Review: Fujinon XF16-55mm f2.8R LM WR

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The Fujinon XF16-55mm f2.8R LM WR is Fujifilm's second 'red badge' professional zoom and covers the standard 35mm focal range of 24mm to 84mm with a constant f2.8 maximum aperture.  This, along with the Fujinon XF50-140mm f2.8R LM WR OIS, makes up Fujifilm's professional zoom offering.  

 We have had a 50-140mm f2.8 since June and this lens lives up to all the hype and press coverage as it is a match for anything that the other manufacturers can produce in this focal length range with a fast aperture. So it was with interest that I tested the 50-140's smaller sibling to see if it can match the quality of the larger lens.


There are a few physical differences between the 50-140mm and the 16-55mm (and we are not talking about physical size.  The 16-55 is a big lens but it isn't too big.  Unlike the 50-140mm, the lens extends when zoomed towards the long end of the zoom range.  This is a little disappointing for me as I expected the zoom function to be internal like the 50-140mm.  It is a minor issue when the image quality is taken into account but....

The second item you notice is the lack of a switch for the Optical Image Stablisation (OIS) and these three letters are missing from the full name of the lens.  Now for me this isn't a problem and if an OIS system had been included it would've added even more to the bulk of the lens.  Now some photographers have complained bitterly about the lack of OIS but I cut my teeth as a photographer using manual lenses and OIS was a thing of science fiction.  The f2.8 maximum aperture allows you to keep the shutter speed at a reasonable level as the light drops and when it drops too much you just up the ISO a bit to compensate.

The third item is the 77mm diameter filter ring, which is bigger than the 72mm filter thread on the 50-140mm.  I wish Fujifilm would stick to one or two filter ring sizes instead of chopping and changing.  As it happens all my screw in filters and my Lee slot in filter system are configured for 77mm as this is something I had on my old Nikon system.  I have been using step up rings for the various lens filter sizes so at least on the 16-55mm I wont need to utilise these step ring for once.


The 16-55mm proudly wears the WR (Weather Resistant) label on the front of the lens and I can report that the WR does work after I got caught in a huge deluge last Saturday at Estoril while photographing the European Le Mans Series.  I did a blog the excellent Weather Resistance of the Fujifilm kit HERE and while most of the images were taken on the 50-140mm, the 16-55mm performed equally well in the challenging conditions.


 The zoom range is perfect for a lens of this size. The 24mm equivalent focal length on the wide end is perfect and allows me to get a lot into the frame without having to get the excellent XF10-24mm f4 out of the bag.  The 84mm equivalent on the telephoto end is also a great focal length and if I need a faster aperture I always have the 56mm f1.2 in the bag.

 The build quality of the XF16-55mm f2.8 is on a par with all the other XF range of lenses and is built to last.  I had an unfortunate accident when the camera fell off the tripod because I hadn't secured it properly.  The camera and lens fell 1.2m to the concrete floor and I thought that was it, game over.  No, the camera and lens just shrugged off the impact and carried on working. 

However it is the quality of the images the XF16-55mm f2.8 produces that is key and here are some images from the grid walk on Sunday afternoon at Estoril.  The weather was overcast but the images that I got from the 15-minutes on the grid were all very usable. 

 Because the focal range of the zoom covered most of what I needed with a fast f2.8 aperture, I was able to cover the grid walk with just one camera and one lens, which was very liberating.. 

 Here are some sample images from the ELMS is Portugal -










Conclusion
The XF16-55mm f2.8R LM WR is a lens worthy of the premium 'red badge'.  The quality is as we would expect from a professional XF Fujinon lens.  The lack of OIS will put some people off buying this lens but they will be missing something that is capable of rivalling the best prime lenses out there that has the flexibility of a good focal length range.

 For me it is a no brainer to have the 16-55mm f2.8 in my camera bag.
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