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Archive 2014 · Fujifilm launches the XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR

  
 
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Fujifilm launches the XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR


Fujifilm launches the XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR
Fujifilm has announced its first weather-resistant lens, the Fujinon XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR.

With a very flexible 27-200mm equivalent zoom range, the lens has the world's most advanced 5-stop image stabilization system. It'll be available in July for $899.

Pre-order:

Adorama | B&H Photo ($899)



Jun 16, 2014 at 03:11 PM
fotografur
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Fujifilm launches the XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR


http://www.dpreview.com/news/2014/06/16/fujifilm-launches-weather-resistant-xf-18-135mm-f3-5-5-6-r-lm-ois-wr?utm_campaign=internal-link&utm_source=news-list&utm_medium=text&ref=title_0_0


Jun 16, 2014 at 02:08 PM
cputeq
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Fujifilm launches the XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR


Looks good, but I have to wonder if it'll sell at $900. I guess if the optics are stellar, perhaps.



Jun 16, 2014 at 02:17 PM
Jman13
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Fujifilm launches the XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR


The early pics I've seen look really good, and this guy did a nice test showing the weather sealing works really well: http://www.aboutrc.com/2014/06/16/real-world-images-w-fuji-xf-18-135-3-5-5-6-ois-weather-resistant-lens/

Seems like the optical quality punches far above the 'specs', which is what I'd expect from Fuji. I'm sure I'll test one in a few months, and may even eventually get one, but probably not any time soon, as I don't have a need for a super zoom that often.



Jun 16, 2014 at 02:38 PM
millsart
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Fujifilm launches the XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR


I'd really of preffered something like a weather sealed 18-55 or ideally higher grade 16-50, at a lower price, with somewhat reduced size.

Weather sealing is great, but I just never really find the "long" end of this type of zoom really that useful, because for one things its a bit slow, and two, I usually want more reach.

I'd sooner have a weather sealed 55-200 I could put on when I'm doing tele shooting, and a bit nicer sized, and ideally slighly wider 18-55 alternative.

Obviously there is some sense in having a zoom range that doesn't require changing lenses out in the rain etc, so that makes sense, but otherwise these type of lens are kind of jack of all trades, master of none.

I just think it makes a bit of a bigger/heavier lens than I'd care to walk around with for general shooting, and still wouldn't replace a 55-200 either.

Basically its spending an extra $900 (maybe cheaper with kit ?) on top of current lenses for those situations where I might need weather proofing...

Given how little I actually shoot in rain, and how far I live from the ocean etc, not sure it really would give me much bang for my $900 buck aside from a handful of times a year.

Again, weather sealing makes sense, but I rather prefer it just as an added feature on an already useful lens.

Perfect example is the Olympus 12-40mm f2.8...... Its fast enough that your not always wanting to put a prime on, and its a very useful range for everyday shooting needs.

Just a great all around lens, and the fact its also weather sealed just is an added bonus.



Jun 16, 2014 at 02:50 PM
andrenth
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Fujifilm launches the XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR


I believe two weather-sealed 2.8 zooms are on the roadmap (24-70 & 70-200 equiv).


Jun 16, 2014 at 02:57 PM
Nick Dakota
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Fujifilm launches the XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR


Being available in July might mean Sept if there's demand knowing Fujj.


Jun 16, 2014 at 10:36 PM
zlgragg
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Fujifilm launches the XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR


Will this become a kit lens, effectively much lower than retail price?


Jun 17, 2014 at 10:18 PM
johnctharp
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Fujifilm launches the XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR


While I'll be keeping my EOS-M, a hypothetical 24MP XT-2 with this lens would make a damn fine mini-Pentax setup, and I'm betting that the Fuji lens will be twice what the comparably spec'd Pentax lens can put out (with twice the price tag for good measure).




Jun 17, 2014 at 10:45 PM
justruss
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Fujifilm launches the XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR


I find myself in a bit of a mixed space about Fuji's recent lenses. They tend to be, optically speaking, very strong performers. At the same time, Fuji charges a premium for what is an APS piece of glass. Some of this is purely psychological as a Canon shooter, but if this was labelled EF-s, I'd be skeptical of the price no matter the strong performance.

There's another thing that I wonder: How will these lenses hold up if/when Fuji goes through a few resolution bumps? What will 24mp performance look like against the current 16mp? What about 30/36mp? If these lenses are so optically strong that they'll continue to scale in performance up to 36mp, or thereabouts, then by all means it looks like their prices are fair. But what happens if we get to 24mp, and it's the lenses, not the (new) sensor that's holding us back in effective image resolution?

And what happens when Fuji finally makes a really fast, accurate body for AF? Will these lenses scale in speed, or will we find that we need mk2 versions of them all in order to take advantage of the scaling speed in AF?

