16-55mm f/2.8 Second Take

This weekend I decided to rent this lens again, shooting my son's birthday party and really needing a midrange zoom to cover quickly moving events.

I've been asking myself lately why I don't own a midrange zoom (I had one in my Nikon DX days--the lovely Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8).  I've passed on Fuji's own 18-55 f/2.8-4.0 kit lens several "sales" over.  Last year, I rented the 16-55mm f/2.8 for use while at San Diego Comic-Con.  During that trip, I really enjoyed this lens.  I used it in concert with the X-T1 battery grip and a Nissan i40 flash.  I was attending Comic-Con primarily for work (video editing news releases), but also had some time to myself outside and inside the venues for some leisure photography.

The 16-55mm f/2.8 performs admirably for event photography.  The sharpness is truly prime-like (in fact, sometimes I feel exceedingly so).  When you nail a shot with the 16-55mm f/2.8, it sings.  Portraits are incredible, and the rendering is unlike anything I've shot before.  On the convention floor at Comic-Con, the weight of the lens was a non-issue (slung with a Black Rapid strap on the X-T1).

However, this second time around, the 16-55mm f/2.8 , the weight really got to me.  Perhaps it was because this time, with my wife and child around, the weight really slowed down my ability to multitask (parents will know what I'm taking about).  My previous days with a Nikon D7000 and the Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 were ever-present in my mind.  That memory of that kind of drag on my shoulder cannot be erased.

The usefulness of the range of 16-55mm was evident this go around.  However, I felt that my ability to grab shots quickly felt longer than when shooting with a prime (usually the Fuji 23mm f/1.4 or 16mm f/1.4).  I think this mostly has to do with weight.

The lack of OIS, while not a concern on my first rental, was a little more apparent this time.  Towards the end of my rental, we visited the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, and some of the low-light photographic opportunities really screamed for OIS.

All of this has led me to realize that I should give the 18-55mm f/2.8-4.0 a shot.  On the next appropriate opportunity, I think I'll rent this lens and see if it's worth owning.  I'm curious to know if it can reach the same sharpness and rendering as the 16-55mm f/2.8.  I think midrange is a lens I need to own eventually, but there are so many things to consider.

Thoughts, opinions?  I love to hear everyone's experience.