No menu digging needed for manual aperture: just use front control wheel. Also, if AF/MF is turned off in the menus, the FOCUS ring can be used to precisely control the zoom. I have a dozen XF lenses, but this little guy is one of m6 favorites.

I def see your point on all the issues. I ended up buying an X-T100 (already had an X-T3) for a hiking holiday walking 225 miles in Northern Spain. When ounces counted, this lens and the smaller body made a world of difference and I really liked the wider view. Thanks for the vid!

Owned this lens as a temporary body cap for my X-Pro3. Put its build quality aside, the image quality is absolutely impressive!

Detailed, honest and realistic review of the lens. Thank-you for your detail.

DUDE, What a pleasure it is to see a lens reviewer who takes good pictures, not just good but 10X what virtually other lens reviewer shows us. Just goes to show you, it really doesn’t matter how good or bad your lens is...if you cant compose good pictures to start with. Thanks!

Great lens to use as a 15mm prime. The zoom is not fun at all, best to think of that as an added bonus along with OIS. It is as sharp as the 18-55mm and 23mm f2 in the center. Edges are OK. It will be perfectly good for landscapes at 15mm f4 ish, for $100-120 split from a kit.

Just spreading positive vibes! Soooo glad you did a review on this lens, i was always wondering about this lens for vlogging format. I think I'm gonna stick to my 18-55 Kit lens.

I bought one last year and returned it as it was faulty. I also disliked the power zoom and build quality but loved the 15mm. I ended up getting a second hand 18-55mm for less money, a much better buy imo.

Interesting. The 'imperfection' of the XC lenses adds some character to the photos.

If you have to vlog on an X-E4 with the flip up screen and no IBIS, this lens is perfect. It's super light, keep it set at 15mm with OIS on and don't do anything else with it and it will work better than pretty much anything else in the Fuji catalog. The introduction of the S10 changes the equation with IBIS but again if you love everything about the X-E4 (the budget Pro3) and need to vlog this is the ticket.

I don't think this is a weird focal length range. If you switch the general 24-70 focal length into apsc range, becomes 16-46.6mm. It is actually closer to 15-45mm focal length than the kit lens 18-55mm.

Just an FYI about a couple of issues raised, the copy of this lens that I've just bought used doesn't revert to the 15mm focal length when my camera goes to sleep or when I turn it off. It did set itself to aperture priority by default when I first put it on, but it also set the aperture control to the front face control wheel on my X-T20 so it was really easy for me to just scroll out of that mode and set the aperture manually without digging through menus to enable that. I guess just another example of Fuji updating their firmware (I'm currently using version 2.10 for the X-T20) and listening to complaints like this when they do.

I end up having this lens on all the time. With the zoom in, it's really, so it's great for traveling. I also find the 15 to be great for a lot of things, and the zoom as a bonus makes it pretty versatile. Just miss the f2 aperture of my 23.

I have never tried the 15-45mm. However I do own the 16-50mm and the 50-230mm XCs. I am not impressed with the image quality of the 16-50mm. The 50-230mm is a very different story. The lens is simply insane. Blew my mind completely. Up there with the XF and Zeiss glass that I own. I'm talking about image quality here, which as a still photography is my primary concern.

I know this is an old video, but I'm just seeing it. I wanted to comment on your mention of not being able to use this lens if the weather is less than optimal. I have the XC 50-230mm lens, and I shoot it on rainy days and have no problems with it. I haven't used the 15-45 yet (though I will be trying it out this weekend, as I'm considering it along with the X-T200 for vlogging and as my "always with me" kit), but my assumption as of today is that its characteristics would be similar to the longer lens and the earlier XC16-50). Your comments about the XF18-55 are spot on, though -- probably the best "kit lens" on the market.

nice to see a review about lenses and it not mainly be aimed at a vlogger audience, seems like most KZfaqrs are reviewing cameras and lenses these days and assuming all their audience are vloggers just being we're watching via KZfaq. Solid review man, 1 new sub for you :)

i'm on a low budget, and just ordered this lense. thank you for this review. I'm really looking forward to take some cool shots...

The price seems a bit steep. Down here (Australia) The 15-45 isn't sold separately. But the XC 55-230 can be had new for $200 (150 US) a bargain for the hobbyist looking for extra reach.

100% Agree on the auto-aperture issue. Super frustrating for a while when I picked this up.

Ok, I've wanted to say this before ... that is a crazy camera strap! I love its chunky look.

