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Best AF lens for XT3?


Dustin
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Hey all, been a Fuji XT3 owner since August of 2020. Enjoying this system coming from Sony especially with the stock kit lens 18-55 f2.8-4. Seems though that affordable, af, native glass is Fuji’s gotcha. I’ve seen the Viltrox lineup around $300 per, is this the best, affordable, AF lens lineup for the x mount on video? I don’t think there is a nifty fifty in the Fuji range? I realize if I want to go manual there are a host of options… just wanting some opinions on cheap AF glass in the Fuji line.

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Viltrox seem to be great at tracking but for subjects moving in and out of frame you have abrupt focus transitions. The Fuji F2 line up is pretty good but there are a lot of random focus hunting issues. 

The 18-55 is actually the best lens I've used auto focus wise. Doesn't seem to hunt and tracks well. I've heard the OG Fuji 1.4 lenses are actually quite good, they just aren't as fast as newer lenses and are also a bit noisy. 

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1 hour ago, TomTheDP said:

Viltrox seem to be great at tracking but for subjects moving in and out of frame you have abrupt focus transitions. The Fuji F2 line up is pretty good but there are a lot of random focus hunting issues. 

The 18-55 is actually the best lens I've used auto focus wise. Doesn't seem to hunt and tracks well. I've heard the OG Fuji 1.4 lenses are actually quite good, they just aren't as fast as newer lenses and are also a bit noisy. 

Thanks! Yeah the price is really what attracts me to the viltrox. Should’ve named this best budget af lens for the money on Fuji. I’ll look at the f2 as well

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As you know Dustin, the XT3 was my workhorse for 2 seasons.

I would say the outright best AF lens was the 18-55 but for me, as a long end zoom user, f4 was too slow and I didn’t like the variable aperture in principle.

The 16-55 was probably the best lens for video native to Fuji. A bit too sharp, but a 1/8th mist would solve that and as they now come in variable ND flavour, this world be my first choice without question, effectively covering from 24-83mm in FF terms.

Fave zoom however was the Sigma 18-35 f1.8. A bit chunky, especially with the adaptor and lacking a bit in reach forcing a change to a longer prime when needed, but delivered my best results.

Fujis own 23mm and 50mm f2 both good but 35mm f2 not,

Avoid the faster primes for anything but manual focus, especially the 56mm f1.2

Best cheap AF lens is Canon’s 50mm f1.8 which costs about 100 $£€. Not the quietest but surprisingly good AF. It would do a little rack dance and then lock on which I could live with. If you can work with a 75mm equivalent focal length, which I could bring a 50-100mm man.

Little experience of Viltrox etc but the one unit I had, had a very loose aperture ring which drove me nuts.

 

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3 hours ago, MrSMW said:

As you know Dustin, the XT3 was my workhorse for 2 seasons.

I would say the outright best AF lens was the 18-55 but for me, as a long end zoom user, f4 was too slow and I didn’t like the variable aperture in principle.

The 16-55 was probably the best lens for video native to Fuji. A bit too sharp, but a 1/8th mist would solve that and as they now come in variable ND flavour, this world be my first choice without question, effectively covering from 24-83mm in FF terms.

Fave zoom however was the Sigma 18-35 f1.8. A bit chunky, especially with the adaptor and lacking a bit in reach forcing a change to a longer prime when needed, but delivered my best results.

Fujis own 23mm and 50mm f2 both good but 35mm f2 not,

Avoid the faster primes for anything but manual focus, especially the 56mm f1.2

Best cheap AF lens is Canon’s 50mm f1.8 which costs about 100 $£€. Not the quietest but surprisingly good AF. It would do a little rack dance and then lock on which I could live with. If you can work with a 75mm equivalent focal length, which I could bring a 50-100mm man.

Little experience of Viltrox etc but the one unit I had, had a very loose aperture ring which drove me nuts.

