Throughout this blog you will be seeing images I have taken with the 18mm f/1.4.
After owning the Leica Q for years I fell in love with the 28mm focal length. It hits a nice spot between my old favorite, the 35mm and the 24mm that I used quite often. I used a 24mm G-Master on a Sony for a few years and the 35mm Sigma 1.4 on my Canon 5D MK iii for a VERY long time. I thought it could not get better between the two honestly.
I shot on the X-T3 for a while, I have always been a sucker for the tactility and user friendliness of Fuji cameras but I was not 100% sold on the system. I have had every single X100 that there has been and currently have the X100V (my favorite camera) which just blows me away. Eventually I sold my X-T3 and went back into sony due to the full frame and the technology.
One of my great friends Patrick Glackmeyer was telling me about his new lens, the 18mm 1.4 for his X-T4 and when he talks about gear, I listen. He said it reminded him a lot of the Leica Q and that is why he purchased it. He brought the camera over, we went and shot some street photography and within the day he was walking away with a Leica Q and I had my new favorite lens and camera + a few more lenses.
After acquiring the 18mm f/1.4 I hardly ever took it off of the X-T4 that it came attached to. I have photographed everything from my honeymoon to protests in San Juan. The lens is TACK sharp and has a great build like the 16mm f/1.4. These two lenses actually remind me a lot of each other but those 2mm really make a difference in the feel of the photos that it produces. I know I talk a lot about the X100V (with good reason) and how I use it with the WCL which is about the same as this set up with the 18mm. But the 1.4 really gives me a bit more depth than the X100V even though I don’t shoot wide open that often, it is there if I need it.
I leave this lens on for most of my wedding photography since it gives me nice environmental portrait and candid opportunity. I have photographed every wedding that I have shot with this beautiful piece of metal and glass since I traded Patrick. A lot of people ask “do you miss full frame"?” and no I don’t. In my honest opinion it is the gear that takes the image but the photographer makes the image. You do not need a huge sensor to create beautiful work. If you put this lens next to a full frame 28mm lens, you cannot really tell a difference.
I live in Nashville, TN AKA the new Hollywood. We have so many street photography opportunities here it is pretty insane. This lens helps capture street work very well due to its quick AF motor technology. I rarely ever miss a shot even shooting from the hip at wider apertures. There is no chromatic aberration, it is sharp, clean, contrasty and the tactility feels like the military created this lens for soldiers in war. I actually do documentary work for a lot of electric companies in the south east of U.S. and this lens shines in these situations. It never fails to help me when I get in confined situations whereas a 35mm equivalent would not help in the least.
Overall, it is what it is, a great lens. I highly recommend it to anyone who is not afraid to zoom with their feet, does documentary work of just about any kind and environmental portraiture.
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