A day with the Fujinon XF150-600mm R LM OIS WR
Here comes the rain again.
I’m sitting on the train home after spending a day with fellow Fujifilm X-Photographer Kim Farrelly.. We’re in the ‘and Ireland’ brigade of Fujifilm UK and Ireland X-Photographers. We’re still blessed with opportunities to play with new gear, and today was a mix of playing with a pre production lens and social time. The day didn’t work quite as planned. The evening sun is streaming through the window right now, almost blinding me. The question is ‘Where were you earlier?’. Galway is the city of rain, so getting away from there seemed like a great option. Nope. Dublin teemed and poured, the east giving the west a run for its money.
ISO3200 f8 1/640 150mm
Oh Deer
Kim picked me up from the station at 10am, just as the first drops started. We made our way into the Phoenix Park, to photograph deer. Why deer? Well the lens in question is the 150-600mm telezoom. Yep, that’s a 900mm equivalent at f8. I can do that with the 70-300 and the 2X, but it’s at f11. Obviously that setup is compact, but the 1.4x and the 2X can be used with it. The 2X gives an f16 minimum aperture, so the dull day did mean higher ISOs to compensate for shutter speed. This isn’t a lens review. It’s simply me getting to play with a lens I’d like. With the dull day, I was using higher ISO to compensate for the lack of light.
ISO3200 f8 1/640 339.5mm
This is an OIS lens, but being pre production, the X-T4 I’m using doesn’t have the required firmware to use it correctly, I still felt that using OIS Continuous setting really helped me in framing shots on the long end of this lens. And let’s face it, you’re buying this lens for the long end. With that long end, wildlife is one of the things I would want this lens for. Kim has the lens for a long period and will get to do sports and visit the zoo, I just had today. Hence deer.
ISO3200 f8 1/800 600mm
The first thing you notice is the size. I’ve had the Sigma 80-400 (the Bigma) and the original Sigma 150-600 (for Canon), and the 150-600 is a different beast. It’s big and white, but the weight seems light for the size. It’s a mere 1605g, which for this range is superbly light. So much so that you don’t actually notice the weight on camera. Focus was fast for the deer, though later in the day it did struggle a little with birds and planes in a bright, cloudy sky. Most likely because it’s not set up for the camera yet.
ISO3200 f7.1 1/800 284.2mm As a WR (Weather Resistant) lens, I’d no fear shooting in this weather.
Walking in the rain
I debated bringing a monopod with me, and I do regret not packing it in the end. Not for weight, but for comfort. It also helps when carrying the camera and lens as the balance is around the collar point. The collar leg is shaped to Arca Swiss so you don’t need an additional mounting plate. After the deer, the plan was to go to Howth and shoot south. With the walk in the park, and traffic, it was lunchtime getting there so we popped into Whites of Howth for some of the best Fish & Chips I’ve ever had. Just as we were leaving, the heavens really opened. Tea and coffee was ordered, and more chat was had.
ISO800 f8 1/640 600mm
Eventually we had to leave and try our luck. The view from Howth summit when we got there was disappointing. Visibility was poor and rapidly decreasing. So we made our way in even more Friday traffic to Decathalon and Ikea for retail therapy. As time was pressing on, we went back to the train station. By this time, the rain had cleared, but it was still cloudy. A few swans were on the river and made for a nice subject. Then we noticed a heron, one of my favourite local birds. A good opportunity to try out the lens before giving it back.
ISO800 f8 1/160 600mm
Kim was kind enough to send on some shots of me with the lens as well. You know, to prove that I really did have it!
©2022 Kim Farrelly
©2022 Kim Farrelly
Extended Play
ISO 6400 f8 1/500 1200mm
I brought my 2X tele extender with me, for a 1200mm f16 version of the lens. The main issues doing this are stability at such a long focal length, and the need to increase your light intake to compensate for the high minimum aperture. I feel had the camera firmware for the lens been installed, the OIS would’ve negated the stability (or for that matter, a monopod). Software like On1’ NoNoise AI, or DxO Pure Raw would solve the latter issue. Usually with a 2X, you start to see a lot of softness in the shot, but it’s far better than what I had with Canon.
Pulling into the Station
So as I make it home, I enjoyed my day out. Great food and company, and getting to play with an unreleased lens. All in all, the weather did spoil play, but still I was able to get a feel for how useful this lens will be. The light weight and relatively compact size makes it perfect for sports and wildlife, especially if you fly. Would it be better as an f4-5.6 lens? Probably, but it wouldn’t be as mobile. As you can see, there’s a bunch of ISO3200 shots here, so bumping the ISO isn’t an issue for the one stop compensation required.
Like I said, this isn’t a review, but just getting to play. That said, this is an excellent and much needed addition to the Fujifilm lens collection. With the entire range going from 8mm to 600mm (1200 with the extender), there’s very little you can photograph that isn’t in that range. I think the final lenses they need to consider are tilt shift and fisheye, but they are very specialist.
