper review.
I agree with you! I’m enjoying this lens! It’s a staple of my kit!
I think this lens paired with the 33mm f1.4 would be a great run and gun setup
Sharpness being the end all be all of lens quality is something that needs to die imo. There are many desirable aspects to image quality outside sharpness. I like the almost vintage like qualities this lens adds to photos, it’s like a zoom version of the og 35mm 1.4 from an image character standpoint, and nets that soft almost film like halation look without the use of a filter like the glimmerglass 1, that’s typically glued to most of my lenses. Great for travel, great for videography, it’s just a good all around lens with some character.
couldnt have said it better!
Sharpness for video doesn't matter as much so in that sense, this lens is a success, and photographers should not even look at and complain about this lens because it wasn't even engineered for photos to begin with.
But for photos, isn't sharpness the ultimate end goal? To have a sharp photo where details are visible. If I want softness, I can always use vintage lenses, voigtlander Noktons, or glimmerglass, or a real film camera. But I find lenses less sharp than the new 1.4 primes to be undesirable for general use.
@@professionalpotato4764 for me and my type of photography no sharpness isn’t the end goal. There’s a place for it and I can always use a diffusion filter and adjust in post but there is something to be said about a lighter more compact character focused lens that imparts a “look” on the images or video captured. No matter how much clarity, texture, Gaussian blurs, mask layering, etc. one does nothing replicates an at the time of capture effect for me. Don’t get me wrong, I think there is a place for sharp, larger, professional type lenses but I don’t subscribe to it being an end all be all for lens manufactures. I think fujifilm gets that and is why they releases lenses like this, the og 35mm 1.4, the 18-55 lm ois, the og 55, etc.
@@AnthonyJGianotti I kinda get what you mean. I too enjoy character, and I adapt vintage glass for that, always bouncing between clinically clean vs character depending on my mood. I have my eye on the Voigtlander Nokton 23mm f/1.2 but I'm waiting for a good deal on those. Totally agree that no amount of filters or post production can emulate a lens with good character.
This is a great lens. Owned it for over a year.
I’ve been looking at reviews for this lens but it always seem to be on the x-h2s or like a year old. So thanks for this. Im getting into videography with my xT3 and I want to use what I have. BUT I do want to get a lens for video instead of changing with my primes and readjusting the gimbal. This let me know this should be good for me as a starter lens for video. I know videographers like to use manual the most so I know I’ll be going to that soon enough, but until then I’d like to have something for jobs and you helped me decide that this is it.
ya dude if you're using this on a gimbal you're gonna be set especially with the xt3... that thing is a capable video camera.
I would prefer to pair your XT3 with 1680 f4 for the OIS feature cause most of the time I don't have to zoom it till 120mm
18-55, 10-24, 16-80, 15-45 all have this zooming in/out exposure quirk you're mentioning here..ok for fotos but a big problem for video
Agreed, I've looked at Sony's photos and although they are incredibly sharp they lack the personality that Fuji offers. Sharpness is not everything!
sharpness is not everything!
My copy: I focus at 18mm, when I zoom manually to 120mm, I lose focus. I thought this lens is parfocal!
To a certain point
“More junk in the trunk” 🤣😂🤣😂🤣 my daughters are laughing 😂🤣😂🤣😂
hahaha
All Fuji zoom lenses have the issue with exposure stepping which simply make fuji gears not professionally reliable. It is a huge flaw in their product and brand, and it's even impossible to apprehend why Fuji ignore customer's complains about it. That's why I've decided to leave the Fuji eco-system and switch to Panasonic which has recently released a S5Mii that beats all Fuji in every aspects from autofocus to secure zoom shooting.
That’s not good to hear. I don’t use zooms anymore and especially for video.. So I wasn’t aware of this continuing issue. I’m curious about the s5 mkii as well. That’s what I wanted as my full frame camera instead of a Sony but the af sucked at the time.
@@Iamtongue "the af sucked at the time" is a thing of the past. Panasonic finally did it. : )
@@bomshine2005 LOL I might pick one up to play with.. we’ll see.
I don't agree with you. Set your white balance your matrix metering changes at scenes changes.
