XF 18-135mm 3.5-5.6

Fuji has gone to town on the last X Summit announcement. The new FujiLux Lens appear to be a stunning statement about the next few years ahead.

As much as I love the latest and greatest, I have come to terms with loving, valuing and appreciating what I have.

My XT1 came with the all in one super Lens, the 18-135mm. At the time when I got this, I didn’t fully appreciate this Lens or the Camera. This was the beginning of my Fuji journey. 2013 saw me with the X100T and this Camera Lens set-up.

It’s 8 years old now; this gear still works fine and delivers. I have studied photography hard over the last decade and now I fully understand how these Lens work.

This Lens is simply FANTASTIC.

I use it as I would if I where traveling.

Like a Tourist, I travel about London creating images of my city, my neighbourhood and all manner of subjects.

This Lens can do it all.

My technique for getting the best out of this Lens is to monitor the weather on a given day and the quality of Light.

I set my Shutter Speed to around 1/500 as my baseline.

My ISO will vary depending on the quality and direction of Light. I have no problem pushing the ISO, 1600 is good for decent shutter speed.

Since this is a slow Lens, I set my Aperture at 5.6 and leave it for most subjects.

I zoom only when I can’t physically get close enough to my subject. Otherwise, my subject relationship to depth of field will cover 5.6 up to F22.

So, by setting Shutter Speed and ISO, I can now use my Aperture to creative effect.

If I need to go below 1/500 of a second, this Lens has built in stabilisation and it works beautifully.

I can adjust my exposure parameters very easily. Shooting in fully manual mode has given me confidence no matter what Lens I use.

I felt it important you learn the characteristics of this Lens so I know how far I can go with it. Once light levels drop it will struggle.

My secret weapon here is my Speed-Light; I would Travel the world with this Lens, a Speed-Light, Trigger, Mag Dome Modifier, a small Tripod. This set up is a fully capable Imaging System for almost every subject.

Not long enough for Wild Animals, but that would not stop me.

I would create.

So, my morning walk today with this set-up reminded me how much I love what I have. It also showed me how much my technical skill has grown.

I am happy.

For me, creating images is a joy and celebration of life.

Thanks for reading.

“The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life”.

William Morris