Awesome review as usual. Thanks for sharing the many photos. They came out great. I like the way this lens renders. It does not have that crunchy digital look that some of the new Fuji lenses do. And Fuji colors are always a treat. That DXO software is really amazing with the Fuji files. It really gets every bit out of them.
I have this lens and I am even more encouraged by your review to test it when I get mt XT5. I certainly enjoyed seeing the images you took with it and the outstanding colors of the Fujifilm cameras are very natural to what the eye can see. Great review and a beautiful place visiting Turkey. Cheers from Oregon USA.
Hi Damian, another great review. Using a mint secondhand XT-1 with this lens I am astounded at the excellent results it produces. Previously I was using an XE-1 with the 18-55 kit lens but it has been appropriated by my 13 year old grandson!. I think the resuls from this lens are just as good as the 18-55 despite the extra weight . I have an xc 15-45 which I bought for peanuts and I tend to use that if I want to travel light as the results I think are excellent for a budget street lens (do notice some vignetting though when it's wide open). I do love the fact that the 18-135 is capable of some excellent close in shots of flowers in good light . Recently visited some open gardens and on windy days with a shutter speed of 1/4000 have got some excellent shots.
This was great, a nice revisit of a lens a lot of people write off before trying, myself included. The IQ looks much better than the usual kit quality, and the range is so useful. Due to size and the aperture ring, I'd consider this over the tamron 18-300 for travel
@@DamianBrown I have bought an used Tamron and I feel it produces much lower quality pictures and videos than my 18-55 kit lens. I used it for one trip and I'm trying to sell it already!
As usual this excellent review caused Me to rebuy a Lens I have bought and sold 3 times in 9 Years. The images you got were just amazing in comparison to the XT1 and XT2 Images I got years ago and now that I own an XT5 I just bought a Mint 18-135mm on eBay for $365 a steal. and can't wait for it to arrive for a trip Im planning to Germany in a Month. Thanks again for all your Fuji reviews I have been following for Years now.
Another great review 👍 I’m watching this at midnight on a Saturday and you carnt beat watching a review from our best of British reviewer mr brown just before you nod off to sleep 🛌
Post Script, I own and Love a 16-80mm f4 but the advantage of 135mm reach is undeniable, I plan to keep both Lenses including the 10-24mm, 35mm f1.4R, 70-300mm and 27mm Pancake. Keep up the great reviews Damean and thanks again.
How do you find the 16-80 compared to the 18-135? I am trialling the 16-80 and the 18-55 at the moment. I have the 18-135 and it’s a real dilemma. I sold a used xc16-50 (regret as it was a great lens) intending to get the 18-55 instead. Was offered the 16-80 so tried that. I’m unsure as the weight and size of the 16-80 vs 18-135 is negligible so maybe I’d be better keeping the 18-55 as a light option. I’m thinking if I have the 18-135 would I really take the 16-80 out when I could have the extra reach with the 18-135? I have gone round and round, taken so many test shots and still don’t know 😳 appreciate any thoughts on these lenses
I have both, 18-135 and 16-80mm. and found the 16-80 overall is slightly better but not enough to give up the versatility of the 18-135mm I jusu used for an extended shoot in Germany with great results and no quality complaints or critics at all.
@@ericgilbert994 thanks. I’m beginning to think as I already have the 18-135 and it’s very similar weight to the 16-80 then maybe get the 18-55 as a lightweight instead for when I don’t want to carry the 18-135
A sensible idea, but the extra reach of the 18-135mm is a life saver if your in a situation where you need it. And the weight difference is pretty minimal.@@traceybartlam7737
I use the 18-135mm professionally for all my travel and fieldwork. It pairs nicely with the 100-400mm when birding. It's super versatile, and the weather resistance has held up so far. I prefer travelling light, so the 16-55mm and 50-140mm stay home for long trips or hikes. It's a great lens.
Wex Birmingham is my local store. Can’t fault them, they’ve been excellent with all my purchases. I got all my fuji from them as used and they’ve been so helpful.
Another interesting video, Damian. I'm not sure I'd use this lens but I regularly look for used 16-80s which would be more useful to me - just not found one yet. You have also highlighted one of the benefits of the Fuji mirrorless system versus the 'johnny-come-lately's' of Nikon and Canon in that the longevity means there is a lot of good used gear out there. I've used Wex, Park and MBP and because of their no-questions returns I've managed to acquire good second user copies of many of the stalwarts of the system, for example my most used lens, the 10-24.
