Reviews written by Jacopograziano

Sony FE 35mm f/1.8

Pros: Lightweight, compact, very solid construction, linear motor, sharpness

Cons: Price of new without offers, backlight

Opinion: Optics taken on Amazon at € 470, no more for an intermediate optics of 5 years ago. I was looking for a compact and versatile lens to keep on the A7IV on vacation and, trusting the various reviews, I opted for this 35mm. A very well constructed optics, completely in metal, gives security in the purchase. It makes the camera body pleasantly transportable even at the neck without discomfort. Very sharp even at 1.8, you would not say from the cost, solves the 33mpx of the A7IV without efforts already at 2.8. Negligible vignetting, I have never perceived it as annoying, perfect autofocus, part of the cost of the lens I feel is justified even by AF motors. Without a great personality in the yield but we are talking about a basic lens in the Sony FF system, however the colors are pleasantly balanced and in post leave room for any work up. Small note on the backlight, the only real limit of the lens, easily present flare and ghosting even with the hood. Optics so pleasant in the quality price that does not make me consider the use of the sister GM, perhaps if I really needed the creamiest bokeh that can be obtained, but otherwise nothing to add. The focal length 35mm is complex, you have to get used to it for a second, it is often too narrow and too wide at the same time, it forces you to move more and think better about the subjects. I found it wonderful in portraits in which you want to work through the background of the subject, without isolating it completely. In video use, however, it is the best focal length in my opinion, with 35mm you bring home any type of shooting.

sent on August 29, 2023

Sony A7 IV

Pros: RAW file quality, general ergonomics, robustness, customization, colors, true hybrid, dream video side between codec, bitrate and color depth

Cons: The only thing that did not convince me is the IBIS, not to be taken at full price, CFExpress A, Sony updates

Opinion:

sent on July 18, 2023

Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN Art

Pros: price, sharpness, robustness, operating speed, colors, extremely controlled flare

Cons: size, weight, stiffness of the zoom ring (although at this price I challenge anyone to call them defects)

Opinion: Taken as an alternative to the GM II, too expensive for me currently, and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. Lens really big and heavy, I would never take it with me on vacation, it would make me want to shoot, but when you sit at the PC and recheck the files leaves you speechless and I could not ask for anything else from a 24-70. I'm sure that with her mounted on my A7IV if the photo is not beautiful it's only my fault. It has a slightly warmer shade than the Sony lenses I own, extremely pleasant. The autofocus is perfect, as if it were original, I have never seen it trudge even once and it has never made me doubt the purchase compared to the GM. The only reason that could make me prefer the Sony to Sigma is the weight, but it does not seem to me to justify € 1800 difference between the two lenses, rather I buy a couple of first and use those. It has a slight vignetting at 24mm at 2.8 but I have never seen a 24-70 without this problem, it has never seemed so marked as I read in previous reviews, but still nothing incorrigible with a click. I inquired about the dust grains under the first front element caused by the suction of the barrel, Sigma confirmed that in all new models have fixed the gaskets and should no longer present any problem, hopefully well, I must say that after 6 months of intense use I have not encountered any problem. I admit, however, that this problem made me opt for the purchase of a new and unused lens, so evaluate yourself. Last note, the zoom ring is in my opinion exaggeratedly contrasted, which on the video side does not allow a controlled zoom but is always extremely abrupt. Of course we are talking about a photographic zoom but given the hybrid use of every camera we do nowadays we cannot avoid such a consideration. Goal passed with flying colors.

sent on July 17, 2023

Fujifilm X-T3

Pros: Price quality, video features, colors, customization, final file

Cons: Not excellent photo dynamic range, battery, video autofocus, menu

Opinion: A machine that I have been using since 2019, which when it came out did not make sense for what it offered: 26mpx, 4k DCI video oversampled in 10 bit 420 and HDMI 422 output, machine gun burst with AFC in a camera body from less than € 1400, practically everything they could put in Fuji managed to make it fit. It does not overheat, does not trudge even a second in any condition, it is light, pocket-sized with the right lenses, robust. On the photo side you can not exaggerate with the recovery, the grain is immediately visible in the shadows, even if the XTrans sensors really have a more pleasant organic grain than what I notice on the Canon FF with which I worked. Dynamic range on the video side instead delicious, especially for a machine that I bought at the time at € 1000, meaningless. The main problem I encountered was the very complex autofocus to use at best. Not unusable but nothing to do with Canon or Sony, yet I don't understand how Fujifilm managed to lag so far behind Sony when it started working on its mirrorless pdaf first. I complain about autofocus only because the manual focus with fujifim focus by wire lens is really tremendous, non-linear, rough and too sensitive. The video output, however, is comparable to an excellent cinema camera of a few years older. An excellent b Cam and that still makes many fullframe more expensive Canon eat the dust in terms of quality. The grip is not the best, I really appreciate the retro design but less the grip not very firm, especially with a 16-55 Fuji or other thinking and professional lenses. Stock up on at least a couple of additional batteries to cope with their very short life. Last negative notes are disgustingly complex and messed up menus, where some functions seem hidden on purpose in submenus that do not concern them, and an EVF with an excellent resolution but that has never satisfied me, has always given me a slight annoyance in the long run, the edges of the image are always deformed and with a bizarre color fringing if the eye is not perfectly in the center. Problem that I noticed they solved with the new XH2 series, nothing serious but noteworthy. Always better than that tiny 2.36 ppi crap that mount on the less expensive cameras, which always reminded me of the microscopic first evf that they put in the compacts. Great room for what it offers, I would buy it again without a shadow of a doubt.

sent on July 17, 2023

Fujifilm XF 35mm f/1.4 R

Pros: Compact, sharp, well built, a companion of adventures

Cons: If you want the perfect lens with the new AF motor and clinical sharpness have made the new 33mm on purpose. Here's a shame is that they hadn't already thought of the WR already in this version.

