Don't BUY Fujifilm XF 18mm f2 in 2022 They Said! 

✍ Blog post with image samples here: tudormateescu.com/fujifilm-xf-18mm-f2-r-review/

Been eying for this for a long time. Thanks Tudor! That AF issue had been resolved from the firmware updates.

I have this on a X-E1. I use single point and just do focus and recompose. Always worked fine for, me. Center is sharper but rendition of frame is nice. Its so nice on the light bodies.

6:33 lol I skip the vids that take pictures of brick walls

Thank you Tudor. I've been on the fence about this lens, but I look forward to picking it up and testing it out now!

Good vid, Tudor! Bought this lens about a year ago; was held back earlier by all the flak this lens receives. Looked for a good second hand copy, but in the end ended up buying a new one, just like you. Now I use it all the time for documentary shots, family life, street and city trips. Love the rendering; as you said, a bit similar to the 35mm 1.4 (which I also love). These older lenses have a certain character that the newer lenses (although technically maybe better) lack. Colors come out great (just using the RAW shots); for B&W, I use a fairly high contrast JPEG profile which is just gorgeous for street! Also, pretty good close focussing distance, which I also really dig. It's a keeper, all right.

I completely agree with your assessment of this lens. I love using it on my T2 and T3 and love the results. It is a wonderful lens and I have to say that I have stopped listening to uninformed and negative comments about camera gear on RU-vid and internet. We need to make up our own minds based on our own experiences. Thank you for a great video

Thanks for your review. I plan to use this lens on the xs10. Right now, I'm using the Viltrox 23mm 1.4. Works well BUT I'm traveling with our band 3 out of 4 weekends. I need something wider and yet smaller which will still work well in somewhat dark conditions (like well lit night streets. I think this will work.

I purchased the lens two months ago because I found an open-box at a great price. I have no complaints. The focus is very good on the X-Pro 3 and X-T3. The image quality is excellent. The lens is also very compact, and is quite stylish on the X-Pro 3. I really don’t understand why so many have been critical of the lens.

You are the greatest! Def deserve a like and follow! Love the straightforward-ness

Agree with you on this, it is a very underrated lens

I also just recently bought this lens, also brand new ($599) for myself at Christmas. I was expecting the worst based on the negative press, but I was pleasantly surprised. I made a self imposed test to shoot 1000 shots with only this lens to really understand it and to get lots of real world examples of its capability. After I hit a thousand photos, I kept going. I really got to like this lens. First, I never shoot video. I also only shoot single point autofocus. So for me this lens is fine. It focuses fast and doesn't hunt on my X-T2 and X-Pro2 vintage bodies. On my X-T3 it is very much right in line with my more modern lenses for focus speed. The images in the center third of the image are sharp right at f/2. This is very clear to see in the close up range especially. At f/5.6, corner to corner sharpness is fine for real photography, not pixel peeping, but just making photos. I have no regrets on the purchase. The small lens with good performance allows me to go out with a compact setup (my X-E3) and return with great shots.

I absolutly agree with you 100%! I managed to buy a pristine second hand copy and I arrived to the same conclusions you did. Thank you for the video, Tudor!

nice review love your channel…

Great great video. Thinking of buying this used. Seems sharper than the Fuji 16mm 2.8, which is a little too wide.

After spending some time with my X-T5 + 23mm f1.4 WR (my first Fuji camera and lens!), I decided to get this 18mm f2 as my second lens! Seeing the reviews and being used to the optical perfection of the 23mm I was prepared to be disappointed, but the 18mm so far with a couple days of use has really surprised me! I feel like this lens really embodies what the Fujifilm brand is all about: photography that is fun, effortless and full of character 😊 Something I’ve used that is somewhat close to this lens is the 20mm f2.8 pancake from Sony for their APS-C line… paired with any recent Sony APS-C body it makes a good package, but the fun factor and character of the Fuji is miles ahead 😅 Another good contender might be the Pana-Leica 15mm f1.7 paired with a small Panasonic body like the GX9, which I really want to try but haven’t got the chance to 😢

Hello Tudor, Thank you for posting this video. I agree with you about this lens. I have been using my copy for 9 years as of this month. It is a nice street photography lens. I have not had any issue with the aperture ring. In fact the only exposure issue that I have had is with the exposure compensation on my XE-2. I have not really tried it with my XT-3 so I can’t say how it is with the higher resolution. I note your comments about the maximum resolution for the lens being around 26mp. Have you had a chance to try it with one of the new 40mp Fujifilm cameras? By the way it was nice to see the photos of Romania. The last time I was there I was not able to bring a “real” camera so I did not have a a chance to take many photos. It was September and the colours of the leaves in the mountains were amazing. It felt a lot like my home in Canada. The food was great too! Cheers

great vid! i got this lens myself just a few days before and it´s great. i didn´t like the kitlens that i got on my cam. it is xc 15-45 mm. the elektric motor for zooming especially. i missed the fuji xf10 compact camera because i´ve seen some dumb youtube videos in which the cam was criticised heavyly for af and dynamic range and so on. i could have that camera brand new for 350 eur a couple of years ago. now the price is about 500 eur and i guess the xf10 is a great cam! as the lens xf 18mm f2 is. of course you can hear the af but who cares. it´s not noisy and maybe the af pumps a little bit but it focuses quick and well. and if you do street - put your cam on f10 set manual focus at 2 meters and you got everything sharp from 1 m till minimum 100 meters. also f 2 is good to have. till now i used manual lenses too, which had to be focused manually. it´s no problem about that but in winter when i can´t shoot with higher aperture it´s nice to have an af and a wider lens like the 18mm.

