2 days ago I told you: “REMINDER: we know it since the CP+ in Japan, but Fujifilm hasn’t still updated the roadmap: the 18-135 is getting faster (from f/3.5-f/5.6 to f/3.5-f/4.8)“.
I said it because Fuji itself has shown it at the Japanese photo event CP+ in February (as you can see in the image at the bottom).
Well, that’s not true anymore… and if Fujifilm wanted to create confusion, then they were successful.
Here are the facts: at the beginning of January Fujifilm published a new roadmap listing the Fujinon XF 18-135 f/3.5-5.6. But afterwards, at the CP+ in Japan (February), they unveiled a mock-up of the same lens with an aperture range that goes from f/3.5 to f/4.8, as you can see from the image at the bottom (courtesy: dpreview). At this point all X-shooters thought that Fuji enhanced it, me included… but the illusion last only until today:
In fact, if you’ve read Rico’s X-E2 firmware 2.00 article (a MUST for every X-E2 owner), you’ll notice that he says that the lens won’t be 4.8 at the long end but 5.6! That’s the final word in this little f-stop drama.
Therefore I updated Fuji’s roadmap again, as you can see at the top… a very nice lens range for such a young system, and, for many, the quality of the glass is one of the main reasons to swtich to Fuji.
cheers
facebook, google+ and twitter
image courtesy: dpreview
23 Responses
What? Nooo! 🙁
Title is wrong! Patrick please re-read your title! You are contradicting yourself!
No he’s not. He’s saying they changed the mockup. It will not be ‘f/4.8 as shown at CP+’, but rather f/5.6.
sry if the title isn’t maybe clear enough… you have to know that I wrote it during lunch break from teaching (from 12:45 to 13:55) in a restaurant with WiFi connection… so I did my best in this short time while eating my Pizza 😉
But I think that, nevertheless, it’s pretty clear what I mean.
XF bayonet has 10 contacts. That’s more than enough for any feature you can imagine, from the motor zooms to some imaginary macro lenses with built-in ring lights.
What I’d love to see from Fuji is a new line of leaf shutter lenses. That will be another mirrorless revolution!…
^This.
Giving the Fuji MILCs LS lenses would go a really long way to bolstering the sub-optimal flash system.
Very disappointing decision on the 18-135mm. It would be interesting to know why they flip-flopped on this and ended up going backwards in terms of design.
I guess the zoom range is just too large after all to maintain a brighter aperture without losing image quality that’s up to Fuji standards.
Perhaps—but I’m not sure that you necessary gain IQ by dropping from 4.8 to 5.6. More likely you gain cost and size benefits. I could be wrong.
The thing that appeals to me about Fuji’s overall approach is they seem to be saying “We’ll take what everyone else is doing and we’ll do it better.” Right or wrong, that’s how I interpreted the move from 5.6 to 4.8 on the long end of this lens. Now it is one of several 18-135ish zooms that run 3.5 to 5.6. That said, maybe the IQ will blow us away and no one will even care about the 1/2 stop at the long end.
Doesn’t sound like a very Kaizen reason, so i hope it’s the quality thing. 😉 Surely price, size and weight are always part of it though. But even if the quality is great right out of the box, i really just don’t like any lens with F5.6 at the long end, that F4.8 was the limit for me so imho it isn’t an option anymore .. unless i’d happen to stumble upon a great deal (and it actually is quite good).
Maybe some day there will be a 16-90mm F4 or something like that, don’t really need the 90-135mm part anyway. (the 16-55 will be way too large for me, and the 18-55 is superb but simply missing any kind of short tele.)
At least the awesome 55-200 F3.5-4.8 became reality. 🙂
Damn Damn Damn…not sure if I will go for this then… Maybe they’ll make it 16-135, then it’s aight with me 🙂
This is disappointing. Already put my 18-55 and 50-200 on eBay. I will probably still buy it regardless. I hardly ever use zooms so I’d rather have one that covers a big range–and more room in my bag for primes.
If the 50-140 doesnt extend when you go through the zoom range (and it’s all done internally) then I will be a very happy camper when it comes out! Im hoping that and the 16-55mm f/2.8 lenses are going to be just as (if not better) in sharpness as most of the other lenses in the Fuji lineup. Now if the X-Pro2 when it comes out has all cross/phase type sensors then…whoo boy!!!
Of course it would have phase detection, all the latest upper level Fuji bodies do. Wouldn’t be a successor if it didn’t, would it! In fact I’d expect a little more than just updated focusing and processing by now, it’s about time for a whole new sensor, being their flagship and all. Bigger question would be, when..
I assume that czechphotoguy was hoping the PD pixel array was sensitive to lines that are both vertical and horizontal. Those are cross-type. The current Fuji X-bodies do not appear to have cross-type PDAF.
If you look closely at the pictures of the 16-55/2.8 and the 50-140/2.8 you can see that their respective zoom rings are set somewhere randomly in the middle of the range. I believe that indicates that both will have internal zoom.
One can hope the zoom internally but I wouldn’t make bets on that. I bet the zoom ring isn’t a working prototype from the shape of the lenses.
The 16-55, 50-140 and 18-135 are all on display at the Fuji showroom in Tokyo (although behind glass) and I can confirm that they are all working with no external moving parts. The glass is only moving internally (like in the Canon L, I think?), which is probably necessary for any weather resistant lens…
super nice!!!
Who cares? Just bring on those primes and keep them as small as you can. Can’t wait to see what the next step up from the 56 will be
There was never a mockup of an 18-135 3.5-4.8 (at least not shown at CP+). It has always been an 18-135 3.5-5.6 as you can see in this picture from CP+:
http://m.dc.watch.impress.co.jp/img/dcw/docs/635/061/html/m.022.jpg.html
Courtesy: Impress Watch Corporation
Look at the lens mockup which still has the correct information f/3.5-5.6. Probably someone made a mistake when printing the info label for the 18-135.
And I confirm that they have never written 4.8 after the CP+, although the same lens mockup is now at the Fuji Showroom in Tokyo.
According to the staff there, they should announce the availability and pricing by mid/late May (availability sometime in June for Japan).
Anyone have any news on pricing?