I bottled it. All that time spent looking a jack-of-all-trades lens with a huge zoom range, and I chickened out. The Tamron 18-300mm looks fantastic, but ultimately I worried that I’d just not much use it because of its size. It is cumbersome. And I am lazy. I looked at the more modestly proportioned Fuji 18-135mm, but there were just a few too many negative reviews for my comfort.
But I did still want a new, flexible lens with a wider aperture than on my XF23mm prime. So I bought a used Fuji XF18-55mm lens. It’s a kit lens. And it’s been around for more than a decade. But it’s a famously high quality kit lens, with stabilisation. And because it’s been around so long, and is such good value when bought with a new camera, there’s a plentiful supply of used copies at extraordinarily good prices.
Brand new, it’d set you back nearly £700. I picked one up, graded 9+, for £260 from Wex. It came white boxed, and indistinguishable from a brand new product. It probably is effectively brand new. I’m very happy with it. I’m ready for my holidays next month. I think. Or should I get a new camera too? It seems to me that there’s a lot of value in Buy Now Pay Later purchases right now, so long as you time the first repayment to start after the upcoming nuclear holocaust…
The photos were taken with the new lens, mounted on my Fuji X-T20, around London last weekend.
The Mexile 