Fujifilm XT5 & XH2: The Truth About Optimized Lenses & 40 Megapixels XH2 XT5

as many of you know Fujifilm released the xt5 and the xh2 cameras which both feature their new 40 megapixel x-trans 5 sensor at the same time Fuji released a list of lenses which they say are optimized for the new sensor meaning that these 20 lenses will perform best with the new higher resolution camera now this is unfortunately led to a lot of confusion regarding older lenses and how well they'll work with the new cameras and even if they'll work at all I received a comment the other day on one of my videos from a gentleman asking me this exact question will the older lenses work at all on the xt5 and he asked me this because he wanted to upgrade to the camera but he didn't want to be tied into purchasing a more expensive lens in another of my videos one viewer was so offended that I tested the xh2 with an older lens that he accused me of doing it on purpose to handicap the camera and suggested that I was secretly working for Canon to undermine Fuji products or something crazy like that and really it's Fujifilm who have caused a lot of this hand ringing and confusion among the community by releasing this list in the first place because it's fueled this narrative that you need an optimized lens in order to see any real resolution jump but do you really need an optimized lens and do you even need 40 megapixels how much better is the xt5's 40 megapixel sensor over the older 26 megapixel sensor in the xt4 well since I've been thinking about all of this I decided to do a little test of my own using two lenses one that is from the optimized list and one that is not so I tested these two lenses on the xt4 and the xt5 and here's what I wanted to find out first do the older lenses that are not on the optimize list perform better on the new camera or are you getting results that are basically the same on the xt4 and the xt5 and second how much better do the optimized lenses perform on the xt5 over the xt4 in other words are the optimized lenses noticeably better on the xt5 the answers I found really support surprised me after we review the images together I'm going to give you my practical opinion and summary on all of this and then also end the video by showing you a bunch of images that I've taken with the xt5 and a variety of lenses both Fuji and third party foreign get into today's video make sure you download my PDF for five portrait tips also visit my sponsors in the description below for discounts on gear software more make sure to check out the hanser film emulations which offer awesome film Sims with tons of editing control and use my promo code to get 10 off now as with any test of this sword there are always a ton of variables for the sample images I'm going to show you I use the same aperture shutter speed ISO white balance and I shot them all in raw all of the cameras internal settings were zeroed out to keep it as Fair as possible and we're going to review these images in capture one so let's look at some of these images together alright so let us review some of these sample images so first we're looking at the xt4 and the xt5 and this image was with 35 millimeters so this is the non-optimized lens now obviously when they're zoomed out both images are going to look great but let's go ahead and zoom in on these guys here now when we zoom in you gotta really zoom in close before you start to see a difference but there is indeed a difference and it's noticeable at certain parts of the image than you know more noticeable than at other parts but check out like on this lettering here on this orange Annie Leibowitz book you can see the xt5 below is considerably more detailed and it just has more clarity to it so there is a difference so this should prove to you and me that even an old lens and the 35 millimeter which is you know one of those lenses that is magical in its own way everyone and you know Fuji lovers love that lens well it's not known for its best sharpness though it's known more for that kind of overall magical quality well you can rest assured that even that lens is going to give you better results on the xt5 and now this is shot at F4 so I did stop down the lens a bit and I think that around F4 is where you're going to find the best in Improvement check out here on this photo and even here you can see it's considerably sharper than the xt4 so there is an improvement now on this side I noticed that there was less of a obvious less of an obvious notice in the increased detail although you can see it's still clearer here and even on these um on The Binding on this book you can see a little bit more detail down here so at F4 shot at the same settings ISO 160 125 xt4 a buff xt5 below with the 35 millimeter original Fuji lens you're going to see a difference so you're getting more out of it so even the older lenses are going to show you more and I I mean I feel like this is sort of obvious right because the resolution of the camera is higher yes it should should definitely be better but I think with all of the optimized lenses it kind of led to this idea in some people's minds that the older lenses aren't going to work right or not going to look better you can see here on this book this book jacket as well natural this is definitely sharper it's close and both of them look good color rendition their contrast looks very similar but it's definitely more detail there all right now let's look at the next image in my little series here one of my other bookshelves uh okay so now we have the optimize lens this is the 16 to 55 and both of these was shot at f56 again all the other settings were the same if we zoom in here you can see if we get pretty close there the xt4 is above xt5 below you can see there is a considerable Improvement in sharpness in contrast and even the color rendition is a little better so if we look here at Lynn Lindberg here on this this book you can see this the edges are much more crisp around the letters and then if we go even here on my xt4 manual if you look at the word Fujifilm and we zoom in ridiculously close you can see that the 16 to 55 does a noticeably better job on the xt5 over the xt4 look how sharp the edges of these letters are for instance the color is slightly better the contrast is definitely better everything looks better let's go over to my uh lobe here you can see it pretty clearly here as well check out the difference there the xt5 is really doing a better job than the xt4 with the optimized lens so there is a big difference here there's a not a Monumental difference I wouldn't say no but a considerable difference let's look at Wicked over here in my little Ewok you can even see in his face it's um the overall image from the xt5 has more detail but it's also more clarity and the contrast is definitely better the blacks are better like if you look in