Curious why you would go for the 16-80 over the 18-135? I’m trialling one but wonder if I’d use it much as I could just take the 18-135 out instead and they’re almost the same size and weight. I’m thinking of the 18-55 to use alongside my 18-135 but can’t decide!
@@traceybartlam7737 Good question. My current rig for the type of project I work on, which involves a lot of walking around London streets is the 10-24 (whole buildings), 18-55 (partial buildings, almost like portraits) and 55-200 (architectural detail). But in reality I am probably only using about the 16-80 range, or I could compromise on just using that range. It would make my bag lot lighter!
@@enigmabletchley6936 thanks. I would help if I wasn’t running out of time to try them before holiday. I put myself under too much pressure to get brilliant photos but equally I know a prime won’t be enough because I want to get buildings and details as well as some landscapes so need a couple of versatile lenses. I keep hearing how amazing the 18-55 is but haven’t felt the same about the one I’ve tried! Probably user error?! Thanks for the reply
I would like to buy 18-135 but I have three questions regarding this lens: (1) does it creeps down? I'm using a peak-design clip on my backpack so the lens would be mostly down-forward (2) does this lens has some toughness between 110-135 reach a different force needs to be use to change the focus rang in that limit? (3) does focus ring goes 360 degree or it has limit from wide to telephoto reach but just do not have aperture markings? Thank you in advance for your answers
This one has gone back now but it didn't creep, had pretty much the same resistance all through the range and focus has no hard stops. However, another used copy could be different with the lens creep and resistance
Your review is timely, & well done as usual. I currently have the Fuji 16-80 f4 on my S-X10. I’d like more reach & was wondering if you found a difference in image quality between these 2. The 16-80 is my go to lens for travel. I also have the Fuji 18 1.4 for indoors & 33 1.4 for outdoors (low light situations). Weight is not an issue for me. I take mostly pictures for travel & record life. Thanks n advance for your reply.
I really think this lens would suit you well, of course you would want to test it first if possible to make sure it fits you. But really for what you need, that extra reach... this is a really good buy especially used mint condition.
looking goood, I like the range and still sharp enough at 135....I have the 16-80 lens for my T5 and when you get to 70-80 all the pictures to me are Soft, I may sell and buy a used 135 zoom
Hi Damian, you are known as a reviewer and I am as a seller, I estimate I have sold £250k of equipment shot with this lens and you have bought stuff from me. It is very capable and I won't be selling mine. If anyone is thinking of buying it, take DB's word.and consider it.Not the sharpest, or the fastest or the smallest but considering what it offers overall, it's a veritable contender.
Hi Damian, if you owned just the 18-135 and an X-T3 would you say it’s worth swapping to a 16-80 and 70-300? I do a fair bit of hiking and like to take landscape shots so weather sealing is important. I’m not sure if I would see massive improvements with those lenses or not? Not really interested in the 16-55 and 50-140. Too expensive/big and with me having a body with no ibis the lack of OIS on the 16-55 doesn’t appeal. Any advice is appreciated 😊
If you're happy with swapping lenses that that would be a brilliant range at your disposal! They don't weigh that much in the bag either. Personally I'd rather not take so much but if you need to get to 300mm and still start at 16mm... Go for it
Had a Pentax 18-135, never really got into it. AF was very good for Pentax, IQ was reasonable, but the 135 never really felt long enough, and I usually found myself having more fun with the 55-300 or a small prime. I’ve enjoyed my Tamron 18-300 far more than I ever did the Pentax 18-135. I guess the 18-135 is a lens which I’m glad exists for folks who are fine with their telephoto end stopping at 135mm.
Pleasantly surprised to see a video about this older lens, I picked one up spares or repairs off ebay for £120 about 3 months ago , got it repaired by Fuji UK for £110 and it's great. Perfect for those times you want lots of flexibility to capture anything and everything going on. I mostly use mine at 70mm and above. Also the OIS is crazy good in this lens, and as I shoot with an X-T30 which lacks IBIS it's incredible.
