A Really Good Lens; Much Better Than Expected

Today was my first outing with my new 14mm f/2.8. I really had a hard time deciding if I should get this lens or not. I already own the excellent Rokinon 12mm f2.0 and was not sure what value the 14mm might add to my kit. Last month as discussions revolved around the 14mm because of the $400 discount, I jumped in and ordered one from B&H Photo. But, the 14mm was on backorder with no prediction of when they would get more. That gave me the opportunity to reconsider and I cancelled my order. But, as I reviewed my use the 12mm, the less wide 14mm began to make more sense, especially with the choice of autofocus or manual focus just by pulling or pushing the focus ring. I had owned the Olympus 12mm f2.0 and 17mm f1.8 and both had the same snapshot feature, as Olympus called it, that I made frequent use of. I also liked that, unlike the Rokinon, the 14mm had both distance and DOF scales. So I submitted another order and my new 14mm was in my hands less than 24 hours later.

My 14mm came in with a fresh supply, hot off the boat so to speak, and already had the latest 3.10 firmware loaded. Some of the review sites and users, as well, mentioned that the aperture ring is too loose and should be checked when shooting. But, the aperture ring on my copy is firm enough that I don't see this as an issue; perhaps Fuji corrected that issue.

There were a couple of surprises out of the box, I was not expecting. At first I could not get the lens into manual focus mode, pulling the focus ring back and even setting the front switch to M on my X-E2 did not work. At first I thought I got a lemon until I realized that I had the Auto+MF set to on and it had to be off. Once I changed the setting, the lens worked flawlessly. The little user's guide for the lens warn's about the the AF-L not working with the 14mm and that the viewfinder/LCD distance scale would no longer be available but, there was no clear mention of the Auto+MF feature. After sorting that out and verifying that everything worked, I was ready for today's outing. Nothing special, just wandering here and there to grab shots in both manual and autofocus. I really like the distance scale it put the focus right where I wanted it verified with magnify and peaking. The 14mm is a definite keeper in my book. The images are all ooc jpegs

It's a beauty alright, pretty much without distortion too. I didn't know about Auto+MF spoiling the fun, so thanks for that.  I tried that out when it was brand new in firmware, but didn't like the auto jump to 100% view - maybe that's configurable now?

The 14mm is pretty special. I use mine mainly for street and for including an element close the camera in a landscape and close landscape infrared but rarely for large expanses where distant detail is lost so I prefer longer FLs. For IR I use MF set f8 and hyperfocal but unlike your sample I need to keep checking the aperture and distance haven't moved which is a real nuisance - similar but not quite so bad on my 23mm.

Yeah,totally agree,very easy to use with nd filters too.

Very nice work Rattler, good editing too.

Those are beautiful photos. I only started doing landscapes last year and still have a lot to lear. I'm hoping to get in more this summer and hopefully improve. I have a good polarizer and variable ND filter I bought over the winter, but beyond a fest test shots I haven't really used them.

Beautiful shots.  I just bought a 10 stop ND and polarizer for my 16. I need to get out and use it on some water if I could find some.....  Is this a 10-stop?  Combined with polarizer?

RATTLER wrote:

Yeah,totally agree,very easy to use with nd filters too.

These shots are amazing!   I have this lens but my shots don't look anything like these. 😉

RATTLER -  You must tell us what you did on those pics (filters and post processing).  Outstanding in my book and really like them!

Thanks for comments guys.
First off with the raw files I have to convert to Dng,then import into lightroom.
Then its the basic stuff really,lighten shadows,bring down highlights,sharpen etc.
I always then import into P.S for later editing,usually using Nik colour effex.I like the tonal contrast filter,but not on the sky,I then pretty much play about with effects.Its pretty hard to explain really as Im sure you understand as every image is different.
This lens does make things a lot easier though and is great for I.R too.