Fujinon XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR Review

The only lens you need if you want to travel light and capture everything from flowers to portraits to landscapes, and be able to do it in less than ideal conditions. The Fujifilm 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR lens is a great all-around travel lens perfect for everyday use. There’s no need to lose time switching lens from moment to moment.

Fujinon XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR Features

This is Fujifilm X-Mount high magnification zoom lens range is 27-206mm equivalent for a 7.5x zoom ratio and comes with a 67mm filter thread. The four Aspherical and two ED elements, and the HT-EBC Multi-Layer lens coating are part of the reasons why image quality is always so high. It comes with five-stop image stabilization, an inner focusing system and a linear AF motor. It is quiet, unobtrusive and you won’t hear it shake around.

The inner and outer lens barrels are plastic, while the front element, aperture and focusing rings, along with the rear lens mount are aluminum.

The weather-sealed construction means you don’t have to worry about a light drizzle or a little dust blowing up. Weather resistance opens up areas, like waterfalls found on hiking trips that would be off-limits without it.

The Auto Focus system is fast, just not as fast as a prime. Focusing is accurate, overall smooth and quiet. A drawback for some is that you have to move a switch in order to go from auto to manual focus and vice versa.

An encoder communicates with a computer to move the lens when focusing manually. This by-wire system is not comparable to an SLR lens. Updates to firmware continually improve these operations. Because the rubberized zoom ring is heavily damped, you might find yourself using two fingers. Don’t worry though, it’s easy to get hold of and use.

Image Quality

The Fujifilm 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR is a pro-grade zoom lens.

Rich colors and nearly perfect skin tones are rendered with the X-Trans II sensor. Sharpness, especially in the center, is aided by the sharp contrast found all of the way through. In fact, the macro performance is really sharp and you’ll likely get closer than the stated 1.5-foot minimum.

You won’t find any problems with ghosting, flare seems to be well controlled and the rounded 7-blade diaphragm cuts down the appearance of many sun stars. While Bokeh is decent, especially considering the slow aperture openings, some color fringing problems, even when down to f8. Chromatic aberration, in some shots with extreme contrast, has been reported to pop up.

Pros

Quality build
Excellent OIS
Overall pretty sharp (not Fujinon prime sharp)
Weather-resistant
Great colors
Focuses quickly and accurately
Lighter than a DSLR lens
Covers a wide focal length range making it a very flexible lens

Cons

Color fringing with hints of chromatic aberration
Inconsistent edge quality
Some distortion at 18mm
A bit pricey