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Lens review

Fujifilm Fujinon XF 16 mm f/2.8 R WR

23 July 2019
Arkadiusz Olech

11. Summary

Pros:

  • shapely, solid, weather-sealed casing,
  • excellent image quality in the frame centre,
  • slight longitudinal chromatic aberration,
  • low lateral chromatic aberration,
  • lack of any spherical aberration problems,
  • sensible performance against bright light,
  • silent, accurate and fast autofocus.

Cons:

  • a bit too high coma at the maximum relative aperture,
  • huge distortion for RAW files,
  • big brightness loss on RAW files.
Looking at the results of our test I have no doubts the Fujinon XF 16 mm f/2.8 R WR is a very sensible device and will find many fans especially that, costing just $400, it remains one of the cheapest system lenses. Paradoxically, the Fujinon XF 18 mm f/2.0 R, just a tad more expensive but faster, might become its biggest and most serious rival. Still these 2 mm difference in focal length might be important for many users. Why? It's enough to move with the focal length in an opposite direction. The Fujinon XF 14 mm f/2.8 R, as fast aperture-wise as the tested lens but with the focal length by 2 mm shorter, costs over two times more.

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I regret just one thing: a tad better aperture fastness. If you produce a prime which parameters cover those of zoom lenses available in the system, your potential customers might expect something optically outstanding or really small. I'm still waiting for the 2/16 model but, I suppose, I will have to wait for a long time... Unless Fuji will surprise me very nicely, by presenting something like a 2/14 or 2/12 lens. Still, if Samyang have managed to achieve that much why not Fujifilm?