Lenses

Review: Fujifilm XF 200mm F2 OIS WR (Fujifilm X Mount)

Chris Gampat
4 Comments
12/18/2018
6 Mins read
Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Fujifilm 200mm f2 OIS WR review product images f4, ISO 1600, 1-80s,

Last Updated on 12/18/2018 by Mark Beckenbach

Wildlife photographers using the Fujifilm XF 200mm f2 OIS WR are bound to be very happy with the results.

The Fujifilm XF 200mm f2 OIS WR is currently the company’s longest telephoto prime lens and also, by far, their largest. Designed for wildlife photography (and sports to some degree), this lens is arguably best used in the hands of a wildlife photographer. Though we were sent the lens with the company’s teleconverter, we felt it better to test it without that so we could keep the test as pure as possible. With some amazingly close focusing distances, weather sealing, optical image stabilization, and the ability to use a film simulation of some of the world’s greatest emulsions, you’re going to get a product that is going to deliver jaw dropping photos.

But of course, you’re paying quite the price.

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Great image quality
  • Crisp
  • Weather Sealing
  • Fast autofocus
  • Image Stabilization means you can hand hold this lens with the X-T3
  • Fairly compact
  • Focus switches
  • Amazingly lightweight and not at all difficult to carry around

Cons

Gear Used

We tested the Fujifilm XF 200mm f2 OIS WR with the Fujifilm X-T3.

Tech Specs

Specs for the Fujifilm XF 200mm f2 OIS WR taken from the Fujifilm website

Type XF200mmF2 R LM OIS WR
Lens configuration 19 elements 14 groups (includes 2 ED elements, 1 Super ED element）
Focal length f=200mm　(305mm)
Angle of view 8.1°
Max. aperture F2
Min. aperture F22
Aperture control
  • Number of blades: 9（rounded diaphragm opening）
  • Step size: 1/3EV (22 steps)
Focus range 1.8m – ∞
Max. magnification 0.12x
External dimensions : Diameter x Length* (approx.)
* distance from camera lens mount flange		 ø122mm x 205.5mm
Weight* (approx.)
*including tripod collar foot, excluding caps and hood		 2,265g
Filter size ø105mm
Accessories included Lens cap FLCP-105
Lens rear cap RLCP-001
Lens hood
Shoulder strap
Lens case

Ergonomics

The Fujifilm XF 200mm f2 OIS WR is characterized by a giant white body. Then there is the massive lens hood that screws into place with its own fixer screw. In addition, there are little black buttons that are customizable around the edges of the lens’ diameter.

But perhaps what you want to know about the most is this area: the switches and controls. These control the optical stabilization, the focus distance, and more. In addition to that, the Fujifilm XF 200mm f2 OIS WR has an aperture ring around it in true Fujifilm fashion.

Behind all this is the tripod collar.

Despite its massive, mammoth size the Fujifilm XF 200mm f2 OIS WR is actually well balanced with the X-T3.

 

Autofocus

To give it a more thorough test, I took the Fujifilm XF 200mm f2 OIS WR to the Bronx Zoo and photographed some of the animals living there. With the Fujifilm X-T3, it almost never missed focus. The occasions where it did miss had to do with very low lighting. For the most part, single AF points and a high continuous burst rate were used since the animals weren’t really moving around all that much.

The Fujifilm XF 200mm f2 OIS WR is probably very capable of tracking moving subjects but with the X-T3 we didn’t really see it do that all that much. We found issues with the X-T3 during our first impressions that we didn’t test in our full review.

 

Build Quality

The Fujifilm XF 200mm f2 OIS WR is built incredibly solid. During our test at the Bronx Zoo, the Fujifilm XF 200mm f2 OIS WR had some mist on it–which is sort of visible in these product images. It kept functioning. Of course, the X-T3 being weather sealed also helps. There isn’t a single thing that feels cheap about the Fujifilm XF 200mm f2 OIS WR; it could probably be Fujifilm’s best built lens.

 

Ease of Use

In our tests, we found the Fujifilm XF 200mm f2 OIS WR to be a bit more advanced than many other competing products on the market. For starters, you’ll need to remember that Fujifilm uses the aperture ring around the lens. Then there are a bunch of buttons around the lens that can be programmed to do other functions. However, they can sometimes be easily hit and then your camera is doing something you didn’t necessarily want it to do.

With all that said though, what you’ll be very happy about is how easily handheld the Fujifilm XF 200mm f2 OIS WR is.

