I’ve been on the hunt for the Fuji 27mm f2.8 for a long time and finally after over a year I managed to get my hands on this lens. I’ve been now using it for a month in Japan and have a good enough understanding to share this review.

Why 27mm?

Two of my favourite focal lengths are the 35mm and the 50mm in full frame terms. In the Fuji world it’s 23mm and 33mm. However there some times where I wish the 23mm was a little tighter and there are also plenty of times where I wish I had a bit more room on the 50mm. This is where this 27mm lens comes in. 27mm squares to 40mm in full frame terms and I think it’s the perfect walkabout focal length. It gives a natural look very similar to how your eyes see while allowing you to capture subjects within the environment. 35mm and wider are great for capturing the scene. 50mm is amazing for subjects. 40mm seems to be ideal for both.

Why Pancake?

The main reason for getting this specific lens isn’t the focal length, it’s the size. This lens is tiny. I knew it would be small but I didn’t quite expect it to be this small and this light. It really can turn almost any fuji camera into something that can fit into your coat pocket. I’m also on the lookout for a compact system that I can throw in my gym bag or take with me on non photography days. As much as I love my XH2s and f1.4 primes, they are not exactly small.

Build & Ergonomics

The build is high quality all metal with solid weather sealing. I’ve used it in the rain and not had any issues although I haven’t used it in any crazy downpour or dirty environment yet nor have I dropped it. As for ergonomics, this lens feels at home on all Fuji bodies. On an XE4, XT30 or XT5 this lens makes the camera almost pocketable (assuming it’s a large coat pocket). On the XH2, it makes the camera more comfortable when on a strap or in hand. As for balance, this lens balances better on smaller bodies while on the XH it feels a little strange. The aperture lock is useful while the aperture ring is easy to reach and feels nice.

Image Quality

This lens is on the softer side when shooting wide open however not worse than the f2 prime offerings. Unless you’re always pixel peeping or shooting everything at f2.8 and assessing edge sharpness, you will be more than happy with the results. Once you stop down to anywhere between f4 and f11, the lens cleans up and the results are great both on the 26 and 40mp cameras. Some other cheaper alternatives fall apart when wide open and have haloes, low contrast and general muddiness. This lens doesn’t suffer from any of that. With all that said the deciding factor for choosing this lens isn’t image quality, it’s the compactness and the freedom it brings. One final word on image quality… if you look at an image and the first thing you comment on is that the edge sharpness is a little soft, then perhaps the image isn’t that interesting in the first place. To summarise, the image quality is good.

Autofocus

The autofocus on this lens is old, clunky, loud and has visible moving elements. With that said you will get a different review depending on what you are using the lens for. When it comes to general photography, the autofocus is fine. Unless you’re shooting F1 or anything that requires super fast focusing, this system is good enough for most cases such as travel, street and documenting your life. When it comes to video, it’s doable in an emergency but I’d stick it in manual focus. On the subject of noise, you can hear the motors focus in a quiet room however when you’re out and about, you don’t really pay attention to it. This is very much a slow walk about lens and isn’t designed for fast action, tracking or anything on those lines.

Summary

To summarise this is an amazing little lens if your main priority is to keep the size and weight down or create a pocketable system. The image quality is great, the autofocus is acceptable and the build quality is top notch. I’m not yet sure if I will keep this lens. I will spend more time with it especially on the XT5 and decide later in the year.