When there is a new lens that is pretty close in the focal range
to an old lens, what do we do; let’s have a battle of the lenses.
Many Fujifilm X-series user will certainly have XF10-24mm F4
in their line-up. This is for obvious reason; it’s the widest lens
Fujifilm has to offer until now.
I decided to have a comparison because I own the XF10-24mm
since it’s launch. Is there is need to upgrade for 2mm more? If I
am shooting landscape; one could just take a few steps backward
and you kinda have almost the same wide-angle as XF8-16mm.
XF10-24mm is a very versatile lens. Great for landscape and
urbanscape. At 24mm I could do some amazing street photography
too. What is there not to love about XF10-24mm. It’s probably the
top 3 lenses in term of sales for Fujifilm.
Here are the basic differences
XF8-16mm F2.8 WR vs XF10-24mm F4
USD$1999.95 / USD$990.00
Image stabilization No / Yes
Motor type Linear / Stepper Motor
Weight 805g / 410g
Diameter 88mm / 78mm
Length 122mm / 87mm
WR Yes / No
Zoom method Extending / Internal
Minimum focus 0.25m / 0.24m
In a nutshell, it’s twice the weight as XF10-24mm.
It’s double the price for one F-stop advantage.
It’s a WR but doesn’t house IS which we all
can’t live without.
If I am looking for the wide-angle zoom; I believe
XF8-16mm F2.8 with be an obvious choice. Like many,
if I own a XF10-24mm; will you be tempted to upgrade?
Here are a few reason I could think of. Interior photography.
There certainly will be a time you needed that extra
one step back to nail that shot. This is very real and I
have experienced this in my commercial work scope.
So that 2mm wider field is important.
The next reason is simple; F2.8. It may be only one
stop but if you like night and astronomy photography
this means much. Not that XF10-24mm produces poor
IQ. The F2.8 glass inside the XF8-16mm is certainly
a notch up. Almost zero distortion and vignetting.
As much as it’s great for landscape photography, I wonder
How does one attached a filter in the front? If someone have
a solution; do kindly share.
IQ. Without a doubt it certainly a notch up from XF10-24mm.
Sharper for sure. At wide open it perform very well. Sharp
to the edge when compare with XF10-24mm.
As we know getting our perspective right is important in wide
angle; yet sometime we should let out hair lose and take
advantage of distortion. Right? As for distortion it’s almost
zero for me. As long as your alignment is correct you are good
to go.
As for comparison; there is nothing to compare. They are
different. So, will I get this lens? The answer is obvious for me.
The headache is should I sell my XF10-24mm? What do you
think?
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Pretty obvious to me. I won’t sell my 10-24 until Fuji will make a version 2 of the same lens. As a travel and landscape photographer 400g more is an issue, lack of the filter thread too. I will love Fuji more and more with an XF9-18mm F4 WR (no IS thanks to the H1), mark scale on the aperture ring, same filter thread and same weight of the XF10-24. I’m considering the 8-16 for astrophotography and the WR but I won’t sell the 10-24 for sure.
Would be good if you could show some comparisons also with the 10-24 – I can see that the 8-16 is a great lens but not sure if it is really fit for all purposes. It is heavy, expensive, no IS and not as versatile.
Thanks for the comparison. From looking at these images, the new lens looks great. Have you had a chance to look at corner performance for aberrations? Thinking of astro.