The range of Fujinon XF lenses for Fuji's APS-C format mirrorless cameras has been steadily and impressively expanding, and now the 70-300mm f/4-5.6 R LM OIS WR joins the ranks. With a “35mm-format equivalent” field of view similar to a 105-450mm full-frame lens, this is a wide and versatile range that encompasses everything from portraits to distant wildlife, much more useful than the existing zoom that ends at 200mm. The deal-breaker or maker will of course be the quality of the end results, especially as many longer zooms fade somewhat at the longer end, so let's see how the new lens performs using the 26.1MP Fujifilm X-S10 mirrorless body.
Fujifilm Fujinon XF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 R LM OIS WR Handling and Features
The mirrorless camera may be (sometimes) more compact than the average small DSLR, but lenses such as this still end up more or less a similar size, so weight is not necessarily greatly reduced. Weighing in at 580g though, the new lens is not overly heavy, thanks to the extensive use of polycarbonate. It is however very well made and seems more than capable of taking extended use.
A very generous bayonet-fit round lens hood is provided, which, coupled with Fujifilm's excellent EBC coating techniques, results in virtually no flare at all. There is no release catch on the hood, but it bayonets into place slickly and shows no tendency to come adrift in use. Within the bayonet fit for the hood is a standard 67mm filter thread. The lens is weather-resistant, so venturing out into our unpredictable weather should be no problem.
There is a reasonably wide manual focus ring that can be activated in the camera menus, although the AF is so good that the lens may not lend itself to much need for MF at all. Behind this is a wide zoom ring, zooming out extending the lens significantly but with little shift in the centre of balance and virtually no wobble to the barrel, even when fully extended. The zoom does not creep, admittedly tested with the lens brand new, but should some security be needed there is a zoom lock to prevent extension during carrying.
Focusing is down to 0.83m, a maximum magnification of 0.33x. This is very close indeed for such a lens, providing a 35mm-equivalent magnification of around half life-size. The lens is compatible with two teleconverters, the Fujinon XF 1.4x TC WR and the Fujinon 2x TC WR. Both of these maintain the weather resistance, and the latter brings that 35mm-equivalent magnification to around life-size, the same as a full-frame macro lens. We did not have these to test alongside the lens, but as a general rule, considering the loss of light involved and any loss of quality, probably the 1.4x converter will result in the highest quality.
There is one additional ring, an electronic aperture ring that is engaged by setting a small switch to the aperture symbol. Setting this same switch to A enables the camera to control the aperture setting. There is also a small switch to limit the AF to between 5m and infinity, useful to speed up AF for, perhaps, bird photography. These switches need watching though as it is easy to move them accidentally when putting the kit into a camera bag, or even when handling the lens.
The optical construction is 17 elements in 12 groups, including 2 ED (extra low dispersion) and 1 aspherical. The diaphragm comprises 9 blades with the aim of improving bokeh.
Apart from occasionally nudging the AF limiter in error, there are no real pitfalls with this lens. It is just fantastic to handle. One really excellent point is that the AF can discern small details, for example, a strand of reeds in front of a busy background. Some lenses just will not focus on the foreground subject in these situations, but the Fujinon nailed focus every time. This selectivity of the AF system renders MF totally obsolete for this reviewer, although obviously, it is good to have the option just in case something should arise.
The OIS system is equally impressive and it is recommended to leave it switched in even on a tripod as it is sensitive enough to correct any movement caused by the manual shutter mechanism. Fujifilm claims a 5.5 stop advantage and, although this may vary from user to user, I could easily achieve 4.5 – 5 stops. Of course, this will not help moving subjects, where high shutter speeds will still be needed to arrest movement.
Fujifilm Fujinon XF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 R LM OIS WR Performance
At 70mm, central sharpness is excellent from f/4 through to f/11. It is very good at f/16 and good at f/22. The edges are very good from f/4 to f/11, good at f/16 and just fair at f/22.
At 100mm, central sharpness is excellent from f/4.5 to f/11, very good at f/16 and fair at f/22. The edges are very good from f/4.5 to f/16 and good at f/22.
At 200mm, central sharpness is excellent from f/5 to f/11, very good at f/16 and fair at f/22. The edges are good at f/5 and f/5.6, very good at f/8 and f/11, good at f/16 and fair at f/22.
