Landscape Photography with the Fujinon XF100-400mm F4.5-5.6 lens - Super Telephoto Landscape Photography

Many photographers will own a telephoto lens for their landscape photography but a super telephoto lens definitely offers some additional and exciting opportunities. I use the Fujinon XF100-400mm F4.5-5.6 lens for both wildlife and landscape photography. I suspect most Fuji users purchase the lens for photographing wildlife or sport but it’s a fantastic lens for landscape photography too.

Atmospheric mist across the landscape. Captured with Fuji X-T4 and Fujinon XF100-400mm F4.5-5.6 lens.

With the versatile focal length range extending to 400mm I can pick out compositions in the distant landscape which would otherwise be unobtainable. However it is not all about zooming in to the distant scenery, a long focal length is is also very useful for photographing small sections of a landscape, or isolating a single subject such as a tree or much smaller parts of a scene such as a few leaves on a branch.

Beautiful light on a distant section of the landscape. Captured with Fuji X-T4 and Fujinon XF100-400mm F4.5-5.6 lens.

The standard downside to many super telephoto lenses are their size and weight. Normally I will make an informed decision to carry only the Fujinon XF100-400mm F4.5-5.6 lens when I feel it is the best lens choice for what I want to photograph on a specific day. Compared to other super telephoto lenses I have owned I find its size and weight to be very manageable.

If you’d like to see how I spend a day with my Fuji X-T4 and Fujinon XF100-400mm F4.5-5.6 lens, see the images I capture, and hear some tips for landscape photography with a super telephoto lens, you can watch a video I have created on my YouTube channel here.

Fuji X-T4 and Fuji XF100-400mm Lens - First Wildlife Photography Shoot

Ever since switching to the Fuji line of cameras I have had my eye on the Fujinon XF100-400mm F4.5-5.6 lens. As someone who loves wildlife photography this lens seemed perfect for my needs offering a great focal length range which can be extended further by using one of the compatible Fuji teleconverters.

I’m happy to say that I have now purchased this lens along with the Fuji XF1.4X teleconverter; when using this teleconverter the lens has a maximum focal length of 560mm on my X-T4 which is fantastic for photographing wildlife. Note: when using the teleconverter the aperture becomes F6.4-8.

For my first shoot with this lens I headed out on an evening to try and find some roe deer to photograph. The conditions were quite challenging with a strong wind blowing and of course the ever decreasing light as the evening headed towards sunset. I found some roe deer near a corn field which made for a wonderful setting for photographs as the corn blew in the wind. Despite the aforementioned challenges the lens performed really well and I was able to get some photographs that I was very pleased with. Excited to try the lens more I headed out again the following morning and captured some nice photographs of deer in the golden morning light.

So what do I think of the Fuji XF100-400mm lens based on my first few hours using it? I’m very impressed with the lens. Obviously I can’t yet speak about it in a long term capacity but the build quality seems excellent and I found the size and weight very manageable for a lens offering this focal length range. I am very happy with the image quality - the photographs I took show great detail and look very pleasing. When using the 1.4X teleconverter I found the loss in sharpness to be minor and this makes the teleconverter a great choice when the extra focal length is beneficial.

If you’d like to watch the video I made of this shoot which includes plenty photographs taken with the lens and teleconverter, and also video footage captured using the lens, then be sure to checkout the video here on my YouTube channel.