Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Cameras, Lenses and Shooting gear => Topic started by: acktdi on December 11, 2017, 05:44:25 pm

Title: Fuji 100-400 XF durability
Post by: acktdi on December 11, 2017, 05:44:25 pm
I rented the 100-400 XF for my trip to Costa Rica last week.  It suffered a drop of about 2 feet onto stone tile, it bounced twice, once on the barrel then on the lens foot plate.  It continued to shoot fine but I noticed it wouldn't retract past 135mm.  I put it in my Retrospective 10 bag while I shot with another lens and the next day, the jostling around caused the lens assembly to dislodge.  Has anyone seen this before?

I came from the Canon system and had the 100-400L which has a much better build quality.  I'm pretty disappointed in the mostly plastic construction of Fuji's lenses, but the image quality is fantastic.  I love my X-T2 but it's not heavy duty like Canon or Nikon.

(http://wahluck.com/images/20171207_223348.jpg)

(http://wahluck.com/images/20171207_223441.jpg)

(http://wahluck.com/images/20171204-DSCF2448-FUJIX-T2.jpg)

(http://wahluck.com/images/20171204-DSCF2672-FUJIX-T2.jpg)

Title: Re: Fuji 100-400 XF durability
Post by: shadowblade on December 11, 2017, 06:04:17 pm
High-quality plastics are actually a better material than metals aand alloys for most structural purposes in cameras. They are better shock absorbers, transmitting less energy to the more fragile parts of the lens. Metal adds rigidity (so can carbon fibre), but a metal barrel doesn't do much for shock absorption.

Most likely, a Canon or Nikon lens would have suffered the same damage with a similar impact. In fact, many lenses (and other devices) are designed with a failure point, so that they break at an easily repaired/replaced poont, rather than in an expensive or hard-to-replace component.
Title: Re: Fuji 100-400 XF durability
Post by: rdonson on December 11, 2017, 08:52:49 pm
I have both the 100-400 L Canon and the Fuji 100-400.  I prefer the Fuji. I’m not going to get into a product war though. Whatever your preference is, well, that’s your preference.
Title: Re: Fuji 100-400 XF durability
Post by: Krug on December 12, 2017, 10:26:18 am
I have had both the Canon and the Fuji - far preferred the Fuji both for performance and handling - but then I never bounced them !
Title: Re: Fuji 100-400 XF durability
Post by: shadowblade on December 12, 2017, 03:20:48 pm
No idea about the Fuji (it's designed for a crop sensor, so the metrics are different) but, on full-frame, the Canon is one of the sharpest zooms around, edged out only at some focal lengths by the new Sony.