- Mount Type: Fujifilm X
- Focal Length (35mm format equivalent): 16-55mm (24-84mm)
- Lens construction (elements/groups): 17/12
- The angle of view: 83.2°- 29°
- Number of diaphragm blades: 9 (rounded diaphragm opening)
- Maximum aperture: f/2.8
- Minimum aperture: f/22
- Focus range (normal): 0.6m – ∞
- Focus range (macro): 30cm – 10m (Wide), 40cm – 10m (Telephoto)
- Max magnification: 0.16x (Telephoto)
- Weight (approx): 655g
- Dia. x length (approx): 83.3mm x 106.0mm (Wide) / 129.5mm (Telephoto)
- Filter size: 77mm
Fujifilm Fujinon XF 16-55mm F2.8 R LM WR
Versatile, all-rounder lens
The Fujifilm XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR Lens is a great all-rounder, offering a focal length equivalent to 24-84mm in 35mm format and with a constant f/2.8 aperture throughout the focal range. With this combination, myriad possibilities open up. Use this lens in street and documentary photography, to capture beautiful portraits and food shots. It's so versatile. You’ll find yourself photographing a wide range of subjects with this one great lens – and enjoying the ease of zero lens switching.
Fast f/2.8 constant aperture
A constant f/2.8 aperture makes the Fujifilm 16-55mm f2.8 R LM WR lens a great performer in low light conditions, as it’s able to let lots of light into the camera. So not only can you create gorgeous shots in difficult lighting conditions, but you can also continue shooting handheld for longer as you’ll be able to maintain faster shutter speeds too. From gorgeous portraits to wider street shots that capture the atmosphere as the sun goes down, the Fuji 16-55mm lens delivers top-quality images you will love.
Beautiful bokeh
If you want to play around with your photos to create beautiful bokeh that puts your subject in crisp focus while adding soft blurry surrounds, you’ll love the Fuji 16-55mm. Thanks to a rounded nine-blade diaphragm and the f/2.8 aperture available throughout the focal length range, smooth bokeh comes naturally. Simply adjust the aperture to create a depth of field as deep or shallow as you wish. Whether it’s a cute photo of your dog with just its nose in sharp focus or a single rose standing in focus against a broader garden setting, bring it to life with this lens.
Lens Handling and Build
Fuji certainly did not cheap out when making the XF 16-55mm f/2.8, as its build quality is truly superb. The metal mount is bolted on the metal shell, with rubber gaskets on the side to prevent dust from making its way into the camera body. The rear of the lens is protected with a single glass element, so there is little chance of dust getting into the lens. The lens barrel is made from metal, but there are some components such as the zoom ring and the front part of the lens that extends when zoomed in, which are made from hard plastic. The aperture ring has a solid feel to it when turning and has hard stops at each third of exposure stop from f/2.8 until f/22 and from there it is smooth again till you get to A (Auto / Aperture Priority), at which point you cannot turn the ring anymore.
The zoom ring is nice and smooth. When zoomed in to 55mm, the front part of the lens extends a bit, by another 5 cm or so, which reveals the plastic part of the front lens barrel. This plastic sub-barrel is bolted to the metal piece on the front of the lens, which both holds the front lens element and provides the 77mm filter thread for screw-on filters. The sub-barrel seems to be securely attached to the lens barrel and does not wobble like some of the lower-end lenses do. Just like all other Fuji X mount lenses, the XF 16-55mm f/2.8 uses the fly-by-wire system, which means that the focus ring is not mechanically tied to any of the lens elements, but rather controlled electronically. As a result, there is no focus scale on the lens and the ring will rotate in either direction with any hard stops or extra resistance. If you choose to manually focus with the lens, a focus scale is provided inside the viewfinder or on the rear LCD of Fuji cameras.
At 655 grams, the XF 16-55mm f/2.8 is a heavy lens. When mounted on the Fuji X-T1 camera body, it certainly makes the setup quite front-heavy. To balance the lens a little better, I mounted the VG-XT1 battery grip on the X-T1. It certainly did make a difference, but it made it feel like I was carrying a medium size DSLR, practically taking away the weight advantages of the mirrorless camera. So keep this in mind when looking at this lens, as the heft and bulk that come with it should not be underestimated.
My biggest complaint with the XF 16-55mm f/2.8 is its hood. In this day and age, I cannot understand how Fuji can succeed in making such a great lens and at the same time miserably fail at designing one of the simplest mechanical components of the lens. The provided plastic petal-shaped lens hood feels flimsy and easily bends. Because of this, you might find yourself applying too much force when mounting or dismounting it. You will naturally rotate the hood using the two protruding pieces of plastic, which bend the hood around the base and create additional resistance. And if the hood is not properly aligned, a part of it can go over the lens, making it even more difficult to mount or dismount. What a pain!
No compromise
This lens manages to strike the perfect balance of sharpness with smooth bokeh. It delivers true-to-life colors never seen before in a zoom lens.
A professional, large-aperture zoom lens must produce stunning images and the XF16-55mm uses a nine-blade diaphragm to help minimize spherical aberrations.
The lens is made of 17 elements in 12 groups, which include three aspherical elements to reduce any distortion and spherical aberrations. In order to maintain edge-to-edge sharpness across the entire zoom range, three extra-low dispersion elements are also used which help to control chromatic aberrations.
Control the light
FUJIFILM's proprietary multilayer coating HT-EBC (High Transmittance Electron Beam Coating) is used to control ghosting and flares. Nano GI Coating is also used to reduce ghosting and flare from light coming at diagonal angles.
Cover every angle
You would need to carry four XF prime lenses to replicate the focal range of this zoom lens. However, with the XF16-55mmF2.8, you get every mm in between 16mm and 55mm to fine-tune your composition even more. This convenience while maintaining amazing image quality gives you an extra advantage versus carrying four fixed focal length lenses.
Capture every detail
The AF system is based on a high-speed linear motor that can focus as fast as 0.02 seconds. It's impossible to know when something dramatic is going to happen but you want to be ready when it does. This lens reacts as quickly as you do when those precious moments occur.