Some of you may recall the problems I experienced when I bought my Fuji XT1 together with a couple of lenses. Th Fuji 10-24 was excellent but the 18-135 was quite poor. In the end, I returned the 18-135 exchanging it for a 16-55 new and a 55-200 used lens. The 16-55 is amazing but the 55-200 was a little odd.
At first the lens seemed sharp enough but I never really had the chance to try it out properly. Once I did try it out, I didn’t pay too much attention to the images but I did notice my hit rate was poor, many seeming to display camera shake. Ultimately, I contacted Wex where I had purchased the lens and arranged with them for the lens to go back for repair by Fuji (I was a good month out of the 28-day refund period).
The performance of the lens looks to have deteriorated over time even though I have hardly used it. It doesn’t matter if it’s hand held or tripod mounted and the shutter speed doesn’t have much effect on the results. It appears to overexpose a lot, lack contrast and it has soft spots, the location of which change. As you zoom to the longer focal lengths the focus issues seem to get worse but the severity varies.
To give you an example of one of the more severe cases, look at the following.
This is image was captured at f/8 with a shutter speed of 1/10”. The camera was tripod mounted and a shutter release used. It was part of a panoramic sequence and the entire sequence has the same strange focus issue where only the top left of the frame is in focus. In some later images, the entire frame is in focus except to the top left.
My friend Steve has a theory about lenses such as these. He thinks that most people keep the good ones and trade the poor ones. I think he could be right. Whatever the reason, I hope Fuji can repair this.
The Lightweight Photographer 
possibly off topic but I have used the Fuji Refurbished website for a couple of lenses, this is the official fuji site so they are checked and come with guarantee although not always in an original box. prices are cheaper than new and generally about what you would expect for a good second hand lens from other sources but with the additional guarantee’s. i had one issue with a refurb 18mm i got from them which wouldnt focus, i emailed fuji and they sent a prepaid envelope. a replacement lens arrived the day after i had posted the old lens so they must have mailed it as soon as they saw the old lens was on its way before they even received it. thats service and the replacement lens was in perfect condition and still works like a dream. highly recommended.
Thank you very much. I wasn’t aware that Fuji sold reconditioned lenses.
This sounds like a reprise of the Sigma quality control issues of the past in marketing vast amounts of lenses. Still, it would be nice to know if the lens is defective and what was done to correct it and not just blindly replace it.
I will post the outcome once I hear back. I expect it will be after Christmas now.
I have the 18-135 which I find very good as an all round lens and had the 80-200 and found that very good too. I recently traded the later in for a 50-140 which is in a different league both in sharpness terms and price of course. Just a thought did you switch off the stabilisation when you tripod mounted the 80-200 as Fuji recommend?
Yes, it was switched off. I also tested at various apertures and shutter speeds. It was definitely a problem with the lens.
I had huge problems with a 10-24 too. At first it was alright but then I noticed some dust inside (2 moths old, almost never used) and I send it to Fuji. Two weeks latter it arrived and it was awful, the right side was always blur. I send it again and back twice more. They ended sending it to Fuji’s headquarters and after more then a month I finally received it working. I sold it weeks latter. All in all, I used it to no more than 100 shots for the 6 months of ownership.
I also had a bad new 18-135 that I returned to no more.
Hope your problem with the 55-200 gets solved.
Thank you. I suspect there are more poor examples of lenses out there than we realise. I know when I first started in photography, I didn’t know enough to recognise the problems. Now they stand out like a glowing light.
Robin – Sorry you’re still having Fuji lens issues & hope they get sorted out soon. I’m considering the new XT2 but maybe should rethink it. My Leica Q is so good it sets a very high standard. Cheers,
Jed
Hi Jed, The XT2 is a lovely camera to use but if you have a Leica Q, I’m really not sure what you would gain.
Hi Robin, I am thinking every time I crop I’m just wasting good pixels that might be giving me some added IQ benefits. Also Fuji does have some exceptional glass that I enjoyed using before. So the XT2 with some select rangefinder-like short to medium focal lengths (90mm & under) would be an interesting addition to my Q. Maybe just GAS thinking!
Its a great camera and system but a lot of money. I would try one out first.