Sometimes it’s nice to travel light, with just a camera and one lens. I had been spending a lot of time with the my new Fuji 10-24mm F4 lens; and a beautiful piece of glass it is. I also regularly use my 35mm F1.4 and the 18-55mm is my daily walkabout lens. So you can imagine that the little 18mm F2 was starting to feel a bit left out. I suppose you could say that its focal length was superfluous, as it is well covered by both zooms. So last week I gave myself a challenge, use it or lose it. In other words, spend an afternoon with the X-Pro1 and the 18mm F2 to see whether this lens was actually worth keeping or should find its way to that great lens dealer in the ether; eBay! So off I went to a location on the outskirts of Belfast, known as Minnowburn, with the camera and lens, a 52mm polarising filter on the lens, a spare battery in one pocket and a lens cloth in the other. Th photos on hit page are the result of a few hours wandering around this beautiful National Trust location.

So how did the lens get on? I had forgotten what a nice compact combination this setup is, indeed it is a pleasure to carry and use. It allows me to travel through the landscape with freedom and the wide-angle (27mm equivalent) is perfect for the great outdoors. The quality of the X-Pro1 is well documented and in my opinion the 18mm F2 is well up to the task. It has no OIS, but you really don’t need it on a lens this size. This is not a pixel peeping review, I’ll leave that sort of thing to others more qualified, but suffice to say that I was very pleased with the days shooting and the little 18mm will be staying with me for the foreseeable future.