The Fuji XF 150-600mm lens, box and accessories.
Having used the Fuji XF 100-400mm lens extensively for my wildlife and landscape photography I was very excited to hear about the launch of the Fuji XF 150-600mm F5.6-8 R LM OIS WR lens. While I had no complaints about the super telephoto lens that I already owned, in my mind the Fuji XF 150-600mm would offer me a number of benefits:
Longer maximum focal length
Internal zoom
Less reliance on a teleconverter
Even better image quality in some scenarios due to newer lens design and less use of a teleconverter
With this in mind I pre-ordered the lens, received it at launch and headed out to see what wildlife I could find to photograph. Below is a female Chaffinch which is one of the first images I captured using the new lens. The first image shows my preferred crop (a minor aspect ratio change from out of camera), the second is a smaller crop of the same image to show more of the detail on the bird:
When reviewing this initial image in my editing software I was very pleased with the sharpness and detail that was captured. Unfortunately the “internet” versions shown here are lower quality than my RAW files but hopefully they show some of the capabilities of the lens.
While on location with this lens I was using the Fuji X-T3 camera body. Most of my time was spent photographing static birds as there was lack of birds in flight that were suitable subjects. In the static scenarios I was presented with I felt that the autofocus found my subjects quickly and accurately and this helped me get a number of photographs that I am pleased with. As any wildlife photographer will know, small birds perched on a branch, object or on the ground can still prove difficult for both photographer and camera due to their small size, foliage and other obstructions, changing light and because they often don’t stay in the same spot for long. In my very limited opportunities to photograph birds in flight again I felt the camera and lens combination did a good job; although I was only out to test the lens I was able to capture some sharp images of gulls that flew past. I would love to try the Fuji XF 150-600mm F5.6-8 R LM OIS WR with the newly released Fuji X-H2S camera as I feel this combination may offer some benefits for wildlife photography, focusing and tracking birds in flight etc.
A young Great Spotted Woodpecker captured on Fuji X-T3 and XF 150-600mm lens.
Throughout my first shoot I felt that my new lens performed very well and I was comfortable using it handheld for most of the time that I was out. It comes with a strap which is very comfortable and the lens is well balanced which is an asset for both handheld and tripod use. The zoom ring is nice and smooth, as is the aperture ring which has a nice soft click to it as it is turned. On my first shoot I did not use the focus ring as the autofocus worked very well for my needs. At the front of the lens are four focus control buttons which I found quite useful and I am sure these will get a lot of use from me when photographing wildlife.
Chaffinch captured on Fuji X-T3 with XF 150-600mm lens.
Towards the end of my shoot dropping light levels resulted in me having to use higher ISO values to get the correct exposure on my photographs. With a camera such as the X-T3 this is not such an issue as it once was and I was still able to capture very good quality images. The following image of a female Great Spotted Woodpecker was captured using ISO 2500. In wildlife photography terms this is not an excessively high ISO but it was still a reasonable test of image quality on the Fuji X-T3 with the XF 150-600mm lens. Having looked closely at the image I am really pleased with the result, the noise is very manageable (thanks to the camera sensor) but what I was most keen to inspect was the detail captured on the bird at this ISO level. The fine, small details have been captured sharply - a very good result considering the overcast conditions and my camera settings.
Female Great Spotted Woodpecker captured on Fuji X-T3 with XF 150-600mm lens.
Overall I am very pleased with the Fuji XF 150-600mm F5.6-8 R LM OIS WR lens based on my first shoot. It is a very manageable weight considering the focal length it covers, and due to the internal zoom it feels well balanced. In my opinion it has helped produced some very sharp and detailed images with pleasing colours and I am looking forward to using it again soon.
I have produced a video showing my first shoot with this lens which is available on my YouTube channel Wayne Robertson Photography. You can watch the video by clicking here. Also, a few weeks after my first shoot, I’ve now published my full review of the Fuji XF 150-600mm lens. My review contains lots of information about the lens and shows 27 photographs and 7 videos captured using this lens. The review is available to watch here. If you’d like to see my future wildlife and landscape photography shoots with this Fuji lens then be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel.
