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It is a long story, but for the past few weeks I have been trying out a used but immaculate Fujinon XK20-120mm T3.5 Cabrio PL lens (without the servo unit). Then, last Thursday, I was finally able to purchase an Angenieux EZ-1 30-90mm T2 S35 PL lens. I can afford only one of these two lenses, so I faced a dilemma — which one to keep?
First the more urgent topic, the Fujinon. It is a fabulous lens. I love it. And it works well on the UMP despite the UMP having a larger sensor than the Fujinon is designed to accommodate. If you want to read my love letter to the Fujinon lens, check out my review on the B&H product page:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1251350-REG/fujinon_xk6x20_19_90mm_t2_9_cabrio_premier.html#customerReview
But I decided to keep the Angenieux, even though I admire it less. For 80% of the shooting I do, the ergonomics and speed Angenieux is a better fit. It was a tough decision, but fitness for use is the stronger consideration. The Fujinon delivers an overall superior image with enough light and on a tripod (because given its weight and balance I have trouble holding it steady on my shoulder). Taking into consideration the skills and physical prowess of the operator, however, using the Angenieux results in a superior image when shooting from the shoulder.
So I returned the Fujinon to B&H today. The price of new copies has been dropping, but if you want to score a like new, servoless Fujinon XK20-120mm at a discount, watch the B&H used section.
In the brief time I had the Angenieux EZ-1 30-90mm and the Fujinon XK20-120mm together, this is how they seemed to compare:
* The Fujinon is sharp, especially in its center field. It really pops. But at the edges it softens up subtly.
* The Angenieux is a bit soft overall, but its sharpness/softness is more even towards the edge of the image.
* Both exhibit barrel and pincushion distortion, easily corrected in post.
* Neither seem to have a chromatic abberation problem.
* I did not notice breathing from either lens.
* The Fujinon vignettes a bit while shooting full frame on the UMP, but as a practical matter this was not a problem and not worth correcting.
* The Fujinon has the superior build quality. No comparison here. It feels rock solid, and the action of the Fujinon's control surfaces is smooth, silent and just lovely.
* The Angenieux seems more hollow and delicate (but not overly cheap). Focus, zoom and iris have different viscosities. The zoom especially feels a bit coarse and in a quiet room make a bit of sound as you adjust it. Nevertheless, on a test shoot I was able to zoom smoothly.
* On the other hand, the Angenieux is about 1/2 Kg lighter than the Fujinon (both without servo), and the balance of the Angenieux seems more conducive to shoulder operations with the UMP.
Here are some videos on DropBox that were made with these lenses. These videos were all shot 4:1 compressed raw, and were processed in Resolve using the ACES 1.0.3 color management workflow (Blackmagic Design 4K Film v3 to P3-D60).
First, here is an impromptu minivideo comparing the images of the Angenieux and the Fujinon.
This was shot raw 4k 16x9, which favors the Fujinon a bit because this almost fits its rated image circle. The Fujinon was at open aperture, but not fully wide. The Angenieux was fully wide, but stopped down from its maximum aperture. Color is not corrected, but the light is indirect sunlight which probably changed a bit while I changes lenses.
Here is a test/learn shoot with the Angenieux on a semi-contrasty sunny day.
Sorry for all the gratuitous focus changing — I was trying to build some muscle memory about where the controls are on this lense. This was shot full frame raw 4:1. Color is not corrected, but overall exposure of most shots was manipulated in post. I also applied Resolve's stabilization correction in some shots. And I had a linear polarizer in front of the lense up to and including the gospel singers. Among these shots are some inside NYC's subway system, where the T3.5 Fujinon (but not the Angenieux) would have forced me to apply gain in post.
First the more urgent topic, the Fujinon. It is a fabulous lens. I love it. And it works well on the UMP despite the UMP having a larger sensor than the Fujinon is designed to accommodate. If you want to read my love letter to the Fujinon lens, check out my review on the B&H product page:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1251350-REG/fujinon_xk6x20_19_90mm_t2_9_cabrio_premier.html#customerReview
But I decided to keep the Angenieux, even though I admire it less. For 80% of the shooting I do, the ergonomics and speed Angenieux is a better fit. It was a tough decision, but fitness for use is the stronger consideration. The Fujinon delivers an overall superior image with enough light and on a tripod (because given its weight and balance I have trouble holding it steady on my shoulder). Taking into consideration the skills and physical prowess of the operator, however, using the Angenieux results in a superior image when shooting from the shoulder.
So I returned the Fujinon to B&H today. The price of new copies has been dropping, but if you want to score a like new, servoless Fujinon XK20-120mm at a discount, watch the B&H used section.
In the brief time I had the Angenieux EZ-1 30-90mm and the Fujinon XK20-120mm together, this is how they seemed to compare:
* The Fujinon is sharp, especially in its center field. It really pops. But at the edges it softens up subtly.
* The Angenieux is a bit soft overall, but its sharpness/softness is more even towards the edge of the image.
* Both exhibit barrel and pincushion distortion, easily corrected in post.
* Neither seem to have a chromatic abberation problem.
* I did not notice breathing from either lens.
* The Fujinon vignettes a bit while shooting full frame on the UMP, but as a practical matter this was not a problem and not worth correcting.
* The Fujinon has the superior build quality. No comparison here. It feels rock solid, and the action of the Fujinon's control surfaces is smooth, silent and just lovely.
* The Angenieux seems more hollow and delicate (but not overly cheap). Focus, zoom and iris have different viscosities. The zoom especially feels a bit coarse and in a quiet room make a bit of sound as you adjust it. Nevertheless, on a test shoot I was able to zoom smoothly.
* On the other hand, the Angenieux is about 1/2 Kg lighter than the Fujinon (both without servo), and the balance of the Angenieux seems more conducive to shoulder operations with the UMP.
Here are some videos on DropBox that were made with these lenses. These videos were all shot 4:1 compressed raw, and were processed in Resolve using the ACES 1.0.3 color management workflow (Blackmagic Design 4K Film v3 to P3-D60).
First, here is an impromptu minivideo comparing the images of the Angenieux and the Fujinon.
This was shot raw 4k 16x9, which favors the Fujinon a bit because this almost fits its rated image circle. The Fujinon was at open aperture, but not fully wide. The Angenieux was fully wide, but stopped down from its maximum aperture. Color is not corrected, but the light is indirect sunlight which probably changed a bit while I changes lenses.
Here is a test/learn shoot with the Angenieux on a semi-contrasty sunny day.
Sorry for all the gratuitous focus changing — I was trying to build some muscle memory about where the controls are on this lense. This was shot full frame raw 4:1. Color is not corrected, but overall exposure of most shots was manipulated in post. I also applied Resolve's stabilization correction in some shots. And I had a linear polarizer in front of the lense up to and including the gospel singers. Among these shots are some inside NYC's subway system, where the T3.5 Fujinon (but not the Angenieux) would have forced me to apply gain in post.
Last edited by OwenCrowley on Thu Feb 08, 2018 2:07 am, edited 1 time in total.