Thank you for the re-review. The XF 18-135 mm is my favourite travel lens. It's pretty much glued to my X-T30 mk. II. Speaking of the IQ, if I remember this correctly, the first XF 18-135mm lenses were made in China and those did have some glass quality issues and that's why some reviewers were not happy with the XF 18-135mm. Then Fujinon moved the production to Philippines and no such issues were reported. My copy (I bought the lens again 2 years ago) comes from the Philippines and I can say I'm happy with the IQ and build quality in general. The lens does have its limitations though, just like any other super-zoom lens. At the very wide end (18 mm) the corners do tend to get soft, but I've had the same experience with other wide-range zoom lens as well. The being said, the center of the image is always sharp regardless of the focal length and my copy produces corner to corner sharp images from 35 mm to 135 mm. The lens is slow and more than often I tend to stop it down a bit, but that's where the OIS does it's magic. I'm talking about handheld sharp images at 1/20ss. In fact, both the AF and OIS are superb on this ''almost vintage'' lens. It is a great first zoom lens to get. So much versatility in a compact package, with superb AF and OIS.
Excellent video Damian. I pre-ordered an X-Pro2 in February 2016 and picked it up along with an 18-135 lens in March 2016. I have always found it to be a nice performer and later used it on my X-T2, X-T3, X-T4 and now my X-T5.
Awesome review as usual. Thanks for sharing the many photos. They came out great. I like the way this lens renders. It does not have that crunchy digital look that some of the new Fuji lenses do. And Fuji colors are always a treat. That DXO software is really amazing with the Fuji files. It really gets every bit out of them.
Excellent point about the colour rendering. Thanks Paul!
I have this lens and I am even more encouraged by your review to test it when I get mt XT5. I certainly enjoyed seeing the images you took with it and the outstanding colors of the Fujifilm cameras are very natural to what the eye can see. Great review and a beautiful place visiting Turkey. Cheers from Oregon USA.
Thank you!!
Hi Damian, another great review. Using a mint secondhand XT-1 with this lens I am astounded at the excellent results it produces. Previously I was using an XE-1 with the 18-55 kit lens but it has been appropriated by my 13 year old grandson!. I think the resuls from this lens are just as good as the 18-55 despite the extra weight . I have an xc 15-45 which I bought for peanuts and I tend to use that if I want to travel light as the results I think are excellent for a budget street lens (do notice some vignetting though when it's wide open). I do love the fact that the 18-135 is capable of some excellent close in shots of flowers in good light . Recently visited some open gardens and on windy days with a shutter speed of 1/4000 have got some excellent shots.
Excellent, thanks for your thoughts! I agree completely of course
I have this lens but you take so good pictures which I was not able to pull off yet. respect
Thanks!!!
This was great, a nice revisit of a lens a lot of people write off before trying, myself included. The IQ looks much better than the usual kit quality, and the range is so useful. Due to size and the aperture ring, I'd consider this over the tamron 18-300 for travel
The Tamron is nice to be fair!
@@DamianBrown I have bought an used Tamron and I feel it produces much lower quality pictures and videos than my 18-55 kit lens. I used it for one trip and I'm trying to sell it already!
You're really good at taking photos. I liked pretty much all of them.
Thank you so much!
As usual this excellent review caused Me to rebuy a Lens I have bought and sold 3 times in 9 Years. The images you got were just amazing in comparison to the XT1 and XT2 Images I got years ago and now that I own an XT5 I just bought a Mint 18-135mm on eBay for $365 a steal. and can't wait for it to arrive for a trip Im planning to Germany in a Month. Thanks again for all your Fuji reviews I have been following for Years now.
Thanks Eric, I really appreciate it a lot. Enjoy Deutschland!!!
Another great review 👍 I’m watching this at midnight on a Saturday and you carnt beat watching a review from our best of British reviewer mr brown just before you nod off to sleep 🛌
Nightmares 😅😅😅😅
Post Script, I own and Love a 16-80mm f4 but the advantage of 135mm reach is undeniable, I plan to keep both Lenses including the 10-24mm, 35mm f1.4R, 70-300mm and 27mm Pancake. Keep up the great reviews Damean and thanks again.
You've got a great set there!!
How do you find the 16-80 compared to the 18-135? I am trialling the 16-80 and the 18-55 at the moment. I have the 18-135 and it’s a real dilemma. I sold a used xc16-50 (regret as it was a great lens) intending to get the 18-55 instead. Was offered the 16-80 so tried that. I’m unsure as the weight and size of the 16-80 vs 18-135 is negligible so maybe I’d be better keeping the 18-55 as a light option. I’m thinking if I have the 18-135 would I really take the 16-80 out when I could have the extra reach with the 18-135? I have gone round and round, taken so many test shots and still don’t know 😳 appreciate any thoughts on these lenses
I have both, 18-135 and 16-80mm. and found the 16-80 overall is slightly better but not enough to give up the versatility of the 18-135mm I jusu used for an extended shoot in Germany with great results and no quality complaints or critics at all.
