Photography by Mike Mander | Tested! Fujifilm XF 16-55mm f/2.8R LM WR

Tested! Fujifilm XF 16-55mm f/2.8R LM WR

May 5th, 2015

Back in February, I finally had the opportunity to shoot with a production grade Fujifilm XF 16-55mm f/2.8R LM WR zoom lens. This fairly large and heavy, professional grade weather-resistant zoom (shooting in the rain for photo 3), sports a constant f/2.8 aperture throughout its range, provides excellent centre sharpness even wide open, has pleasing bokeh and with an equivalent zoom range of 24-83mm on a full-frame camera, is an ideal rugged lens for photojournalism or portrait, family or wedding photographers that want to minimize lens changes. Nano-GI coatings also provide incredible flare resistance, as can be seen in photos 14 and 33. A 10-stop ND filter was used for photos 19 and 24. Raw images have all been processed with PhotoNinja.

After having tested a prototype lens back in early January, I was convinced that I'd be buying one for myself, but in the end, after testing a final production lens in February, which is when these photos are from (yes, this gallery is late!), I decided against it after all. Firstly, even though the lens could potentially replace two others in my camera bag, I found it a bit unwieldy on my X-E2. For those with an X-T1, with an added hand-grip or vertical battery grip, the lens is more manageable, but the X-E2 is just begging for smaller and lighter lenses. Secondly, as good a lens as this is, I was slightly let down by its performance for my own personal style of shooting. See the blog entry which accompanies this gallery for more details on that...

1/140 sec at f / 2.8

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 3200 - 1/140 sec at f / 2.8

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1/40 sec at f / 2.8

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 3200 - 1/40 sec at f / 2.8

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1/35 sec at f / 2.8

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 3200 - 1/35 sec at f / 2.8

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7.0 sec at f / 8.0

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 7.0 sec at f / 8.0

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9.0 sec at f / 8.0

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 9.0 sec at f / 8.0

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0.5 sec at f / 3.6

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 0.5 sec at f / 3.6

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9.0 sec at f / 8.0

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 9.0 sec at f / 8.0

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12.0 sec at f / 8.0

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 12.0 sec at f / 8.0

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1.3 sec at f / 4.0

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 1.3 sec at f / 4.0

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6.5 sec at f / 11

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 6.5 sec at f / 11

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4.0 sec at f / 11

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 4.0 sec at f / 11

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2.5 sec at f / 8.0

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 2.5 sec at f / 8.0

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4.5 sec at f / 8.0

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 4.5 sec at f / 8.0

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1/1800 sec at f / 8.0

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 1/1800 sec at f / 8.0

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1/3500 sec at f / 8.0

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 1/3500 sec at f / 8.0

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1/420 sec at f / 8.0

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 1/420 sec at f / 8.0

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1/60 sec at f / 8.0

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 400 - 1/60 sec at f / 8.0

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1/450 sec at f / 2.8

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 1/450 sec at f / 2.8

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170.0 sec at f / 8.0

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 170.0 sec at f / 8.0

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1/4 sec at f / 16

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 1/4 sec at f / 16

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1/8 sec at f / 16

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 1/8 sec at f / 16

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1/125 sec at f / 5.6

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 1/125 sec at f / 5.6

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1/340 sec at f / 8.0

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 1/340 sec at f / 8.0

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70.0 sec at f / 11

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 70.0 sec at f / 11

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1/140 sec at f / 10

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 1/140 sec at f / 10

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1/80 sec at f / 8.0

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 1/80 sec at f / 8.0

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1/60 sec at f / 10

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 1/60 sec at f / 10

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1/60 sec at f / 10

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 400 - 1/60 sec at f / 10

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1/110 sec at f / 5.6

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 400 - 1/110 sec at f / 5.6

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1/125 sec at f / 10

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 1/125 sec at f / 10

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1/50 sec at f / 10

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 1/50 sec at f / 10

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1/170 sec at f / 8.0

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 1/170 sec at f / 8.0

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1/320 sec at f / 11

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 1/320 sec at f / 11

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1/100 sec at f / 8.0

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 1/100 sec at f / 8.0

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1/350 sec at f / 8.0

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X-E2 - XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR - ISO 200 - 1/350 sec at f / 8.0

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