Fuji Announces the Widest Premium Lesns for X-Mount

The newest lens addition from Fuji looks pretty massive for the compact interchangeable lens system, but it will address one of the most common complaints stopping people from switching to x-mount system camera.

Micro Four Thirds cameras don’t really suffer from this problem since it already offers pretty decent array of ultra wide lenses.  However, proprietary mounts like Sony’s E-Mount (especially full-frame) and Fuji’s X-Mount certainly don’t offer the kind of selection you get from Canon or Nikon.

The good news is, they’re catching up. And a great case in point is the Fuji's Fujinon XF X-Mount 10-24mm f/4 lens announced today.

The new lens is the 11th addition to the X-Mount family and, with a 35mm equivalent focal length of 15-36mm, it is now the widest lens offered by Fuji for its impressive lineup of X-Mount ILCs. X-Mount lenses now cover focal lengths ranging from 15mm all the way up to 350mm (equivalent).

The lens features image stabilization, not as useful for such a wide angle lens, but still a great addition.

Amazingly, the minimum focusing distance is only 9.4 inches and the lens houses a manual aperture ring.  It is not as bright as some may have wished for at f/4 but it's constant aperture covering its 2.4x zoom range.

This will surely be very practical lens since it covers from ultra wide all the way to the classic 35mm angle of view.  The only downside is its hefty price tag at $1,000.

Here are the full specifications of the lens:

• Focal length: 10-24mm (15-36mm equivalent)
• Max. aperture: f/4 (constant)
• Min. aperture: f/22
• 14 lens elements in 10 groups, 4 aspherical, 3 extra-low dispersion
• 7 rounded aperture blades
• Min. focusing distance: 24 cm (9.45 in)
• Size (D x L): 78 x 87 mm (3.07 x 3.43 in)
• Weight: 410 g (0.9 lb)
• Filter thread: 72 mm

And the highlights of key features mentioned in the press release:

• Ghosting is minimized by Fujifilm’s unique HT-EBC (High Transmittance Electron Beam Coating) multi-layer coating that is applied to all sides of Fujinon lenses.
• An additional newly developed coating has been added to the reverse side of the front lens in the XF10-24 composition to further reduce the ghosting that typically occurs when using deep concave lenses.
• Enhanced resolving power at all apertures when used in-conjunction with an X-series camera that incorporates a Lens Modulation Optimizer (LMO) function.
• Its high-speed AF is achieved via its inner focusing system which drives smaller lenses in the middle or rear lens groups without moving the larger lenses in the front lens groups
• Thanks to light weight internal lenses and the addition of a stepping motor, the XF10-24mm lens is also very quiet to use.
• With its precision-made, responsive, and finely-tuned metal aperture and focus rings, you are ensured a superb handling experience.