Size is the key aspect. Checking reviews the lens is supposed to be sharper at the wider end but not so good at 45mm. It is also relatively close focusing. You need to stop down for sharpness and contrast. To me even though the 18-55 is much better it is perhaps 3x larger to carry, especially with the hood fitted. If you look at stopping down and using the wide end. Using it baring in mind it’s limitations then it could be a good choice. If you are going for documentary shots, landscape and compositions it would be reasonable offering. Not so good for low light and shallow DOF. Personally I will be using this as my keep in the car kit with an XE1 to double up as my take everywhere camera. Smallness is important. Though I accept that many Fuji lenses are extremely large even relative to FF systems, compactness is an issue and I’m not sure Fuji the company have really accommodated users who are looking for small kit. You have the 18 and 27mm pancakes but the 18mm isn’t really that sharp though it does have a big following. Even the whole host of new primes that have been brought out recently aren’t that small with hood. I think “small” might be a bit of a disregarded concept at Fuji because they’re going for quality, not compactness. They could do more in this area because a lot of folks do want compactness. It’s not a niche market.

Thank you for this review..... on my X-E3 this lense will make a killer setup!!!!

It's not so much about being shallow (and I know you know this), it's about the (esthetic) design and how good design changes the way we go about everyday life. Functional design gets the job done, functional and beautiful design is next level.

I tried this lens from my wife's XA5 kit on my X-E2. It did OK. I set to manual focus~wide for street. The focus ring is very touchy and moves easily. Wide open 3.5 and wide angle was ok but zoom in a bit and it became a problem. Focus was slow; older camera and less expensive lens combo didn't help. I shot bright daylight and it did OK on the street. I sold my 18-55mm. That was a mistake. I may borrow this lens from her again but I think I'll stick to the 27mm f2.8 and 35mm f2 for street and family shots. I do have to say the XA5 combo does a pretty good job for my wife. Full auto she's getting some really great shots. Plenty of camera for her to hang out with me and not get bored as I "capture the moments".

I got the 16 - 55mm f2.8 recently. Not sure I really deserve it at this point in my photography journey, but it is really incredible, and it fit the bill for my final budgeted tax write-off of 2018.

Just discovered your channel, andI really like your unpretentious approach. I have a XC 16-50, which came with a secondhand XPro-1 body I bought. The lens is really not bad at all and the 16mm end is really useful, but the plastic lens mount is going to be the death of this lens. I find myself getting in and out of various vehicles, boats and small aircraft when shooting, and my lenses often get a little clonk here and there, this lens would probably get hurt quite easily.

Many of the XF lenses are also now made in the Philippines, such as the 18-55

I tested this lens on a Fujifilm XT3. The aperture can be set in auto or manual. Slow or fast Shift focus via touch screen is also possible.

your pictures are really stunning!!

It's the best kit lens compared to other brands so far, and costs lower than 100 USD, very good!

Well, if we didn't care what our camera looked like, we'd just buy Sony :-)

I have both the XF 18-55 and XC15-45 but i prefer using the 15-45 when i travel, its small and light, i travel with both 15-45 and 50-230. My only con with this is the zoom, i consume more battery as compared with the xf18-50

I liked the wider view of this lens for walkaround and travel than the 18-55, among the copies I used head to head, the 15-45 was actually sharper, which surprised me. It is a fiddly thing though..I'm really used to 24 equiv FOV as a midrange zoom, that has been normal for well over a decade now, so going back to 28 at the wide end feels really awkward to me. I've got multiple primes when I want the best IQ anyway and wouldn't do those kind of shots with any zoom.

Yeah it is a cute little guy. Man we are spoiled for choice with Fuji. Love the little 27mm and even the 5-230. Have a great day Andrew

My lens remembers were it was when the camera is powered off. The opposite of what you found. And it actually really bugs me. I wish it would reset back to 15mm when powered on. I wonder if a firmware update changed things or if there is a menu setting or if it depends on the camera (X-T100 in my case)

Hmmm, interesting review. Funny that you think it is so wide, fuji lists it as a 23mm-69mm (35mm eqv), so basically a 24-70. Pretty much the standard. The 16-50mm is basically a 24-75mm. To me, that makes it a really nice walk around lens.

Brutally honest review is what I was looking for, thank you for providing -- excellent video. Subscribed.

I would argue that every piece of gear has this limitations but I know a guy that went to a photo event and out shot a guy who had a canon 1DX while he had a canon rebel. Gear does matter I know a lot of people get upset about that statement it does matter but to a point. Right tool right job but even then if you don’t have the skills to use the tools at that point it doesn’t really matter.

