Tips for buying a new Fujifilm lens

Hardware
,
1

Hello!

I’ve been shooting pictures as a hobby for a few years with a Fujifilm X-T30 and a XC 15-45mm, especially during trips. In many situations, I’ve found myself wanting a bit more zoom.

I’ve searched a bit online for Fuji lenses, and the two options which look interesting to me are:

  • XC 50-230mm
  • XF 18-135mm

I’ve been looking for 2nd-hand prices on mpb.com, because it seems to have great availability and good deals, but I’ve never actually used this website. The first one is available for around €300, and the second one for €470, both advertised as in “excellent condition.”

The first one would be used together with my current lens, while the other would replace it, allowing me to sell my current lens.

I like the portability of my current setup, so I would like to reduce the amount of extra bulk as much as possible.
The XC 50-230mm weighs around 370g, for a total of 500g together with my XC 15-45mm.
The XF 18-135mm weighs around 490g alone, which is comparable to the other two lenses together.

Due to my lack of experience, I don’t really know which is the actual difference between 135mm and 230mm on APS-C: is the latter overkill, or do you think that it would make a great difference in many situations?

On the other hand, having to swap lenses to change the focal range seems annoying, but the package I would have in my hand at any moment would always be more lightweight with the two XC lenses.

I also like the idea of having an aperture ring, absent on XC lenses, since the X-T30 does not have a dedicated knob for the ISO, so I’m using the little front wheel to control both the ISO and the aperture, which is a bit uncomfortable.

I haven’t tried the XF 18-135mm in particular, but I’ve tried other zoom XF lenses in physical stores, and they all had a manual actuation, which made them feel smoother and less noisy than my motorized XC lens, and also caused the camera to turn on quicker, due to the fact that “extending” the lens was not required for booting it: I don’t know if it would be the same story with the XF 18-135mm in particular, tho.

Which option would you choose in my situation? Would you recommend other options? Do you have any recommendations on where to buy lenses for a good price in the EU?

Thank you all! :smile:

2

One point I would make is the 18-135mm would be such a great general purpose lens that would be way more convenient (useful) than your current 15-45mm.

I own a Canon R7 that came with a 18-150mm lens. While that was great, I have just purchased a 16-300mm lens for travelling and everyday photography because switching to my 100-300 mm lens was very inconvenient when travelling overseas. I am about to go to Africa for a camping safari and being able to capture wildlife and landscapes without changing lenses will be a blessing. So I recommend the 18-135mm lenses if you are only getting one. Unless your a bird photographer and then the longer lens would be essential.

2 Likes
3

Generally, this depends entirely on what you shoot. For wildlife you would want a longer reach, but for eg the kind of travel photography I like to do even the 18–135mm would be overkill (since it is around 28–215mm equivalent, which is plenty for most subjects and even allows you some wildlife and bird shots).

Also, AFAIK the XF has better housing and weather sealing, which should help a lot. It looks like the perfect travel zoom.

That said, note that

will always happen, regardless of the lens you are carrying :wink:

1 Like
4

Thank you for your answers!

I’m leaning towards the XF 18-135mm: having a single lens sounds more convenient to me. Also, the zoom level seems fine.

I’ve also checked other options, like the Tamron 18-300mm, but it’s more expensive, bulkier, and probably even more overkill than the XC 50-230mm in terms of zoom. Moreover, I keep reading online that the quality of the lenses by Fujifilm is outstanding: I don’t think that I would be able to evaluate such aspect myself, so I think that sticking to a brand that regularly delivers good quality products would be wiser for me.

will always happen, regardless of the lens you are carrying :wink:

That really sounds very likely! :laughing:

5

I have both. The 18-135 is basically my travel lens and is the one that sits mostly on my XT3. I like it. I bought it brand new a few years ago.
I’m waiting for the new Sigma 16-300mm to be available, so you might want to wait on this lens.

1 Like
6

Would you like to replace your XF 18-135mm with the Sigma 16-300mm? Can I ask you why?