{"id":12545,"date":"2014-12-07T18:43:11","date_gmt":"2014-12-07T18:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=12545"},"modified":"2014-12-07T20:21:18","modified_gmt":"2014-12-07T20:21:18","slug":"a-star-is-born","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=12545","title":{"rendered":"A star is born!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I hate the term Fanboy!\u00a0 It’s so demeaning, its sounds like you are a sell out, you’ve caved, that you have no will power!\u00a0 Man am I going to hate it when people call me that, but I guess I’m asking for it!\u00a0 This is a review of Fuji’s new XF 50-140 f 2.8\u00a0 OIS WR telephoto lens.\u00a0 Let me get this out of the way first:\u00a0 It is without question<\/span> among two or three sharpest, and finest made lenses I’ve ever had the pleasure of shooting.\u00a0 If you knew that I’ve owned hundreds of lenses and many of them “Legendary” glass, you would feel the weight of that statement!!!<\/p>\n

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O.K. with that out of the way,\u00a0 let me share why I believe that what I just said is absolutely true!\u00a0 First let me tell you how I categorize lenses.\u00a0 I think they fall into one of four categories:<\/p>\n

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LEGENDARY<\/span><\/strong> – Legendary lenses are superlative in every way.\u00a0 Scalpel sharp, great color rendition, just the right contrast, superior mechanical build.\u00a0 These are lenses that if you are shooting with them, and your images are not utterly amazing, it’s not the lens!<\/p>\n

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PRO-GRADE<\/span>\u00a0 –<\/strong>\u00a0 Pro-Grade lenses are very sharp, tack sharp, they are built to work hard, and have all the optical characteristics you demand.\u00a0 They are perfectly suited to any critical application, just not Legendary.\u00a0 Still superior glass!!!<\/p>\n

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GOOD<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0 –\u00a0 Sharp enough for non critical uses and users, build quality acceptable if you do not mistreat them.\u00a0 Capable of making very nice images, a good way to save money of your needs are not critical.<\/p>\n

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JUNK<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0 –\u00a0 Poor build quality, all over the board, inconsistent optical performance, funky color, low contrast or too high contrast.\u00a0 I don’t own any,\u00a0 and don’t plan to either!!!<\/p>\n

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So where does this new lens fit into my categories, Legendary<\/strong><\/span>!\u00a0 Before we go on talking about what makes this sweetheart a Legendary lens, I know you’re wondering where do the rest of the Fuji lenses fit on my scale, I will get to that by the end, but I’ll tell you now that not a single Fuji lens that I’ve bought, and I own 10, is anything less than a sold Pro-Grade!<\/p>\n

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Now why am I so madly in love with the new 50-140?\u00a0\u00a0 Number one, when shot carefully on a tripod, it is the sharpest 70-200 f 2.8 equivalent lens I’ve ever seen, Period.\u00a0 The image that leads the blog shows the simply wonderful bokeh at f 2.8 at 140mm.\u00a0 Below are two more tripod shot images the first at 50mm the second at 140mm.\u00a0 They speak for themselves!<\/p>\n

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The second thing that was very impressive was just how effective the OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) is in this lens.\u00a0 I can only go by my own experience, which is,\u00a0 that I’m just not that steady anymore, and even I was able to make some truly sharp images!\u00a0 Illustrated below, all hand held.<\/p>\n

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1\/60th of a second at 140mm<\/p>\n

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1\/200th of a second at 140mm and close focus\u00a0 (the little decoration was about 3 and half inches square.<\/p>\n

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1\/200th at 140mm<\/p>\n

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The third thing that impressed me about this lens is it’s close focusing ability.\u00a0 Below is a image of the snowman on my front porch, I held up a soda can for size perspective, and the next image is at closest focus distance at 140mm, then the third image is with the Canon 500D diopter attached with a 72mm-77mm step up ring.\u00a0 This lens is tack sharp with the diopter and I am sure will play very nice with the new automatic extension tubes coming from Fuji!<\/p>\n

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Closest focus, with the lens alone at 140mm.<\/p>\n

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Now with the Canon 500 D diopter attached.<\/p>\n

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Below is a hand held close-up shot, something I would have never done in the past, and shot at 1\/60th of a second at 140mm and tack, tack sharp!\u00a0 The subject matter is dedicated to Zack Arias!!<\/p>\n

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I love the tripod collar, it is rock solid and very smooth, much smoother than on lenses costing hundreds more.\u00a0 I have only one major complaint!\u00a0 Now I have to completely re-figure my camera bag to fit it in……. and what do I leave out!!!<\/p>\n

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My ratings for all the Fuji lenses I own:<\/p>\n

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LEGENDARY<\/span><\/strong>:\u00a0 14mm f 2.8 \u00a0 –\u00a0\u00a0 23mm f 1.4 \u00a0 –\u00a0\u00a0 56mm f 1.2 \u00a0 –\u00a0\u00a0 50-140 f 2.8\u00a0\u00a0 –\u00a0\u00a0 60mm Micro<\/p>\n

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Between LEGENDARY &<\/strong><\/span> PRO GRADE\u00a0\u00a0 (A<\/span><\/span><\/strong>lmost LEGENDARY)<\/span>:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 10-24 f 4 \u00a0\u00a0 –\u00a0 \u00a0 35 f 1.4 \u00a0\u00a0 –\u00a0\u00a0 18-55 f 2.8-4<\/p>\n

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SOLID PRO-GRADE<\/span><\/strong>:\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 55-200 f 3.5-4.8\u00a0\u00a0 –\u00a0\u00a0 18-135 f 3.5-5.6<\/p>\n

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GOOD<\/strong><\/span>:\u00a0 Samyang\/Rokinon 8mm f 2.8<\/p>\n

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Well, at least that’s the way I see them, I would welcome your opinions too!<\/p>\n

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One last thing!\u00a0 I am using a Mamiya RZ-67, hard rubber hood that allows moving the polarizer with the hood, and gives added protection of the very firm, metal reinforced rubber construction.\u00a0 It is a 77mm hood, so I use a 72 to 77 step up ring. These lens hoods were all the rage of sports shooters covering college and NBA basketball because the would not injure players flying out of bounds!<\/p>\n

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Blessings,<\/p>\n

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the pilgrim<\/p>\n

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….and a star is born title,\u00a0 yes double meaning!\u00a0 Merry Christmas!<\/p>\n

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  I hate the term Fanboy!\u00a0 It’s so demeaning, its sounds like you are a sell out, you’ve caved, that you have no will power!\u00a0 Man am I going to hate it when people call me that, but I guess I’m asking for it!\u00a0 This is a review of Fuji’s new XF 50-140 f 2.8\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronicles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12545"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12571,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12545\/revisions\/12571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}