Fujifilm Fujinon XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM OIS

I shoot weddings for a profession and use Nikon when I work (D4, 24-70mm F2.8, 70-200mm f2.8 etc etc). However, when we took the family holiday to Europe this summer, I left the D4 home and packed the X-pro 1 instead. I didn't want to change lens often (35mm 1.4, 18mm f2.0 and 60mm F2.4) and so I bought this lens 2 days before i left. I'm glad i bought it! The zoom is great for quick framing and compositions, especially when you have kids that move around (,though of course the xpro1 really isn't a kids/sports camera!). For still portraits and travel shots, this lens was sharp and focused well. I think i had lot less mis-focused shots compared to my 35mm 1.4. In the end, this lens remained on my xpro1 for about 95% of the time during my month long trip. The lens is solidly built...metal casing which gives it a quality feel. The images where sharp and i had only some out of focussed shots. The image stabilization worked and paired with the xpro1.. I was able to do well in low light situations. Although it is not a constant aperture lens, i barely felt the F4 difference. In the end, i liken this lens to my nikon 24-70 F2.8 work horse. A keeper in my books. I will probably sell the 18 F2.0 and 60mm F2.4 as they get little use. At this price, I think it makes a great addition to most photographer's line-up.

I got this lens in anticipation of a family trip where i wanted the versitility in my field of view but did not want to carry multiple prime lenses around with my XP1. It performed great, snapping great family pictures and great candid street photos. Haven't used it in very low light situtation yet but it is sharp wide open for the whole focal range and the build quality is quite impressive. I think this lens would not be good for candids or street photograhpy (I would perfer the 35 or 18), but is a great addition as a cross over lens when you need to take group and portraits shots. Color and IQ are great i highly recomend it.The GoodThis lens is sharp, just as sharp as the 35 1.4, sharper than the 18, and the optical stabalizer works very well.This may seam weird, but i feel like the price is very reasonableThe BadAs expected this lens is much bigger than the primes, and it was unsetling when first shooting about the weight and size. I also found the zoom to be a blit loose, just a tab to easy to move, though this might be personal preference.The OddWhile i almost always shoot with the optical viewfinder in my xp1, i found the overlay box a bit gimmicky and not very accurate. I found my self using the eletronic view finder a lot more ( 75% of the time?) with this lens. It is hard to judge accurate framing even with the camera making approximate parallax and zoom estimates.

Amazing starter lens!

This is a serious lens built primarily from metal with etched markings and made in Japan. This is not a plastic "kit" lens like I used to have on my Nikon DSLR. Those lenses were just a step away from being a throw away lens. The Fujinon 18-55 is significantly better. I had compared it with Fuji's other kit type lens, the 16-50. Although that 16-50 is not a bad lens by any means, the 18-55 is much better. It has better AF, image stabilization, an aperture ring, and excellent bokeh. The optics are clearer and the 18-55 has better light sensitivity. For most of what I use this lens for on my X-T1 (street, basic portrait, landscape, vacation), this lens is perfectly fine. I am not a professional photographer by any means, I'm just an enthusiastic photography hobbyist who wants better pics than my phone will do.

This Fujifilm lens is one of the best affordable all purpose zooms made by any manufacturer.Ideal for anyone, like myself, wanting to jump into the Fujifilm system and start shooting without thinking of which focal lengths to invest in for primes.Sharp, fast enough and built very well albeit without weather resistance.

Update to my update: I find this lens to be creatively limiting. I was carrying it around everywhere but felt like I was lacking the kind of bokehlicious shots I like taking, and while I can get a bit of that zoomed in, F4 is a bit too slow for my tastes. In that sense, I've come back with regret from some photoshoots where I felt like this lens limited me to a bunch of flat photos. I would definitely bring this for landscapes or street, but anything else and it's just not fast enough. Time to rekindle the love I had with my XF 35mm F2.Update: Bumped this review to a 5. I've all but stopped using my XF 35mm f/2 now that I have this lens. I love the wide angle that's not too wide, and in good lighting stopped down it's quite sharp. That's not to say I don't like the 35 (on the contrary, it's an incredible lens), but I didn't expect to like this one so much. Still agree it's not worth the retail price, but at $300 it's totally worth it.Quality lens that is nothing like a kit lens. A bit soft fully open but nice and sharp stopped down a bit. I gave it four stars because I don't think it's a great value at its retail price. However, because it's sold with new X cameras in such large quantities, solid used ones can be had for $300 or less. I wouldn't spend more than that on this lens.

Shortly after receiving the lens, I got a message on my camera that there was a lens error. I took it to a repair technician who took the lens apart to asses the problem. He found that the autofocus was broken and that there was rust inside the lens and that someone had tried to dismantle it before I got it as evidenced by the jimmied screw heads inside the lens. This lens was sold to me as being in mint condition and on the outside it did look beautiful. However, the technician was quite sure that it had gotten wet at some point and that someone had taken it apart. Right now, the lens is a total loss

Shipping took me a month but other then that everything is great. The lens look good with no damage.