this little Shadow area around his head here it's a noticeable difference um is it is it Monumental not really but I think it's definitely um something that you can see and you know it's going to make a difference I think in your images uh yes let's look at Commander Data here and his giant head same thing here check out like around his eyebrows around his hair it's definitely sharper when I looked at these images I said to myself yeah that looks like really the lens that's optimized for the um for the new camera is definitely going to make a difference now obviously the 16 to 55 is a great lens in general too so keep that in mind it's a sharp lens to begin with so I think that has a lot obviously to do with it as well which we'll talk about a little later then I shot you can see I'm a nerd because now we have Star Wars Star Trek and um everything else going on here but putting that aside now I shot the 35 millimeter at 2 8. this was handheld and this was sitting on my desk and again there is a difference like you can see that the xt5 which is below like if you look around the bridge the details here there is more sharpness here and I focused right on the bridge here check it out now is this a Monumental life-changing amount of difference in the sharpness I don't think so you might think so but I don't think so but it is a noticeable difference even at 2.8 you could see that the 35 the older 35 is going to give you better results on the xt5 cool I like that um and then I have one more image here again of the Enterprise but for this I stopped down and this was with the 35 at F 7.1 and here you'll notice again there's definitely a difference like if you look at the edges of the letters look you can see it's definitely around Enterprise and around the the registry number edges of the letters is definitely sharper and then you'll also notice that around these little imperfections in the paint you're getting a lot more sharpness now there you have it let's go back and talk about some of these findings now before I discuss my opinion on all this let me just say that I'm far from the most technically minded person when it comes to lens tests and I honestly prefer focusing on the creative side of photography so I'm sure some of you will find flaws with my method and disagree with me but I made it as Fair as I knew how and I also did not do this in any way to bash one lens or camera but just to really see for myself what some of the key differences were I own the xt4 and the xt5 so I did not do this in any way to bash Fuji but just to kind of see what really the differences were my biggest surprise was how good the xt4s 26 megapixel sensor looks when compared side by side with the xt5s 40 megapixel sensor regardless of the lens that I used for some of the sample shots I couldn't even tell which was which without really looking close and at the data on the file the difference in quality does become much more apparent however when stopping down the lens so for instance at 5 6 the 16 to 55 lens did yield considerably better results on the xt5 than on the xt4 with a noticeable Improvement in sharpness contrast overall detail Clarity and color similarly when shot at F4 even the old 35 millimeter is noticeably better on the xt5 although the differences weren't quite as vast so Fujifilm is right when they say the optimized lenses will give you the most out of the sensor but even the older lenses are still going to show a bump in the quality you're going to get from them at least with the two that I tested so now the question for me becomes do you really need 40mb megapixels and optimized lenses and after reviewing my test images I'm convinced that the need for an optimized lens and even the need for 40 megapixels is Way overblown by most people although the optimized lens did in fact perform better and the 40 megapixel sensor does indeed show more detail the difference is were by and large not tremendous and highly dependent on the aperture that I used so here's what I recommend instead of purchasing an xt5 or an xh2 based primarily on the up to resolution you should instead base your decision on the broad range of features for instance for me the xt5's Improvement in autofocus accuracy and overall speed was one of the main reasons I upgraded and definitely more of a consideration than the 40 megapixels although I do like having that extra resolution too regarding lenses instead of feeling tied to the list of 20 optimized lenses my recommendation is to put that aside and research what's the best lens based on the kind of Photography you do regardless of whether it's on the list or not remember that lenses are usually long-term Investments so buying an excellent lens is really never a mistake I've had some lenses for 5 10 15 20 years and although the camera technology changes pretty quickly an older lens that's sharp and contrasty continues to look great on the newer cameras and as you research and decide what works best for you my advice is to make the 40 megapixels as well as the optimized lenses just a part of your well-rounded research of what works best for you also if you have older Fuji lenses there's no reason not to upgrade the camera if you want the newer camera for any host of features you're going to get better quality your older lenses are going to work perfectly on the new camera and there's really nothing to worry about so before we wrap up this video I want to show you some real images that I've taken with the xt5 using a variety of lenses because once again it reminds me that it's not so much the lens and the camera but it's really the creative eye and the use of light that matters the most and I want you to be confident getting an xt5 or an xh2 if you're using older lenses if you're using Sigma lenses whatever the deal is you're gonna love it so don't let the optimized lens issue stop you foreign [Music] well that's all that I have for you today I hope you enjoyed this quick video and that you found it educational and enjoyable please drop me a comment below let me know what you think about all of this and while you're there don't forget to subscribe to the channel and also hit the like button every single subscription really does help me to continue making videos and investing time into this channel so I'd greatly appreciate if you've been watching my videos that you go ahead and hit that subscribe button here's wishing you an amazing awesome wonderful day go out and take some great pictures and I will see you in the next one peace [Music] thank you

Channel: Pete Coco Photography

Views: 38,598

Keywords: photography, fujifilm, photography gear, photography tutorial, fujifilm xt5, fujifilm xt4, fujifilm optimized lenses, will older fuji lenses work on new cameras

Id: t6mrMDo94UI

Length: 15min 59sec (959 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 09 2023