Telephoto lens for casual city / travel photography (50-140mm or 90mm)

PeterPanSyndrome wrote:

Hi,

I'm new to the forum My question is in bold below, the rest is just a bit of context.

When I'm out taking photos, I prefer walking around with just my X-H1 with the 16mm f/1.4. It's heavier than my old x-pro1 with my 23mm f/2, but much more comfortable to carry in my hand.

I always carry a backpack when taking photos. Not because I carry a lot of gear, but because I am fairly clumsy and want to put the camera/lens safely away when I have to take a crowded stairs or when I have to climb up a hill, etc.

I keep my 3 other lenses (23, 35 and 50 f/2) in my backpack, but rarely switch to them. I will still reach for the 50mm from time to time, but in all reality, it will typically not really allow me to zoom in sufficiently enough for what I want. So I tend to just accept the fact that I can't take all shots I want and stick to the 16mm focal length all day long. Pretty much similar to my x-pro1 days when all I had (and loved) was the 23mm f/2

I still think I eventually want to go for a longer lens as well though, just to be able to take those pictures I can't right now. Thinking I can simply leave my 23, 35 and 50mm lenses at home since I hardly ever take them out anyway, and just pack 1 useful telephoto in the backpack instead.

Would adding a 50-140mm f/2.8 as a second lens to my 16mm be a good choice or would you advise the 90mm f/2? My instinct says: 50-140mm. I learned to appreciate the extra stop the 16mm f/1.4 gives me over my old favorite 23mm f/2, but I assume it is less relevant for the telephoto?

I don't know much about photography yet, but I do know I want (1) weather-resistant lenses & (2) appreciate great low-light performance for my everyday lens. Knowing this, would you recommend the 50-140mm or the 90mm?

Peter

I´ve got both the XF 16 (that you have) and the XF 90. And while I would call the highly praised XF 16 as versatile, for me the XF 90 is the one of the main reasons, maybe even the main reason itself, to shoot Fuji. To me there´s no better lens in Fuji lineup if overall image quality and look of the photos is your thing. Being weather sealed and fast focusing are great additions. It´s a pure joy to use this lens. Here are some of my samples (I know they are mostly animal oriented, but you get the point about the rendering ) :

mike