Fuji XF 16-55/2.8 WR – A Prime Shooters Zoom?

FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/11, 1/250 sec, ISO800)

I just returned from Seoul, Korea. It wasn’t the first time I have been there. But there was a premier. For the first time I took nothing but a zoom lens instead of my primes.

Regular visitors of my blog know that I usually only take a couple of small primes on my business trips to Asia. For the last couple of trips I settled for those three lenses: XF 14/2.8 R, XF 23/2.0 WR and the XF 35/1.4 R.

This time I took my brand new XF 16-55/2.8 WR instead of the primes plus my X100F to have a discrete camera to cover the dinners.

FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (51.6mm, f/2.8, 1/850 sec, ISO200)

A coupe of months ago I sold the XF 18-55 OIS. I never really liked the lens or better I never really liked the results. Of course I prefer a lens to be compact and light but it the image quality is not there it doesn’t matter. The drop in image quality compared to my primes lenses was very significant. I always preferred the pictures I took with the 14, 23 and 35 to the pictures I took with the kit lens.

I was hesitant to get the XF 16-55 WR mainly because of its size and weight and honestly also because of a rather lukewarm review from photozone. To all those who were also put off by this review I only say: Forget it! The XF 16-55 WR is not a slightly faster, slightly wider and slightly better version of the XF 18-55 OIS. It’s not even close. This lens is so much better!

First of all the XF 16-55 WR is sharp. Much sharper than the other Fuji zooms that I have used so far. I think it’s simple: If sharpness is the only reason why you prefer to shoot with prime lenses you can get this lens and you will be fine. If you always shoot in between f4 to f8 it makes no sense to have the XF 16/1.4 WR, XF 23/1.4 R, XF 35/1.4 R and XF 56/1.2 R instead of the XF 16-55/2.8 WR.

Another nice thing about the 16-55 is that AF is fast and silent. You can’t say that for most of the older lenses. Not a big deal for me but many people are very concerned about AF speed and the noise a lens makes. And it is a weather resistant lens whatever that means. Again not a big thing for me but of course it doesn’t hurt if the lens is sealed.

FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16.5mm, f/5.6, 1/250 sec, ISO250)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (55mm, f/8, 1/160 sec, ISO200)

But obviously the biggest advantage of the zoom is that it goes from 16mm to 55mm in a blink of an eye. No need to switch lenses just a little twist on the zoom ring is all it takes. The zoom ring is a little stiff on my lens and same is true for the aperture ring. The aperture ring on my favourite lens the XF 14/2.8 R is very loose, far too loose to be honest but the aperture ring on my XF 16-55 WR is way too stiff. On my lenses the aperture ring works best on the XF16/1.4 WR and on both 23mm lenses. It’s strange that Fuji has such problems to get this detail right.

How about DOF (depth of field) control? It’s important to manage expectations. This lens does not what a Canon 24-70/2.8 II does on a full frame camera but it’s not bad either especially on the long end. Below is a sample shot at roughly 50mm@f2.8.

FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (48.5mm, f/2.8, 1/680 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (28.3mm, f/4, 1/250 sec, ISO320)

So while it lacks a little the magic of a 24-70/2.8 on FF it is still an excellent and versatile lens. It’s sharpness is impressive. I had a big grin on my face when I zoomed in to 100% in Lightroom. Real pixel peeping reveals the difference in between a good lens and an excellent lens. The XF 16-55 WR is an excellent lens.

The amount of detail in the shots is just crazy. Like in the image above of the three lovely ladies posing for me. I offered to take their picture with their mobile phone and then asked if I could take a portrait of them. One from Russia, one from China and one from Korea. All dressed up in traditional Korean clothes they just looked amazing.

FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2.8, 1/250 sec, ISO1600)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (16mm, f/2.8, 1/160 sec, ISO800)

I said that I also took my Fuji X100F with me for the pictures I took during dinner but there was an exception. The evening when my local partner took me to a fish market I had to take the big camera. More about the fish market and the food in a separate post.

Back to the XF 16-55/2.8 WR for a summary in “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” – style.

The Good:

  • it’s sharp, really sharp
  • beautiful contrast and micro contrast
  • surprisingly good Bokeh for such a lens
  • decent subject separation, though not as good as with faster primes of course
  • very nice sunstars (see first image)
  • AF is silent and quick
  • built quality seems to be very solid

The Bad:

  • both zoom ring and aperture ring are too stiff
  • lens shade is too big and looks rather ugly
  • no OIS (makes it hard to frame precisely at 55mm)

The Ugly:

  • size and weight (I know that’s nothing new but you really need to check if the lens works for you)

Conclusion:

It’s a super solid, excellent zoom that covers all focal lengths from true wide angle (16mm) to true portrait focal length (55mm) at a constant aperture of f2.8. Its AF is fast and silent and it is weather sealed and made to last.

What’s not to like? Like I said above: If we are honest this lens is too big and too heavy for an APS-C mirrorless camera system. Put that lens on the new Fuji X-H1 and you get a combo that is slightly heavier than a Canon 6DII plus 24-70/4 IS or just about 170 grams lighter than a Canon 6DII plus the 24-70/2.8 II!

And finally here are the three reasons why this lens will not replace my primes on my trips to Asia or on long photo walks in cities:

  1. size and weight: Of course the zoom is not heavier than my 14/2.8, 23/2 and 35/1.4 put together but the big difference in real life is how the camera feels with the lens attached. I still have to wear a camera bag for my mobile phones, spare batteries, passport and other stuff so there is no advantage that this camera bag is a little lighter now but the camera on my neck is much heavier.
  2. 14mm is so much wider than 16mm which is important for me.
  3. because of its complex design and the larger pieces of glass it is prone to fog up when you move out of an air-conditioned hotel or taxi. It happened to me in Seoul where the temperature was just 32 degrees Celsius but the humidity was close to 90%. And there is nothing you can do about it except to wait for a couple of minutes until the glass adapts to the conditions. My primes don’t have this problem.

The XF 16-55/2.8 WR is not the lens for my trips to Asia but I look forward to use this as my main lens on my next vacation in the USA. And with this experience I even consider now to replace my XF 55-200 OIS with the XF 50-140/2.8 OIS WR before the trip.

FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (28.3mm, f/5.6, 1/125 sec, ISO250)