Fujifilm XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 OIS WR Zoom Lens Review

This latest addition to the company's line up of profession-grade lenses for X-series interchangeable-lens cameras covers a wide shooting range of 27mm wide-angle to 206mm telephoto equivalent.

It has the world's most advanced 5.0-stop image stabilization technology and features a dust-proof and waterproof structure with weather resistant sealing applied to more than 20 different areas of the lens.

This lens comes packaged with the following accessories:

Front & Rear Lens Caps
Lens Hood

Get Fujifilm XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 OIS WR Zoom Lens at Amazon.com

Essentially it handles like a dream. Focusing is Fujifilm XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 OIS WR Zoom Lens virtually instantaneous and the images are great.

The FOCAL RANGE is quite broad, and certainly useful. Sure, it could be wider and longer, but it’s still a decent wide-angle (27mm) and a decent telephoto (206mm). I’d personally prefer more degrees at the wide end at the expense of the long though (as the 16-55 will be). A 16-120mm (24-180) with at least a constant f/4 would be more in line with my wishes.

Yeah, it is kinda SLOW. And I am known for using and loving fast primes (25 years as a photojournalist), so when I first saw the specs on this, I was not even interested. As I shoot a D4 on my day-job, my X-T1 is more of my personal (fun/art) camera. But it is highly capable for pro work, and for some things, I’d prefer it.

The useful max f/stops break down like this (or there-abouts) :

18mm 3.5
20mm 3.6
23mm 4.0
28mm 4.2
35mm 4.3
55mm 5.0
70mm 5.3
85mm 5.3
100mm 5.6
135mm 5.6

What the lens lacks in aperture speed, the vibration reduction system (OIS) makes up for. And the OIS in this lens is really amazing, I really think the most useful. Better than Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8. This lens is also highly useful for basic video work (home movies) with the broad focal range and very effective vibration reduction.

The SHARPNESS is actually quite good for this 7.5X focal range. Bit soft in corners wide-open, especially at 18mm (I’d almost wish it was less sharp in corners at the long end vs the wide end) but it is still very useful. In fact, it seems resolving enough at EVERY focal length, which is really pretty impressive. Don’t expect it to match your primes, but I haven’t met any lens that does. There are just too many variables to engineer into making this broad a focal range perfect. I’d certainly say it’s the sharpest all-in-one lens I’ve had though. The multiple ED/Aspherical elements probably help out there.

CONTRAST is very good all the way through, which adds to the impression of sharpness. Flare seems well controlled and Starbursts look decent too.

It’s fairly smooth and creamy for the slow aperture openings it has. Guess the aperture openings stay fairly circular throughout the range and help with OOF highlights for a fairly decent bokeh for a slow lens.

The minimum focus distance (MFD) is another highlight. It makes this lens way more useful as an all-in-one when you are able to get in close on a flower and just about fill the frame. No, its certainly not a 1:1 macro, but its more useful than most primes with generally more-limited MFD. In real-world shooting it seems to be around 10” in front of front element (filter to subject). This 10 inches or so is comparable across the focal range as well, so you can shoot around the same distances from wide angle (27mm) to telephoto (206mm). This is very useful and the close-focusing is helpful for bokeh in macro-ish shots.

One of the major selling points is the WATER RESISTANCE, and that was certainly of interest to me. It’s nice to not have to worry about ruining your lens/camera when you get caught in a shower or want to take a hike and still get nice nature shots in any condition (which is sometimes more productive in cloudy light in drizzle).

It is fairly LIGHT in weight too, making it even better for travel. Although light, the BUILD QUALITY still seems high. The ZOOM ring is very smooth mechanically, and it does not creep around either. I’d prefer a zoom that was totally internal, but probably hard to do with this wide a focal range. My copy seems to be a little tight at just the last few millimeters of zoom, say 128-135mm—but that may loosen with use.

The included hood somehow seems a just bit small for the lens girth to me, and the plastic is slightly a lighter shade (grey vs deeper black of lens) which appears a bit mis-matched to me, but not a big deal. Unfortunately, the hood does not have a great “click” stop once in place either, making it a bit loose and prone to falling off.

The AUTOFOCUS is internal, so you can easily use SFX filters (esp. polarizers) easily. The AF system is FAST and hits the mark well! I’d say its better than my 56mm honestly, with less hunting. It is also extremely QUIET and SMOOTH. Very pleased with the focus.

In conclusion, This is a very USEFUL lens, even though it is slow. If it were faster with an even broader focal range, it would also be very heavy, very large, with a huge front element (that needed 77mm or larger filters). As such, it suits the small mirrorless bodies (such as the X-T1) perfectly as a take-anywhere but highly-capable camera system.

Fujifilm XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 OIS WR Zoom Lens