I’ve Traveled the World with Fujifilm’s ‘Worst’ Lens and I Loved it – The Only Flaw, and the One (Fujifilm-Teased) Lens That Could Replace It

I have recently asked you what you consider the best and worst Fujifilm related gear announced in 2025 (third party AF lenses included).

Well, a fellow Fujifilm X-H group member declared here the XF18-135mm as the worst announcement.

Now, besides the fact that the Fujinon XF18-135mm was announced in mid 2014, hence it was not really part of our big survey, I thought it was an interesting comment and that maybe it was time to talk a bit about this lens.

A lens I own by the way, and that made me sell these two lenses for it.

Now, as we said, the Fujinon XF18-135mm was announced in 2014, hence at a time when the Fujifilm X system was relatively new on the market.

So while it is reasonably to expect that the most modern Fujinon lenses perform better than those launched 11 or 12 years ago, I’d dare to say that anyway the Fujinon XF18-135mm is actually a pretty decent performer. I’d say an even very good performer for what it is.

The true problem of the lens is another one: I think it is the one Fujinon lens that suffers most from sample variation, meaning you might get an excellent copy — or a noticeably weaker one — simply due to manufacturing tolerances.

While Fujifilm has drastically improved this aspect of manufacturing over the years, at the time the XF18-135mm was released — and particularly with that lens — sample variation was a real concern for early buyers.

This explains why some are very happy with this lens (for example me), while others are not.

In my case, here are some pictures I took with it:

As you can see, the Fujinon XF18-135mm has been a loyal companion to me for over a decade. It has traveled with me all over the world, and I’ve always appreciated both its flexibility and its image quality.

That said, I probably ended up with a particularly good copy.

So if you’re thinking of buying one — especially second-hand — I’d definitely recommend trying it first and taking a few test shots.

But with that said, for every person who had a less-than-ideal experience with this lens, there are many more who genuinely appreciate it.

In fact, the Fujinon XF18-135mm was even used to shoot the official stills for the blockbuster Dunkirk.

And we have had some interviews with fellow X shooters, who declared it their favorite lens:

So I call myself a very happy Fujinon XF18-135mm owner.

But if I had to pick — or better, nitpick — one aspect that occasionally bothered me just a little, it would be the range. If only it were a touch wider on the short end, and offered just a bit more reach on the long end, it would come very close to perfection.

In short: make it a true, awesome superzoom!

And you know what?

Fujifilm has already revealed the estimated main specs and size of exactly such a lens in their “10 lenses under consideration” survey.

And here on FujiRumors we already made a specs and side-by-side size comparison between the XF16-200mm and XF18-135mm.

If Fujifilm manages to keep the XF16-200mm on the smaller and lighter side of their current estimates, then that might be the one lens capable of replacing my XF18-135mm.

But until that day comes — if it ever does — I’ll proudly call myself a very happy XF18-135mm owner.

If this lens is good enough to shoot professional stills on the set of a multi-million-dollar blockbuster, then it’s certainly good enough for my far more humble needs and modest skills.

There’s just one important note: especially if you’re buying an older, second-hand copy, make sure to test it first. No other Fujinon lens is known to exhibit sample variation quite as strongly as the XF18-135mm.

Black Friday at B&H Photo

Black Friday at Amazon USA

Black Friday at Amazon CANADA

Black Friday at Adorama

Meet FRGMT BW – Fujifilm’s First ‘Official’ Film Simulation Recipe

We reported how Fujifilm announced the limited release of the Fujifilm GFX100RF Fragment Edition.

You can check out all details in this article.

Interestingly, the camera will not have the known “monochrome” film simulations, but it will be launched with an all new film simulation recipe built into it. Fujifilm calls it FRGMT BW (Fragment Black & White).

I guess this makes it the first ever ‘official’ Fujifilm film simulation recipe.

If you want to dial it into your camera too, then here are the settings.

  • ACROS
  • grain effect: strong/large
  • tone curve (highlight): +4
  • tone curve (shadow): +2
  • sharpness: -4
  • high sensitivity Noise reduction: -4
  • clarity: +5
  • exposure compensation: +1/3

Basically: a vivid, grain-kissed, high-contrast black and white aesthetic.

By the way: the regualr monochrome film simulation is not available on the Fujifilm GFX100RF Fragment Edition, but all other film simulations will be there.

Black Friday Pages

Viltrox AF 28mm F4.5 Ultra-Thin Pancake Lens Best Selling at Black Friday

Black Friday kicked in with lots of rebates.

One of the hottest is the 20% rebate on Viltrox X mount lenses.

And there is one lens that is selling particularly well, the ultra-thin Viltrox 28mmF4.5 autofocus lens.

In fact, it is the best selling gear on Day 1 of Black Friday.

Black Friday Pages

at B&H Photo

at Amazon USA

at Amazon CANADA

at Adorama

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BREAKING: Fujifilm X-T6 — It’s Time to Tell You When It’s Coming

BLACK FRIDAY PAGES

You’ve waited. You’ve guessed. You’ve hoped.

You have been misled, lied to over and over again, with fake specs, fake release dates, fake everything.

But now the time has come.

The time has come for you to finally get a word of truth about the Fujifilm X-T6.

