Fujifilm released the Fujinon MK18-55mm T2.9 for E-mount today that are designed to be used with cameras like the Sony FS5 and FS7. These lenses are very well designed for the price and work great on these crop sensor cameras. Newsroom shooter and Cinema 5D were very impressed with this lens except for some distortion they found.
Unfortunately, here’s where the FUJINON MK18-55mm T2.9 exhibits its biggest weakness in this test, whereas the Zeiss really shines due in part to its different focal range. There is barrel distortion evident at wider angles of the FUJINON, which turns into pincushion distortion starting at 33mm. Like most photo zoom lenses, distortion is apparent, which can be a problem in situations where you have straight lines in the frame, such as in architectural images. We see a similar, slightly weaker distortion on the Canon EF-S 17-55mm F2.8 lens.
We wish the distortion on the FUJINON MK18-55mm T2.9 was less, but let’s be realistic: a lens with edge-to-edge sharpness at 4K resolution with minimal chromatic aberration and a lightweight design has to have some kind of tradeoff too.
Newsroom shooter Cinima 5D have some excellent technical coverage (Announcement/Hands-on & Footage/Technical Review) about this lens if you’re interested.
Philip Bloom
The lens was an absolute pleasure to use. The focus was smooth and it has a perfect 200 degree rotation which makes it easy to focus by hand or with a focus puller. Many cine lenses are 300 degrees which is too much for a one person operator. The focus also didn’t breathe which was a wonder to behold, no changing of frame sizes when you rack focused unlike DSLR zooms! The zoom is definitely parfocal, for documentary filming this is a godsend; with DSLR zooms you are in focus, zoom in and the focus is off. There is also a lovely macro feature just like my old ENG lenses for super close focus. Oh…of course the constant aperture is a joy. Absolutely NO change in exposure when zooming in. NONE. – Philip Bloom
Additional Coverage:
DPReview – less technical, but still worth checking out if you like their style.
XDCam User – History/Gear Porn/Grabs
Fujinon MK 18-55 T2.9 B&H Photo/Adorama
Via Fujiaddict
