Home  Donate  New  Search  Gallery  Reviews  How-To  Books  Links  Workshops  About  Contact

Fuji 16mm f/1.4 R WR
XF16mmF1.4 R WR (24mm equiv.)

Intro   Specs   Performance   Recommendations   More

Please help KenRockwell..com

Fuji 16mm f/1.4 R WR XF

Fujifilm Fujinon XF 16mm f/1.4 R WR ASPH for X-mount cameras (metal 67mm filter thread, 13.2 oz./375g, 0.49'/0.15m close focus, about $849). enlarge. I got mine at this link to it at Adorama; these links to it at Amazon and at B&H are also great places to get it.

This all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to approved sources when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Fuji does not seal its boxes, so never buy at retail or any source not on my personally approved list since you'll have no way of knowing if you're missing accessories, getting a defective or damaged customer return or a used product. Buy only from the approved sources I use myself for the best prices, service, return policies and selection. Thanks for your support! Ken.

 

August 2015    Fuji Reviews   Fuji X-Mount Lenses   LEICA Reviews   All Reviews

Why fixed lenses take better pictures.

What is Bokeh?

 

Sample Image Files (more throughout the review)

Palm, 28 August 2015 RP

f/1.4: Palm, 28 August 2015. (Fuji X-T10, XF 16mm f/1.4 R WR at f/1.4 at 1/1,800 at ISO 200, Perfectly Clear V2.) Full resolution. Warning; at f/1.4 almost nothing is in focus.

 

Palm, 28 August 2015 RP

f/2.8: Palm, 28 August 2015. (Fuji X-T10, XF 16mm f/1.4 R WR at f/2.8 at 1/420 at ISO 200, Perfectly Clear V2.) Full resolution. Warning; at f/2.8 not everything is in focus.

 

Palm, 28 August 2015 RP

f/5: Palm, 28 August 2015. (Fuji X-T10, XF 16mm f/1.4 R WR at f/5 at 1/140 at ISO 200, Perfectly Clear V2.) Full resolution. Warning; at f/5 not everything is in focus.

 

Introduction       top

Adorama pays top dollar for your used gear.

B&H Photo - Video - Pro Audio

Intro   Specs   Performance   Recommendations   More

This is an ultra-fast wide lens for use in low light. It has no visible distortion, it's super-sharp, has no lateral color fringes and has no visible light falloff even at f/1.4 as shot on the Fuji X-mount cameras. It's all-metal, too!

Like all Fujinon XF lenses, there is no mechanical manual focus. It's all electronic.

Again like all Fujinon lenses, there is no instant manual focus override; you have to move the focus ring forward or back to switch between auto and manual.

In many Fujifilm cameras if you update the firmware, there is an AF+MF option deep in the menus (look in the fifth Camera menu in the X-E2 for instance) that will give instant manual override only if you turn this menu item ON and then only as long as your finger is halfway down on the shutter.

Fuji has for many decades, just like Canon and Nikon, also made far more advanced optics, like binoculars for the military and for use in space, as well as lenses for motion pictures and television with six-figure price tags at discount. Unlike mud brands like Sigma and Tamron (or even LEICA), Fujinon has loads of experience actually supplying optics that cost more than some people's houses, and puts that same know-how into these lenses.

 

Compatibility       intro      top

This is a Fuji X-mount XF lens that works only on Fuji X-mount cameras.

 

Fuji 16/1.4 front

Fuji 16mm f/1.4.

Specifications        top

Intro   Specs   Performance   Recommendations   More

 

Name

Fuji calls this the Fujinon Aspherical Lens Nano GI XF 16mm f/1.4 R WR, or XF16mmF1.4 R WR.

Fujinon is Fujifilm's brand name for their lenses.

Aspherical means specially shaped lens elements for better sharpness.

Nano GI means that one surface has Fuji's new sub-wavelength nano variable-index-of-refraction anti-reflection coating. It's the same as Nikon's Nano and Canon's SWC.

XF is Fuji's line of good lenses for their X-mount cameras.

R means it has an aperture ring.

WR means weather resistant.

 

Optics

Fuji 16mm f/1.4 R WR internal diagram

Fuji 16/1.4 internal diagram.