You lost me at "Personally I don't like X-trans sensors that much" 😂. You kind of made me want to try this one out. I have the 35 and don't mind the older AF. Thanks!

Super review! Mulțumim mult

The 18/2 is crap on the 16mp sensor and even more so on the 24mp. But crap can give hipster results, so much loved.

i use this lens fuji xf18mmf2 on fuji xt5 and they perform Very Very Good although i don't how to compare this lens for 40 mag pixs because i cannot compare there is no lens> the color are great and AF is good not the best but very good>> preciated that U RECOMEND TO BUY THIS LENS BECAUSE IN THAILAND >> THERE WAS PROMOTIONS BEGINING OF AUG2024 > I BOUGHT IT ABOUT 280$USD NEW NEW >> I'M VERY HAPPY WITH THIS LENS IT WILL BE MY STREET AND WALK AROUND LENS >> AS FOR MY OLD XF16mm.f1.4 WHICH I STILL LOVE >> i can use it at night for Aurora Borealis OR more wider aperture landscape view

Thank you Tudor for this review ! I really like the way you look at things from a practical point of view. Lenses should be tested in the field and not in the lab. I am a Sony user and I am thinking of buying this 18mm lens with X-E4. This seems like a competent combo for close street photography on the move. I am still a bit worried about continuous AF which I use A LOT. Please comment on that. Thank you.

Thank you, Bro. I find your camera reviews honest and therefore excellent. Also, you sound like Borat, so I like your videos even more. 🤩😍

I really like the look of the lens but the AF sound is crazy ! Why didn't they made a same lens with a silent AF :/ i don't get it

I agree. Have had this lens since I bought the XS-PRO!. I like the lens because of the compactness. All the 3 first lenses for X-PRO1 was 18/2, 35/1,4 and 60/2,4 macro and they all suffer from a rather slow focusing. Mostly I use zoom-lenses of practical reasons. However I still love to put these 3 lenses in my camera bag. I have a new X-T5 and these lenses now perform better than ever. The focusing is much faster and when looking at the IQ result is gaining a bit from the 40 Mp sensor. I can print up to A2 on an Epson 3880 with high resolution. It is almost impossible to see a difference between a photo where I used the 18/2 instead of the 16-55/2,8 Many read to many reviews and spec. sheets. They should instead compare larger prints. Pixel peeping on the screen gives a very false impression.

Hello! Just wondering if you will use AFS only when using this lens?

I've just bought it. I know it's got weaknesses, but it's a perfect ultra-light second lens to carry when I'm using my 33mm f1.4 on long city walks. I was loving the 16-55mm during the summer, but its f2.8 wasn't enough for me during darker autumn/winter evenings. So the two primes should give me my favourite focal ranges with better aperture. I'll probably keep using the 16-55mm instead whenever I'm at decently lit places where I'm soaking-up a lot of close and far things.

best review on this lens ive seen

I find the focus much better with my xt4 than on my xt3, xpro2 etc. It's a great lens, a bit loud but nice size and sharp enough for my purposes. Remember to update the firmware before judging it.

Tempting but I think I'm gonna buy the 27mm pancake. Love the size of both.

Agreed. Love my 18mm.

what lens did you use on your bodycam?

Finally, someone on YT speaking the truth about this lens... I too have heard those RU-vidrs talk badly about this lens. Either they are not using it correctly or have a bad copy... I really don't get what they claim. Some are just repeating what the last guy said and have no idea HOW to really use the lens to get their own conclusions. Yes it may have more contrast than expected but very marginal and nothing you can't custom set in your picture profile or post edit. There is enough information rendered from this lens that it is a non issue unlike what these people are talking about. I got mine exactly 10 years ago with my X-E1 and XF35mm f/1.4 and until recently after not using it for a couple years I put it on my X-Pro 2 and realized how great a lens this is both for street and landscape. It renders nicely and looks good on the fuji rangefinder style bodies. I can not speak for the 26 or 40 Mp X-Trans sensors but I found this lens works brilliantly on the X-Trans II (16Mp) and X-Trans III (24Mp) Fujis. It is fast enough and has a character almost like the XF35mm f/1.4 on those sensors. The AF is not bad and doesn't Hunt any more than any other lens of it's caliber on semi old bodies, and at 27mm equivalent field of view at f2 it actually is a non issue. because at that wide focal length it'd DoF is big and does not have to really hunt unless you are shooting plants or bugs up close at minimum distance. As far as the aperture ring, mine is perfectly dampened. I actually have the opposite problems when trying to use the aperture ring in that I sometimes miss it for the focus ring because the aperture ring is so close to the body and small. I just have to remember that I'm using that lens and all is okay after a minute. Great video and review!

Completely agree with your analyses. I have that lens since I bought the X-Pro1 a few years ago and it still work very well with my X-Pro3. For street I often use that lens in manual mode in hyperfocal settings (f8 and focus dist at 3 m). For the X-pro et Xe series it's certainly the better combo with the 27mm

Total sleeper of a lens, highly recommend.

“ I am crazy or what..???”…😝😝😝

Wait mk2 bro

You should do a collab with Borat.