Fujifilm Fujinon XC 15-45mm F3.5-5.6 OIS PZ Review

For a long time the term "kit lens" was a derogatory one.

Affordable SLRs were typically bundled with low-cost, low-quality zoom lenses that paled in comparison with pricier alternatives. But they've gotten better over the years, and while Fujifilm's latest take, the compact Fujifilm Fujinon XC 15-45mm F3.5-5.6 OIS PZ ($299), isn't optically perfect, it's a fine option for beginners and a solid value—especially when bundled together with a camera at a discount.

Design

The 15-45mm ($349.99 at Amazon) is a light lens, housed in a plastic barrel in your choice of silver or black finish.

It measures 1.7 by 2.5 inches (HD) and weighs 4.8 ounces.

There is no lens hood included, nor does Fujifilm make one specifically for the lens.

There is a 52mm filter thread, so you can add a protective or effects filter if desired.

Fujifilm X cameras use APS-C image sensors.

That means the angle of view of the 15-45mm is most similar to a 23-68mm angle on a full-frame system.

On the wide end it gives you a slightly larger field of view than Fujifilm's other kit options, the 16-50mm and 18-55mm.

All three are optically stabilized.

Because of the power zoom design, the lens retracts into the barrel when your camera is powered down.

This means you'll have to wait an extra half-second or so to snap a photo when turning it on.

Adjusting the zoom ring activates a motor, and thankfully it's fairly quiet so it's not overly distracting when using the lens to shoot video.

Focus speed is not limited by the lens as much as the camera body.

The 15-45mm was introduced in a bundle with the X-A5, and when I tested the lens with the camera focus lock varied between 0.1-second and 0.6-second, depending on whether the camera used its phase or contrast autofocus points.

When paired with cameras with more capable autofocus—I also tried the lens with the X-Pro2 and X-H1—focus lock was consistently quick at 0.1-second.

There is a manual focus ring at the front of the lens.

Like the zoom ring it's finished in knurled plastic, and is also an electronic control rather than a mechanical one—that's typical for mirrorless lenses.

The focus ring moves freely, in either direction, without hard stops.

You won't get any sort of tactile feedback when adjusting focus manually, but you will see a focus scale on your camera's screen so you can judge the set focus distance.

Focus is possible to 5.1 inches (13cm), so you can get pretty close to your subject.

When focused as close as possible the lens projects objects at 1:4.2 life-size.

It's not true macro territory, but few zooms of this type do better.

Fuji's 16-50mm focuses to 5.9 inches for 1:5 magnification, for example.

Image Quality

I tested the 15-45mm with the 24MP X-A5 and used Imatest software to analyze its performance.

At 15mm the maximum aperture is f/3.5, which, coupled with today's image sensor performance, is good enough for indoor snapshots without a flash.

When shot wide open the center-weighted sharpness is strong, 2,469 lines, so you'll see a lot of detail in your photos.

But while most of the frame scores well, the edges don't.

The periphery drops to 1,473 lines—not blurry, but definitely soft.

For most shots, this isn't a big deal.

But if you love to shoot landscapes and want strong details at the edge of your prints you'll want to narrow the aperture.

Edges improve to 1,625 lines at f/4, and are a crisp 2,090 lines at f/5.6.

The average score at f/5.6 is 2,658 lines, the peak at this focal length.

Resolution is almost the same at f/8 (2,618 lines), but we start to see it drop off at f/11 (2,496 lines), before taking a more serious step back at the smallest f/16 (2,075 lines) and f/22 (1,538 lines) settings supported by the lens.

At the midpoint of the zoom, 30mm, the maximum aperture drops to f/4.5, so the lens only gathers about two-thirds the light when shot wide open.

As at the wide angle, the average sharpness is very good (2,378 lines), but there's a big drop at the periphery (1,474 lines).

Stopping down to f/5.6 improves the average to 2,467 lines, and edges hit 2,026 lines.

You get the best center-to-edge performance at f/8, with a 2,669-line average and edges that fall just shy of 2,400 lines.

Diffraction cuts into resolution starting at f/11 (2,522 lines), but just barely.

There's a more significant drop at f/16 (2,242 lines) and f/22 (1,652 lines).

When zoomed all the way to 45mm the maximum f-stop is f/5.6, which lets in a little less than half the light as the f/3.5 aperture at the wide end.

This means you'll have to pop-up your flash to get good shots in dim light when zoomed in.

Resolution remains strong at the maximum zoom; we see 2,321 lines at f/5.6, with edges that are acceptably sharp (1,858 lines).

The average ticks up at f/8 (2,483 lines), as does the periphery (2,077 lines).

Resolution holds steady at f/11 (2,423 lines), but the edges are a bit crisper (2,173 lines).

We see a drop in image quality at f/16 (2,199 lines) and f/22 (1,681 lines).

Distortion is well controlled throughout the zoom range, both for JPG and Raw images.

There is less than 1 percent, negligible in the real world, at 15, 30, and 45mm.

The same is true for uniformity of illumination.

There is less than a 1EV drop from center to edge throughout the tested range, so you won't have to worry about correcting an unwanted vignette.

Conclusions

Fujifilm now has three affordable standard zoom lenses for its X system (and one high-end option, the 16-55mm f/2.8).

The Fujifilm Fujinon XC 15-45mm F3.5-5.6 OIS PZ is the least expensive, smallest, and offers the widest angle of coverage—all good things.

Like the XC 16-50mm it features a mostly plastic build and narrow maximum aperture, and while we saw better edge resolution with the 16-50mm, the slightly wider coverage and smaller design make the 15-45mm an attractive choice as well.

The 18-55mm ($389.00 at Amazon) f/2.8-4 is the priciest and largest of the three kit lenses, and features the best optical quality of the trio.

But at $700 it's not in the same price class.

At the end of the day, your choice of zoom should be balanced on your priorities—if you want the lightest, smallest, and widest, the 15-45mm is a good choice, especially if you get it at the discounted price when purchased with a new camera.

The downside to that is that, at press time, the 15-45mm is only bundled with the disappointing X-A5, but we expect that Fujifilm will include it as an option with other cameras in the future.