Fuji XF 55-200mm 3.5-4.8 OIS -vs- Fuji XC 50-230mm 4.5-6.7 OIS
XF 55-200
That title is quite a mouthful;
This is a short review/comparison of the two tele-zooms on offer from fuji at the moment, the more expensive and better built XF 55-200mm F3.5-4.8 OIS -vs- the cheaper XC 50-230mm F4.5-6.7 OIS. Not all of the images here have been post processed so this isn't a review for people looking for light falloff and all that stuff.
The main reason this review came about was that I picked up the XC lens at the Photography Show last week for an awesome £199, my thoughts on doing this were if it could match or come close to the XF lens I could sell the XF and pocket a bit of money, plus having a smaller lens is always a bonus.
My reasons for having a telephoto is simply to cover that range, mainly for personal work, such as landscapes and the odd bit of wildlife, I don't use this sort of range for weddings so optimum quality isn't a must for me, just a good lens that isn't a hassle to carry around.
XF 55-200
Better Built
Faster
Aperture Ring
More Expensive
Buttons on lens
XC 50-230
Cheaper
Lighter
Smaller
Slower
More Zoom
55-200
50-230
50-230
XC 50-230 - Full Zoom at 230mm - Plenty sharp enough for me
55-200 - Full zoom at 200mm
Image Quality
This is what it all comes down to, can the chapter lens hold its own against the more expensive? In my opinion it can, I don't plan on using these lenses for weddings so I'm not fussed about how fast they are, I've got my 35mm for super dark stuff, a telephoto is a lens for fun personal use, so with the aperture out the window I decided to set these two lenses up at the same F-stop and took 2 of the same shot, which one is which? [I'll put the answer at the end]
Crop of the above
Crop of the above
The XC lens looses the build quality, speed and aperture ring, but to be honest no aperture ring is kind of a blessing in disguise as its super easy to knock on the XF, so no problems there, the stabilisation works just as great in both lenses also.
I would say the XF is slightly sharper but I'm not fussed on this to be honest, its still a great lens and really overlooked.
Summary
If its £199 get the XC, its really great and nice and small, its not as good as the XF in terms of build and speed but its really only marginally different, however if it were a case between the two I would have the 55-200 if the XC wasn't so cheap. So overall see what you've got in your wallet, if you can afford the XF buy that but if you can fins a deal on the XC you won't be disappointed with it, don't feel like you are missing out on getting the cheaper lens it is still and awesome piece of kit.
I hope thats helpful to someone out there, I've now gone on to sell my XF and stick with the cheaper one, I'm also off to Iceland next week so I'm really gonna try it out then.
On another note feel free to follow me on Instagram, its mainly iPhone pictures and shots of my gear but I'm gonna be putting stuff up each day from Iceland so keep and eye one that!
Cheers, -Col
Oh and its the first shot that's the XF :)
