Introduction

Ease of Use

The Fujifilm XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS lens attached to the Fujifilm X-E1 camera

The Fujifilm XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS is a relatively compact lens, at least when compared to its DSLR equivalents; but it's still quite a bit bigger than a comparable Micro Four Thirds zoom, for example. As you can see in the picture above, it complements the Fujifilm X-E1 very well, not feeling at all front-heavy even when fully zoomed out.

The Fujifilm XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS lens alongside the Fujifilm X-E1 camera

The overall build quality is excellent, in keeping with the X-series bodies. The Fujifilm 18-55mm lens boasts a metal mount, high-grade plastic barrel and non-rotating 58mm filter thread. The zoom ring is generously wide and has a ridged, rubberised grip band. Zooming is not internal, meaning the length of the lens changes while you zoom. Physically the lens is shortest at 18mm and longest at the 55mm setting.

The Fujifilm XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS lens attached to the Fujifilm X-E1 camera

Both the zoom and the focus rings are smooth in action without being loose. Zoom creep is not an issue. The focus ring is quite narrow and has no “hard stops” at either end of the focus range.

The Fujifilm XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS lens attached to the Fujifilm X-E1 camera

The Fujifilm 18-55mm lens has a traditional aperture ring on the lens barrel, which allows you to set the aperture in 1/3 steps. As the zoom has a variable aperture throughout its range, there are no aperture markings on the lens barrel, so the aperture is shown in the viewfinder or on the LCD screen of the camera body instead. The rather thin aperture ring is nicely damped and makes a distinctive click as you change the setting.

The Fujifilm XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS lens attached to the Fujifilm X-E1 camera, zoomed out to 55mm

The Fujifilm XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS lens attached to the Fujifilm X-E1 camera, zoomed out to 55mm

The Fujifilm XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS lens

The has built-in OIS (Optical Image Stabiliser) equivalent to 4 stops, which is turned on and off via the dedicated OIS switch on the lens barrel.

The Fujifilm XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS lens

The aperture mode switch toggles between auto aperture control (the switch is set to A) or manual aperture control (the switch is set to the aperture blade symbol).

The Fujifilm XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS lens

The Fujifilm XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS lens

Front of the Fujifilm XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS lens

Rear of the Fujifilm XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS lens

In terms of accessories, the lens ships with a rather short plastic petal shaped hood.

Focal Range

At the 18mm end of the zoom range, the Fujifilm XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS lens has a wide angle of view of 79.1 degrees.

Field of view at 18mm

At the 55mm end, the angle of view narrows to 28.4 degrees, which can be described as short telephoto.

Field of view at 55mm

Distortion

Distortion at 18mm

Distortion at 55mm

At the wider end, the Fujifilm XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS has some barrel distortion, as you can see in the photo above, but it's no worse than you would expect from a 27mm lens.

Focusing

The Fujifilm XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS lens has an internal focusing (IF) system with a very quiet linear motor. In practice, we found the auto-focus to be fast, quiet and accurate, and certainly the quickest of all the XF series lenses released so far. Thanks to the IF mechanism the front of the lens does not rotate on focus, which is very good news for anyone looking to use the lens in conjunction with a polariser or graduated neutral density filter.

Chromatic Aberrations

Chromatic aberrations, typically seen as purple or blue fringes along contrasty edges, are not really a problem with the Fujifilm XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS lens, as shown in the examples below.

Macro

The Fujifilm XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS is not a macro lens. The close-focus point is at 30cm from the sensor plane. The following example illustrates how close you can get to the subject, in this case a CompactFlash card.

Close-up performance

Bokeh Examples

Bokeh is a word used for the out-of-focus areas of a photograph, and is usually described in qualitative terms, such as smooth / creamy / harsh etc. Fujifilm have paid attention to this aspect of lens use, employing a 7-segment diaphragm with rounded blades for pleasing bokeh. In our view, their efforts have been largely successful - see the examples below.

Sharpness

In order to show you how sharp this lens is, we are providing 100% crops on the following pages.