Phoenix
All-Pro
- Location
- Melbourne, Australia
- Name
- Phoenix Gonzales
This is not a review of the 16mm 1.4, there are already heaps of reviews of this lens all over the net.
This is just my personal rambling regarding the 16mm framelines in the OVF.
Finally bit the bullet and got the 16mm 1.4 today (which pretty much means I'll be living off 2 minute noodles for the rest of the year).
I shoot primarily with the OVF, and the framelines of the 16mm fits the wide magnification of the OVF, for someone who shoots primarily with the OVF this is a big deal (if you shoot primarily with the EVF it would probably be best to probably stop reading here and just carry on living your life), let me explain; I use the 35 1.4 as my daily lens, everything about it just compliments the way I shoot. The framelines fills 85%-90% of the OVF using the standard magnification, it feels so natural that I can see how the image will look like before I even raise the camera to my eye. After awhile I felt like shooting something wider, there are also times where the 35 was just too tight (try shooting around Japan, you'll know what I mean) so I ended up buying the 23mm 1.4, it's slightly wider than the 35, it opens up to 1.4, I was essentially expecting a slightly wider version of the 35 1.4 (whoooboy, guess who was in for a rude awekening).
Straight off I noticed that I can't use the standard OVF magnification, the lens was too wide and the framelines cannot fit in the OVF, so I used the wide OVF magnification and found the framelines to be tight, tighter than the 35 1.4 on the standard OVF magnification. I really wanted to like the 23mm 1.4 but I just found it to be neither here nor there, frustrating to use, and as natural as shoving a cocktail onion up my nostril, mind you there is nothing wrong with the lens, it was a fantastic piece of glass, the problem lies with the idiot behind the camera, so I abandoned the idea of shooting wide.
After awhile I felt like shooting wide again, and when the 16mm 1.4 was announced, the idea of shooting something wide that can open up to 1.4 really tempted me. I finally saved enough to buy it and started to research about it's framelines in the OVF, I was surprised to find that there is almost no information about it online (I thought to myself "bloody hell, here we go again"), this is probably because most people are using it with the EVF of the newer X models.
First thing I did when I got the lens was to check the OVF framelines, as expected it was too wide for the standard OVF magnification, however it fits the wide OVF magnification perfectly, the corners are the framelines. I used my phone to take a photo, here's what it looks like
There is significant finder blockage when the standard hood is attached, this can be alleviated by removing the lens hood or by using the after market 16mm lens hood. Here's a comparison between the stock lens hood and the aftermarket 16mm lens hood (LH-XF16)
So far I am really liking this lens, I'm sure I'll learn more about it that as I put it though it's paces.
This is just my personal rambling regarding the 16mm framelines in the OVF.
Finally bit the bullet and got the 16mm 1.4 today (which pretty much means I'll be living off 2 minute noodles for the rest of the year).
I shoot primarily with the OVF, and the framelines of the 16mm fits the wide magnification of the OVF, for someone who shoots primarily with the OVF this is a big deal (if you shoot primarily with the EVF it would probably be best to probably stop reading here and just carry on living your life), let me explain; I use the 35 1.4 as my daily lens, everything about it just compliments the way I shoot. The framelines fills 85%-90% of the OVF using the standard magnification, it feels so natural that I can see how the image will look like before I even raise the camera to my eye. After awhile I felt like shooting something wider, there are also times where the 35 was just too tight (try shooting around Japan, you'll know what I mean) so I ended up buying the 23mm 1.4, it's slightly wider than the 35, it opens up to 1.4, I was essentially expecting a slightly wider version of the 35 1.4 (whoooboy, guess who was in for a rude awekening).
Straight off I noticed that I can't use the standard OVF magnification, the lens was too wide and the framelines cannot fit in the OVF, so I used the wide OVF magnification and found the framelines to be tight, tighter than the 35 1.4 on the standard OVF magnification. I really wanted to like the 23mm 1.4 but I just found it to be neither here nor there, frustrating to use, and as natural as shoving a cocktail onion up my nostril, mind you there is nothing wrong with the lens, it was a fantastic piece of glass, the problem lies with the idiot behind the camera, so I abandoned the idea of shooting wide.
After awhile I felt like shooting wide again, and when the 16mm 1.4 was announced, the idea of shooting something wide that can open up to 1.4 really tempted me. I finally saved enough to buy it and started to research about it's framelines in the OVF, I was surprised to find that there is almost no information about it online (I thought to myself "bloody hell, here we go again"), this is probably because most people are using it with the EVF of the newer X models.
First thing I did when I got the lens was to check the OVF framelines, as expected it was too wide for the standard OVF magnification, however it fits the wide OVF magnification perfectly, the corners are the framelines. I used my phone to take a photo, here's what it looks like
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
There is significant finder blockage when the standard hood is attached, this can be alleviated by removing the lens hood or by using the after market 16mm lens hood. Here's a comparison between the stock lens hood and the aftermarket 16mm lens hood (LH-XF16)
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
So far I am really liking this lens, I'm sure I'll learn more about it that as I put it though it's paces.