Page 29 - Fuse Magazine - Volume 41 2018

group test: Budget telephoto zooms

mount option: Fujifilm X mount option: Nikon DX

Fujinon XC 50-230mm Nikon AF-S DX 55-200mm

f/4.5-6.7 OIS II f/4-5.6G ED VR II

£330/$400 £240/$150

Fujifilm’s 50-230mm offering is available in black or silver, With its retractable design and plastic mounting plate,
to match the company’s range of X-series bodies. To this DX format Nikon lens for APS-C format cameras
our minds, the silver version looks a bit cheap and, like is the smallest lens here, and nearly as light as the
the Canon 55-250mm, it’s a very plastic affair in terms of Panasonic MFT lens. It measures just 83mm long when
both barrel and mounting plate. Both lenses are almost retracted and weighs in at a mere 300g, making it
identical in size and weight, and have the same 58mm eminently suitable for travel photography. Indeed, travel
filter attachment thread. to the USA and you can pick one up for a remarkably low
Further similarities include a stepping motor-based AF price of around $150 – no such luck in the UK.
system, with near-silent operation. Autofocus proved Nikon currently markets four different DX format
rather faster in the Fujifilm lens, at least when coupled telephoto zooms, but this is arguably the most attractive.
to an X-T20 body in our tests, as well as being unerringly It doesn’t stretch to a 300mm maximum focal length, but
accurate. The lens has optical stabilisation, with the it’s the smallest and least expensive of the bunch – and
same 3.5-stop effectiveness as the Canon. However, when we tested the other lenses we couldn’t find any
its maximum ‘effective’ telephoto reach isn’t quite as noticeable advantage in terms of image quality.
generous, at 345mm against the Canon’s 400mm.
performance
performance Based on an ultrasonic micro-motor system (rather
We’ve seen some razor-sharp Fujinon X-mount lenses, than ring-type), the autofocus speed is pedestrian and
but this one’s more of a blunt instrument. It lags behind lacks manual override. Compared with Nikon’s DX
most of the other lenses here for sharpness in the longer 55-300mm lens, however, autofocus is less sluggish,
half of the zoom range, but performance is very good in the front element doesn’t rotate, and the stabiliser is
terms of controlling fringing and distortion. worth four rather than three stops.