Fujinon 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 WR LM R OIS Nikkor Z DX 18-140mm f/3.5-6.3 VR
£699/$899 An ideal X-mount travel lens £629/$597 A superzoom for the Z 50 and Z fc
Lens mount Fuji film X
The Fujifilm 18-135mm is lightweight but sturdily built, with a comprehensive set of weather-seals. Build quality feels excellent and, as an ‘R’ lens, it features a physical aperture ring. The 7.5x zoom range is small, equating to 27-206mm in full-frame terms, so the reach isn’t generous.
The linear stepping motor autofocus system is fast for stills and delivers smooth focus transitions. Another bonus is a highly effective 5-stop optical stabiliser.
Performance
Despite the limited zoom range, sharpness is only good in the central region of the frame, and even here it drops off at the long end. Sharpness towards the edges and corners of the frame are lacklustre at all zoom settings. Colour fringing and distortions are relatively low, thanks to in-camera firmware corrections.
Lens mount Nikon Z ( DX)
This doesn’t have the extravagant zoom range of most superzooms, but still delivers a useful ‘effective’ 27-210mm in full-frame terms. It’s a mirrorless makeover of Nikon’s popular AF-S DX 18-140mm VR kit lens for DSLRs, but with a more lightweight build, though quality feels good overall.
Handling is refined, and alternative functions can be assigned to the manual focus ring in autofocus mode. However, there are no physical auto/ manual focus or VR on/off switches, requiring settings to be changed via in-camera menus.
Performance
The stepping motor-based autofocus is fast and virtually silent, and enables smooth transitions during video capture. Like many recent lenses designed for mirrorless cameras, however, this relies on in-camera correction for distortions.
Lens mount s See table on page 1 18
Until recently, Sigma marketed both this 18-300mm and a 18-200mm superzoom. The 18-300mm is only 16mm longer at its minimum zoom setting, but its focal length stretches 50 per cent further.
It employs Sigma’s TSC (Thermally Stable Composite) material, and the mounting plate is solid metal, but doesn’t have a weather-seal ring. As with other Global Vision lenses, it’s compatible with Sigma’s USB Dock. Speciality glass includes four top-grade FLD (‘Fluorite’ Low Dispersion) elements and one SLD.
Performance
Typical of motor-based ultrasonic systems, the one in this lens isn’t speedy and is clearly audible, as well as lacking manual override. The optical stabiliser gives a 4-stop effectiveness, complete with auto panning detection, boosting handheld performance.
Lens mount s Canon EF- S, Nikon F ( DX)
Available in Nikon F DX and Canon EF-S mount options, this gives an effective zoom range of 27-600mm and 28.9-640mm respectively, stretching into full super-telephoto territory.
The optical design includes two moulded glass aspherical elements and one hybrid aspherical element, plus three low-dispersion elements. Autofocus is driven by an HLD (High/ Low torque-modulated Drive) motor. However, the focus ring rotates during autofocus, and there’s no full-time manual override. Build quality is good and features weather-seals.
Performance
Long-end sharpness is less impressive than with any other lens on test, and colour fringing is noticeable as well. Optical stabilisation is only worth about 2.5 stops, which is less than in most recent and current Tamron ‘VC’ lenses.