Quick shoot with the Fuji XF 27mm f2.8 pancake

My pimped X-E1 with 27mm pancake... Nice!

As mentioned in my last post, I am using the Fuji X-E2 as my main camera, but have also purchased an X-E1 and Fujinon XF 27mm f2.8 pancake lens as a 'backup'.

Just a couple of  months ago, I put my toe in the water of the Fujifilm system with an X-E1. I was hooked from the moment I took my first image with the compact, range-finder style body, and the beautiful Fuji x-trans sensor.

The X-E1 very quickly made way for the X-E2, although it was far from being a straight forward decision. I was still running a Nikon DSLR kit as well, and couldn't justify keeping both X-E's. So reluctantly the X-E1 had to go.

But, so enamored have I become with Fujifilm, that I soon after decided that it was the one system for me - so I sold my Nikon gear and got an X-T1. Great decision - right? Well, for some maybe. But not for me. Turns out I'm a compact, range-finder style guy. Who knew!? (Certainly not me). So I've sold the X-T1 and got, instead, the X-E1 (yay!). So now I'm back where I started - rockin' two X-E's - and lovin' it.

Hokitika Beach sculptures. Fuji X-E1 with Fujinon XF 27mm f2.8 pancake. f/4 @ 1/950th, ISO 200. C2: Acros recipe

I have been a working photographer in the past (shooting weddings) and have the 'back-up your gear' mindset drummed into me. These cameras are very well built, and it's unlikely that there will be a problem 99.9% of the time. But they are also full of electronics - and electronics do fail. So I like to have that 0.1% covered. Just in case. And then, of course, there's always human error. I have dropped, and destroyed, camera gear on at least two occasions. So yes, redundancy is a thing...

Which also meant that I needed a backup lens to go with my XC 16-50mm zoom. I could have gone for another one, but I decided to see what else I could get for a similar price - to experience a bit more of the Fuji system, since Fuji is all still new to me.

I've said in the past that I'm not a prime kinda guy. And while this is true, there is one prime lens that I've owned regularly, and used a lot. The 50mm f1.8 - in both Canon and Nikon flavours. I've often advised students to go for a fast, standard prime, as their first lens purchase outside the kit lens, so I figured I may as well take my own advice for once!

I was tossing up between either the Fujinon 23mm f2 or the 35mm f2, which would give a 35mm or 50mm equivalent focal length (respectively) in traditional film terms. I honestly couldn't decide which I should go for - and then I saw a review on the 27mm f2.8 pancake (40mm fov).

Fujinon XF 27mm f2.8 lens elements

All the reviews I read or watched were super positive about this tiny little pancake prime lens. Sharp, reasonably fast focusing, well made, small and light - what's not to like? Especially when paired with the X-E's. The 40mm (40.5mm to be exact) field of view in traditional full frame terms seems like the ideal compromise between the 35mm's wide and the 50mm's normal. In fact, apparently 43mm is 'normal' (hence Pentax's 43mm prime). So the Fujinon XF 27mm f2.8 (multiplied by x1.5 for the sensor's 'crop' factor) should give me a great 'standard' walk around field of view. Not to mention a super lightweight and super small profile.

How lightweight and how small, you ask?  It weighs just 78 grams, is only 23mm deep, and uses a 39mm filter thread. Yet it also manages to house 7 elements in 5 groups - with one aspherical element (see diagram above). I've owned the Olympus 17mm f2.8 pancake lens when I was using micro four thirds, and while the Olympus is even lighter still (at 71 grams), and just a touch thinner (22mm deep), it's also designed for a smaller sensor. I'd give the build quality to the Fujinon, as well as focus speed and optical quality.

Beach Sculpture, Hokitika. Fuji X-E1 with Fujinon XF 27mm f2.8. f/4 @ 1/400th, ISO 200. C2: Acros recipe

So far so good in theory. But what about in practice? What's the Fujinon XF 27mm f2.8 pancake lens actually like to shoot with? And what kind of images can it produce?

As its diminutive size and weight would suggest, when popped onto a camera body it really doesn't make much of an impression. Even on the small X-E1. There's just enough lens to rest in your hand when holding the camera up to the eye. But you will be cradling the fly-by-wire focusing ring. Not a big deal, and certainly ok if you are planning to focus manually (I'm probably not). On a bigger camera (like the XT-1) it would probably get lost pretty quickly and maybe even look a little ridiculous? I guess the 23mm f2 or 35mm f2 lenses would be better choices for the X-T range of bodies?

Driftwood Sculpture, Hokitika Beach. Fuji X-E1 with 27mm f2.8 XF pancake. f/4 @ 1/640th, ISO 200

As you can see from the first image on this post, I have attached the extra grip to the X-E1 body. In hindsight, this is probably not really necessary with such a small lens attached, so I think I will actually swap it over to the X-E2. I guess the reason I didn't do so in the first place was because the X-E2 has the leather case attached, which won't fit with the added grip. I'll swap them over and use the grip on the X-E2 with zoom lens, and the leather case on the X-E1 with 27mm pancake. Makes a bit more sense that way around.

I've only had the lens for a few days, so it's far too early to give a full user-review. But so far so good in terms of handling, auto focus response and image quality. From the few images I've taken with it so far, it seems plenty sharp enough. I haven't pixel-peeped edge-to-edge, but nor have I really used it at my optimal landscape apertures yet (f8 to f11). I guess it's not really going to be my 'landscape' lens anyway. It is what it is - a back-up/walk around lens.

Sunset Point, Hokitika Beach. Fuji X-E1 with Fujinon XF 27mm f2.8. f/4 @ 1/850th, ISO 200. C2: Acros recipe

All the images here are jpegs, shot with my C2: Acros film simulation recipe, and lightly edited in Lightroom. Just my standard clarity and dehaze with a slight vignette and some grain added. I'm very please with these initial images, and happy to be using the X-E1 again. It may be 'old' (Really? Is six years really that old?) but damn does that first generation x-trans sensor take some great images!

The weather is clearing (briefly), so I plan to take this combo out again soon and continue to put it through its paces. I'll probably mix it up next time and shoot some colour film simulations as well as black and white. At 40mm (equivalent fov) and an f2.8 aperture, it may even be worth shooting a few portraits with the lens? I haven't done many portraits since moving to Fuji, so if I can find some willing subjects, that might be the next test?