Short Lens Review: FUJIFILM XF 27mm f/2.8

This lens is awesome. Buy one. Thank you.

Ok, a little more.

As discussed for both the X-T100 and X-E2 posts the return to Fuji La was driven by a desire for a compact, no excuses IQ everyday imaging solution. A large part of that is a good pancake lens. It can make or break the experience.

Make: A lens, the 30mm f/2, is why I still have a dead mount walking NX300. That lens is amazing.

Make: Pentax 40mm f/2.8. This lens is also amazing.

If it were not attached to an inherently bulky DSLR it would do just fine. Still a lovely lens.

Break: Above my issues w/ the a6#00 bodies a large reason why I did not simply go with the Sony APS-C cameras was the 20mm f/2.8. It was ok at times…

…but I never warmed up to its image quality. The 30mm full-frame equivalent was not an issue since some of my favorite lenses land around that focal length. It was not that sharp and lacked contrast. So after three attempts at making peace with it, I decided to leave it alone.

So what of the lens discussed here? Already gave away that I like it. Being a Fuji lens expectations were high. I am not aware of any dogs in the Fuji lineup. More than that it is amazing. And on top of that, it is relatively affordable. Quite a bit less than the other Fuji pancake, the 18mm f/2. Saved a bit more having picked it up from KEHCamera.

Build.

All metal solid little body. The front element moves only slightly when focusing. Lacks the 18mm lens’ aperture ring, but that has not proved to be an issue.

Focusing

While not noisy a little too chirpy for video, but very quick to focus and very accurate.

IQ

Sharp,

great colors,

and most surprisingly a fair bit of bokeh for such a humble spec.

Low light

It focuses quickly and accurately in low light.

All of this and with a small Fuji body makes for a small and light kit that easily fits in a jacket pocket.

Another hit for Fuji in my book. Here is an ongoing gallery.