27mm f2.8 OK ?

dee

dee

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I have sold a Leica II to purchase a budget lens for the X-Pro 1- bought despite dire warnings !
I am fine with the 41 mm nom focal length , and I can get one for £150 creating a camera with OVF for £450 .
I also prefer the compact nature of the combination for travel considered snap shooting.
Bearing in mind that fast focus is not one of my concerns and I am constricted on funds - does anyone rate the 27mm ?

Thanks

dee
 
dee said:
does anyone rate the 27mm ?
Click to expand...

I don't have the 27mm, but I recently borrowed one, briefly, to use on my x-E1. It is very light and compact; good image quality; pleasant to use.

I'm fairly comfortable with the lenses that I currently have for the x-E1, but if I were to get another lens for it, this would probably be the one... :)
 
I owned one for a while a few years ago. I seem to recall the first one I had was badly decentered, with one side of the frame being really soft. The second copy was great. It is very compact an the image quality was impressive right from 2.8. I would say that while capable it is not the most exciting lens to use and didn't really have any standout qualities that make it worth keeping, so I sold it.
 
It's a wonderful lens.
I've run a direct comparison with the untouchable 23mm that I also own and found out that the IQ difference in terms of sharpness is not that impressive, especially f/4 and up.
Slimming down my Fuji equipment, the 23 has gone, while the 27 is still here.
 
I have one. It is an excellent carry-around lens - small and light.
Doesn't have the image magic of the 35/1.4, but what does? Well worth $200USD (used), IMO.
 
Brilliant alround lens. Small, light, sharp and, importantly, a very nice field of view.

Focus can be a bit clunky, but not really slow on the XP2, just noisy.

On the XP2 the ovf framelines have a lot of space around them, as it uses the lower magnification. Not sure about the XP1.

Mine, along with my XP2, has currently gone away to foreign climes with my older daughter as her sole travel lens. I chose the kit she should take.

Mike
 
I used the 27/2.8 often on the X-Pro 1. This compact lens made the camera a convenient daily carry. I enjoyed 27/2.8's field of view since one of my daily carries was a Canonet III QL-17.

It is a great reportage lens. The contrast and rendering is similar to other XF lenses. The AF is quicker compared to larger lenses such as the 35/1.4 XF.

It's weakness is found in the extreme corners of the frame. The lens relies heavily on post-acquiaition barrel distortion corrections. These corrections are least effective at the frame edges. I bought the lens when it first came out. The edge problem was more obvious then. In my experience, the most recent 27/8 XF lens firmware update significantly improved the frame corner rendering.
 
What do you expect? Are you a pixel peeper that agonizes over the corners of their image not being sharp at "100%" or are you looking for something that can generally produce acceptable results for photography?
 
1. Is 2.8 fast enough? (bearing in mind it's an APSC sensor, so you get a stop greater DOF)
3. Do you mind not having an aperture dial?
4. Are you OK with plastic?

If the answers to all those are yes then just buy it, it's the best value X lens with performance on par with the much more expensive and much larger options. The reason I don't own one is that I didn't feel the lens had much personality, which is probably mainly from the fact it's fairly slow.
 
Fair Point jsrockit. / thanks nongfuspring
I am simply seeking a reasonable quality carry around camera with an acceptable IQ for town architecture / cars etc , few people , but I don't really do people ...
Being brought up on film SLRs of the 70s , I have no problem with soft edges etc !
It's an indulgence , once more , but I am certain that it will be that carry all camera with a relief to return to just one lens - like the M8 CV 35 F2.5.
I can cope with plastic on a smaller scale / got used to not having an aperture dial - but would prefer it / i use f3.5 Fed collapsible on the M8 [ a faulty one 'cos the register is OK !!
i like the M8 , but have difficulty with focusing at times .
[ The Sony A35 with massive plastic 35 f 1.8 is not quite as pleasant to use.

Thanks everyone
- I am going to go for it - my Leica II won't be sacrificed in vain !
dee

t .
 
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Optically the 27mm is impressive. The lack of an aperture ring makes it a little less appealing but still useful. I used mine in lieu of a 23mm (35mm equiv.) for a while. I've since bought the 23/1.4 as well as a used X100S with the built-in 23/2 so the 27mm doesn't get as much service now. Mine came with an X-Pro1 in a kit at a price I couldn't pass up. That got me hooked on Fujis and I now own 4 cameras and several lenses.

Dee, as a small indiscrete "carry around" lens for the subject matter you shoot, it's a really excellent choice. Being a 40mm (or so) equivalent, it can look both wide or normal based on how you approach your subject.
 
I had it for a short time before I was totally frustrated with the X-E1 and sold everything.
The lens was quite good, i missed the aperture ring but not as much as I thought I would.
 
I reckon £450 was a combined price which I cannot refuse !

Thanks everyone - it seems such a controversial camera , but I am hoping to use the OVF and let the camera do it's own thing !

dee
 
I dont own one myself but upon borrowing a friends Xpro with this lens for a wedding i can say its pretty sharp and good rendering, AF was quite slow but that just seems to be a Fuji problem.
 
I've also got a Canon fd 28/2.8 that I use on an adaptor. That has an aperture ring and can be reasonably zone focused, but it's much bigger.

Mike
 
It's a pretty good lens. Optically great, tiny, quick focussing. It would be a fantastic lens if it were f2, and had an aperture ring, but such is life.
 
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