Fujinon XF18-120mmF4 LM PZ WR announced with powerful 'hybrid' features

The Fujinon XF18-120mmF4 LM PZ WR is not just another long-zoom standard lens. It’s a ‘hybrid’ lens designed as much for video as stills (probably more so, in fact), with features we haven’t seen before in a Fujinon lens.

We need to get the bad news out of the way right from the start, though. No, it’s not the price, which is ‘premium’ but not prohibitive (details at the end). It’s actually the availability – the Fujinon XF18-120mm F4 LM PZ WR won’t go on sale until September 2022.

Fujinon XF18-120mmF4 LM PZ WR specifications

Focal length: 18-120mm (27-183mm equivalent)
Lens construction: 15 elements in 12 groups (includes 3 aspherical and 3 ED)
Maximum aperture: f/4 (constant)
Minimum aperture: f/22
Aperture blades: 7 (rounded diaphragm opening)
Maximum magnification: 0.2x
Dimensions: 77.3mm×123.5mm
Weight: 460g
Filter size: 72mm

See our Fujifilm XF 18-200mm f/4 LM PZ WR hands-on review

Fujinon XF18-120mmF4 LM PZ WR key features

Lots of lenses have AF systems optimised for fast and silent video shooting, but the Fujinon XF18-120mmF4 LM PZ WR goes several steps further.

Fujifilm is claiming advanced video performance with this lens, and it’s clear it’s been thinking about the physical design as well as the optical make-up.

First off, this a power zoom lens with full electric drive control. Unusually, it incorporates a combined zoom/focus ring, with a switch on the lens barrel for swapping modes. If you want both at once, though, you can keep the ring for focussing and use the lens’s separate zoom buttons.

This lens does not just offer internal focus, which is pretty common these days, but an internal zoom too – and that’s pretty rare. This will be a big selling point for vloggers and gimbal users, as the shifting balance of regular zoom lenses can rule them out for gimbal use.

The AF system uses linear motors for a quoted 0.02sec response time (tested on an X-T4) and Fujifilm says it will offer “dramatically improved” tracking performance on the new Fujifilm X-H2S with its high-speed focus drive.

The 18-120mm focal range is equivalent to 27-183mm in full frame camera terms, and that’s an impressive 6.7x zoom range for a lens with a constant f/4 maximum aperture. (The other example that comes to mind is the Olympus 12-100mm f/4 – 24-200mm equivalent.) The minimum focus distance is an impressive 0.46m across the focal range, for a maximum magnification of 0.2x.

Optically, the Fujinon XF18-120mmF4 LM PZ WR has 15 elements in 12 groups, with three aspherical lenses and three ED lenses. The focus unit has been positioned specifically to suppress focus breathing optically.

Remote filming will be possible too, using the X-H2S and FT-HX accessory via a browser – we look forward to seeing how that will work.

Physically, the new lens weighs just 460g with a length of 123.5mm. It’s also sealed against dust and moisture and can work at temperatures down to -10 degrees.

Interestingly, what we don’t see is optical image stabilization or a physical aperture ring. The lack of stabilization won’t matter on a stabilized body such as the X-S1, X-T4 or X-H2S, of course, but the lack of an aperture/iris ring could raise a few eyebrows amongst filmmakers.

Fujinon XF18-120mmF4 LM PZ WR price and availability

As explained at the top of this story, the new Fujinon XF18-120mmF4 LM PZ WR  won’t actually be available until September 2022. It should be worth the wait, though, as Fujifilm is quoting a price of $899 / £899 /AU$1,599, which looks pretty reasonable for a lens with these specifications and video capabilities.

Read more:

• Best Fujifilm lenses
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• Best lenses for vlogging