The 16-50 can focus close too ( even a little bit closer ) and don’t have power zoom and it’s cheaper because it’s the old one now :) and it provides a lens hood, which can be good to have a small protection too

I needed help to decide, which one to buy, i am buying one of these, both comes in similar price here in Thailand : 1. Fujifilm xt20 with kit lens 18-55mm f 2.8-4 2. Fujiflim xt30 with kit lens 15-45mm f 3.5-5. Both are around 750$ i am not sure which one to buy.

Fujinon XF 18-55mm lenses are now also made in the Philippines, not just the cheap ones like the one you reviewed in this video. Just saying.

My preferite lens: it's incredible. ......like the 50-230 too.......

When I got my X-T20, it came with the XC16-50mm and that's overall a pretty good lens for the price: very verstaile focal length range, decent image quality (although soft at times) and extremely lightweight ... but there was this one time I shot a contrasty picture and OMG that chromatic aberration was absolutely disgusting :( Still good to get started if you need to go cheap, but I wish I had gone for the 18-55mm from the very beginning. I would still miss that 16mm, though ... I'm looking forward for that 16-80mmF4 that Fuji should be releasing this year :)

I get the wanting your gear to look good. I have the G2 version of the Tamron 24-70 and 70-200. I love how the G2 version look and feel, in addition to the improvements that they made to the G1 version. I'm tempted to upgrade my 15-30 G1 Tamron partially because of the looks and that it'll match the other two lenses of my Tamronian Trinity (also the build quality and optics and focusing improvements wouldn't be too shabby).

This lens is AMAZING

I got this thrown in with my X-T100. I had previously tried it on the X-A5 and didn’t like it. But... I’ve found it makes a great studio/video lens. That being said power zooms just don’t make sense to me.

Thanks for the video. I bought this XC and I am thinking give it back to the shop and change to a XF.

Great review & pictures on this lens. It sounds like a good walk-around lens. Here is the dilemma, would you buy X-T20 w/ XF18-55mm F2.8-4 over X-T30 w/ XC15-45mm 3.5-5.6 consider they are both priced similarly? Thanks again for the review.

Well, as many photographers will tell you lenses are perhaps more important than the camera. Brutal honesty but pretty fair in my opinion. I get the look and feel thing. I love Fuji gear. It just sings to me. I love it.

Great lens for landscape stills..Thank you!

One thing you didn't mention annoyed me most. The lens kept turning off when I press the playback button to review photos. It only happens on my X-T3, and the lens works much better on my mom's X-T20. I hope fuji will address this issue with firmware update.

Snagged it open box at a camera store for 140.99 and I know some others that have gotten it for around 120 on eBay. I solely use it at 15mm for that selfie vlogging style. It seems I'm not alone in this as a few people in here have said they use this for video. It being wideeee I can snap my camera on my SwitchPod and not even have to hold it out an arms length away to get solid angles. So yeah, you can grab these thinks super cheap if you hunt and like the vid says - that 15mm is interesting so for that cheap, it may just be worth it.

I hope that the upcoming fuji 16mm f2.8 is a good performer, its probably the lens I'm most interested in.

Sounds great but other reviews claim it is noisy when focusing and I know someone who owns this lens and has complained about this

Great tip at 8:05 re manual control - cheers for that :-)

I'm sure the lens isn't awful, but personally I wouldn't touch it with a stick. I've never liked power zooms, for one. But it's also the fact that I have no need for such a lens and I'm spoiled by the ones I own. 😁

Quirky is right. On my xa3 it resets to 15. On my xt100 it come back to where i left it. Prob something I have set in the menus. The little ring seems to do nothing.

I just bought this lens and returned it almost straight away. Your experience was with the XT3, well try it with an older body, like mine, I have the XA2 and the XE2S. The XC 15-45 does not work well with these "older" bodies. The outer ring does not work as a zoom, if you take a photograph, then decide to look at it, the lens will zoom back in and switch off, after you look at the image and want to take another photo you have to wait while it wakes up again. It seems Fuji only fully support this lens in some of the very new bodies, but not the older ones even though mine have the latest firmware. Shame because I was looking forward to the wide view and the weight and size was so good.

very helpful ....love the light and the color grading...(-:

Hi, should I buy 18-55 mm or 18-135 model if given a choice. Is there any major changes in both of them?

