Photography is all about compromise. Normally a zoom lens places greater emphasis on convenience at the sacrifice of quality. This lens has been designed with no compromise, so the image quality is comparable to that of a prime lens.
This lens manages to strike the perfect balance of sharpness with smooth bokeh. It delivers true to life colors never seen before in a zoom lens. A professional, large aperture zoom lens must produce stunning images and the XF16-55mm uses nine-blade diaphragm to help minimize spherical aberrations.
The lens is made of 17 elements in 12 groups, which includes three aspherical elements to reduce any distortion and spherical abberations. In order to maintain edge to edge sharpness across the entire zoom range, three extra-low dispersion elements are also used which help to control chromatic aberrations.
FUJIFILM's proprietary multilayer coating HT-EBC (High Transmittance Electron Beam Coating) is used to control ghosting and flares. Nano GI Coating is also used to reduce ghosting and flare from light coming at diagonal angles.
You would need to carry four XF prime lenses to replicate the focal range of this zoom lens. However with the XF16-55mmF2.8 you get every mm inbetween 16mm and 55mm to fine tune your composition even more. This convenience while maintaining amazing image quality gives you an extra advantage versus carrying four fixed focal length lenses.
The AF system is based on a high-speed linear motor which can focus as fast as 0.02 seconds. It's impossible to know when something dramatic is going to happen but you want to be ready when it does. This lens reacts as quick as you do when those precious moments occur.
Any professional walk around lens needs to be ready to go in all shooting conditions, especially adverse weather. The dust- and moisture-resistant construction of the lens allows you to immerse yourself in shooting, whatever the weather.