Yes, the 16-80 was never "Fuji Sharp", at least in my opinion. And this was on the X-H1. The performance on my early copy was so poor that I sent it back to Fuji for inspection/repair, and the repaired version was not much better. It is curious that Fuji is selling the 16-80 as a kit lens with the X-T5.
True but you don’t get a lot of subject isolation on a 24-70 f/2.8 which is what the op was asking about. The 16-55 f/2.8 gave you about the same subject isolation as a 24-70 f/2.8 shot at f/4. That's just a fact of life when dealing with crop sensors. That's why I bought the Metabones Speed Booster.
Fuji X Lenses ; Fujinon 18-55mm f2.8-4 vs 16-55mm f2.8 sharpness Fujinon 18-55mm f2.8-4 vs 16-55mm f2.8 sharpness. By Mr.Hertzberg January 24, 2020 in
If you don't need anything faster than f/2.8 I can highly recommend the 16-55mm. When shooting RAW you do need to have a RAW converter utilizing automated lens corrections (CaptureOne, Adobe, Silky, RFC), taking care of pincushion, barrel and chromatic distortions. The Sony E 16-55mm F2.8 G is the company's first pro-grade zoom lens for its APS-C mirrorless system. The Best 55-Inch TVs for 2023; Sony FE 300mm F2.8 GM OSS Review; Fujifilm Fujinon GF The 16-55 was comparable to some of the Fuji f2 primes at certain focal lengths and the 24-70 is comparable for shits with detail - eg: bricks on buildings. Foliage is less problematic and general rendering in flat light seems to retain better detail, even compared to some of the Fuji primes. pzAi.