First Look: Fuji 10-24mm f/4 Sample Photos and First Impressions by David Hobby

Mar 16, 2014

DL Cade

strobistfuji1

While in Dubai for GPP 2014, David Hobby (aka. Strobist) got a chance to play around with the yet-unreleased Fuji 10-24mm f/4 lens. He was kind enough to send us a link to his final images along with permission to share them, but we’ll warn you: if you’re a Fuji lover who isn’t looking to spend money, you’ll want to look away… she’s a beauty.

There are five sample shots in all, each of which are accompanied by descriptions that we’ve included in the captions. Of course, if you want the full effect, you’re going to want to head over to Hobby’s Flickr set and check these out in high-res.

At the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, I worked the entire trip with the Fuji 10-24mm, which was made for that place. Even at 10mm, you can't hold it all as a straight vertical. So I keystoned it (pointing the camera up and getting converging lines) and brought the verticals back in Photoshop. There were a lot of people in the same spot shooting at this gorgeous mix hour. Many were in front of me. But with the X-T1's articulating finder I held the camera up high over my head to avoid them. With the OIS, this unwieldy grip did not matter. Everything was tack. — At the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, I worked the entire trip with the Fuji 10-24mm, which was made for that place.

Even at 10mm, you can’t hold it all as a straight vertical. So I keystoned it (pointing the camera up and getting converging lines) and brought the verticals back in Photoshop.

There were a lot of people in the same spot shooting at this gorgeous mix hour. Many were in front of me. But with the X-T1’s articulating finder I held the camera up high over my head to avoid them. With the OIS, this unwieldy grip did not matter. Everything was tack.

This is a good example of the Fuji 10-24mm f/4's rectilinear look, even all the way zoomed out to 10mm. This lens if going to make a lot of architectural and real estate shooters very happy. — This is a good example of the Fuji 10-24mm f/4’s rectiliniear look, even all the way zoomed out to 10mm. This lens if going to make a lot of architectural and real estate shooters very happy.

The 15mm (FF) equivalent of the Fuji 10-24mm zoom makes views possible that are not doable with less wide lenses. Even here, I was at 10mm, and pushing it to get everything within the arch. But what I love is how straight the lens is -- superwide zooms just aren't supposed to be this straight. They generally go from barrel to pincushion, with a straight-line moment happening about halfway through the zoom. This thing is remarkably straight through the range. — The 15mm (FF) equivalent of the Fuji 10-24mm zoom makes views possible that are not doable with less wide lenses. Even here, I was at 10mm, and pushing it to get everything within the arch.

But what I love is how straight the lens is — superwide zooms just aren’t supposed to be this straight. They generally go from barrel to pincushion, with a straight-line moment happening about halfway through the zoom. This thing is remarkably straight through the range.

The optical image stabilization on the Fuji 10-22mm f/4 zoom is *ridiculous*. I have been making sharp, hand-held images at 2 seconds+. This one is at a ½ second. Combo of short focal length and great OIS is insane.

We won’t deign to draw any conclusions just from having looked at a few samples, but Hobby had this to say after trying out the new glass:

This thing is the real deal: Tack sharp wide open, surprisingly rectilinear and with RIDICULOUS optical image stabilization.

Don’t know about you, but we’re salivating. Check out the captions above for more detailed impressions, and then be sure to head over to the full Flickr set to check out the high-res files yourself. Oh, and if you’re ready to give in to temptation, you can pre-order the lens (which is supposed to ship by the end of the month) at this link.