Matrix metering 😅
The statement from other photographers about pictures from Fuji cameras looking too sharp is silly. On YT You'll find lots of videos where people comparing Sony and Canon with Fuji and I've never seen a single test where Fuji lens was sharper.
Definitely 👍
Why do you think I'm watching you instead of Dpreview? Because that site lost its credibility loooong time ago, ever since they moved to Seattle and they became carpet baggers at the service of Amazon. The same goes for Chris & his mate. They lost their credibility the moment they left The Camera Store. They became influence whores that the camera makers could wine & dine so they can promote their wares.
This is not your case.
Now comes the One Dollar Question:
Someone is selling this lens, used and in good condition. If I went to the store I'll be spending about 400$ more, BUT... I see that it has an internal motor to zoom. Wouldn't it be better to go brand new instead of finding out a couple of months later WHY was he selling it? Motor problems?
Your opinion (advice) will be highly appreciated.
You are a great facilitator.
Stay on that path, please.
Cheers!!
I usually find ppl who sells their Fuji gear tend to sell it at a lower price because they want to get rid of it. This is how I usually get good deals out of them. But obviously you should do your due diligence try the one in the camera store and try the other fellow and see if it performs the same.
This lens reminds me of the Nikon 24-120mm lens
is that a good lens?
@@IamtongueYes the Nikon 24 -120 F4 is available in both Nikon F Mount and as of 2023 is available in the Nikon Z Mount. The 24- 120 is a great all round vocal length so Nikon has never made a 24-105 F4 as far as I know. Maybe back in the day on the more older F Mount Lenses.
@@IamtongueNikon also have a 16-80 F4 lens in APSC F Mount like there 24-120 F Mount full frame equivalent
7 months later bro....@@ruff1draft
@@Iamtongue Yeah been busy sorry for the late reply. I am currently on looking thru ebay looking at old Nikon lenses
Its propably the best filming lens for solo shooters that fuji has.
I agree. I was using it the other day and was instantly reminded how good this lens is :)
They are gone,my friend. DPprieuw was shit. Thank you for you nice vlog.
Hahaha 😝
I feel like this is a olympus 12-100mm competitor
Ohh I don’t know 🤷♀️ I haven’t shot m43 in a while
RIP DPReview
Rip DPreview
I don’t think fuji has ever put out a bad lens. So they aren’t going to start with this one ☝️ 😂
exactly!
Disagree, the 16-80 is a truly awful lens. It's basically the 18-120 but useless for video and without any party trick to make up for the small aperture and poor image quality. And now they've made it the only kit lens option for all the new cameras to get rid of old stock so they can cancel it since the 18-120 is a strict upgrade.
It is what it is, there a very few super zooms that perform as expected! Don’t like super zooms, however they are good travel lenses when the destination doesn’t have stunning landscapes! 😅. Don’t move to Sony just have both and bring the fans to the dark side! Now which side will be the dark side? 🤔Sony or Fuji? Kuaaaajajajajaaaa 😈
Thanks Jose, maybe you should be the one to tell me which side is the dark side since you own all of them.😂
@@Iamtongue Ok, Ok, I’ll say it! Fuji, just because they are the most diehard unbeliever’s, Fuji’s zooms are not good (Since back in the days it has been that way; they seem to lean towards primes)😂🤣, their AF still needs work, I don’t care about what people say. My GFX and my XH2s are fine but not good enough against the competition, yet they have an army of diehard fans (worst than Leica’s). 😂🤣😂
fuji fan boys are rough lol. I had a few of them calling me idiots so i agree with you 😂😅
@@Iamtongue I know right! It’s sad to find people like that! 🤣😂🤣
I just get this lens for 699€ ,it's good price but now I need to sell my 16-80mm 😂
that's a good deal!
Hey tongue hi there, just farting about looking at lenses and a vid on the 16-55 led me to the 18-120 then this video, found a mint used one with 12 month warranty for £479 GB so i grabbed hold……. If its as goid as my 16-80 which is fine but everyone hates, I’ll be happy…….. plus i aint making tv shows forvthe bbc
man that's a steal
You wont switch to Sony… You wont!
I’ll do it…I’ll do it!
11:06
dis man really moved to sony again
💅💀