Most of us are on Budget, for me its good enough. Nice video bro

The lens isnt bad but the power zoom ruins it for me. When I had it with my xt100 I would frame something and zoom in only to miss it by a little then zoom out then zoom back in ever so slightly and that still didn't do it so it ended up being a combination of zooming in and moving physically forward or backward. Im not lazy but when you don't have the space to move forward it just makes things worse. I guess you could say im definitely not a fan of this lens especially when every shot takes 4 times longer to get right because of the power zoom. Im not sure why they thought people needed power zoom but I sure prefer to have manual zoom on all lenses. Id even bet it cost a bit more to make it a power zoom rather than a simple manual zoom. If there was a manual override i wouldn't be complaining so much. As a zoom it adds so much frustration I don't want to use it. If its someone's first and only lens i guess its an ok lens if you can deal with it. Im sorry maybe someone likes it but it annoyed me entirely.

so...where is that menu item to turn off auto-aperture?

For me the 15-45 plays quite a different role, 18mm is far too tight for a lot of applications. I want to snap a selfie with a couple friends, I want to record a cooking video in a small kitchen, I want to film a workout video in a garage gym, 18mm I find just far too tight in so many applications. I have a 12mm F2 Samyang which I love, but it can distort people closer to the edge and picks up severe flare/glare from any overhead light source. There are some primes like the 14mm F2.8 but those have slow/loud focusing and no OIS and the 10-24mm is huge/heavy and has less bokeh at F4. The only other lens that meets this requirement is the 13mm from Viltrox but it's very heavy and has wobbly/wharpy corners in video. So price being no object, what else can give 15mm or wider in a package that's not too enormous and with reasonable bokeh for a talking head?

Great review 🥺 But can you help me to choose between XC 15-45mm and XC 35mmf2 ? Which one is better for newbie ? I just want to take random moments, mostly traveling shots and sometimes streets. The body is XT20

I’m about to pounce on a Black Friday sale on a X-T100. Went to the camera shop this weekend and tried the cam and lens and was really disappointed. I’ll obvs study the manual when I get it but I couldn’t figure out how to zoom by hand in the shop and I really hate the electronic zoom. Haven’t had a camera in years but I want something that feels like my old canon film cam used to. So even though the kit with this lens is only like $70 more expensive than the camera on its own I’m going to rather add the money to my lens fund where I hope to eventually have a kit of - 23mm f2 for everyday lightweight travel - the 18-55 kit one for all day single lens versatility out and about And with more dollar the more specialty type primes - 16mm f1.4 for fun angles and quirky shots - 56mm f1.2 for portraits and blurrrr

My wife likes to take pics on my cameras, but is really still at the stage where she's flying full auto. She uses my back-up body (X-S10) and xf18-55 at the moment. I feel like this would be a good lens to get her second hand, so I can use the 18-55 from time to time, and she won't be lacking anything with the XC other than the extra reach...

I can say I much rather prefer manual lens that you turn with your hand. Think of it as an automatic vs manual car, manual is just so much more fun and you feel like youre a part of the apparatus.

One question- Why would one turn off image stabilization on a lens? I have heard that when doing long exposures on a tripod, it is best to turn lens stabilization off. Another case might be if the the camera has IBIS, perhaps they would not play well together? Although I just learned that the new X-H1 firmware update allows lens stabilization and IBIS to "play nice together" when both are enabled.

I also like the way my gear looks and I feel it is important! Fuji has a lot going for it in this aspect. I actually really do not like how my xf 23mm f2 looks on my x-t3. :D Thinking of picking up the 1.4 version to fix that. :D

Deserve getting a like just for being able to discuss the lens for 17 minutes.

Gear aesthetic is far more important than we like to admit.

I got the lens with a camera that I bought, the 15mm end is just great to have, in good light the lens is useful, walking around town that kind of thing grab shots, the zoom is not the best in use it can be difficult to get right. but thinking about it the lens as a place in my kit bag because of the 15mm view which is my widest lens at the moment.

but all you just said are facts! i'm having a xt200 and im not satisfy with it you really have to invest you have to upgrade lenses.

I have owned this lens almost since first release. I bought it in the hope that it may be a versatile option for street photography. However, it has not had much use because I was disappointed with the crude and insensitive operation of the power zoom ring. It seems to be all or nothing. I was also disappointed to find that there is no way of knowing what focal length it is actually set at. Recently I discovered by some research and advice that on certain bodies, but not all, the manual focus ring acts as a slow zoom ring when the body is in auto focus mode. I found that this works on my X-T1 body, but strangely not on my X-T2. It also won't work on an X-H1 body or any X-E body up to X-E3. It's a shame because the image quality is better than its XC status would suggest.

The larger power zoom ring is smoother when shooting videos.

