fuji XF 18-135mm lens review

[pixmedic]

well, it has arrived. I ordered this lens from Roberts Camera on the 25th for $500.
it was rated at 80%-89% but as usual, what i received seems well above that. it appears to have barely been used, if at all. the packaging was excellent, and it was shipped fast. (and im a super stickler on those) I dont know if we still have a rep from Roberts Camera here on the forum, but if so, strong work guys...this is why i continue to order used gear from there when its available. This time, it was from one of their ebay listings.

the zoom ring is a little stiff, especially at the farthest end, but I dont know if that is simply a native trait for this lens or if it really has just been rarely used and is just not "broken in" yet.
AF is fast, and it gets focus surprisingly well in low light. the few quick test shots I took around the apartment were on the X-T100 so part of that might be a process of the camera and not the lens itself. whatever the case, the AF is very quick. like my 18-55 f2.8-4 lens, this lens has a metal mount as well as a switch allowing you to change aperture control to either the lens ring OR a camera wheel. (i prefer the lens ring)

I dont know how "weather resistant" this lens actually is...I dont take any of my camera gear in the rain so its a non-issue for me but if someone happens to know the answer i would be interested just for curiosity's sake.

just for a reference, here it is on my T100. Granted, the X-T100 is a pretty small camera itself. Its smaller than my X-E2 and only a little bigger than my X-A1. (taller though due to the viewfinder) The lens doesnt feel out of balance on it since its not very heavy.

a quick size and weight reference. as you can see, overall length is around 114mm and weighing in at approx 19 ounces. im sure you could just look up the official specs for this lens and get a more precise number directly from the manufacturer, but i thought it would be fun to show it in the wild.

I only took one test shot with it. this is at 135mm, F5.6, SS180, ISO400.
basic editing in LR CC and pretty heavily cropped because i was standing way back. I forgot 135mm isnt really very long.

Overall im pretty pleased with the lens. 18mm is about as wide as i ever use anyway (mostly because i dont have anything wider) and i dont see needing longer than 135mm very often. this covers an extremely versatile range for me. the only thing i really miss about Nikon is the abundance of used lenses. third party options really made getting into good glass much more affordable than with fuji, where used prices are only slightly better than new in many cases, and virtually no third party options are available. (except some manual focus stuff)

 

[Tropicalmemories]

Looks like a great deal to me.

My 18-135 is also a little stiff at the longer end of the zoom range. I like this when shooting fast moving sports as it helps me to know I'm about to run out of zoom.

 

[pixmedic]

Looks like a great deal to me.

My 18-135 is also a little stiff at the longer end of the zoom range. I like this when shooting fast moving sports as it helps me to know I'm about to run out of zoom.

it was certainly a good deal based on what they were going for on ebay. of course, there were not very many used ones so it was hard to get a good feel for the pricing.
didnt see any better deals on the fuji FB sale/trade page.
ive bought quite a lot of camera gear from Robers Camera over the years so i wasnt afraid to pick up something that wasnt marked as "mint". they seem to mostly under rate their gear.