Fujifilm Fujinon XF 10-24mm F4 R OIS WR Review

The Fujifilm Fujinon XF 10-24mm F4 R OIS WR is the update to the Fujinon XF 10-24mm f/4 R OIS. It has the same optics but it gains an uprated stabilisation system and weatherproof seals to make it more suited to use outdoors in harsh conditions.

Fujifilm offers a wider zoom lens, the Fujinon XF 8-16mmF2.8 R LM WR, but that’s around twice the price of the XF 10-24mm F4 R OIS WR, making the 10-24mm lens more attractive to enthusiast photographers and those who don’t desperately need that extra width.

As part of the XF range, the Fujinon XF 10-24mm F4 R OIS WR is designed for use on Fuji’s APS-C format X-Series cameras.

Fujifilm announced the Fujinon XF10-24mmF4 R OIS WR on 15th October 2020, it went on sale in November that year for £899 / $999.

On a Fujifilm X-Series camera the XF 10-24mm F4 R OIS WR has an effective focal length of 15-36mm. This makes it wide enough to capture cramped interiors, narrow streets and tall buildings or sweeping landscape views.

While it might hold the most attraction for landscape photographers, the ultra-wide-to-36mm view is also good for street photography.

Although Fujifilm has stuck with the same optical design as it used for its XF 10-24mm f/4 R OIS, the build has been improved by the introduction of weatherproof seals and an aperture ring. The original XF 10-24mm lens just had an auto/manual switch but the XF 10-24mm F4 R OIS WR  has a dedicated aperture ring close to the mount. This ring has markings running from f/4 to f/22 in whole stops, but it can be adjusted in 1/3 steps.

The aperture ring also has a lock that clicks into action when the aperture is set to ‘A’ for automatic. This prevents the ring from being moved away from the auto setting. Pressing the button on the ring while rotating unlocks the ring, enabling a specific aperture setting to be selected.

Despite adding weatherproof seals and an extra ring to the lens, Fujifilm has managed to make it 25g lighter than the original optic.

Fujifilm’s work on the lens’ OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) boosts the shutter speed compensation from 3.5EV to up to 6.5EV when the lens is paired with a camera such as the X-T4 with in-body image stabilisation.

A zoom lens like the XF 10-24mm F4 R OIS WR is a more natural partner for one of Fuji’s mini-DSLR style cameras like the Fuji X-T4, X-T3, Fuji X-S10 or X-T30. However, I’ve also used it on the rangefinder-esque Fuji X-E4 – it and the Fujifilm X-Pro3 are more commonly paired with the company’s prime lenses. And while the XF 10-24mm F4 R OIS WR feels front-heavy on the X-E4, it’s not unwieldy.

Fujifilm’s lens build quality is generally very good and the XF 10-24mm F4 R OIS WR doesn’t let the side down, it feels well made and looks good.

In action, the aperture and zoom rings feel good, they have just the right tension so you don’t feel like you’re fighting the rings to turn them but they’re not sloppy or slack either. I didn’t experience any zoom creep when I carried the camera on a strap over my shoulder between shots.

It requires a little over an eighth of a full turn, roughly 50°, to zoom from the 10mm end to the 24mm end of the lens.

There’s no ‘declick’ option for the aperture ring, which isn’t ideal for video, but the feedback is good when you’re adjusting the aperture setting for stills.

The manual focus ring towards the front end of the lens feels a little looser than the zoom ring, but not excessively so. The movement is nice and smooth but in the absence of a distance scale, there’s a 50/50 chance of rotating it the wrong way the first few times you use it.

As a focus-by-wire lens, you don’t get any feedback from the optic when you reach the closest or furthest manual focus points.

If you photograph a subject with a strong linear pattern, such as a brick wall, you may spot very slight barrel distortion in images captured at the widest point, but its certainly not obvious and it wouldn’t put me off using the XF 10-24mm F4 R OIS WR for architectural photography at any focal length.

The level of detail and sharpness across the frame is also extremely good throughout most of the focal length range, even wide open, which is great news for anyone looking to get high-impact landscape images.

At the 24mm end at f/4, the corners lack a little of the sharpness that’s visible at the centre of the frame,  but it’s not bad. Closing down to f/8 gets everything nice and sharp.

Further good news is thanks to Fujifilm’s in-camera corrections that are applied to raw and Jpeg files, chromatic aberration and vignetting aren’t an issue.

Shooting at the 24mm end with the XF 10-24mm F4 R OIS WR on the Fuji X-S10, which has in-body image stabilisation (IBIS), I got around 80% of my images sharp at a shutter speed of 0.6sec. That’s over 4EV of shutter speed compensation. Extending the shutter speed a stop further dropped my hit rate to around 20%.

These images were captured using the XF 10-24mm F4 R OIS WR on the Fujifilm X-E4. Follow the link to browse and download full-resolution sample images.

Fujifilm Fujinon XF 10-24mm F4 R OIS WR Image Gallery

Fujifilm’s XF 10-24mm F4 R OIS WR makes the grade as one of the best lenses for landscape photography. It has the ultra-wide view that you want with scope to zoom in a little to perfect the composition. It’s also capable of delivering attractively sharp images across the frame.

With Fuji’s kit zoom lenses starting at 16mm or 18mm, the XF 10-24mm F4 R OIS WR is most likely to be used in the 10-18mm range, which is where it really delivers. The results are still good at 24mm, but you may want to close the aperture down a little to get the corners sharper than they are when the lens is wide-open.