Yes it is not a beautiful metal body glossy black Fujinon, and it is not optically top notch, but.... It is small and light, cheap, and offers a great wide to short tele range, for use in daylight. I use my Leica lenses on my X-Pro 3 with an adapter, but sometimes I find myself going to places where I would not want to risk my stupidly expensive Summilux, or get robbed. So if it gets dinged or wet it isn’t a big deal, and my shots are often a bit blurred anyway so top image quality is less important than getting the shot fast.

Great video as always! 😆 So what's the actual difference between this and the 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 kit Fuji X kit lens? Is it optical quality? Oh man San Francisco looks great. Your pictures look great!

What film simulation or f-log processing did you use to create this? This is sooooo beautiful! 👍

Superb review. Liked the way you explained it - straight and clear. I'm in the market for an X-T200 mostly for occasional videos and have been offered the 18-55 in place of the 15-45 for an additional $250. Should I go ahead or pick the 18-55 for the versatility it offers or a fast prime (23F2) for a further $100 more? Appreciate insights.

Fun to play lens really!

when you say not good for printing large, what do you mean by large? I'd love to get the 10-24 but I'm not a pro and can't justify it and the 18-55 range is annoying, neither here nor there (for me).

Hi Andrew, I've had the now-sold 18-55 2.8-4 and 55-200 3.5-4.8, the problem is with AF (low light, dog fur or reflective surface misfocused repeatedly) when paired with my X-E3, I don't know if X-T3 will be better but I believe with first gen lenses there has to be a "gotcha". So really those are not very useful and I have hoped Fuji refresh some of their older lenses instead of releasing a ton of cheap kit zooms. Very nice review as always, thank you.

I'm thinking to get this for KZfaq videos of me chatting in the room, and I don't usually do wide angle shooting for my photography so wondering if it will suit to just buy this for the 15mm and doing KZfaq video of me reviewing some camera gears that I use for my work.

Thank you for this nice review. Just checking which lens to get rid of for my vlogging to save some money: XF16-80, or the XC 15-45... Still not sure. But if you only enjoy the 15mm in the XC15-45, then I will probably sell the XC 15-45 again. Or do you have another recommendation? :-D

Interesting. Also, I still have not owned or ever used the 18-55! I should probably get on that! 🤔

Your photos are just stunning. Is this color grading or fuji colors?

Don't know why you didn't choose the XC 16-50 OIS to compare against the 18-55 which is a more valid comparison. I have both and there's no real difference between the two optically unless you get pixel peeping plus you have the more useful wider end.

Great video, thanks!

Thanks for the video! I think is a good alternative for expensive wide primes. Do you use a polarized filter in your pics?

With the crop factor wouldn't the 45mm be closer to 60mm so not so different from the 56 1.2 that costs a lot. I know the aperture is lacking but all depends what you're using it for. If bokeh isn't a concern, as it isn't for architectural shindigs often the I think for price to performance this looks to be quite nice. I have both the 18 - 55 and 35 1.4. Want something wide with OIS for vlogging and architectural photography. Guess it will come down to how sharp it is .. (not there yet!!!) But awesome video thus far! Edit* haaahahaha you're right it is an ugly one! Agh the thing is the 8 - 16 I need more kidneys and the 10 - 24 is a chonk. For vlogging it maybe ugly but is light so think I make my beautiful XT-3 slightly less good looking and put a waterproof bag over it to boot!

Hi Andrew thank you for doing such a great review video. I plan on using this lens for shooting video do you know if it does Continuous AF mode? I have a Fuji X-T2. Thank you

Very good video! What is the color profile you use in your camera for the color and b & w photos that appear in this video?

Which one should i buy? 1.XC15-45&XC35 2.XF18-55 only These two option' pirce is similar,and it's hard to decide😫

nice; I am actually tempted to pick up a copy of this lens for travel / video now. If you are looking for another recommendation you should check out the 50-230 XC lens which has amazing bang for the buck, and paired with the 15-45 could make a simple, light travel kit.

Definitely not touching that lens but you still managed some sweet shots with it! What colour profile did you use? Loving the look!

I enjoyed your presentation. How did you gain control of the aperture function?

Hi Andrew. Can you suggest your favorite movie simulations?

Hey Andrew! First thanks you so much for helping me with your videos on get my new T20 :) but now.. I have borrowed a 50 230 and love it! But to have my own lens i have a tight budget... You, as a X t20 Lover haha you recommend this setup to start on photograhpy? X T20 + THIS LENS?? Will help a lot. Thanks!

Your image quality is so good! Were you using eterna? Did u color grade?