13 elements in 11 groups.

2 aspherics and 2 extra low dispersion elements.

Internal two-rear-group focus.

HT-EBC multicoating; Nano GI Coating on the rear surface of the front element.

 

Diaphragm

Fuji 16mm f/1.4 R WR internal diagram

Front, Fuji 16/1.4; diaphragm not seen.

9 rounded blades.

Stops down to f/16 in 1/3-stop clicks.

 

Focal length

16mm.

When used on the X-mount cameras with their 1.52x sensors, it sees the same angle of view as a 24mm lens sees when used on a 35mm camera.

When used on the X-mount cameras in their 1:1 square crop mode, it sees the same angle of view as a 58mm lens sees when used on a 6x6cm (2¼"square) medium-format camera. This is about the same as a 31mm lens sees when used on a 35mm camera.

See also Crop Factor.

 

Angle of view

83.2º

 

Autofocus

DC coreless AF motor.

Internal focus.

No external movement as focussed, so no air or dust is sucked in.

 

Close Focus

0.49 feet (0.15 meters).

 

Maximum Reproduction Ratio

1:4.76 (0.21x).

 

Filters

Metal 67mm filter thread.

 

Hood

Plastic bayonet-mount petal hood included.

LH-X16 metal hood sold separately, promised for September 2015.

 

Size

2.89" diameter x 2.87" long.

73.4 mm diameter x 73.0 mm long.

 

Weight

13.227 oz. (375.0g) actual measured weight, lens only.

Fuji specifies 13.2 oz. (375g).

 

Announced

16 April 2015.

 

Included

Lens.

Hood.

Front and rear caps.

"Lens wrapping cloth."

Paperwork.

 

Packaging

Fuji XF 16mm f/1.4 R WR

Box, Fuji XF 16mm f/1.4 R WR.

Inside the micro-corrugated cardboard box are black pulp-formed cardboard holders for the plastic-wrapped lens and hood. A small folded tray of microcorrugated cardboard lies on top to hold the manual and lens wrapping cloth.

 

Fujifilm Model Number

16463670.

 

Price

$849, August 2015.

 

Performance       top

Intro   Specs   Performance   Recommendations   More

Overall   Auto and Manual Focus    Bokeh   Coma   Distortion

Ergonomics  Falloff  Filters  Flare & Ghosts  Color Fringes    Macro

Mechanics    Sharpness   Spherochromatism   Sunstars

 

Overall      performance      top

The Fuji XF 16mm f/1.4 R WR is optically quite good, excelling at falloff and distortion, as well as mechanical quality.

 

Auto and Manual Focus      performance      top

Autofocus is moderately fast, and it's very accurate, especially at f/1.4.

Fuji's focus system is closed-loop, read directly from the image sensor, so it automatically compensates for any mechanical errors.

Open-loop systems of DSLRs and LEICAs can't compensate for these errors and sometimes have focus errors (offsets) which we don't have in the Fuji system. Bravo!

On the other hand, it's not as fast as Fuji would like you to believe. Unlike a DSLR, AF isn't instant; it usually takes a moment to lock-on.

 

Bokeh      performance      top

It's rare to get anything significantly out of focus on any 16mm lens; background blur has more to do with focal length than aperture.

The only way to make the background soft is to get very close to the subject.

Once you get close enough to get anything out of focus, bokeh is pretty typical: soft, but blur circles are still circles, not just undefined blobs.

Fujinon 16mm R WR bokeh

16mm R WR bokeh at f/1.4. Camera-original © JPG.

 

Coma       performance     top

Coma is weird smeared blobs that appear around bright points of light in the corners. They happen with fast and wide lenses at large apertures. Coma goes away as stopped down, and tends not to be seen in slower and tele lenses.

Coma also can make the far corners look like they have a radial blur even if you don't have points of light to excite it.

This aspherical lens is far better than any spherical lens, like LEICA's 35mm f/1.4, or Nikon's 24mm f/2, each of which is awful compared to this 16mm f/1.4.

Coma is visible at f/1.4 and f/2. It's gone by f/2.8.

