On Location Photographing London With The Fuji XF16mm F2.8
One thing I like to do when I buy new photography gear is to really put it through its paces. To learn how it performs, to understand its characteristics, quirks and drawbacks so when it comes to packing my camera bag, I know what kit is going to help me get the most out of the shoot.
Earlier this year, I brought the pocket-rocket Fujifilm X-T30 and to get to know it well, I used it as my main camera during a recent trip to Ghent, Belgium.
You can read all about this trip in my post here: On-Location | Photographing Ghent
A little more recently I finally got around to purchasing the Fujifilm XF16mm F2.8 WR prime lens. I already had the XF35mm F2 which I really enjoyed using and wanted the same again but wider, so I splashed out the relatively reasonable £350 and bought one.
With the lens now in the bag, it was time to head out and get to know it properly, so a couple of weeks ago I decided to venture out into London after dark to see how it performed while on a walk from Westminster to Tower Bridge.
Just to make a quick note. This is by no means a technical or scientific review of the lens. You will find plenty of reviews that provide technical specifications and deep analysis of how well the lens performs against its rivals but in this post, I will show you the photos I took and talk about how I thought the lens behaved in the pretty tough conditions of a rainy night in London. In addition, this lens is relatively inexpensive compared to the likes of the XF16mm F1.4, the XF8-16mm F2.8 and XF16-55mm F2.8 so this particular review is based on me having realistic expectations of a lens at the particular price point.
To push the limits of the lens and myself as a photographer, I decided to head out to take a mix of street and cityscape photos with just the camera and lens and no tripod whatsoever. I was depending solely on the city to provide enough light to expose the photos enough for most to be taken handheld. I did, however, use the odd wall or ledge to rest the camera enough to enable me to drop the ISO or open the shutter longer on occasion. You can spot these easily by checking the settings I used under each of the photos below.
Photographing London with the XF16mmF2.8 WR
First stop was to capture the London Eye illuminated by these cool colours. As you can see, with no tripod to use, I ended up resting my backpack on the wall, then the camera on top of that which helped me get the angle I wanted. The wider 16mm focal length (equivalent to 83.2 degrees field of view) enabled me to capture the entire scene without having to point the camera too far upwards thus avoiding the distortion this inevitably brings.
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 0.8 Seconds | f/2.8 | ISO160
The image below was about as tough as it got when it came to handheld shots using just the city lights. This area is pretty dark and I needed to up the ISO to 1600 to get close to a sharp image. Just as I had finished adjusting the ISO, this chap crossed the road in front of me and I just managed to capture him as he stepped into the light.
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/17th Second | f/2.8 | ISO1600
For this photo walk, I was shooting in aperture priority set to f/2.8 to ensure I captured as much light as possible. One of the minor drawbacks this lens has is that the aperture doesn’t go as low as other lenses in the line up such as the XF35mm F2 WR. I could have done with that extra stop!
I generally set the camera to auto ISO800 but as you can see by the settings below, I had to adjust this for the odd photo. With the camera deciding the optimal shutter speed that left me to play with the exposure compensation dial on the fly which allowed me to manipulate the shutter speed by under or overexposing.
While up on the Golden Jubilee Bridge, I had to use all of the 16mm I had available to fit both the London Eye and sky swings into the image and still have enough room to correct some of the distortion later in post. It’s not a great composition, I know, but it demonstrates the field of view you can get with this lens pretty well.
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/18th Second | f/2.8 | ISO800
If I could ask for one thing to improve this lens, it would be to somehow add image stabilisation without adding to the cost, size or weight. Yeah, I don’t ask for much, right? Here’s a couple of photos captured handheld as I walked along from South Bank to Embankment which were both taken at 1/10th of a second. That’s a pretty slow shutter speed and with no image stabilisation available from both camera or lens, I needed a very steady hand indeed.
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/10th Second | f/2.8 | ISO800
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/10th Second | f/2.8 | ISO800
The WR in the name stands for Weather Resistant. Not to be confused with Water Proof. This lens can withstand the odd rain shower but don’t go dunking it underwater as you may end up with a rather expensive paperweight.
Ideally, I would have had my XT2 camera with me on this photo walk as coupled with this weather-resistant 16mm prime, I would have had a fully weather-sealed set up but on this particular day, I forgot to check the weather and by the time I realised how wet it might get, I was already in London with the X-T30.
It took a few minutes for the right looking people to enter this scene in front of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre to get the type of photo I was aiming for and although I had to be a bit careful about getting the X-T30 wet, at least I didn’t have to worry too much about the lens. This couple, shielded by their umbrella perfectly told the story about the wet conditions endured on this particular rainy night in London.
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/40th Second | f/2.8 | ISO800
While the famous London Bridge is pretty plain and uninspiring during the day, it recently received a new light installation as a part of the Illuminated River Project and now shines bright and colourful at night making it a great subject for night photography. Closing down the aperture to f/10, (it ranges from f/2.8 to f/22) I was able to create these starbursts from the street lamps but the resulting 9-second exposure meant I needed to support the camera. Luckily, there was a nice flat wall right where I stood. What luck!
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 9 Seconds | f/10 | ISO160
I finished up right next to Tower Bridge in the popular More London Estate. This area is pretty well lit and provides a great subject for night photography and allow me to continue testing this lens I was enjoying using so much.
In addition to letting more light through the lens, the wider aperture of F/2.8 allowed me to get a bit creative with the depth of field which you can see in a couple of the images below. The 9 blade aperture results in a nice, smooth bokeh (the blurry, out of focus part of the image).
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/15th Second | f/2.8 | ISO800
This lens weighs only 155 grams and with the X-T30 weighing 383 grams including card and battery, I had a fantastic, lightweight set up of 538 grams (that’s about 1.2lbs). With such a light combination, carrying around this camera and lens all evening was absolutely no bother at all.
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/25th Second | f/2.8 | ISO800
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/20th Second | f/2.8 | ISO800
I know it’s hard to tell from looking at these photos on this web page but I was really pleased with how sharp the shots came out when using this lens wide open. In these low-light, rainy conditions and with the aperture at f/2.8, these shots taken around More London look really good. Like most lenses in this price range, when used wide open like this, you will rarely get corner to corner sharpness and this lens is no different. The images do soften slightly as you get closer to the corners but the softness is very subtle and only really visible when viewed at 100%. All in all, these photos are plenty sharp enough for me and totally useable.
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/25th Second | f/2.8 | ISO800
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/8th Second | f/2.8 | ISO800
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/17th Second | f/2.8 | ISO800
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/13th Second | f/2.8 | ISO800
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, this is far from a formal review of this lens. A quick google will get you to one of those in no time. Instead, these are my real-world experiences of using this cracking little lens on a wet, windy night in London and if all you take away from this post is that this lightweight, inexpensive lens feels solid, performs well and is all around a pleasure to use then that’s good enough for me.
Until next time.
Trevor