Today FUJIFILM also announced a 5th product. A new lens for the XF lineup, The XF70-300mm F/4-5.6R LM OIS WR Amidst the other products that I have been testing, I did not have time to do a proper first look article on this one. But I did manage to shoot it on a couple of occasions, so I thought I would just share some quick thoughts on the lens.
Even though this isn’t close to being a review, I’ll be courteous and write down my usual disclaimers.
Feel free to skip everything but number 3
Disclaimer 1: I’m an X-photographer. That’s spelled brand ambassador for Fujifilm. I don’t get paid for doing these write ups (and I have been doing them even before getting involved with Fujifilm). This means that I’m just about as biased as I can get, and whether you choose to believe my views or not is entirely up to you. I expect you to be adults, capable of forming your own opinions based on presented information.
Disclaimer 2: All the images in this article has been shot using an early prototype of the XF70-300mm f/4-5.6R LM OIS WR lens on a production model X-Pro3. Image quality might not be final.
Disclaimer 3: All shots with- and of the product has been shot by me, and is not to be used without my explicit permission.
The XF70-300mm F/4-5.6 ads some more range on the long end compared to the already excellent XF55-200mm. It isn’t nearly as large as the XF100-400mm, so it really is a mix of the two. It has the size of the XF55-200mm while having a longer focal length akin the XF100-400mm.
A cool trait of the XF70-300mm F/4-5.6 is the ability for it to use the TC1.4X or TC2X teleconverters. So with the 2x TC. you’ll actually end up with a 600mm lens on the long end, equivalent to a staggering 900mm full frame equivalent.
It’s only 132mm long, and it weighs only 580g. It’s crazy compacct taking into account that this is a long range telephoto zoom lens. All of that range in a ridiculously compact size. Good job FUJIFILM!
The build quality of the XF70-300mm F/4-5.6 is just like all the other XF lenses before it. Great, sturdy build, with metal barrel and metal mount. The barrel extends while zooming. The aperture ring is unmarked, which makes good sense since it has variable aperture throughout the zoom range. So a set aperture ring would make no sense.
Of course it has weather resistance. This is a lens made for the elements, so I would expect nothing less.
The lens features a new type of barrel-lock. You can lock it to avoid it from extending by accident, but instead of having to unlock it by using the switch before you can extend the barrel, this new switch is deactivated by simply turning the zoom ring. Very handy, fast and clever!
The XF70-300mm F/4-5.6 features a linear motor for fast autofocus when having to drive the bigger lens elements. It also has OIS, and features a focus limiter switch on the barrel. FUJIFILM sure packed all the goods into the compact long range zoom lens.
From my very limited testing I found the image quality to be excellent. Both at the long end of the zoom range and at the close end. Great sharpness, and very clean background blur at 300mm f/5.6. This lens is perfect for landscape and wildlife photography while travelling.
Anyway, this wasn’t meant to be a reviews, so I’ll just serve you the sample images and let you guys do your own conclusion. See ya!
Sample gallery
Seems like a nice pairing with the 16-80mm
I hope sharpness is good so you may use it wide open . I have been using my 100-400 wide open for my stage-photography but with its 1,3 KG this lens is only bearable for well trained, younger photographers during a 3-4 hours rehearsal
Oh, I can’t wait to get a copy of this lens, just hope the AF speed is good enough for some occasional BIF photos.
Thanks for this, the lens looks very tempting…
Would be interesting to see how it performs with both teleconverters.
I’ve been messing with teleconverters for years but they seem to always lose more contrast and resolution than they’re worth.
I have paused my 55-200mm purchase for a year for upcoming 70-300mm and it finally arrived. But it looks it has softer image than 55-200mm. What do you think?
I too have paused my 55-200mm purchase for the upcoming 70-300mm. Would you say the image quality is sharper on the 55-200mm?
No. I sold my 55-200mm for this lens. The images are SHARP! I really love this lens and the images POP. Close focus at 300mm is insane. It focuses fast enough for BIF on my X-H1 which is slow compared to the newer X-T4. Great lens and MASSIVELY worth it.
Do you miss the 55-70 range on the 55-200 with the 70-300?