@@ericgilbert994 thanks. I’m beginning to think as I already have the 18-135 and it’s very similar weight to the 16-80 then maybe get the 18-55 as a lightweight instead for when I don’t want to carry the 18-135
A sensible idea, but the extra reach of the 18-135mm is a life saver if your in a situation where you need it. And the weight difference is pretty minimal.@@traceybartlam7737
Thanks for the review, I have the XH2 and was after a second option on using my 18-135 on it.
Good choice!
I use the 18-135mm professionally for all my travel and fieldwork. It pairs nicely with the 100-400mm when birding. It's super versatile, and the weather resistance has held up so far. I prefer travelling light, so the 16-55mm and 50-140mm stay home for long trips or hikes. It's a great lens.
Didn't think about combining with the 100-400 but I love it!
Didn't think about combining with the 100-400 but I love it!
Wex Birmingham is my local store. Can’t fault them, they’ve been excellent with all my purchases. I got all my fuji from them as used and they’ve been so helpful.
Ye they're good eggs aren't they :D Say hi to Adele from me next time you're there.
For holidays I have a xt 2 with a 10-24mm and a xt3 with the 18-135mm and in the bag a 35mm f1.4 ! Covering every thing you need !
Sounds brilliant!!!
pics at 135 mm?
yes :)
Another interesting video, Damian. I'm not sure I'd use this lens but I regularly look for used 16-80s which would be more useful to me - just not found one yet. You have also highlighted one of the benefits of the Fuji mirrorless system versus the 'johnny-come-lately's' of Nikon and Canon in that the longevity means there is a lot of good used gear out there. I've used Wex, Park and MBP and because of their no-questions returns I've managed to acquire good second user copies of many of the stalwarts of the system, for example my most used lens, the 10-24.
Brilliant lens that! I agree completely. Just bought a second hand 16-55 and I'm loving that too
Curious why you would go for the 16-80 over the 18-135? I’m trialling one but wonder if I’d use it much as I could just take the 18-135 out instead and they’re almost the same size and weight. I’m thinking of the 18-55 to use alongside my 18-135 but can’t decide!
@@traceybartlam7737 Good question. My current rig for the type of project I work on, which involves a lot of walking around London streets is the 10-24 (whole buildings), 18-55 (partial buildings, almost like portraits) and 55-200 (architectural detail). But in reality I am probably only using about the 16-80 range, or I could compromise on just using that range. It would make my bag lot lighter!
@@enigmabletchley6936 thanks. I would help if I wasn’t running out of time to try them before holiday. I put myself under too much pressure to get brilliant photos but equally I know a prime won’t be enough because I want to get buildings and details as well as some landscapes so need a couple of versatile lenses. I keep hearing how amazing the 18-55 is but haven’t felt the same about the one I’ve tried! Probably user error?! Thanks for the reply
Thanks for this great review. It made me consider this as a run and gun video setup. Thanks :)
Thanks!!!
I would like to buy 18-135 but I have three questions regarding this lens:
(1) does it creeps down? I'm using a peak-design clip on my backpack so the lens would be mostly down-forward
(2) does this lens has some toughness between 110-135 reach a different force needs to be use to change the focus rang in that limit?
(3) does focus ring goes 360 degree or it has limit from wide to telephoto reach but just do not have aperture markings?
Thank you in advance for your answers
This one has gone back now but it didn't creep, had pretty much the same resistance all through the range and focus has no hard stops.
However, another used copy could be different with the lens creep and resistance
Your review is timely, & well done as usual. I currently have the Fuji 16-80 f4 on my S-X10. I’d like more reach & was wondering if you found a difference in image quality between these 2. The 16-80 is my go to lens for travel. I also have the Fuji 18 1.4 for indoors & 33 1.4 for outdoors (low light situations). Weight is not an issue for me. I take mostly pictures for travel & record life. Thanks n advance for your reply.
I really think this lens would suit you well, of course you would want to test it first if possible to make sure it fits you. But really for what you need, that extra reach... this is a really good buy especially used mint condition.
Not sure which one to choose between fuji 18-135 and tamron 18-300 , any suggest?
Difficult choice... both would do a great job. I love this one a little more but mainly the size and handling, just for my preference
looking goood, I like the range and still sharp enough at 135....I have the 16-80 lens for my T5 and when you get to 70-80 all the pictures to me are Soft, I may sell and buy a used 135 zoom
I enjoyed it!
Fujinon 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 vs 18-120mm f4. Any suggestions?