At 300mm, central sharpness is excellent from f/5.6 to f/11, very good at f/16 and fair at f/22. The edges are just fair throughout the range of apertures, from f/5.6 right through to f/22.
In real-world photography, the lens maintains its sharpness very well indeed even at 300mm and the fall-off in resolution is not as obvious as it is when photographing a flat test chart.
Fujifilm Fujinon XF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 R LM OIS WR MTF Charts
How to read our MTF charts
The blue column represents readings from the centre of the picture frame at the various apertures and the green is from the edges.
The scale on the left side is an indication of actual image resolution and sharpness as LW/PH and is described in detail above. The taller the column, the better the lens performance.
For this review, the lens was tested on a Fujifilm X-S10 using Imatest. Want to know more about how we review lenses?
CA (Chromatic Aberration) is very well controlled centrally and does not result in any obvious fringing. The extremes of the aperture range and the edges are least well corrected, but even here real-world photography does not suffer particularly. Correction in software is available if required.
Fujifilm Fujinon XF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 R LM OIS WR Chromatic Aberration Charts
How to read our CA charts
Chromatic aberration (CA) is the lens' inability to focus on the sensor or film all colours of visible light at the same point. Severe chromatic aberration gives a noticeable fringing or a halo effect around sharp edges within the picture. It can be cured in software.
Apochromatic lenses have special lens elements (aspheric, extra-low dispersion etc) to minimize the problem, hence they usually cost more.
For this review, the lens was tested on a Fujifilm X-S10 using Imatest.
Distortion is clearly being corrected in the camera and this correction cannot be switched off, but the result is a near rectilinear lens. There is a small amount of residual barrel distortion, measuring -0.07% at 70mm, -0.06% at 100mm, -0.26% at 200mm and -0.05% at 300mm.
Bokeh is very dependent on the relative distances between subject and background, how “busy” the background is and the aperture and focal length in use. There are many variables here, but overall the bokeh is very smooth and satisfactory and especially suits subjects such as flower portraits against subdued backgrounds.
Fuji lenses generally do very well at suppressing flare and this is no exception. In general use flare is just not a problem, even when efforts are made to try and induce it.
Vignetting is very modest and again it is clear that some correction is being made whether we wish it or not, but the end result is actually very impressive.
| Aperture | 70mm | 100mm | 200mm | 300mm |
| f/4 | -1.6 | |||
| f/4.5 | -1.4 | |||
| f/5 | -1.2 | |||
| f/5.6 | -1.4 | -1.4 | -1.2 | -1.2 |
| f/8 | -1.4 | -1.3 | -1 | -1.1 |
| f/11 | -1.2 | -1.2 | -0.9 | -0.9 |
| f/16 | -1.1 | -1.2 | -0.9 | -0.9 |
| f/22 | -1.1 | -1.2 | -0.9 | -0.9 |
Value For Money
The Fujinon XF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 R LM OIS WR lens is priced at £729. In the Fuji range the lenses that might be vying for attention are:
Fujinon XF 55-200mm f/3.5-4.8 R LM OIS, £639
Fujinon XF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR, £1599
Costing only £90 more than the 55-200mm, the added versatility of having the 300mm reach makes the 70-300mm lens look pretty fair value for money.
For more options have a look at the Top 15 Best Fujifilm Lenses, or have a look at the Top 28 Best Telephoto zoom lenses.
Fujifilm Fujinon XF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 R LM OIS WR Verdict
Looking at what this lens actually offers the Fuji user, at a reasonable cost, it extends the focal length to a very desirable 300mm, whilst maintaining overall quality very well up to 200mm and keeping that crisp central sharpness right up to 300mm. The edges do fade somewhat at 300mm, but this may be a price worth paying as many subjects will be in the centre of the frame. It could even be turned to an advantage by having sharp portraits with more diffused edges. It is knowing what a lens can and can't do that enables us to use its characteristics to aesthetic advantage.
So, overall the Fujifilm Fujinon XF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 R LM OIS WR is an excellent performer at a reasonable price and a valuable addition to the Fujifilm repertoire of XF lenses. Highly recommended.
| The Fujifilm Fujinon XF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 R LM OIS WR is an easy to use, versatile lens that performs very well. |