The XF 14mm f2.8 - Still Worth It in 2024?
The XF 14mm f2.8 is an older Fujifilm lens that doesn’t get talked about much.
Based on what I’ve seen, it seems to get overshadowed by other popular lenses of a similar focal length, like the 16mm 1.4, 16mm 2.8, and the 16-55.
But despite that I’ve always been interested in this lens.
I found it unique, interesting, and a potential candidate for my kit.
And luckily I’ve had the opportunity to test this lens out for a few weeks.
I didn’t get that much time with it though, because one of those weeks I was sick…
So these are just going to be my first impressions of this lens.
Lets get started.
General Impressions
At a glance this seems to be a very fun lens.
It’s got a nice shape, isn’t too big, and seems to be of good build quality.
One of the first things you’ll notice is the manual clutch mechanism.
Unlike many standard lenses, this lens has the ability to switch to manual focus by pushing and pulling down on the manual focus ring.
This is a interesting feature of many older Fujifilm lenses and allows you to switch seamlessly between manual and autofocus.
In my experience however, it’s neat but not necessary.
I typically don’t find myself needing to switch between auto and manual focus that often and changing the settings on the camera body itself isn’t too difficult.
The lens also has an aperture ring with clicks.
I always welcome aperture rings but this one in particular seems to be a bit loose.
I’ve found myself occasionally bumping it and accidentally switching the aperture.
Another great point about this lens is the filter size.
It’s got a 58mm filter size meaning it shares filters with many of Fujifilm’s other lenses like the 18-55, 33 1.4, etc.
So if you just want to standardize your filters and build a 58mm kit, that’s an option as well.
So overall the lens is of pretty good build quality.
I think it’s metal but it’s fairly light, and quite portable as well.
It’s is an older Fuji lens so I wouldn’t put it on par with some of the newer lenses, but overall, good build.
Lets move on to photography.
Photography
In my time with this lens, I only had the chance to take it out a few times.
I also had other bodies and lenses I was testing, so my experience is kind of mixed.
But I’ll share with you guys what I’ve got so far.
This is probably the widest lens I’ve used.
I don’t typically shoot super wide - the widest lens I’ve had was the 16-55.
And I don’t usually find myself in situations for wide angle photography.
It feels a little niche and I prefer to carry around a lens with an “all purpose” field of view.
But regardless, I do think we were able to get a few decent shots.
The lens itself worked quite well, especially on newer Fujifilm camera bodies.
I was initially worried that there would be autofocusing problems, because it is an older lens, but it seems to be quite good for photography.
As for the focal length itself, its wide.
And when trying to take photos with it, I found myself too far from my subjects, every time.
Which is crazy because I feel like to truly make use of this lens I’d have to be taking photos of something huge or get super close.
So the focal length does seem to be quite situational.
I think if I had this lens when I was at an event like Coachella, I could have definitely made use of the wide angle to capture large crowds.
But for big open spaces, you really have to make sure you have things to fill your frame with.
Otherwise, everything becomes a bit far, and your subjects become small.
But overall, I enjoyed the time I had with this lens.
Optically it seems to perform well, and I’m personally surprised it doesn’t get talked about more.
So no problems with photography in my experience.
Lets talk about video.
Video
When I was looking into this lens, I was ironically more interested in using it for video than for photo.
This is because I needed something wide to capture this room for recording talking head videos like this.
And for a long time I used the 16-55 as my main studio lens.
But as you guys know, I’ve since sold that lens.
Nowadays I use the 18-55 to record myself but it does feel a bit close.
However in my time with the 14mm f2.8, I was able to record a few videos with it.
In some of my recent videos from about a month ago you’ll notice the wider look of the shot.
I like that angle, that field of view - I think it looks good.
Here’s what I was most worried about though.
Because this is an older lens I was worried that autofocus wouldn’t be able to handle video.
And that focus would be continually jumping in and out as I was trying to talk to you guys.
I did try to look up any info regarding using this lens for video but they didn’t have the answers I was looking for.
It seems most people look to this lens for photography.
So here’s what I learned.
Autofocus is good enough for a talking head shot.
Focus breathing isn’t too much of a problem although you will hear the lens move in and out.
This is because the focus motors are fairly old so the lens does make noises as it adjusts.
Now this is only a problem if you’re recording audio through a source that’s close to the camera.
But if you have a separate mic, it won’t pick up the noises of the motors.
So I found that nice since I’ve recently switched mics.
Meaning this lens is a solid candidate for a wide angle talking head studio lens.
And if I do end up picking it up in the future, it’ll be for that.
So what are my final thoughts on this lens?
After using the XF 14mm f2.8 for a few weeks, I’ve found it to be a really good lens.
It’s an older lens, meaning it’s got an interesting shape, the manual focus clutch, and busier autofocus.
However, I’ve found the autofocus to work well for photography and decent enough for video.
So it’s a great lens, although I’m not sure if I’d call it “underrated”.
Looking at prices you can grab this lens for roughly $300, at the time of writing.
It’s closest competitor is the XF 16mm f2.8 which seems to be the small wide angle prime favorite of many photographers.
And that lens goes from as low as $250-$300.
I’ve never used the 16mm f2.8, but it seems to be quite popular.
So what does that mean?
That means that although the 14mm is a good lens, you’d have to really want that extra 2mm or something else about the lens to choose it over the 16mm.
But again, these are just my first impressions.
If you’ve used either of these lenses before, let me know your thoughts down below in the comment section of YouTube.
If you enjoyed reading this, please share this with a friend who might also enjoy this.
Also do check out “The Sinking Sun”, my latest photography zine.
It’s a project I’ve spent a long time working on.
And you can grab a free 4x6 print while you’re at it.
Thanks for reading, bye!