 

Image Quality

With such a massive price tag, the Fujifilm XF 200mm f2 OIS WR is incredibly capable of delivering the fantastic image quality that we’ve known Fujifilm capable of producing for years now. Combine this with your camera’s Classic Chrome setting or something like that and you’ll be producing images that look almost like they belong in a vintage issue of Nat Geo or something. Again, we’re stating that this lens is really for wildlife photographers. Though we were sent the teleconverter with it, we didn’t test with it simply because we didn’t feel it was a pure test of the lens itself.

Bokeh

The best bokeh from the Fujifilm XF 200mm f2 OIS WR comes at f2 and when it is focused on a subject that is a few feet away. This photo was shot of a bird that was around five feet from me. It did a fantastic job of isolating the bird from the rest of the scene. Combine that with good lighting and you’ve got a pretty nice image.

Chromatic Aberration

I couldn’t find any issues with chromatic aberration; if there were I’d be in an uproar for what you’re paying for this lens.

Color Rendition

The colors of this entire set of images are more or less what I got in camera. Via Capture One Pro 12, I set the images to Classic Chrome and locked my white balance to 5600K sunlight. This gave me the closest thing that I would get to film. With the Fujifilm XF 200mm f2 OIS WR, it was about embracing the look I had known and seen my entire life. You can obviously embrace your own look, but the nostalgia of being at the zoo when I was a kid hit me.

In my eyes, the colors are fantastic.

Sharpness

The Phoblographer doesn’t condone pixel peeping, but here is an example of a scene that you can check out for yourself. This orange baby is a newborn and I was tipped off to it by the staff when they saw my lens. When you zoom all the way in, you can see the baby’s face and eyes with ease. You can also see the mom’s.

That’s some real sharpness even while firing the image through haze.

Extra Image Samples

Conclusions

Likes

  • Lightweight
  • Can fit into the top section of a backpack
  • Fast focusing
  • Beautiful image quality
  • Gorgeous bokeh
  • Weather sealing

Dislikes

The Fujifilm XF 200mm f2 OIS WR deserves our Editor’s Choice award not only for a fantastic image quality that it can offer, but also for the weather sealing and reliability. Everything worked just as it should, and in my more recent tests vs some competing products I’m shocked at how great the entire system is compared to companies that arguably have been doing this for longer than Fujifilm has. The X series is still very young and Fujifilm’s foray into professional APS-C cameras is even younger. For what they created, I’m floored.

Of course, all this comes at a steep price tag. So who would buy this lens? Honestly, if I were into wildlife photography for money, I wouldn’t hesitate for a second. Fujifilm’s weather sealing, battery performance, light weight, and reliability are the right combination that Sony doesn’t really have. Canon and Nikon? Go ahead: your back is going to hurt a whole lot afterward. Olympus? They don’t have quite the high ISO image quality that we’d demand. But APS-C is just right when it comes to depth of field and size.

For that, the Fujifilm XF 200mm f2 OIS WR deserves our highest praise of 5 out of 5 stars and our Editor’s Choice award.

autofocus Bokeh ergonomics fujifilm Fujifilm X-T3 Fujifilm XF 200mm f2 OIS WR image quality sharpness teleconverter weather sealing wildlife
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
4 Comments

  1. Guest

    05/01/2019 6:14 pm
    Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
    Spot.IM/1.0 (Export)

    I agree that the pictures are not that exciting – not that good to make me spend that amount of money. Comments – ‘The best bokeh from the Fujifilm XF 200mm f2 OIS WR comes at f2 and when it is focused on a subject that is a few feet away’ – this is a 200mm lens supposedly for wildlife, how many animals are going to get within 5 feet and the depth of field is so limited at f2- but we don’t mention how many aperture blades or a comparison to anything. Not sure why the review is so, well dare I say ‘off the mark’ or lacking. I get these pictures walking around a local zoo and not with a lens this price – and before you ask, yes I have a x2 400mm f2.8 Nikon AFS and the 600mm F4 and Fuji XH-1 + lenses, so I’m not being biased and I do like Fuji. The blacks are black – gradient to bring out the feathers – it’s just well black? The pictures just don’t look good – to show off this lens and make me want to buy it.

  2. Guest

    05/01/2019 6:14 pm
    Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
    Spot.IM/1.0 (Export)

    i don’t know that I would call it quite pricey, that implies it costs more than the limited competitors, it is substantially less expensive than the nikon or the canon 200mm f2.0 and includes the 1.4x converter. I have seen better examples on other reviews so won’t judge entirely on samples here , but I think it is a good value for the category it is competing in

  3. Guest

    05/01/2019 6:14 pm
    Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
    Spot.IM/1.0 (Export)

    Ugly photos.

  4. Guest

    05/01/2019 6:14 pm
    Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
    Spot.IM/1.0 (Export)

    I’m not sure if its what happens when these pics get posted but they all seem rather soft and a lot of them (monkeys) all lack contrast…

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