 

Thanks again for your thoughts sir! I suppose I actually wish that I had gotten the 2.8 but honestly the 18-55 isn’t bad at all for what it is. Now that it’s getting nice I’m itching to start shooting again so I’m brainstorming what I want in my Arsenal. I’m thinking picking up a prime for the longer end 50mm ish will give me enough options to keep happy since f4 at 50mm isn’t bad not quite as fun as f2 or 1.4…

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Just to add, when I talk about f4, for me it's more a low light thing than shallow DOF 'issue'.

F4 is f4 for light gathering regardless of sensor size (though that one will be debated forever in some quarters) but equivalent to f6 in FF terms re. shallowness of DOF.

I'll take a faster aperture over a higher ISO if I can and this for me has always been the issue, the smaller the sensor, but anyway...

I'd be tempted to just go 18-55 and ONLY if it flags up any shortcomings, look beyond that.

Depends on your needs...

I have an f4 zoom for my FF camera and on anything other than a very bright day, it's not for me for indoor use.

2.8's are better/borderline and 1.8's and faster, night and day difference.

It also depends on your screen, EVF or LCD resolutions. Not that they directly affect image quality, but how you see things when shooting and f4 at a higher ISO on my S5 vs f1.8 at a much lower ISO on my S1H, again, night and day difference and as you age and your eyesight gets steadily worse, anything we can claw back is a good thing!

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1 hour ago, MrSMW said:

Just to add, when I talk about f4, for me it's more a low light thing than shallow DOF 'issue'.

F4 is f4 for light gathering regardless of sensor size (though that one will be debated forever in some quarters) but equivalent to f6 in FF terms re. shallowness of DOF.

I'll take a faster aperture over a higher ISO if I can and this for me has always been the issue, the smaller the sensor, but anyway...

I'd be tempted to just go 18-55 and ONLY if it flags up any shortcomings, look beyond that.

Depends on your needs...

I have an f4 zoom for my FF camera and on anything other than a very bright day, it's not for me for indoor use.

2.8's are better/borderline and 1.8's and faster, night and day difference.

It also depends on your screen, EVF or LCD resolutions. Not that they directly affect image quality, but how you see things when shooting and f4 at a higher ISO on my S5 vs f1.8 at a much lower ISO on my S1H, again, night and day difference and as you age and your eyesight gets steadily worse, anything we can claw back is a good thing!

For me it’s a budget thing. I only shoot for fun not for money so as much as I’d want the 16-55, other hobbies and life needs come first haha. The primes are tempting 

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49 minutes ago, Marcio Kabke Pinheiro said:

@MrSMW, what is the issue with the 35mm f/2? (got it - since I like the 50mm eq. focal lenght - but did not tested it too much; living in a Covid ravaged place does not let too much testing time).

Do you have the XC or XF version? 

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Terrible pulsing AF!

For whatever reason, the 23 and 50 F2’s seem to suffer much less.

Video-centric lenses is a Fuji weakness IMO.

Maybe with an XH2, they might make something, but who knows…

To tempt me back, I’d need the glass as well as the body and for me right now, somebody else does it better.

Dustin, 18-55 then and as I said before, only consider anything else if that doesn’t work for your needs.

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1 minute ago, MrSMW said:

Oh and as it’s an XT3 body, the 18-55 is a bit of no-brained as it has OIS!

Right I love the 18-55 I have for the OIS. I may wait a year and upgrade to the XT4. I will add, handheld with the xt3 has way less rolling shutter than the Sony stuff.

I think I’m going to price shop but will pick up either a 35 or 50ish prime. Wanting around $200 used or new with AF, which is why I might have to jump to $300.

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On 6/14/2021 at 7:34 PM, Dustin said:

Thanks! Yeah the price is really what attracts me to the viltrox. Should’ve named this best budget af lens for the money on Fuji. I’ll look at the f2 as well

The F2 lenses are nice I just never found them to be great with continuous auto focus for video. I'd probably go with Viltrox if I was going the Fuji path again. 

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9 hours ago, TomTheDP said:

The F2 lenses are nice I just never found them to be great with continuous auto focus for video. I'd probably go with Viltrox if I was going the Fuji path again. 

Have one coming next week. 33mm 1.4. Looking forward to it

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