REVIEW: What is the Best Fuji Kit Lens? Part 1

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Over the past couple of months I have been asked on more than a couple of occasions, as a Fujifilm X Photographer, what was the best standard zoom lens to buy.  

 The Fujifilm X Series boasts three XF zoom lenses that cover the standard focal range - slightly wide to telephoto range (usually between 24mm and 80mm in Full Frame terms).  I have the superb XF16-55mm f2.8 (24-84mm in FF terms) in my camera bag but I have never owned, and only used on a couple of occasions, the XF18-55mm f2.8/4  (27-84mm) or the XF18-135mm f3.5/5.6 (27-206mm) lenses.  

 While the red badged f2.8 lens is optically brilliant and possibly the sharpest professional level standard zoom on the market, it is quite large and certainly not cheap.  It is probably not the best option for the amateur / enthusiast photographer looking for a lens who wants the famous Fujinon build and optical quality. Luckily they have two other options in the XF lens line up.

 So to start off 2017 I have received from Fujifilm UK an XF18-135mm and an XF18-55mm on loan to test alongside my XF16-55mm over the next few weeks.

 The lenses were received by courier yesterday. I immediately fitted the XF18-135mm f3.5/5.6 R LM OIS WR to my X-T2 and headed out to Barns Ness lighthouse for a quick test of the Fujinon Superzoom.  


Now some of you might be wondering what I mean by the term 'superzoom'.  Well this was a term coined in the 1990s when manufacturers started to produce zooms that covered a wide focal length, meaning you could take just one lens instead of two zooms or several primes.  The problem with the early lenses was the resulting image quality wasn't that good and the maximum apertures were quite slow.  It was a case of these lenses being a 'Jack-of-All-Trades-Master-of-None'.   As you can probably tell I wasn't a fan and I never did buy one, preferring to swap lenses to make sure the image quality was of the required standard for my work.

In June 2014 I did have the chance to try one of the first Fujinon 18-135mm (27mm to 206mm in full frame terms) when fellow X Photographer Andrew Hall from Australia had one on test at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.  

 I only had around 10 minutes with the lens but was happy to see that the high optical and build quality standard was very much in evidence.  But I decided it wasn't for me, preferring to use the XF16-55 and XF50-140mm f2.8 lenses.  

 Anyway back to my quick initial test of the 18-135mm at Barns Ness.  I have to say the lens lived up to what I remembered of the Le Mans test two and a half years ago and the performance across the zoom range was excellent.  In the winter sunshine along Scotland's East Lothian coast the 37 metre /121 feet high lighthouse provided a good subject for this quick 30-minute test run.  

Now one of things that the 18-135mm (and the 18-55mm) lens has that the 16-55mm doesn't is an Optical Image Stabiliser (OIS) built into the lens.  I didn't get chance to test the OIS at Barns Ness but I have been very impressed with the system on the 50-140mm and the 100-400mm lenses so I expect it to be just as usable on the 18-135mm.

Physically the XF18-135mm is comparable in size to the XF16-55 f2.8 - 75.7mm x 97.8mm (wide) or 75.7mm x 158mm (tele) compared to 83.3mm x 106mm (wide) or 83.3mm x 129.5mm (tele), the superzoom does weigh 165g less than the f2.8 lens (490g to 655g).

 Like the 16-55mm f2.8 the 18-135mm is weather resistant as denoted by the 'WR' on the lens.

 There is also a marked difference in price with the RRP of the XF16-55mm f2.8 at £959 compared to £659 for the XF18-135mm on the Fujifilm website.

 CLICK HERE for more information on the Fujinon XF18-135mm f3.5/5.6 R LM OIS WR

 FIRST IMPRESSIONS
This is a great lens!  As I admired earlier I have never been a fan of Superzooms but this lens could change my mind.  This is a lens that could be bolted on the front of the camera all day and you wouldn't need to worry about changing it. This is a huge plus point for anyone who travels a lot.  

 I will be carrying out further tests in the coming weeks but first impressions are very high!

TEST IMAGES
Here are some test shots from Barns Ness taken on the Fujifilm X-T2 and the XF18-135mm f3.5/5.6.  

 The first four images illustrate the pulling power of the 18-135mm with two shots taken from position 1, one at 18mm and one at 135mm.  This was repeated at position 2 closer to the lighthouse.

Position 1 - zoom at 18mm - Fujifilm X-T2 + XF18-135mm (18mm) - 1/750 @ f6.4 ISO200 
Position 1 - zoom at 135mm - Fujifilm X-T2 + XF18-135mm (135mm) - 1/750 @ f6.4 ISO200 
Position 2 - zoom at 18mm - Fujifilm X-T2 + XF18-135mm (18mm) - 1/500 @ f6.4 ISO200 
Position 2 - zoom at 135mm - Fujifilm X-T2 + XF18-135mm (135mm) - 1/500 @ f6.4 ISO200 
Fujifilm X-T2 + XF18-135mm (135mm) - 1/1000 @ f5.6 ISO200 
Fujifilm X-T2 + XF18-135mm (20.8mm) - 1/120 @ f11 ISO200 
Fujifilm X-T2 + XF18-135mm (83.3mm) - 1/250 @ f11 ISO200 
Rusty Bolt Macro - Fujifilm X-T2 + XF18-135mm (135mm) - 1/320 @ f5.6 ISO200 

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ALL IMAGES (UNLESS INDICATED) ARE THE PROPERTY OF MACLEAN PHOTOGRAPHIC AND CANNOT BE USED FOR ANY PURPOSE WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION

MacLean Photographic run Tours and Workshops in East Lothian and the Borders of Scotland.  CLICK HERE for more details and availability

Jeff Carter is an Official Fujifilm X Photographer and was named as a Fujifilm brand ambassador in June 2015. In 2016 he worked with the company on the launches of the Fujifilm X-Pro2 in Tokyo and the Fujifilm X-T2 in Paris in July 2016.  You can view his profile and gallery on the Fujifilm website HERE

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Comments

  1. Anonymous11 January 2017 at 17:14

    Great to see a review on this lens.
    I started my use of the x-series with the little X10 compact moving to the X100s back in 2013. Last year I added a second hand XT10 and 18-135mm lens to my gear. I have been continually impressed with how good this lens is. I have used fast fairly expensive primes and zooms before from Canon and Nikon and this lens matches many for image quality and beats all (my humble opinion) for versatility and overall feel.
    I would love to upgrade to a '2' pro or t model so looking forward to hearing how you find this lens.
    It may just be me but it seems to be out of fashion simply because pixel peepers think it's a big compromise compared to the other x series zooms. Yes, it's not as fast but the IS is so good that combined with the high iso handling of the x cameras it's reach really makes it a quality does all lens. Perhaps we should stay quiet....you can pick them up for really good prices....and no I do not work for Fuji!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Macsport12 January 2017 at 08:16

      weejono - thank you for reading the blog. I have to admit I am one of those who have looked down upon superzooms in the past but this lens is definitely a cut above. The lens is sharp and, as you quite rightly point out, the slower max aperture is offset by the superb Fujifilm OIS system. I look forward to trying this lens some more. I will report back soon.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous29 January 2017 at 06:47

      I have both kit zoom (purchased with my X-E2) and 18-135 zoom bought later.
      Both lenses are excellent and seemingly every bit as good as my Nikkor 17-55mm/f.28 which costs dollars for which you could purchase both Fujifilm zooms.
      I'd say, the quality of Fujifilm optics is a well kept secret.
      18-135 is quite a bit heavier than the kit zoom, so I take it along when I need longer focal length.
      Also it is WR.

      Delete

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