60/2.4 macro...

[tbarker13]

So I used the lens in two different portrait shoots this past week.
I'm still working on the images, so I don't have anything to post from them at this point. But operationally, I was quite disappointed with the 60 in one of the shoots.

The first shoot was outdoors and the lens worked fine.
The second shoot was in the studio, where the lens was basically unusable - it took far too long to focus, and often failed to focus at all. (in both focusing modes)
My studio shoots tend to be on the dark side - the only light in the room is from the modeling lights on my flash units. So it can be pretty dim. But my Nikons (D700, D300) have never had any trouble in the same conditions.

Interestingly, the 35 performed much better than the 60 in the same conditions.
This is pretty disappointing, as I had hoped to migrate to the XPRO1 as my primary camera. But that won't be happening unless they improve its focusing ability.

[david.elliott]

Tim,

My lens arrived and indoors in iso 1600 / 3200 light levels I cannot get the lens to reliably focus. My experience is the same as yours - the lens often fails to focus at all. It will only focus if there is really stark contrast, much more than usually required in better light. Rather disappointing really.

I have only tried the manual focus mode using the af-l button on the back to focus. Not sure if that matters.

Outdoors and/or in better light it seems great though.

[tbarker13]

I tried it in each of the focus modes, including the back-button method. No luck with any of them.
Pretty annoying to have something you want to capture - and the lens just hunts for 2-3 seconds before giving up.
I agree though on the performance in stronger light. People who shoot in nice light may think the lens is just perfect.

[david.elliott]

Maybe we will be fortunate enough to be graced with another firmware update.

Agreed, both annoying and frustrating.

[paulhart]

I may just be fortunate, but my 60 focusses reasonably well and quickly, even in poor lighting. It's not dSLR standards, but it is acceptable.

However, I have noticed that it is substantially slower when the macro setting is engaged.

Hopefully these niggles will iron out with firmware updates, but in the meantime it really is a beautifully sharp lens with wonderful OOF rendering.



[IMG]
2012-05-21 at 13-22-09 by Hart from Golborne, on Flickr[/IMG]

[jpmac55]

Mine just arrived. Macro image quality is wonderful and speed is okay so far. I am not a big macro guy so perhaps I have lower standards. My subject matter - flowers, a door knob, etc. usually are somewhat stationary targets, not going anywhere anytime soon. So it passes my tried and true analog self imposed timer, "one Mississippi, two Mississippi" :-)

[tbarker13]

Haven't done much with macro myself, though I've been impressed with the little I've seen from it.
I'm just going to hope that David is right and that a firmware update will improve the performance of the lens in lower light. If they could get that worked out I'd be quite happy.

[loquax ludens]

I shot about 200 pictures with the 60/2.4 yesterday. None of them were anything special, just testing the lens and getting used to the camera.

Besides the slow focus in low light, the other thing I noticed is that the viewfinder framelines for the 60mm lens are far from accurate. They provide, at best, a general approximation of what will be captured in the image. I found myself having to correct for it especially when shooting in the portrait orientation, where the shift and excess image capture is more obvious. The sensor captures quite a bit of image above and below (or at the sides, if shooting in normal landscape mode) the frame lines.

Even worse, an object that is centered between the framelines will be shifted to the left when the image is captured. Again, it is more obvious in portrait mode (right hand at top).

Are there settings I can change that will improve this? I have image size set at L 3:2.

[david.elliott]

You could use the evf.

[tbarker13]

My wife and I visited a local farm this weekend. Horrible lighting - midday sun, with a few clouds in the sky.
Going to post a few shots here. Shot as .jpgs, with B&W conversions done with Silver Efex.

As a group, can be found here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/tbarker...7629841298236/

The first two illustrate another focus issue. I was sitting on a hay wagon. Looked down at the edge of the wagon and decided to shoot a photo.
Not sure what to make of this. Both times, I got the little green confirmation box telling me the metal bar was in focus. But clearly, it wasn't in the second shot.

[tbarker13]

And now a couple shots from the enclosure they have for the baby chicks.
The first required me to take over the focus to get the camera to see past the chicken wire. No surprise there. But man, that's going to take some practice for me.

[tbarker13]

And a few more.

The farmer.



Farm kid.



And the small herd of cattle, with their horse friend.

[GaryLH]

Tim

Anything closer than arms length I tend to switch over to evf. Not only do u c better what is going on, but u know where the af spot is as well. I don't think the ovf is accurate enough when u get to close.

Gary

Btw some nice shots there

[tbarker13]

Thanks. At what point do you switch over. In this instance, it was probably about 2 feet away.

[willie_901]

Two feet means EVF for me.

[tbarker13]

I really dislike EVF, but I guess I may have to learn to live with it.

[GaryLH]

Usually around 2 to 3 feet. People have mentioned ovf framing accuracy of the 60 is not as good as the other two lens in ovf mode. I tend to switch over now without thinking about it.. The 60 I have been switching over more toward 3 just to be safe with it.

Btw I would not bet on the currently designed 60 to get much faster since it was designed as a macro lens, but only time will tell. Fuji has been really good addressing issues everyone brings up. Their attention to customer issues and SW fixes is the best I have seen of any of the camera companies with their digital offering.

Hope u have better luck with the 60. I am hoping the release a 50f1.2 or 1.4 as their true portrait lens.


Gary

[f16sunshine]

I'm frustrated with learning this lens as well. The AF seems to go really wonky the closer one gets to subject. Especiallyy in low light.

This image shows why it's worth the effort to learn. Damn Tim, that's a wicked good environmental Portrait!

[loquax ludens]

Originally Posted by david.elliott

You could use the evf.

Doesn't seem natural to me, but I'm not used to using digital cameras. It didn't occur to me to use it to frame a shot when I was shooting yesterday. I've just been practicing my chimping skills with it.

Mainly though, I feel off balance using an EVF, and I'm not as conscious of composition with it. It's also slower (for me) to shoot that way. Probably just takes some getting used to.

I really like the way the X-Pro 1 handles in normal eye position using the OVF with both the 60mm and 35mm lens. I just hope Fuji can fix the framing somehow.

[tbarker13]

Originally Posted by f16sunshine

I'm frustrated with learning this lens as well. The AF seems to go really wonky the closer one gets to subject. Especiallyy in low light.

This image shows why it's worth the effort to learn. Damn Tim, that's a wicked good environmental Portrait!

Thanks Andy. I do like the lens so far. But I hope Gary is right about Fuji coming out later with a better portrait option. A 50/1.4 would be awesome. Particularly if focuses as well as the 35/1.4.

[GaryLH]

Originally Posted by tbarker13

Thanks Andy. I do like the lens so far. But I hope Gary is right about Fuji coming out later with a better portrait option. A 50/1.4 would be awesome. Particularly if focuses as well as the 35/1.4.

The 50 is not on their current road map. Their roadmap is up to 2013. I have hoping that once they satisfy the basics for everyone they come back and fill the other gaps.

They already have a lot of lenses in the pipe. Looking at that list u know they are in it for the long run They listen to their users.

Thus the 50 is my guess at what they would do to file the gaps. They need only to look at Leica 75 to c how well it will do.

Gary

[jpmac55]

Originally Posted by tbarker13

And now a couple shots from the enclosure they have for the baby chicks.

Tim - I've been enjoying your photos on RFF for some time now. Despite some shortcomings with the lens, this photo is one of my favorites as it tells a story.