Hi there, first time poster!
I've had my 16-55mm for a few weeks now. Shot with it for day long trips and a couple of events. I'm not a pro, but I do love photography .
I agree with the general sentiment that others have said here, that the "it's sooo big" feedback from initial reviews is way overblown. Granted, it depends where you're coming from. I came from Canon a year ago, first with the 550D + 17-55mm f2.8 EF-S, then the 5Diii + 24-70 F2.8 ii. Let me tell you, the X-T1 with the 16-55mm is laughably small and easy to handle vs either of those Canon setups. As far as fixed f2.8 mid-range zooms go for APS-C or FF, this has to be one of the most compact (albeit, not by much).
Focusing is fairly fast and silent. I'm patiently waiting for v4.0 firmware where I think this lens will really shine.
I'll admit, my first event I was a bit perplexed. It was in a large room with plenty of sunlight pouring in from 10 foot windows along a wall, and in aperture priority set to f2.8 the whole time, my X-T1 kept wanting to give me 1000+ ISO with my minimum shutter speed of 1/30. A LOT of those pictures came out slightly blurry, esp. on the long end. I had to manually set SS to 1/60 and keep ISO at 800 for hand shake to stop being an issue. Not sure if the X-T1 was having a metering issue or what, but it was a little annoying.
As for the picture quality, images are definitely sharp. Pretty damn close to prime, if not prime sharp. I compare side by side with images I took with my 24-70 ii, and they're easily on par, but for a total of $3,000 less for glass+body .
That all being said, I'm still evaluating if I want to keep it. I used to be a zoom shooter, but after switching to Fuji, I've really enjoyed the performance of primes. Currently I own the 23mm, and decided to give the 16-55mm a shot. I'll admit, I'm pretty tempted by going the 56mm f1.2 route for the long end, and maybe picking up a wide angle. I found myself reaching for my 23mm yesterday at Disneyland because I really needed the f1.4. I've been spoiled with the bright primes. Takes a lot to make f2.8 feel slow..lol. I'll probably wait for the v4.0 firmware with the new AF tracking to see if the 16-55mm will work for me.
I'm in a position where I wouldn't mind at all to just rock primes, but having 2 kids running around, sometimes a mid range zoom is required.
these are all jpegs SOOC
https://goo.gl/photos/Ls1S1bDWHSkV3b7o9
https://goo.gl/photos/3tXxqe3mWR6aZK6y7
https://goo.gl/photos/p9176iR3Nbzfkmq9A
https://goo.gl/photos/7DBVvMM6YgduLqFo6
https://goo.gl/photos/Pqc8FG5HUbY7sCH8A