 

Distortion      performance      top

Distortion, as shot on the X-T10 which is probably correcting it automatically, is completely invisible, whoo hoo!

Maybe use a correction factor of +0.1 in Photoshop's Lens Correction filter, or just forget about it.

 

Ergonomics      performance      top

Fuji XF 16mm f/1.4 R WR

Fuji XF 16mm f/1.4 R WR for X-mount cameras.

Ergonomics are great! Grab and go.

It feels great; it's a real metal lens. The only other real metal lenses made today are almost exclusively from LEICA; Nikon and Canon have been churning out mostly plastic since the 1980s.

The dedicated aperture ring is also mandatory for real photography, but absent on most other brands of lenses.

A whine about the aperture ring is that it needs a deeper detent or an easily-released lock at A, otherwise it's easy to knock it to f/16 by accident.

It's silly to have all the third-stop clicks. We need the full stops more deeply detented so we can feel them with our eyes closed.

 

Falloff (darkened corners)      performance      top

Light falloff is completely invisible, even at f/1.4, as shot on the X-T10 which is probably correcting it automatically.

Even shooting white walls wide-open at f/1.4 to exaggerate it, it's still insignificant. I've greatly exaggerated it by shooting a white plate and showing it against a gray background:

 

Fuji 16mm f/1.4 R WR shot on Fuji X-T10.

f/1.4
Nikon MMmm f/FF falloff

© 2015 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

Filters, Use with      performance      top

There's no problem with vignetting, even with a couple of stacked filters!

The filter ring doesn't move at all.

The all-metal filter ring is a pleasant surprise compared to the plastic rubbish from other brands. For instance, Nikon's $2,200 24mm f/1.4 has a crummy plastic filter thread.

 

Flare and Ghosts     performance      top

Ghosts

Flare, 28 August 2015. (X-T10, ISO 400, 200% Dynamic Range, XF 16mm f/1.4 R WR, f/6.4 at 1/420.)

Shooting directly into the sun or letting the sun shine on the front of the lens from outside the picture area and then deliberately putting something dark in the image can show some veiling flare. No big deal, don't do that or shield the lens with your hand.

While flare is a bit worse than average for a modern lens, it's never visible in actual shooting.

See also Sunstars for more samples.

 

Lateral Color Fringes      performance      top

There are no lateral color fringes as shot on the X-T10. It's probably correcting any that the lens may or may not have.

 

Macro      performance      top

It focuses to within inches of the front of the lens. Rated at 6"/0.15m from the image plane, that means about 2"/6cm from the front of the lens:

macro

Genuine Rolex Submariner at close-focus distance at f/14. Full-resolution file.

 

It's super sharp:

crop

Crop from above image at 100%. If this is about 6" (15cm) on your screen, printing the complete image at this same high magnification would result in a 50 x 32" (125 x 85 cm) print!

 

Mechanics      performance      top

Fuji XF 16mm f/1.4 R WR

Rear, Fuji X-mount XF 16mm f/1.4 R WR. enlarge.

The Fuji XF 16 1.4 is built much better than anything from Nikon or Canon today. It's built as well as LEICA lenses, with much newer technology.

It's all anodized aluminum, not cheesy plastic.

 

Hood

Plastic.

 

Hood Mount

Anodized aluminum.

 

Filter Threads

Anodized aluminum.

 

Barrel

All parts are anodized aluminum.

 

Focus Ring

Anodized aluminum.

 

Focus Scale

Yes, in manual focus mode only (pull back on focus ring).

 

Depth-of-Field Scale

Yes, in manual focus mode only (pull back on focus ring).

 

Internals

Seem like metal.

 

Aperture Ring

Anodized aluminum.

Third-stop clicks.

 

Mount

Dull-chromed metal.

 

Markings

Engraved and filled with paint, yay!

 

Identity Ring

Front ring, laser-engraved.

 

Serial Number

Laser engraved on rear of lens barrel.

 

Rain seal at mount

Yes.

 

Noises When Shaken

Mild clunking.

 

Made in

Japan.

 

Sharpness      performance      top

Warning 1: Image sharpness depends more on you than your lens.

Warning 2: Lens sharpness doesn't mean much to good photographers.

