Fuji Fuji XF 14mm f/2.8 - A full workout...

Ray, you're right: There is no problem with the HS people expressing interest or concern. But they were professional and didn't stop you, which you knew wouldn't be legal. But, by the same token, you were just as professional and cooperative.

Meanwhile... nice shots. I don't care who says what - Philly has the best city hall I have ever seen. It's worthy of a state capitol.

Re: the 14mm... I'd say if you're not sure you want to return it, then keep it.
 
Ray, you're right: There is no problem with the HS people expressing interest or concern. But they were professional and didn't stop you, which you knew wouldn't be legal. But, by the same token, you were just as professional and cooperative.
They know what they have to do. The guy essentially did stop me, but in the process was very clear that I was free to go at any time. Which I didn't see any percentage in doing. So I guess being very clear that I didn't have to be there meant he technically hadn't stopped me... But when he approached and engaged me, I stopped!

-Ray
 
Nice shots as always Ray. But I have a feeling you'd capture some good stuff even with the Fuji T500, if that is all you had to work with.

As for security stopping you, next time start shooting video of the exchange. I hear they really appreciate that. :D
 
I have a few HS friends, and they are mostly concerned with people shooting 5.56 or.223, 14mm isn't a national threat.
Besides, Bad people use google maps, they don't need to send out photographers like us for recon work.

So if you decide to dump this obviously horrible lens, how much would you be looking for? ;-)
 
I have a few HS friends, and they are mostly concerned with people shooting 5.56 or.223, 14mm isn't a national threat.
Besides, Bad people use google maps, they don't need to send out photographers like us for recon work.

So if you decide to dump this obviously horrible lens, how much would you be looking for? ;-)

Not sure how much good Google Maps do you for the underground infrastructure like tunnels. I was glad to see them there, frankly. In the aftermath of 9/11 and the subsequent train bombings, I had plenty of terrible thoughts when I'd take the train into Philly and enter into those rail tunnels about just how much damage someone could do, whether a fellow passenger, someone on foot, whatever.

As for the lens, I'm still well within the return window, so I'd probably return it for full price rather than sell it for less, but I'm getting more and more sure I'm gonna keep it anyway.

-Ray
 
Ray, how's the AF in terms of speed, accuracy, and noise relative to the other Fuji lenses?

Armando, I hate to even attempt to answer this question for you, because I sometimes don't even notice things that you find to be major problems on this kind of stuff. So when tolerances are as different as your's and mine on this stuff, I probably can't do you much good here. To me, it seems about on par with the 18 for speed, maybe slightly quieter, but probably just a bit more muffled by the mass of the lens. But realistically, I just did a bunch of test focusing with all three lenses and, with the exception of the 35 being slightly slower to focus in lower light/contrast situations, I seriously doubt that I could tell them apart blindfolded. They're all pretty much in the same ballpark to my sorry old ears, happily abused by decades of rock 'n roll... I can hear them but they don't even begin to bother me - just mildly re-assuring that the camera is actually doing something. I've been playing around with various compacts lately and they're all so totally silent when you turn the optional sounds off, that its mildly alarming - like, "HEY, is this thing turned ON"? But the same sounds may well exceed your pain threshold, so be warned!

-Ray
 
Thanks Ray! LOL, yes, my threshold is generally lower than yours! :) However, believe it or not, I have no beef against the whirring IBIS in the OMD!!

Have you tried the 18-55? That's pretty quiet relative to the 35/1.4, 18/2 and 60/2.4.
 
Thanks Ray! LOL, yes, my threshold is generally lower than yours! :) However, believe it or not, I have no beef against the whirring IBIS in the OMD!!

Have you tried the 18-55? That's pretty quiet relative to the 35/1.4, 18/2 and 60/2.4.

Does the sound of those lenses bother you? :confused:
 
Not the AF sound. But the chattering aperture blades in the past bothered me. They went away with the firmware upgrades, but made a return (on a less grandiose scale) when I had the 35/1.4 mounted on the XE1.
 
Thanks Ray! LOL, yes, my threshold is generally lower than yours! :) However, believe it or not, I have no beef against the whirring IBIS in the OMD!!

Have you tried the 18-55? That's pretty quiet relative to the 35/1.4, 18/2 and 60/2.4.
I actually find the whirring of the OMD mildly disconcerting on the rare occasion I hear it, but I've got to be in a pretty damn quiet place to ever notice it.

As for the zoom, nope, never tried it. The only zoom I ever anticipate getting for this system is maybe the 10-24, but that's far from certain and far from soon, in any case.

-Ray
 
I seem to have kept it this long and I think the return window may have closed behind me at this point, so its looking like a keeper. I think I'm moving in a direction toward Fuji at the wide end and normal part of the focal range with m43 mostly held in reserve for the portrait length and longer lenses and a couple of zooms. And having this 14mm along with my existing 18 and 35, and probably the 10-24 and 23mm when they show up should fill out my Fuji system. M43 will be everything north of that, the 12mm for street, and the 12-50 and 14-150 for those rare occasions I want a zoom. But I'll probably be selling a few m43 lenses in time over the next year. Likely the 9-18 will go once the Fuji 10-24 arrives, the 17mm (both of them!) should go once the Fuji 23 shows up, the 14 I should probably put up now. I'll probably keep the fisheye - don't use it much but its a pretty cool option once in a great while and it cost me very little.

We're spending a month on the Amalfi Coast his summer and I think the Fuji with my current three lenses will be my daily walk around kit, with the LX7 reserved for hiking and the OMD for more specialized uses. I just have to hope I don't fall too deeply into lust with the X100s, because I basically have zero place or use for it now that I've decided to stay with the X-Pro. But I'm going to be demo-ing one at some point and I suspect it will be a difficult thing to send back... Maybe I'll keep it instead of buying the 23 f1.4. It would be sort of stupid but probably a good rationalization! And with what I get for the Olympus 17mm duo, it might be just about a wash financially...

-Ray
 
We were there for about a day and a half back in 2010 as part of a 25th Anniversary Cruise. I hate cruises, so I treated it as a scouting trip to figure out where we'd like to go back and spend some real time. The Amalfi was probably the most beautiful combination of natural and human development I've ever seen. There are equally pretty natural settings and equally pretty cities and towns, but the combination of the two is just overwhelming in Positano, Amalfi, Ravello, and several other towns along the coast. I took a lot of shots I loved there in that day and a half. I hope to get quite a few more this summer. I think the 14mm will work really well there...

-Ray
 
Wow, that contrast! Nice photographs. :) I work professionally as a photographer, and I must say, that the camera is just the tool. The images you create depend highly upon how well you use that tool. You used that tool well.
 
I too am seriously thinking about this lens, and your pictures ain't helping, Ray...:) If only they would have been crap it would have made my life a little easier (not to mention protect my bank balance). But that lens (and your pictures) really look(s) very very nice indeed. It would be by far the most expensive lens I ever purchased though. It is about 850 Euro over here (1100 US$), but I do love the wide angel PoV. My favorite lens in my old M43 system, before my switch to Fuji, used to be the 9-18, and I think I can live with a prime in this case, especially if it is such a great performer as this one seems to be. I already have the 35mm and thinking about adding the 60 as well for 3 very high quality primes, with my Nikon P7700 as travel camera when photography is not the main goal of the trip. Guess it is time to check my bank account...:)
 
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