In summary
One of the drawbacks of pancake lenses is that they tend to be slower than conventional designs. However, with a maximum aperture of f/2.8, this lens is fast enough to suit most photographers and its the compact size and light weight make it ideal for situations like travelling and hiking. It is also relatively inconspicuous, which is excellent for street photography.
This lens is better suited to still photography than video because its DC coreless AF motor isn’t totally silent. However AF speed was fast on the X-E2 camera the lens was tested on.
Full review
Introduced with the Fujifim X-M1 camera, the Fujinon XF 27mm f/2.8 lens is an excellent partner for Fujifilm’s other X-series bodies. Only 23 mm in length and weighing 78 grams, this lens covers the same angle of view as a 41mm lens on a 35mm camera. It’s roughly the same coverage as the human eye, which makes this lens suitable for many types of subjects.
The Fujinon XF 27mm f/2.8 lens. (Source: Fujifilm.)
The optical design consists of seven elements in five groups, which is moderately complex for a pancake lens. One glass moulded aspherical element is included to correct rectilinear distortions and flare-resistant HT Super EBC coating is included. The seven-bladed iris diaphragm closes to a circular aperture for attractive bokeh with wide aperture settings.
The optical diagram for the Fujinon XF 27mm f/2.8 lens showing the position of the aspherical element. (Source: Fujifilm.)
The lens is supplied with front and end caps plus an envelope-like ‘cloth wrapping’. No hood is provided, a common omission with pancake lenses as attaching a hood would compromise the compact size of the lens.
Who’s it For?
One of the drawbacks of pancake lenses is that they tend to be slower than conventional designs. However, with a maximum aperture of f/2.8, this lens is fast enough to suit most photographers and its the compact size and light weight make it ideal for situations like travelling and hiking. It is also relatively inconspicuous, which is excellent for street photography.
This lens is better suited to still photography than video because its DC coreless AF motor isn’t totally silent. However AF speed was fast on the X-E2 camera the lens was tested on.
Build and Ergonomics
Compared with other XF lenses, the 27mm f/2.8 lens contains a fairly high proportion of plastic, which is supported by a metal mount. Its design is simple, with few mechanical parts to fall out of alignment or wear out. The overall build quality is very good, but a few compromises have been made to accommodate the design.
There’s no aperture ring, which means apertures are adjusted with the control dial on the camera. Owners of Fujifilm X-Pro1 and X-E1 cameras will need to install a firmware update to support this lens. Details can be found in the Support pages on Fujifilm’s website at http://www.fujifilm.com/support/digital_cameras/.
The front element of the lens is 14 mm in diameter and surrounded by a 39 mm filter thread. The supplied pinch-type lens cap clips into this filter ring. Outside of the filter is a flat annulus that carries the following label: Fujinon Aspherical Lens Super EBC XF 27mm 1:2.8 ø39.
Just behind this is a manual focusing ring, which is 8 mm wide and finely ribbed. It turns through a full 360 degrees, covering the focus distance in approximately half that rotation.
Turning the focusing ring activates the AF motor. The front element extends slightly during focusing but neither it nor the filter ring rotates. The focusing ring is smooth to operate and well damped and is reasonably easy to use in manual focus mode for such a small lens. But autofocusing isn’t spectacularly fast.
Behind the focusing ring is an 8 mm wide section that carries the red index mark for attaching the lens to a camera and a label carrying the serial number of the lens plus ‘Made in China’.
No stabilisation is provided ““ and none is required as the small size of the lens and its moderate focal length make it relatively easy to keep steady while shooting stills. The excellent high ISO performance of the X-series cameras provide plenty of scope for using this lens at slow shutter speeds with high ISO settings.
Performance
Fujifilm’s XF lenses have been consistently good performers in our Imatest tests so it’s no surprise to find the review lens delivered some impressive results, particularly in the centre of the field. The highest resolution was measured at f/5.6 but central resolution exceeded expectations for the sensor’s resolution all the way from f/3.2 to f/6.3.
At the widest aperture resolution was slightly below expectations and some edge and corner softening was noted. Diffraction took effect from f/11 onwards, although resolution remained relatively high up to f/16, as shown in the graph of our Imatest results below.
Lateral chromatic aberration was negligible in both JPEG and raw files, even without the built-in Lens Modulation Optimiser engaged. The graph below shows the result of our tests with the red line marking the border between ‘negligible’ and ‘low’ CA.
Auto-correction of vignetting appeared to be active for JPEGs, although we didn’t find much vignetting in uncorrected raw files that were converted into JPEG format using Adobe Camera Raw. Stopping down eliminates any darkening by about f/4.5. Distortion was also effectively negligible, with the very slight barrel distortion found in raw files corrected by in-camera JPEG processing. The lack of a lens hood didn’t pose any particular problems and the review lens handled relatively strong backlighting quite competently.
SPECS
Picture angle: 55 degrees 30 minutes
Minimum aperture: f/16
Lens construction: 7 elements in 5 groups (including 1 aspherical lens element)
Lens mounts: Fujifilm XF
Diaphragm Blades: 7 (circular aperture)
Focus drive: High-torque DC coreless motor
Stabilisation: No
Minimum focus: 60 cm (34 cm in macro mode)
Maximum magnification: 0.1x
Filter size: 39 mm
Dimensions (Diameter x L): 61.2 x 23 mm
Weight: 78 grams
TESTS
Based on JPEG files from the Fujifilm X-E2 camera.
SAMPLES
Vignetting at f/2.8 – JPEG file.
Vignetting at f/2.8 – converted from raw file.
Rectilinear distortion.
Close-up in macro focus mode; ISO 100, 1/420 second at f/7.1.
Strong backlighting; ISO 100, 1/250 second at f/8.
ISO 100, 1/100 second at f/9.
ISO 200, 1/60 second at f/5.6.
ISO 400, 1/140 second at f/5.
ISO 100, 1/15 second at f/8.
ISO 200, 1/25 second at f/10.
ISO 400, 1/60 second at f/6.3.
ISO 200, 1/320 second at f/10.
Rating
RRP: AU$599; US$449
- Build: 8.5
- Handling: 8.8
- Image quality: 9.2
- Versatility: 8.8