Buy 16-55mm f/2.8 or primes lenses with X-H1?

I currently use a Nikon D7200, but with the price of the X-H1 dropping to $999 I've decided to try out a mirrorless system.  My initial thought was to buy the 35mm f/2 lens, with the intention of buying the 50mm f/2 lens if I liked the camera.  (I don't do much shooting at wide angles.)  However, if I buy it with the camera, I can get the 16-55mm f/2.8 lens for $699 (rather than the regular price of $1199).  Any thoughts on which way I should go?

Those primes are tiny. That zoom is not. The 18-55 is considerably smaller than the 16-55. If size matters, you shouldn't buy the 16-55...unless you plan to immediately resell it.

Kenneth Almquist wrote:

I currently use a Nikon D7200, but with the price of the X-H1 dropping to $999 I've decided to try out a mirrorless system. My initial thought was to buy the 35mm f/2 lens, with the intention of buying the 50mm f/2 lens if I liked the camera. (I don't do much shooting at wide angles.) However, if I buy it with the camera, I can get the 16-55mm f/2.8 lens for $699 (rather than the regular price of $1199). Any thoughts on which way I should go?

Get the zoom. If you don't like it you can resell it for at least that price.

FYI, you can fid a nice used 35f2 for around $250.

At that price you probably can sell the 16-55 without loss or even small profit if you don't like it. It's a heavy but good lens.

I just got the 16-55mm yesterday. Incredible lens. I already have the 16, 23, 35 and 80mm I now find myself wondering if I should sell the 23 and 35. They are very small and light which the 16-55 is not. I'll likely keep them, but the thought is there FWIW.

I am very much into getting the X-H1 with the 16-55 (if still available by Sept 15th or so) but wondering how does the 16-55 performs bokeh wise should I use it for casual semi-candid portraits with busy backgrounds

dual12 wrote:

Those primes are tiny. That zoom is not. The 18-55 is considerably smaller than the 16-55. If size matters, you shouldn't buy the 16-55...unless you plan to immediately resell it.

Good point.  I'll probably stick to using the Nikon for travel because Fuji doesn't have an equivalent to Nikon's 18-300mm, so size isn't too critical.

Giovanni_1968 wrote:

I am very much into getting the X-H1 with the 16-55 (if still available by Sept 15th or so) but wondering how does the 16-55 performs bokeh wise should I use it for casual semi-candid portraits with busy backgrounds

”OK”, but the primes generally win here. Under the right conditions the 16-55 bokeh can be just fine, especially if the subject is close and the background is at a distance, but the bokeh can often be a bit “nervous” with a busy background at the wrong distance. The 16-55 is a killer lens, and excels at almost everything, but if you primarily want an ideal semi-candid portrait lens, you probably want the 35 f/1.4, 56 f/1.2, or 90 f/2 depending on your preferred working distance. The 50-140 f/2.8 zoom can be also quite good for this.

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I got the 18-55 as a kit with my H1.  It was a good lens but the 16-55 is so much better.  Yes, a bit heavier but that's the price you pay for constant 2.8 throughout the zoom.  It is a bit sharper if you really look.

The H1 is body stabilized so you don't need the OIS.  The 16-55 does not have it.  If you plan to get say a T3, which I own as well, then you may want to take that into consideration.

For the price, the H1, grip and 16-55 combo is a great deal!  I paid $1,000 more for that setup a year and half ago.

Thanks for all the replies.  I think I'll go ahead and order the X-H1 with the 16-55mm zoom.  It seems like the price on the lens is too good to pass up.

With the current bundle deal I would opt for the 16-55 no questions asked. If you change your mind later on, you can throw the 16-55 on eBay and recoup what you paid for it (and then some).

Giovanni_1968 wrote:

I am very much into getting the X-H1 with the 16-55 (if still available by Sept 15th or so) but wondering how does the 16-55 performs bokeh wise should I use it for casual semi-candid portraits with busy backgrounds

The below were test shots to show bokeh with rather close subject matter. The exif will tell you what the FL was, I can’t recall. But, I think the bokeh is quite nice and the lens is incredible

Kenneth Almquist wrote:

I currently use a Nikon D7200, but with the price of the X-H1 dropping to $999 I've decided to try out a mirrorless system. My initial thought was to buy the 35mm f/2 lens, with the intention of buying the 50mm f/2 lens if I liked the camera. (I don't do much shooting at wide angles.) However, if I buy it with the camera, I can get the 16-55mm f/2.8 lens for $699 (rather than the regular price of $1199). Any thoughts on which way I should go?

The XF16-55 is a great lens and X-H1 is the best camera to accompany with this lens due to IBIS and the similarity in size.

And you can't be wrong if you get it at $699..... Even if you eventually don't like it and you can sell it second hand without loss at similar price range....

However, such combo is very very big in in terms of Fuji mirrorless camera which you cannot benefit from switching from DSLR. If you like primes such as the F2 primes, I suggest you should get an X-T3 or X-T30. The speed and portability may just surprise you

CaptainNoddy wrote:

However, such combo is very very big in in terms of Fuji mirrorless camera which you cannot benefit from switching from DSLR. If you like primes such as the F2 primes, I suggest you should get an X-T3 or X-T30. The speed and portability may just surprise you

I shoot a bunch of stuff at night (sample below), so IBIS is important to me.  I'm less interested in reducing size/weight than in just seeing what mirrorless technology can do.

I love (almost) all my Fuji lenses, but as far as I am concerned the only answer to your question is to get the 16-55. It is a fantastic lens, especially on the XH1 (+ibis).

Kenneth Almquist wrote:

I currently use a Nikon D7200, but with the price of the X-H1 dropping to $999 I've decided to try out a mirrorless system. My initial thought was to buy the 35mm f/2 lens, with the intention of buying the 50mm f/2 lens if I liked the camera. (I don't do much shooting at wide angles.) However, if I buy it with the camera, I can get the 16-55mm f/2.8 lens for $699 (rather than the regular price of $1199). Any thoughts on which way I should go?

I already owned the 16-55 f2.8 which i used with my X-T1, after buying my X-H1 last August I wrote, on other forums, that after using the X-H1 with the 16-55 f2.8 I considered it to be a marriage made in heaven. A year later I am even more firmly convinced that it's true.

16-55mm with the camera !