Aloha, this is not a review btw

I’ve recently had the opportunity to give my first impressions of an upcoming unreleased lens from Fujifilm, the 18mm f1.4 WR lens. A special thank you to the team at Fujifilm Singapore and Ivan for loaning me this unit to test it out - especially when I had a pre-wed session and an actual day wedding scheduled.

Then, inspired (or perhaps overly sick that my brain stopped functioning), I’ve decided to get out of my comfort zone and take it one step further - cue dramatic music - MAKE A VIDEO! I’m a huge consumer of plenty of channels on YouTube, and here’s my extremely budget/amateur version hahaha.

Of course, if you’re not into videos, you can read through the remaining blog to see some of the sample images that I shot, as well as my initial take on the lens. Once again, a disclaimer here - I’m not an extremely technical person so I’m not diving too much into specs and numbers and stuff.

Size comparison 18mm f2 vs 18mm f1.4 vs 16mm f1.4

Sizing up the differences

First up, I did a size comparison to some of the lenses that I already own - the 18mm f2 as well as the 16mm f1.4. As you can tell from the images, the 18mm f2 is half the size of the new 18mm f1.4. But what’s interesting is that the 18mm f1.4 is almost identical in size compared to the 16mm f1.4.

I also did a quick test snapping the 18mm f1.4 unto my smaller X-T20 (compared to the X-T3 and X-T4) to test if it feels unnatural/out of place/awkward looking. Glad to report that the weight is well distributed and X-T30 users and X-T20 users need not worry if they are afraid that it might end up front heavy.

Pre-wedding session samples

Next up, some images that I’ve snapped during a pre-wedding session with An Qi and Gary. So glad they were onboard this when I told them about being my guinea pigs hahaha

Tried to go ‘Metal Gear Solid’ on a construction site. Mission failed.

Again, without going too technical, I primarily found that the 18mm f1.4 offered up super sharp images, even when I shot wide open at f1.4 (it’s nuts!). The focal length also allowed me to photograph the couple how I envisioned it to be as you can tell from the images above.

Wedding day samples

Next up - some images from an actual day wedding and this was when I truly felt that the 18mm f1.8 was in its element (pun not intended! It’s poor). Thanks to Denise and Timothy for these images too!

The focal length at 18mm is wide enough for me to not over tell a story - especially if one is too trigger happy in the digital age. You don’t want to over complicate things whilst getting your message through. Getting the right composition without cropping too much during post-processing definitely helped in shortening the editing time. I’d say this focal length is right up there with the 16mm as my favs as far as storytelling lenses go.

The usually tricky lighting conditions in some situations proved not to be a worry at all. The auto-focusing was 'The Flash’ fast. Bonkers.

Car workshop samples

I had to quickly drop by CarTimes Autolution to get my car serviced and what better time to test the lens out further? I only had 15 minutes because that was how fast the servicing took hahaha. Efficiency at its best. Thank you Ben and CarTimes for giving me permission to photograph these.

The images (even when shooting indoors) turned out to be crispier than the spicy chicken skin from KFC’s. That was what I took away after reviewing the images back home. Even in low-light situations, auto-focusing was bang on, easy peasy Did someone turned on ‘God-mode’ in a video game?

Street samples

Before I get blasted by street photography purists (oh oh this is not street photography), I just wanted to say that photography should be for everyone. I mean, as long as someone is out shooting on the street, that’s street photography for me. We shouldn’t be too quick to judge to blast someone just because they’re trying. Let’s all try to encourage one another instead of putting another person down yea?

Back to the topic on hand - I own the smaller 18mm f2 and when fixed on my X-T20, it is like the ultimate machine in my opinion for street photography. That’s my combo whenever I’m out in the streets of Hanoi - discreet and not too in your face. I really like the 18mm crop sensor focal length (28mm for full-frame) when it comes to street. Yes more so than the 16mm (which can be a little too wide sometimes) and the 23mm. This again is my opinion, and I know a lot of peeps prefer the 23mm and the 35mm when it comes to street.

There. I love the 18mm focal length for street. The newer 18mm f1.4 definitely focuses much faster than the swirly whirly 18mm f2 and come to think about it, the shots in focus were perhaps 9 out of 10 times that day (of course, the missed 1 shot could be due to user problem LOL).

I had only spent approximately 1-hour out to photograph these images and I wished I had more time, but any longer I would have been sunburnt. The weather these days have been on steroids.

Conclusion

I’d say the lens ranks up there with my fastest focusing lenses. The fastest focusing lens that I own currently in my opinion, is the 35mm f2 and I’d say the 18mm f2 is right up there. I feel that the 18mm f1.4 is going to be right up there with the big boys in terms of image sharpness, build quality as well as focusing speed. If you’re looking to do a little landscape photography, astro photography even, interior/architecture, or street photography - do consider this lens when it’s out, especially if you do not own the 16mm f1.4 already. And no I’m not sponsored to do this post btw. It’s a genuine take on the lens! #truth

That’s all I have for you folks - I hope you enjoyed the images and the read. I will catch up with you guys soon again!

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Shot with the Fujifilm X-T3 + 18mm f1.4 WR and edited on ACR