jwascher

Before you ask this question, you need to identify what do you want to take pictures of? Indoor, outdoor, sports, family, travel, landscape, etc.? Street photographers normally stick to 1 focal length, weather resistant lens, such as a 23mm or 35mm. The f2 versions are plenty fast enough for the amateur shooter. I use an 18-135mm lens for travel as it does it all, but at the cost of higher f stops. I use my 23mm f2 for lots of casual shooting and it is fast enough for indoor shots. I do lots of sports shooting of my grandsons and splurged on a 100-400mm lens that takes great shots from the sidelines. Once you decide on what you want to shoot, then look for the lens that works best for you.

You say this is your first decent camera. What are you planning to do with the photos? Sell high art? Use for personal use and family? I have had the x-T1 and X-t2 since they came out. I just bought the X-t5 as I shoot a lot of sports action of my grandkids and some travel and landscape. I have had all Fuji lens' but just bought the Viltrox 13mm for general use. I shot some sample night shots last night and was impressed with the focus and quality of the pics. Normally, my go-to prime as been the Fuji F2 23mm, although the F2 35mm is really good too. On the other end, the Macro 80mm Fuji lens has given me some stunning portraits as well as macro flower shots. I would probably start with the 23mm and then determine what you can't do with that lens and move to add on as needed.

I have been shooting Football and Lacrosse games of my grandsons for several years. I use the Fuji 100-400 zoom with great results. It has the real to bring players across the field right up close. The OIS works well for handheld, although I usually use a monopod since holding the camera and lens for a full game would be pretty hard. the focussing is fast, so I don't throw many shots away.

I shoot with this lens for thousands of shots of my grandsons sporting events. I am using an X-T2 and have had the combo for probably 4-5 years, I have no play between the camera and lens. I use a mono-pod for nearly all shots, and Idonotice some rotational movement between the two, there is no horizontal movement of play between the lens and camera. If you are not having the issue with other lens', then the lens mount plate out be loose. As mentioned before, you need to get this looked at in order to get in-focus results.

I shoot sports action with this lens every week. At the speeds you are shooting at, you can turn off the OIS. I would also increase your f stop to at least f8 or more to get a bit wider depth of field. If your shots are all at long distance, you could probably set the focus to manual and focus to near infinity. It seems your subjects are pretty small in the entire picture, so there may be some issues on exactly where the camera is trying to focus on.

I use Lightroom for my FUJI files, but first use Iridient X-Transformer to convert the RAW files to .dng. I then import those to Lightroom and they seem better, and more easily sharpened. Iridient doesn't cost much, and although it adds an extra step to the downloads, I feel it is well worth it.

I have had this lens for several years, using daily for sports action. I post the pictures on my grandsons' Shutterfly share sites. I normally set the shutter speed to about 500 or 800 and the aperture to f/8 to try to get some depth of field. Then, I let the ISO float to get the right setting. I have never had the dark shots you are talking about. Am using an X-T2. Have you looked to see if there are any firmware upgrades to either your camera or to the lens? https://fujifilm-x.com/global/support/download/firmware/cameras/ and also the page with the lens updates.

Must be the lens. I have had that lens for over a year and it is one of my most used lens. Pictures are always sharp.

I agree with Lrover. The 18-135 is my go-to lens for travel and just everyday shooting. Also, being WR, it is good out doors in all kinds of weather. The wide range of focal lengths makes it very handy. Take a look at the YouTube video by Andrew and Denae as Andrew goes over all the fuji lens and why he likes each one and for what.

Although I have never been to Iceland, whenever we travel, I find the lens on qmycamera the most is my 18-135 lens. Gives you the wide angle and the reach. Watching several YouTube vlogs of landscape photographers in Iceland, it seems the longer reach is helpful since many of the compositions seem to include longer range subjects. The 18-135 is WR as is the X-T3 so rain or spray is not going to be an issue. I love my 10-24, but find is most helpful in walking around older European cities or other locations where you are up close to wider scenes.

Take a look at Andrew and Denae on YouTube as Andrew goes through most of the Fuji lens' and gives a good review of them. He has been a Fuji shooter for about 4 years. www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKPqiIY69TM&t=498s

Herco's advice is well thought out. I have an 18-135 that is my standard go to lens. Being WR so good outdoors regardless of weather has been very useful. For wide angle shots, travel in old cities/towns and landscape, the 10-24 is an amazing lens. Recently I picked up an 80mm f/2.8 and have been blown away at the great portraits as well as. the Macro side of this lens.

Yes,sounds like you are in Manual Focus and seeing the detail of the AF zone.

As to your travel lens, I use both my 18-135 as a great "do-it-all" lens. It is Weather sealed so good in any weather condition and has both wide angle and tele capability. Also, on my trips to European cities with narrow streets, I often use the 10-24mm lens to be able to get the shot of buildings and statues from short distances. As to portraits, I go the Fuji 80mm and love the portrait ability. Very sharp lens and have taken many great portrait shots. Also, have done some macro with the lens of flowers and they are terrific. Lots of choices I know, but good luck. If you go to YouTube, Andrew & Denae have this www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKPqiIY69TM&t=497s where he talks about all the Fuji lens.

I have the 100-400 that I use for sports, Lacrosse and Football on my X-T2. I do use a mono-pod since holding the combined weight for an entire game seems just too much. The 100-400 is great for this type of shooting, and with the enhanced focusing on the X-T4, should be a real killer combination. Not sure what you are shooting, so hard to say how that all fits. I do find that the 100-400 is too powerful sometimes as the action gets too close to where I am standing. You can set the auto-focus to only go 5m to infinity or the full range, but at a loss of focus speed. I usually have mine set for the over 5m minimum and most of the time that is fine. Also, what do you plan to do with your finished shots? I post mine to a team share site on Shutterfly, so cropping the shots to just the area where the action is does not create a problem. if you are trying to print on large size paper and therefore need more of the megapixels, then the tele-converter may help, but with 25 megapixels, you can usually do a lot of cropping.