Its no secret that the Fujifilm XF 10-24mm lens is a great landscape lens and is right up there with the best in terms of image quality. It goes from ultra wide (15mm equivalent on a 35mm system) to medium wide (36mm equivalent on a 35mm system) with a maximum aperture of F4 and a minimum of F22. I did initially buy this lens for landscape work, as Fuji’s only other offering at the time was the 14mm prime and I wanted to go just a little bit wider. I even considered the Zeiss Touit (what about a 12mm Fuji?) and the Samyang but in the end went for the Fuji zoom.

Although I bought this lens for Landscape photography for some time I had been considering it for street or urban photography, or even just as a walkabout lens. Normally I would carry my X100s with its 23mm fixed lens and my X-Pro1 with the 35mm lens for this type of photography but I had been thinking  that the 10-24mm could prove to be a very useful replacement for these. My logic is simple, it will cover most of the primes that many street photographers shoot with, i.e. 14mm, 16mm and 23mm. Of course the zoom cannot hope to be as compact or, with a maximum aperture of F4, as fast as the primes but if you carry all three of them you will easily match the weight and size; and for most uses F4 might just be enough if you can do without the creamy smooth bokeh that seems to be so popular.  Quality is another area where primes would often have the advantage but this particular zoom is very good indeed and can more than hold its own for even the most demanding of users. One thing it does have is internal zooming so at least there is no “tromboning” in and out as you zoom.

So to put my theory to the test off I went one Sunday morning to the Botanic Gardens in Belfast with my X-Pro1 and the 10-24mm lens attached. I put it in my Millican Rob the Traveller camera bag, with spare batteries and a circular polariser. I also slipped the little 35mm F1.4 in the bag just in case I need the extra reach but never used it. Now usually in a review like this I should tell you about the focus speed, the image stabilisation, etc, etc, but to be honest I never really paid much attention to any of it. It just worked so well I forgot that I was testing and just enjoyed using it. To be honest I had no issues whatsoever with it and was completely happy with the images it produced, some of which are included here. So if you think this compact little zoom is just for Landscapes, then think again, it is a great all round lens that deserves a place in your everyday camera bag, such is its versatility.