XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR - first impression

XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR is Fuji's first weather-resistant lens, a perfect companion for X-T1.

Today I had an opportunity to test the pre production version and here is my impression.
Loose aperture ring on Fuji lenses was always my concern. At the Fuji event I met  Leonard Ramos who showed his hack, a rubber band to add some friction behind the aperture ring. This hack improves aperture ring control on the majority of the Fuji lenses.

But after using XF 18-135  I can safely say: the rubber band is not needed for this lens. Aperture ring rotation and clicks just feel right. The lens is smaller and lighter than I expected, yet very well built. Solid.

Next, I took the series of shots, mostly at f/5.6 and f/8.

@18mm

@ 55mm

@ 135mm

Image stabilization, 1/20 @ f:8, hand held
The shutter speed was slow enough to blur the guy in the pink shirt on the stairs at the back while IS managed to keep the main scene tack sharp. Don't know about 5 stops but it was very  impressive.

Totally unscientific comparison. XF 55-220 (X-Pro1) and XF 18-135 (XT-1) both @ 135/5.6

My first impression is positive. The lens is an outdoorsman's dream. A single lens solution for someone who treasures light weight, compactness, robustness and yet versatility.

• Weather resistant
• Very well built, smooth movements. Aperture ring finally feels right. 
• No too big and not too heavy, well balanced with XT-1
• Covers good range (28 - 200), no need to swap lenses in the field
• Image stabilization works really well, may reduce the need for a tripod

On the other hand, I saw CA here and there and details smearing in the corners, especially at 18 mm. Do not rush to replace your XF 18-55 and XF 55-200 yet.

All the best,
vkphoto