With those caveats, the Fuji XF 16/1.4 is sharp at all settings, but softer in the far corners at f/1.4 and f/2 due to coma.

Palm, 28 August 2015 RP

Library, 28 August 2015. (Fuji X-T10, XF 16mm f/1.4 R WR at f/1.4 at 1/30 at ISO 200, Perfectly Clear V2.) Camera-original © file.

 

Here is its rated MTF at f/1.4, which confirms the coma:

MTF at 15 cycles
MTF at 45 cycles
MTF at 15 cyc/mm (10 cyc/mm equiv.)
MTF at 45 cyc/mm (30 cyc/mm equiv.)

 

Spherochromatism       performance     top

I see a little spherochromatism, also called color bokeh by hobbyists. This means that out-of-focus highlights may take on slight color fringes.

If you do see anything, background highlights may be fringed with green, and foreground highlights might be tinged with magenta.

This goes away as stopped down. I doubt you'll ever see it.

 

Sunstars      performance      top

Sunstars

Sunstars at f/8, 28 August 2015, as-shot. bigger.

 

Sunstars

Sunstars at f/16, 28 August 2015, as-shot. bigger.

The rounded 9-blade diaphragm makes no sunstars at large apertures, however it becomes straight as stopped down and can make great sunstars on brilliant points of light at f/16.

It will make some small sunstars at reasonable apertures, like f/8, so it's better than many modern lenses.

 

Recommendations       top

Intro   Specs   Performance   Recommendations   More

The Fuji XF 16mm f/1.4 R WR is a great lens for low-light, giving you the longest reach into the dark hand-held of any lens. While an f/1.2 lens is faster, all the f/1.2 lenses are longer, which means you can't hand-hold them at shutter speeds as slow as you can with this 16mm lens. This shorter lens also has more depth of field, so far more is in focus at f/1.4 with this lens than with any longer lens.

Personally I rarely shoot with this 24mm-equivalsnt focal length; I prefer the 23mm f/1.4 and 35mm f/1.4 lenses which see more as I do, and if I want wide, I use the 10-24mm f/4 OIS.

The only advantage to this lens is if you really shoot it at f/1.4. When stopped down it's the same as using any of Fuji's other zooms at their 16mm settings.

If you've found my research here helpful, my support to run this all-content, junk-free website comes from when you using any of these links to it at Adorama, at Amazon or at B&H when you get yours, or when you get anything at these links to approved sources. Please always use these links when getting any of your gear so I can continue to share what I know; it's what supports me. If you take the chance of buying elsewhere (or especially at retail), remember that Fuji doesn't seal its boxes. Unlike a bottle of milk or a CD which is sealed, buy your 16mm lens elsewhere or at retail and you'll not only cheat me out of the work I've done here to help you, you run the risk of getting a lens that's a customer return, dropped, missing accessories or been used for store demos. Never buy at retail.

Thanks!

Ken.

 

More Information        top

Intro   Specs   Performance   Recommendations   More

Fuji's 16/1.4 R WR pages.

Fuji's 16/1.4 R WR press release.

 

© Ken Rockwell. All rights reserved. Tous droits réservés.

 

Help me help you         top

I support my growing family through this website, as crazy as it might seem.

The biggest help is when you use any of these links when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. It costs you nothing, and is this site's, and thus my family's, biggest source of support. These places have the best prices and service, which is why I've used them since before this website existed. I recommend them all personally.

If you find this page as helpful as a book you might have had to buy or a workshop you may have had to take, feel free to help me continue helping everyone.

If you've gotten your gear through one of my links or helped otherwise, you're family. It's great people like you who allow me to keep adding to this site full-time. Thanks!

If you haven't helped yet, please do, and consider helping me with a gift of $5.00.

As this page is copyrighted and formally registered, it is unlawful to make copies, especially in the form of printouts for personal use. If you wish to make a printout for personal use, you are granted one-time permission only if you PayPal me $5.00 per printout or part thereof. Thank you!

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 

Mr. & Mrs. Ken Rockwell, Ryan and Katie.

 

Home  Donate  New  Search  Gallery  Reviews  How-To  Books  Links  Workshops  About  Contact

 

August 2015