Sure. They're not proficient in any of them without a feat or similar though so -4 to the attack bonus.
Wizards are proficient with the club, dagger, heavy crossbow, light crossbow, and quarterstaff
Emphasis mine.
I think that answers your question right there. Wizards aren't proficient with "crossbows," they're proficient with the heavy crossbow and light crossbow exclusively.
No, but weapon proficiency would. You'd need to take it once for each type of crossbow, though.
Weapon Focus would fix this?
Weapon Focus doesn't make you proficient. It just gives you a +1 bonus on attack rolls. That helps to reduce but won't remove the -4 non-proficiency penalty.
But you have to already be proficient with the weapon already to take Weapon Focus.
In a few levels you wont even bother to use that really.
But for all it's worth, if you do plan to try t use it for very long you really ought to use a light crossbow and get rapid reload. The d10 damage vs d8 damage just isn't worth it because the heavy crossbow is a full round action to reload, while the light is a move action. With rapid reload light crossbow becomes a free action, while the heavy is still a move.
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Most times, you're better off using a cantrip like Ray of Frost, assuming it's within that range. You can get 1d3+1 if you hold a vial of liquid ice when casting it (focus booster). It may not seem like much, but your hits will land much more often as a touch attack than that pesky heavy crossbow.
Of course, if you're an elf wizard, just use a longbow for that old-school fighter-magic-user vibe. Ray of Frost or Acid Splash will probably outperform that too, though.
If you're a non-elf, a crossbow is a great tool. As long as your strength is high enough to carry it along with all your other stuff. <g>
I decided just to stick with the Heavy Crossbow, a lot less hassle :p
You should go light instead
Heavy Crossbows (1d10) take an entire round to be reloaded, that's one shot per 2 rounds.
Light crossbows (1d8) take a move action to be loaded so you can shoot every round. That's 2d8 vs 1d10 possible damage in two rounds (in case you actually attack for two consecutive rounds instead of casting something)
But as many people said, use the crossbow as a backup weapon. At lower levels simple cantrips like rays or daze are much more helpful and grant more stable damage or effects. At higher levels, you can usually start toying with several wands or rods, so one of your hands will be taken.
Also, depending of whether you pick a familiar or a bonded object (and depending on the object), you may already have one full hand preventing you from effectively using or reloading a crossbow.