I prefer this one, just inspires me more and without losing anything really with the Image Quality
How was af in the wide end?
Excellent
Hi Damian, you are known as a reviewer and I am as a seller, I estimate I have sold £250k of equipment shot with this lens and you have bought stuff from me. It is very capable and I won't be selling mine. If anyone is thinking of buying it, take DB's word.and consider it.Not the sharpest, or the fastest or the smallest but considering what it offers overall, it's a veritable contender.
The legend that is Adrian Dent. Thanks for sharing your experience on here!!!!
If you happen to stumble upon another 18-135mm Adrian, give me a shout out!
Nice review!
Thanks. Keep up your hard work too!!
Hi Damian, if you owned just the 18-135 and an X-T3 would you say it’s worth swapping to a 16-80 and 70-300? I do a fair bit of hiking and like to take landscape shots so weather sealing is important. I’m not sure if I would see massive improvements with those lenses or not? Not really interested in the 16-55 and 50-140. Too expensive/big and with me having a body with no ibis the lack of OIS on the 16-55 doesn’t appeal. Any advice is appreciated 😊
If you're happy with swapping lenses that that would be a brilliant range at your disposal! They don't weigh that much in the bag either. Personally I'd rather not take so much but if you need to get to 300mm and still start at 16mm... Go for it
Great video and great lense.
How bought doing one on the GFX50SII.
Thanks for what you do man!
Thank you!!!
Yes, we looked at it last year: ua-cam.com/video/cisV2qDQPxw/v-deo.html
@@DamianBrown Yes I seen that one, a lot has changed since then.
@@supertech3344ah yes, very true!!
Had a Pentax 18-135, never really got into it. AF was very good for Pentax, IQ was reasonable, but the 135 never really felt long enough, and I usually found myself having more fun with the 55-300 or a small prime. I’ve enjoyed my Tamron 18-300 far more than I ever did the Pentax 18-135.
I guess the 18-135 is a lens which I’m glad exists for folks who are fine with their telephoto end stopping at 135mm.
Very true!!! The longer the better but I do enjoy going straight to wide too. But yes, 55-200/ or my 55-250 adapted canon is super fun
Pleasantly surprised to see a video about this older lens, I picked one up spares or repairs off ebay for £120 about 3 months ago , got it repaired by Fuji UK for £110 and it's great. Perfect for those times you want lots of flexibility to capture anything and everything going on. I mostly use mine at 70mm and above. Also the OIS is crazy good in this lens, and as I shoot with an X-T30 which lacks IBIS it's incredible.
You wheeler dealer Dom, fair play!!! That's actually a very good idea.
@@DamianBrown haha cheers :D
Thank you for the re-review. The XF 18-135 mm is my favourite travel lens. It's pretty much glued to my X-T30 mk. II.
Speaking of the IQ, if I remember this correctly, the first XF 18-135mm lenses were made in China and those did have some glass quality issues and that's why some reviewers were not happy with the XF 18-135mm. Then Fujinon moved the production to Philippines and no such issues were reported. My copy (I bought the lens again 2 years ago) comes from the Philippines and I can say I'm happy with the IQ and build quality in general.
The lens does have its limitations though, just like any other super-zoom lens. At the very wide end (18 mm) the corners do tend to get soft, but I've had the same experience with other wide-range zoom lens as well. The being said, the center of the image is always sharp regardless of the focal length and my copy produces corner to corner sharp images from 35 mm to 135 mm. The lens is slow and more than often I tend to stop it down a bit, but that's where the OIS does it's magic. I'm talking about handheld sharp images at 1/20ss. In fact, both the AF and OIS are superb on this ''almost vintage'' lens.
It is a great first zoom lens to get. So much versatility in a compact package, with superb AF and OIS.
Thanks a lot for sharing your experience!!!! Very, very helpful!!
Excellent video Damian. I pre-ordered an X-Pro2 in February 2016 and picked it up along with an 18-135 lens in March 2016. I have always found it to be a nice performer and later used it on my X-T2, X-T3, X-T4 and now my X-T5.
That's exactly it. We invest in good lenses as they outlast the bodies. I think there's a lot of life in the old dog yet
Beautiful
XF 18-135mm vs Tamron 18-300 vs XF 70-300mm
Agree Damian, it's a decent lens and unless you want to take 3-4 primes with you + faff getting dust, water or dropping them....😂
You know it 😅
Only if it was straight f4
That's where the xf 18-120 mm comes in, but I don't like power zoom lenses.
Haydaa manitalar yiyişirken çekmiş :)
ha noooo