It will be interesting to see how this plays out! And it's exciting to see Fuji at least offering so many possible directions for photographers.



Jun 18, 2014 at 01:04 AM
itai195
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Fujifilm launches the XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR


This seems like an important lens to have if you want to go after the low to mid range DSLR market. Super zooms, while I don't care for them, are immensely popular. Now that fuji has this lens, I can actually start recommending them to a few people for whom fuji wouldn't previously have been an option.


Jun 18, 2014 at 01:44 AM
molson
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Fujifilm launches the XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR


cputeq wrote:
Looks good, but I have to wonder if it'll sell at $900. I guess if the optics are stellar, perhaps.



As soon as dealers have it in stock, Fuji will probably offer big rebates, as per their usual practice...



Jun 18, 2014 at 07:27 AM
rattymouse
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Fujifilm launches the XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR


molson wrote:
As soon as dealers have it in stock, Fuji will probably offer big rebates, as per their usual practice...


And it is a steep discount @ 250 pounds off in the UK, according to Fujiffilmrumors.com (confirmed).




Jun 18, 2014 at 08:00 AM
millsart
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Fujifilm launches the XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR


itai195 wrote:
This seems like an important lens to have if you want to go after the low to mid range DSLR market. Super zooms, while I don't care for them, are immensely popular. Now that fuji has this lens, I can actually start recommending them to a few people for whom fuji wouldn't previously have been an option.



At a $900 price tag though ?

I remember selling the super zooms to lots of customers back in the day, stuff like the Tamron and Tokina models, though Canon had a pretty popular 28-135 as well, but they were all pretty budget priced, not $900

That is a pretty big chunk of change for the low to mid level DSLR buyer, they may be used to get a 2 lens camera kit w/ body for $900.

Something like an XT1 w/ 18-135 would make a nice combo for sure, but, depending on the kit pricing, which I haven't seen, its around a $2000 combo, so I would wager more geared towards the enthusiast market if anything.



Jun 18, 2014 at 11:37 AM
onetimeoneplac
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Fujifilm launches the XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR


Interested to see how well the IS stands up to the claims


Jun 18, 2014 at 08:03 PM
itai195
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Fujifilm launches the XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR



millsart wrote:
At a $900 price tag though ?

I remember selling the super zooms to lots of customers back in the day, stuff like the Tamron and Tokina models, though Canon had a pretty popular 28-135 as well, but they were all pretty budget priced, not $900

That is a pretty big chunk of change for the low to mid level DSLR buyer, they may be used to get a 2 lens camera kit w/ body for $900.

Something like an XT1 w/ 18-135 would make a nice combo for sure, but, depending on the kit pricing, which I haven't seen, its around
...Show more

I suspect it won't stay $900 for long, as others pointed out. Also, third party lenses are probably not a fair comparison, but I get your point. I wouldn't be surprised to see this sold as a kit lens at some point.



Jun 18, 2014 at 08:49 PM
johnctharp
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Fujifilm launches the XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR


The weather sealing with the XT-1, and solid image quality that likely exceeds the 18-135 IS STM and 18-140G, has gotten me interested; a kit with a 24MP XT-2/X-Pro 2 that's surely on it's way sounds pretty enticing, especially if Canon continues to intentionally neglect the EF-M system cameras.

As I said above, it's like a mini-Pentax, performing the same kind of rugged job, except smaller and with far higher quality optics.



Jun 18, 2014 at 09:17 PM
matthewm
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Fujifilm launches the XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR


I feel like a lot of camera companies sort of price themselves into specialized markets. Fuji has priced this lens at $899 (far above the likes of the Canon and Nikon equivalents) which is sort of out of reach for most consumers. I think they're really betting on the "Weatherproofing" to give them an edge.

I'll probably be hanged, quartered and burned for saying so, but Leica has priced themselves into a particular market. Is a Leica M9 any better than any other FF digital camera? Not really. Are Leica lenses any better than the finest lenses from Canon, Nikon, Zeiss, Pentax, Voigtlander, etc.? Not really. So why the high price tag? I'm betting Leica could cut their prices in half, sell 10 million more units per year than they already do and increase their profits several times.

It's all about marketing. There are niches in the world and manufacturers are always looking for ways to fill them. Fuji released the weather-sealed XT1 without a weather-sealed lens. Terrible. You've got a half-weatherproof camera setup. Take it in the rain and hope that the cloud is only over the camera body, I guess. So they're filling that niche for the "adventurous enthusiast" that needs a camera to work in all conditions while hiking, biking, snowboarding and playing on the beach. How cool would it be to play in the surf and not worry about a little bit of ocean spray (Mmm... Cranberry Juice...)?

I'm new to the Fuji system with an XT1 and a few lenses on the way. I've no interest in this. But I'm guessing they'll release a telephoto counterpart that is water resistant soon.



Jun 25, 2014 at 03:57 PM





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