A lens to keep, the Fujifilm XF 18mm F2
Since my enamor with photography some 5 years ago, throughout my (and still going) learning process I have procured and sold a series of cameras and lenses for a variety of reasons. I'd be honest, most of those reasons could just be capricious (plain G.A.S), but always has been justified for the search of a new level of understanding, or a sense of curiosity for other kinds of experiences.
So, I have this lens, the Fujifilm XF 18mm F2, which in full frame terms give you a 28mm equivalent focal length. I enjoy shooting a lot with this focal length, and even though I don't use this lens as much as my Fuji XF 35mm F2, or the XF 23mm F1.4, every time that I decide to use it, it's fun, a lot of fun. To me, this focal length is perfect to train my "getting close” technique, but I can also use it to widen my view of the world just a bit more than the 35mm equivalent field of view.
I have read and heard all the naysayers before buying this lens, and I still do, but every time I wonder whether or not to keep this lens in order to purchase something different, I realize one thing: there is no fault in this lens that I could care about for my style of photography. I do street photography mostly, what I am interested in is the experience the field of view of the XF 18mm F2 lens provides, and the pictures I get with it are some of my favorites. Could it be possible this lens is soft in the corners, or have some distortion, or that is too slow or too noisy? Nonsense, this lens is perfect for the streets. It focuses fast enough, it is light enough, its sound is imperceptible, and works great.
Another interesting thing about this lens is that when I look at the collection of my best pictures with it, I realized a fun coincidence, most of them had been taken with rangefinder style of cameras: either my Xpro2, or my truly missed X-E2S. I guess being able to look with the corner of your eye and still get an amazing view, I think it helps a lot to make you go unnoticed and get some interesting shots. Not that I don't like to use it with other styles of camera, it is just a curious fact I found out after looking at the metadata of those pictures.
Another observation has to do with the colors this lens renders. When shooting this lens with good light the pictures get some punchy colors, not too strong, not too saturated, but it is there, it is different compared to other Fuji lenses, and I like it. I have added a few colored pictures below so you can check it out for yourself.
Now, if what you are looking for is technical perfect lens, go to Sony, or NIkon, or Canon, and you'll find some expensive, bulky propositions, but if you are looking for a lens with character, slim, fast, and with some vibrant and contrasty colors for your Fujifilm system, you will enjoy the XF 18mm F2 lens. And like me, you'll keep it too.
