Fujifilm Fujinon XC 15-45 mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS PZ review - Image resolution

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Fujifilm Fujinon XC 15-45 mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS PZ

14 January 2019

Arkadiusz Olech

4. Image resolution

The resolution test of the Fujinon XC 15–45 mm f/3.5–5.6 OIS PZ was based on RAW files from the Fujifilm X-T2 camera. These files were developed with help of dcraw program (with the 3-pass X-trans filter algorithm) and analyzed by the Imatest software package.

Let’s remind here that the best fixed focal length Fujifilm X lenses tested that way can reach as high as about 80 lpmm and the decency level is situated near 44-45 lpmm. Lately we’ve tested the Fujion XF 50 mm f/2 R WR with the help of the X-T2 body and it proved to be one of the sharpest lenses of the system, getting results of 83 lpmm or so; similar results we observed during the test of the XF 8–16 mm f/2.8 R LM WR at its longest focal length.

Now let’s check how the Fujinon 15-45 mm compares in the frame centre – an appropriate graph can be found below.

Fujifilm Fujinon XC 15-45 mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS PZ - Image resolution

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The lens fares sensationally well at the shortest focal length where, already from the maximum relative aperture, you get resolution level close to 80 lpmm. It is a really nice surprise.

Unfortunately, the higher the focal length the worse the lens perform. At 28 mm the results are still good but not as sensational as at 15 mm. A very distinct drop of quality can be observed after passing to 45 mm - at that point at the maximum relative aperture the image is hardly useful and in order to improve it you have to stop down the lens to near f/8–11.

Now let’s check the situation on the edge of the frame.

The differences are less distinctive but once again you can observe the decline of image quality as the focal length increases. In the 15-28 mm range you get MTFs that guarantee you sensible images even at the maximum relative aperture. At 45 mm, however, the usefulness level is reached only occasionally and solely in the proximity of f/8.0 aperture.

To be honest we didn’t expect anything spectacular so the results of the tested lens in this category we consider to be quite positive, especially taking the nice surprise at the shortest focal length into account.

Traditionally, we end this chapter by presenting crops taken from photos of our resolution testing chart which were saved in JPEG format along RAW files, used for the analysis above.

Fujifilm X-T2, JPEG, 15 mm, f/3.5