Opinion: I bought this lens attracted by its fame and the desire for a compact and bright prime. I must say that the rumors are absolutely true, it's a great toy: small, with still the old-fashioned metal hood similar to leica, sharp enough to satisfy 99% of the photograph, not enough to shoot landscape at f1.4. On the X-T3 it gave me great satisfaction, it is exactly the copy in terms of sensations of my canon FD 50mm 1.8 attached to the film, this is to say where its philosophy comes from: the fifty almost pocket-sized all-rounder. Blurred a nervous hair and the areas out of focus have a slight perspective distortion. The focusing motor is an old STM classic, with its known flaws in millimeter accuracy, speed and noise. It almost seems that at fuji they have picked up their old lens and attached an engine to it, to such an extent that some crazy people on the web have made it completely manual, without focus by wire. I must say that on my X-T3 has never given me huge problems as said by many, I have always found it an excellent autofocus, I would not shoot a football match but the AF-C for normal subjects has no problem, I even shot two social advertisements and a documentary in AF-C single point (with the necessary ad hoc corrections in the AF video settings) without giving me problems. At worst the focus by wire with the STM, I have no idea why, is extremely more intuitive and pleasant than linear motor. The problem of speed always remains, but there is no need. Better compact and normal than fast and huge, especially for a 35mm.

sent on March 03, 2023

Fujifilm XF 50-140mm f/2.8 R LM OIS WR

Pros: Construction, lightning-fast AF motor, optimum stabilization

Cons: Start feeling the years on your shoulders, problematic video AF at start and end of stroke

Opinion: The only choice for the fuji zoom triad, built to last, solid and professional and for 2015 everything is perfect, except that nowadays it begins to suffer a bit compared to the much more modern competition, mainly in sharpness. The 70-300 fuji is extremely sharper and less expensive, but if you need a luminous lens you are forced to the 50-140, which still adopts the old fujifilm design designed for 12/16 mpx sensors, without aspherical lenses that make the new blade lenses even at the edges. Not recommended on an xt5 / xh2, in my opinion they are forced to make a second version for the most demanding sensors. Serious problem that afflicts him is the focusing error at the beginning and end of the barrel stroke in video with AFC mode: if you stay at 50mm and just reach 140mm the autofocus goes crazy and does not lock on the subject, and if previously it had acquired the focus it will lose it anyway. This does not make the lens unusable but extremely annoying if you are not careful. Just move back even slightly the zoom to solve everything, I searched on various forums without finding a solution, tested on XT3 and XS10, so I do not think it is a problem of camera body. Obviously with linear motors it is impossible to zoom during the video without losing focus, another annoyance but now known. In the photos in AFS no problem, mystery. If it did not have this annoyance it would be a perfect lens to have 8 years on the shoulders, still usable on a maximum of 26 mpx. The classic 70-200 big but necessary.

sent on February 27, 2023

Fujifilm XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR

Pros: Absurd sharpness, quality from materials, photo/video autofocus

Cons: There is a lack of stabilization. External zoom, with the barrel (at least in my case) that does not transmit solidity when it is completely leaked. MAF obscene manual, very uncomfortable.

Opinion: Zoom required if you own fuji system. Optically incredible, bearable weight and allows you to do anything almost without compromise, as if it contained four prime lenses. The loss of "bokeh" compared to a 24-70 FF in my opinion is not as important as you want to make believe, I invite you to go and see a comparative to get an idea, especially when you consider that for a few millimeters of blur more you have to pay triple compared to an apsc system. With her I shoot often at 2.8 and the image is very clear, the only drawback is a slight vignetting only at TA. Perfection is achieved by closing at 5.6, as we are now used to with any lens. Absolutely recommended, too bad for the OIS, although they say that they did it to reduce the size, weight and optical quality, and that on the contrary it would not have been so compact. I prefer lenses with internal zoom for reasons of robustness and resistance to atmospheric agents but it is a personal opinion, so it is undoubtedly comfortable to store in a possible bag. Last note is perfect for video, resolution in the 4k upscalate of the XT3 that leaves you breathless, soft and silent focus, even if you are forced to use the continuous af, since the ring of the maf returns an unpleasant feeling of non-precision and does not allow work up. It counts the fundamental focal lengths to shoot and so much below 2.8 you never go down if you want to have the faces completely in focus. P.S. all lenses with internal magnetic focus (so practically the whole fuji system) look like maracas when they are turned off, since the optical assembly is free to slide on the rails. It does not happen only to fuji but to anyone who produces the af with this method, it is not a reason not to buy it, nothing happens.

sent on July 24, 2021