Fuji has announced the new the first XF telephoto zoom lens for the X-Series, the XF55-200mm F3.5-F4.8 R LM OIS lens. The new lens will work the Fuji X-Pro1 and X-E1 mirrorless cameras, which will also be receiving new firmware to improve autofocus performance (coming in July according to Fuji).
Fuji claims the image stabilization in the new 55-200mm lens will provide up to 4.5 stops of performance for slower shutter speeds. If my math is right, that’s effectively touting the ability to shoot clean images at 200mm and around a 1/15-1/20 shutter speed if you take into account the 1.5x crop factor for your standard shutter speed-to-focal length ratio.
The lens sports two ED elements and one Super ED element for better performance and chromatic aberration suppression. Minimum focus distance is 1.1m across the entire zoom range. Both the focus ring and the aperture ring are metal construction, and the aperture ring offers 1/3EV steps.
The lens retails for $699 and is currently available for pre-order here at B&H Photo and here at Adorama.
Here we go again- and yet no one ever points out the Lumix FZ200 which has the entire camera for the same price and sports a spectacular lens (my opinion after field work) for sharpness and contrast that has a constant f2.8 aperture throughout the zoom range. There is some sort of “cache complex” which drives these “prime lens” reviews. This is, of course, solely the opinion of this writer. VRR