Fuji X-Ploits; Details Are Captured Well With The X-Trans Sensor

X-T1, 55-200mm lens @ 200mm; 1/1500th @ f/4.8 (wide open); ISO 200; 56% of original file (click to enlarge)

Many of my images can be found at www.dennismook.com.  Please pay it a visit.  I add new images regularly. I've just added a gallery featuring all M4/3 images.  Soon, I will be adding a gallery of all Fuji X-Trans images. Thank you.

I wanted to see how well the X-Trans sensor held on to small, fine details.  The image above is a crop of about 1/2 of a frame of an image from a working fishing boat.  The image below was also made at the same time, but has not been cropped.  As you can see, the X-T1 with the 55-200mm lens performed admirably—even though I forgot to turn off the OIS with such a fast shutter speed.  In some other branded cameras/lenses with image stabilization, if you forget to turn it off at such high shutter speeds, the image stabilization function can actually degrade the image by moving lens elements ever so slightly.  No need for OIS over 1/500th second, in my opinion.

Typically, in long ratio zoom lenses reaching into the telephoto range, such as the Fujifilm 55-200mm lens, two negative issue arise.  First, when used wide open, the image quality is not what would be acceptable to me and many others.  To remedy that, we stop down 1 to 2 stops to increase resolution and sharpness.  Second, at the longest focal lengths of long zoom lenses, the image quality is typically not the best, due to optical compromises that have to be made in order to reach the long/wide zoom ranges.  To remedy that, we typically pull back slightly and not use it at its longest focal length in order to ensure the best image quality.

X-T1, 55-200mm lens @ 200mm; 1/1800th @ f/4.8 (wide open); ISO 200

With this Fujifilm 55-200mm f/3.5-4.8 lens, I really feel I don't have to worry about either of those two issues.  These images are sharp, contrasty and meets my high standards.  The lens does just fine at any focal length and any aperture.

Thank you Fuji for producing a wonderful lens at a very low price.


Thanks for looking.  Enjoy!

Dennis Mook

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