Eight years ago when I started to use Fujifilm, the first camera I purchased was the X-E2. With it, I also bought a second-hand XF18-55mm zoom lens.
I was still using Nikon at the time and I wanted to see how I would take to the Fuji cameras and lenses. Here I am in 2023 with Fuji cameras and lenses and the only Nikon I have is a rather good P300 compact camera.
Once I started using the X-E2 and got used to its WYSIWYG EVF and LED I loved it. After a couple of months or so I added a new lens – the XF 27mm F/2.8. It was the older one without the aperture ring and for me that was the deal breaker on it. I love the aperture rings on the Fujinon lenses, so I eventually got rid of the XF27mm. I did however like the full-frame equivalent of the 40mm focal range on the lens, it was a good “walk-around” choice.
Here we are now in 2023 and I have a selection of Fuji cameras and lenses. My old scratched work-horse the X-Pro2 is currently sitting next to my X-T4, XT5 and X100F and is not used that much. I was dusting my camera shelf the other day and as I wiped down the X-Pro2 I wondered if I could use it for street photography like the X100F by putting a 27mm pancake lens on it, especially as now that lens had an aperture ring.
I wasn’t thinking about getting a new one (if you can find the stock) so I had a look at Wex’s used section. They had plenty of the old-style 27mm but no newer versions. Well, I thought, that was that. But then I realised that third-party companies were making lenses for Fuji now even some with autofocus. So I Googled 27mm AF lens for Fuji and it came up with the name TTArtisans. They are a Chinese company that develops mirrorless lenses for most of the marques of cameras. They also have a 27mm autofocus pancake lens for Fuji X cameras for – and this is not a typo – £169.
Now that I knew I could get a lens that I could probably leave on the X-Pro2 I started to research TTArtisan’s 27mm for Fuji. The reports were very encouraging. The lens itself is all metal and well-made reviewers said. When testing at F/2.8 the centre had tendencies to be a little soft but the outer edges of the frame were fine. As the lens was stopped down, some vignetting did occur at the corners but of course, this can be removed and sharpness and contrast were very good. The aperture ring has 1/3rd of a stop clicks and could be a little difficult to move due to the ring being close to the camera body but almost all reviewers said it is something you get used to.
The cap for the rear of the lens has a USB-C connection which can be plugged into a computer via USB and any firmware downloads for the lens can be applied to it. I was sold. I purchased the lens.
It arrived in a nicely padded box with a small lens hood (the filter size is 39mm) and a clip-on lens cap. There is no USB-C cable supplied for updating the firmware so I would have to provide my own – not a problem. The lens is light but feels very solid. The lens cap is small and a little fiddly to put on and even more so once I added a 39mm protective filter to the front element.
I did some preliminary autofocus checks with the X-Pro2 and X-T4 and found that it was quick and accurate. The lens motor is certainly quieter than the XF27mm I had – that was very noisy. The aperture ring is a little close to the body but after ten minutes I got used to it. Once I had done some preliminary tests I downloaded an update for the lens that was waiting on the TTArtisans website and installed it with no issues.
I now have it on the X-Pro2 from which I have removed the arca plate and grip that has been on it for years. Standing next to the X100F which has a plate and grip the X-Pro2 is now about the same size as its fixed lens brother. So I now need to get out in between the awful weather we have at the moment to get some decent images with the lens and put them on ASV with my thoughts on the TTArtisans XF27mm f/2.8 lens in use.
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