I went walkabout the other day while there was a bit of good weather, and by that, I mean dry and bright, because it certainly wasn't warm. I wanted to try out the Fuji 50-140 f2.8 in daylight. I've already reviewed the lens under studio conditions which you can see HERE. I ended up shooting some street photography and capturing something I wouldn't have thought possible, handholding at the equivalent of 210mm at 1/28th of a second and getting a sharp image. I had to double check the Exif Data on this one because I thought I was seeing things. As you can see from the crop above, this is again very sharp and I'm shooting wide open at f2.8. You can see the street shots I took processed in B&W using Silver Efex Pro over at 35mmStreet. But have a look at some colour shots before you go.
Before I reached the streets I went for a walk near the Science Centre by The River Clyde in Glasgow (Scotland). The next few pictures should show how sharp this thing is. It does take the X Series on a different direction because when the 50-140mm is attached to an X body, gone is that feeling of small, discreet, fly on the wall photography. It's a big lens and it feels and looks like a 70-200mm. The size of the camera doesn't really matter. I was using the X-T1 with the battery grip.
Colour, as always with Fuji, looks great. It was late afternoon, but the sun was already dropping fast
I'm not that into the look of these trees in the background, it’s a bit jaggy and distracting. But I think this is more to do with the shape of the greenery, rather than the lens. I say this because the next photo (bellow) is not like this at all.
I love the articulated screen on the X-T1, but I didn't think I needed one until I used it on the X-M1 when it came out and loved it. At f2.8 and with the camera so low, you can see just how buttery this lens can be. Focus is fast, silent and locks on easily on even the most difficult scenes.
I tried hard, but I just couldn't get any lens flare at all. The sun was bright and I was shooting towards it, but between the glass and that deep hood, there was zero flare.
When I shoot street photography with a 35mm, I mostly keep moving. But with this long zoom I found it lends itself to finding a good spot and waiting for interesting subjects to pass through. I can't say that I felt comfortable walking around with this lens attached to the X-T1 with battery grip, as I like to be as invisible as possible with my X100S or as I was when the sun went down on this day, with my X-Pro1 and the 18mm f2. But as this won't be a regular thing, I actually enjoyed it for what it was.
No problem shooting from across a busy street, as although it's a large lens, you can be a good distance away. Again you can see more street photography with this lens over at 35mmStreet
