In this solo video, Dylan Andersen provides a personal update on his recent Fujifilm gear acquisitions and observations. He begins by noting his busy schedule shooting weddings, headshots, and holding two day jobs, which has limited his YouTube output. Andersen then discusses the current state of Fujifilm's autofocus, describing it as "touchy" on video with the X‑H2 and X‑H2s, though still strong for stills, and references community reports of inconsistency. He reviews two newly purchased lenses: the compact XF18mm f/2 pancake lens, praising its size, suitability for the upcoming X‑M5, and sharing sample photos; and the XF16‑50mm f/2.8‑4.8 kit zoom, critiquing its performance on 40 MP sensors (corner softness, field curvature) but highlighting its versatility as a walk‑around lens that remains sharp across its focal range. Andersen shares his excitement and reservations about the soon‑to‑be‑released X‑M5, noting its small form factor, lack of EVF, UHS‑1 card speed, and battery concerns, while expressing hope that its strong autofocus will be back‑ported via firmware to older bodies. He concludes by promising a deeper X‑M5 review, future discussions on Fujifilm’s GFX line, and invites viewers to subscribe and comment.
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All right, welcome back. I'm doing another video. It's been a hot minute, as the young kids say. I've been shooting weddings, I've been doing headshots, I've been working my two day jobs and so I've been really busy. Haven't had a chance to jump on here on YouTube and make any videos. But I'm super glad if you're watching this video. Appreciate all the interest. Comments. I think the last few videos that I've had have had some really good conversations. So thank you for watching. First and foremost, I want to talk a little bit about gear again today. Fujifilm is going through kind of a weird motion right now where some of the newest stuff that they put out with the XM5 and the XF500F6 and then they also redid the 16 to 55 2.8 and they did a Mark II of that. I think a lot of Fujifilm shooters are sitting on the XH2s, sitting on the XH2, the X T5, you know, whatever fifth generation body that they have. And they're kind of saying, well, the autofocus is still a little funky. In fact, you may see it kind of go in and out on this video. I'm shooting on the X H2 with the 18mm 1.4 and the autofocus for video especially has been pretty touchy. I've been able to shoot lately with Both my x h2 and x h2s and for stills I haven't had any issues. In fact, I think that the autofocus is very strong, but clearly they're having some issues. People have proven this. It's. It's been very dramatic on YouTube. If you've been following, if you haven't, awesome Fujifilm, I think it's still by far the best camera brand. They just came out recently and said they own 40% of the non full frame market. Which is interesting to claim that because is it. I don't know if it's that much of a flex and I also don't know if those numbers are accurate because obviously a lot of these camera brands don't release actual numbers. We go off of what some of these Japanese camera stores are selling. So that being said, weird time, but it's an exciting time. Photography and videography is so much fun and that's probably why we're all interested in talking about gear and we like talking about Fujifilm. So I picked up a couple new lenses recently, haven't had a chance to talk about them, but that's what I'm gonna do here in this video real quick. The first one I got pretty recently. As of just a couple weeks ago, I picked up the XF18. Now if we can get a focus here. Doesn't want to focus every. Speaking of autofocus issues, this is the XF 18mm f 2 lens. This is that kind of pancake lens. It was one of the early lenses for Fujifilm. And the nice thing about this lens is it's very compact. I will probably pick up the XM5. I know that's very controversial. I'll probably pick up the XM5 because I am looking and really excited for a very small Fuji body. I was never able to get the X E4. I think that camera's discontinued. I have not seen it anywhere. It's just ridiculously overpriced. I used to own the X Pro 3 and I love the X Pro 3. I really should own this lens on it. I love this 18 millimeter focal length. Again, I'm filming on the 1.4, the LM lens and I love bringing this guy around and kind of shooting with it on the X T5 that I own. So really excited for the XM5 just because it's a small body. I know there's a million things about it that I'm gonna hate. I hate those batteries. I hate the fact that it's UHS1. I know it's not a huge deal, but again, UHS2 is far superior. No EVF. I mean, there's a lot of things about that camera to not like the film simulation dial I think is a waste. But the size is amazing and I love what Fujifilm is doing with that camera. That being said, the 18F2. I want to share some photos. Go and take a look. And these are some of the photos I've taken recently with the 18 mil F2. An old lens. Sam. All right. Yes. So 18F2. I'm a fan. A lot of people have talked about. A lot of people panned that lens. I still think it's pretty cool lens. So check it out if you're interested. The other lens that I got recently and I got to get this right. This is the XF 16 to 50 on the X T5. Here it is, the. Hold please. 16 to 52.8 to 4.8 RLM WR lens. This is the new kit lens, the old 1855 F 2.8 to F4, which I also own as well. My. My wife actually uses it for video because it's still A very capable video lens with etc. Wasn't really good on the 40 megapixel sensors. So the XH2, the X T5, it doesn't perform that well, especially in the corners. A lot of folks on YouTube have talked about how blurry it is and soft I think is a nice word to use, but it looks blurry. Right. And so with some of the field curvature issues that that lens had for as good as it was and as incredible as it was on the 26 and below megapixel sensors, it's not really built for these new 40 megapixels lenses. That being said, this lens is where it comes in and kind of saves the day. So I've been so happy with this lens. I bought it because I was looking for like a walk around lens. I also own the 16-80 F4. Also doesn't perform well on the 40 megapixel sensors. Again, this is like pixel peeping. I mean, if you're just shooting, you won't notice. But if you're somebody who's doing professional work or you're really getting in, those older lenses don't do too well, including the 18 F2. Having said that, I think for me I wanted to make a walk around with be confident on the X T5 on the X H2 that it'll perform super well. And also I wanted something that performed well at all focal lengths. So at 16 it performs really well. At f or, excuse me, at 50 millimeter it performs really well. It is a slower lens going down to f 4.8 on the telephoto n at 50mm, but it performs really well. I want to share some photos I took at a work event recently and some other photos I've taken of my daughter and some other times that I've used the lens. So take a look at those. Sa. All right, so thank you for watching. Again, these are just two fun lenses I picked up recently. I'm gonna do a little review of the XM5 when that comes in here in the next few weeks. I'm excited for the camera because again, the X Pro 3, I loved it. I ended up selling it. It's been a wild Fujifilm journey, but I think what Fujifilm is doing is exciting, but it's also not where they need to be. I'm really hoping for some great firmware updates. We've seen XM5 has incredible autofocus comparatively, so hopefully they roll that out to these older bodies and we'll see what that ends up looking like. That being said, if you enjoyed this video or you like my rambling thoughts here, I'm gonna be doing a lot more Fujifilm stuff as the year goes on. I have a lot of thoughts on some of these lenses. I haven't touched the GFX conversation for a few months. I've got a lot of thoughts on the GFX100II. I still shoot with the that monthly. I'm using these cameras a little bit more lately just because of the size. But yeah, if you found it useful, subscribe and love to talk to you guys in the comments. Have a good one.