It’s time for you to know, when the Fujifilm X-T6 will come:

** CLICK HERE to Read the Rest of the Article **

VOTE: The Best & Worst Fujifilm Gear of 2025

click image to find out my personal Nr.1

I believe there won’t be any more significant gear announcements this year.

So we can already let you vote on what was your favorite Fujifilm related gear launched in 2025.

  • B&H Explora – FUJIFILM’s 2025: Three New X100VIs and a Medium-Format Cinema Camera

The list will include all Fujifilm X/GFX cameras as well as Fujinon X/G and third party AF lenses.

I hope I did not miss anything. But if I did, feel free to drop it in the comments.

Personally I have no doubt on the best gear of 2025 ;).

My personal Top 3:

My personal “flop”

Here is the gear you can vote on:

And here is the survey itself. Let’s see what ends up on top (best gear) or at the bottom (worst gear) of your list.

The Best Announcement of 2025 was..

View Results

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Which was the WORST Fujifilm announcement of 2025?

View Results

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Fujifilm USA Holiday Deals: A Mix of Sadness — and a Few Real Deal Gems

Fujifilm has launched massive rebates all over the world (you can see the European Fujifilm X/GFX deals here).

But there is one noticeable exception: the United States of America. Fujifilm has not offered any rebate since the US tariffs have been put in place.

And yet, you might not find deals on Fujifilm X/GFX gear, but there will be some on third party lenses and accessories. Check them out below.

Here is an overview:

Sigma AF X Mount Lenses

Tamron AF X Mount Lenses

Sirui AF+MF X Mount Lenses

Tokina AF X Mount Lenses

Manual Focus + Electronic Contacts X Mount Lenses

Manual Focus Lenses X Mount Lenses

Fujifilm GFX Mount Lenses

Accessories & Flash

EXCLUSIVE: Fujifilm is Working on a Camera With a “Time-Travel” Dial

Ok guys, this is what I hear.

Fujifilm is working on a camera with a sort of “time-travel” dial.

What do I mean by that?

Now, don’t get too excited — it’s not quite like the one from that legendary movie (the one that inspired the opening image of this post), where you punch in a date and jump through time. But it might just let you photographically do something close.

In fact, if what I hear is accurate, then it’s a dial that lets you choose an era-inspired look for your images. You won’t be jumping through time — but your photos will.

At the moment I don’t know exactly how this works, so from now on it is all just speculation.

My guess is that you might be able to switch from the early black and white era, to the rise of commercial color photography in the 1930s thanks to Kodachrome to the New American Color photography of the 1970s (inspired by artists like William Eggleston, Stephen Shore, Joel Sternfeld and Richard Misrach) and so forth.

I call it a photographic “time-travel dial” — one effortless turn to revisit the looks of photography’s past.

It seems Fujifilm is once again having fun experimenting (Fujifilm X half anyone?), blending nostalgia and innovation to offer photographers a truly new kind of creative experience.

Now, you might like this idea or not, but I guess we can agree that only a company with a massive photography history could come up with such an idea, which speaks for the heritage and creativity of Fujifilm.

Stay tuned on FujiRumors… as soon as I have more details I will let you know. And of course, feel free to reach out to us in case you have some hints or rumors to share about it.

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The Best Fujifilm Communities

Enough Gear Talk. Time to Let Fujifilm Colors Speak

Fujifilm Colors Power

Let’s take a short break from all the gear talk and share a few images that fellow Fujifilm shooters have shared in the Fujifilm film simulation group.

And remember, whether you own an ancient Fujifilm X-Pro1 or the latest and greatest, film simulations are in Fujifilm’s DNA since the beginning. So play around with them and enjoy using them.

The Best Fujifilm Communities

Previous Image Roundup

Images

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Fujifilm’s Imaging Division: Up 21.5%, Forecast Raised and Offsetting Expected Losses in Other Segments – Q2/FY2025

The latest Fujifilm financial results are out (Q2/2025 – July to September 2025).

It’s once again a very positive report, with operating income up 21,5% Y-o-Y.

Fujifilm also sounds pretty optimistic about the future of its Imaging division — so much so that it has raised its forecast by 5.6% compared to previous expectations. And it’s not just doing well — it’s doing well enough to balance out expected declines in other divisions.

I wonder how much of this optimism could be the result of them knowing something we don’t know yet… like the arrival of the Fujifilm X-T6, Fujifilm X-Pro4, Fujifilm X-H3/S, Fujifilm GFX100III or any other 6th generation Fujifilm gear.

Professional Imaging

  • Strong sales of FUJIFILM X and GFX series digital cameras
  • Strong sales of new products GFX100RF, X half and X-E5

Consumer Imaging

Forecast

Operating income forecast is unchanged, as the downward revisions for both the Healthcare, mainly due to higher silver prices, and the Business Innovation, due to increased expenses for strengthening business structure, are offset by higher gross profit in the Imaging.

Imaging Division Comment

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BHphoto Holiday 2025 Head Start Deals Launched

B&H Photo is rather impatient and wants you to start saving money now rather than waiting for Black Friday, so they have launched the Holiday 2025 Head Start deals.

Note: some deals, like some Apple deals, will end tomorrow.

Fujifilm Related

Memory Cards

External SSD

Apple Products

Peak Design