Fuji My full Review of the Zeiss Touit 12mm f/2.8 is done...

Unless you need 12mm. It's not that the Zeiss is a bad lens. Far from it...it's quite a good lens, but the Fuji 14 is just a little bit better, plus it's smaller, plus it has better manual focus feel, plus it's cheaper....etc.
 
Good to know I won't be tempted to spend my money on the 12mm since I already have the 14mm :tongue:

I love wide angle but unless something else surprising comes along it looks like the 14mm and eventually the 10-24 will be where it's at for me.
 
Well ... I liked the extra width ... the build ... and I figured ... what the hell. I agree the value isn't there when compared to the 14mm ... but ... what the hell ... at least this overpriced German lens autofocuses.

Gary
 
"Ich bin ein Berliner Autofokus"

I am an autofocus jelly donut, or something like that.

So the 14 and I did some street walking today (with the X-E1, don't giggle Gary). I set the ISO to Auto 1600, the f stop to 8 and manual focus to infinity then I just shot...a lot. Hip shots while walking or not, some shots I like some shots were garbage. If my hunch told me that infinity/A-ISO 1600/F8 wasn't right for a quick photo opportunity, it took a second to switch the lens to autofocus and spin the aperture to auto. I know the Fuji 35 is considered the jewel of the Fujinon line, but the 14 operational design seems more evolved.

So Gary how is the manual focus, aperture setting and general usage of the ZT 12 compared to the XF 14?
 
I rarely MF, but playing with the ring ... seems okay. Well dampened and smooth. Much better than most µ4/3 lens, similar to other Fujis. The aperture is a ring ... you turn it and the aperture changes. It has clicks for 1/3 stops ... which is nice. You turn the aperture to the end and you're in 'A'. It is a beautiful lens, large compared to the 14mm. The 12mm to 18-55 step is much nicer than the 14mm to 18-55 step. No distance scale on the lens. I haven't had a Zeiss since my Hasselblad. Sorta nice to be holding an old family friend. I picked up an ND filter ... so this week maybe I'll hit the beach.

Gary
 
Not much not to like about a 18mm equivalent FOV! Enjoy it Gary (y)

I seem to like 14-16mm on FF the best when it comes to UWA so I wouldn't mind the 12mm over the 14mm simply for the wider FOV alone. But given the cost differential and the Fuji being as good as it is, I can hang in there and wait for the 10-24mm zoom to go *really* wide. Though I will say that extra stop at f/2.8 is nice for both shallow DoF and light gathering, even on a very wide lens.
 
I have the Canon 16-35 f/2.8 which I really enjoy. The 12mm gets pretty close to that UWA on the 16mm end. I hate using a flash, so the extra speed is significant for how I shoot. (Plus the camera store gave me instant credit for the 14mm ... so I only had to make up the difference.
 
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