The Telephoto Lens I Never Thought I’d Own
Since I switched to the Fujifilm camera system, I have spent countless hours carefully searching for my new arsenal of lenses. Since I wasn’t able to fully convert my old canon glass to the Fujifilm X-T3 body, I had to search for all new glass. For the first year and a half of using this new system, I only had three lenses; their 18-55 kit lens, the 80mm Macro lens, and the 7artisans 35mm lens. Through my adventures with the small collection I had, I found myself thinking, ‘man, if I could only zoom in a bit further’. I began my research on what I would want in a telephoto lens. The only other telephoto lens I’ve ever used was the 70 to 300mm from Canon. I liked it, but I honestly don’t think I used it was much as I thought that I would. Though, after traveling in Aruba and visiting some state parks, I knew that I would need to add one soon specifically for landscapes.
I decided to visit my local camera store and received the best advice from the Fujifilm expert, Robert. After careful consideration and turning his offer down at first, I decided to give the Fujifilm 100-400mm lens a try. The only other zoom lens I had thought about was the Fujifilm 50 to 140mm lens, but when I tried it out at the store, I wasn’t as impressed as I thought I would be. I rejected the idea of the 100 to 400 - it’s heavy, clunky, and it’s widest aperture is f/4.5. I was reassured that I would like it, and took it home with me. I stepped out into the parking lot, and my mind began to change. The reach that I could get with the lens was what I was looking for. I knew the real test would be on either mountains (however, living in Texas I knew that wouldn't be easy) or getting a great shot of the moon. Bringing it home, I felt the weight of the lens. I honestly hated it at first. I wanted to find things that I didn't like about it so I could return it and get it out of my hands. Every doubt I had changed as soon as night fell. When the moon was able to come out from the darkness and I set up the tripod to hold the camera steady, I fell in love with this lens.
These shots are slightly cropped, but even with this lens (paired with a great camera like the Fuji XT-3) there’s hardly any loss of resolution. This is something that I hadn’t really been able to achieve before. Naturally, I was super excited that I would be able to get these glorious shots of the moon, so I continued.
What else would I be able to capture with this lens? How else could I justify having this lens? I decided to test it out on a couple other subjects. With it currently being spring, there is a birds nest on our back porch and the parents have been very active lately, allowing me to capture them.
What about portraits? Despite this being at f/4.5 would there be a smooth, bokeh-filled background of our subject?
Yeah, you could say it gets the job done. I was skeptical about acquiring this lens. I feel like I never fully used that last telephoto lens I had. I definitely never used it before like I’ve used this. So far, I’ve been picking this lens up first or thinking about what kinds of shots I could be getting with this lens. I’m passed the weight. I’m passed the bulk of it. I wanted something that would be my go to zoom lens, something that I wouldn’t have to buy again or even look for another telephoto zoom. It’s here. This is the one. It’s not every day you stumble upon a piece of tech or gear that you didn’t think you needed and it changed the way you operate on a day to day basis. I love the images that come from this lens.
All I gotta say is - Robert, you were right.
