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12 Comments

  1. atsu
    September 14, 2016 @ 9:39 pm

    why not XF 18mm f2 ?

    Reply

    • Monica
      September 16, 2016 @ 10:57 pm

      Hi Atsu — good question! There are a couple reasons I picked the 27mm over the 18mm.

      First, I wasn’t really looking for the “wide angle” look — 1) I like my travel photos to focus on people if possible and I think the wide angle it can make people look kinda lost/weird, especially if you can’t physically get closer, and 2) I already own the 16mm f1.4. 😀 18mm seemed just too close to 16mm to drop 600 EUR. Second, I don’t generally travel with only the 27mm, so it fills in that nice “general purpose” ground for me between the 16mm and 35mm. But that area makes it perfect for me if I do have to pick one lens to travel with, as the focal length is flexible for my purposes.

      I would love to try the 18mm, maybe I could be persuaded 🙂 Thanks for reading!

      Reply

  2. Fuji 27mm F2.8 – The best lens for travel...
    September 15, 2016 @ 7:14 am

    […] Croatia, land of dragons and Rakija, was the site of my most recent European excursion – this time, with a new accessory: Fujifilm’s 27mm f2.8 lens. It stayed glued to my camera maybe 90% of the time, and gave me most of my favorite shots from the whole trip. I took over a hundred photos a day with it! Here’s why I think it’s the best lens I’ve used for travel.  […]

    Reply

  3. Brendan Jack
    September 15, 2016 @ 8:07 am

    Hi Monica,
    What a quaint turn of phrase you have….”like a velociraptor on speed” & “Vibe of the Bokeh”…..now this is exactly the kinda review I want to read!! ? I encourage you to write more of them!
    I haven’t tried the 27mm myself but you have made me curious about giving it a go. I use an XT-1 & now an XT-2 for the past week, & use both 35mm’s a fair bit. I do also use the 18-55mm zoom to cover the gaps, as my next widest prime is the 14mm. For me, with a bloke’s hands and long-ish fingers, I find that the XT cams are about the goldilocks size & that the 35mm & 18-55mm balance well on them & can fit easily in a small shoulder bag without being conspicuous or magically turn into a bag of bricks after a few hours of lugging around. So, given the smaller form factor of the 27mm, it should be an easy carry & even fit in an outdoors jacket pocket. How does it do on dark interiors, like churches & cathedrals? How do you carry your cam if you take it everywhere? Shoulder strap or inside your bag?
    Cheers
    Brendan
    Dubai

    Reply

    • Monica
      September 16, 2016 @ 10:40 pm

      Hey Brendan!
      Thanks so much for your kind comments 😀 Glad you enjoyed reading! I think that if you enjoy the “goldilocks” feeling of the XT bodies, you might really like the 27mm — for me it is like the goldilocks lens. Just enough in the frame, not suddenly feeling leagues away when you look through the view finder of a wide angle, appreciable bokeh. I also *love* the images I make with the 35mm, but my older f1.4’s autofocus (especially in low light) is basically torture after this the 27mm. If it’s not going to autofocus, at least you know it SOON!

      I actually just used it a bit this past week in some dark Italian churches, photos attached! These are JPGs copied straight off my memory card (just resized). I think it does a pretty good job. In fact the second to last is especially too bright to be acurate.

      Re: taking the camera everywhere, it goes in a backpack, which I only use because I bicycle everywhere. By foot, it’s in a mid-sized purse (I think my huge lady wallet has more surface area than the camera + lens), or if I’m not carrying a backpack at all I will wear the camera strap crossbody and hoist the camera high enough on my back that it doesn’t slide down while i’m cycling. I haven’t tried it with a heavier lens to see whether that would cause it to swing around.

      Good luck making your choice! If you’re looking for something super versatile and like the small form factor, I think it’s hard to beat 🙂
      – Monica

      Reply

      • Brendan Jack
        September 17, 2016 @ 7:12 am

        Hey Monica. Thanks so much for your great reply & for taking the time to add the pix. Those shots of the cathedrals are really quite bright & airy, especially given the darkish interior finishing. I’m guessing your ISO was up around 3,200? The black & white stripey interior reminded me of the cathedrals in Pisa & Amalfi. The lens does give a lovely rendering & natural looking field of view. Nice & crisp, too. Oh, my poor wallet. ?

        I saw also from your reply to Atsu below, that you also have the 16mm 1.4. This is also on my potential shopping list, in exchange for selling the 14mm 2.8 that I currently own. What is your take on the 16mm? The 14mm is a little jewel of a lens…..small, sharp & wide for landscapes but I’m getting the 10-24mm for landscaping & thought that the 16mm prime is a bit more versatile & could be used for landscapes, interior shots with the extra 2 stops of light & the close focus is supposed to be pretty good so it may also be usable for product-ey shots wide open. The online reviews I’ve read all all quite positive but asking someone who uses one gives a more reliable perspective. ?

        Cheers
        Brendan

        Reply

  4. Fuji 27mm F2.8 – The best lens for travel...
    September 15, 2016 @ 10:18 pm

    […] Croatia, land of dragons and Rakija, was the site of my most recent European excursion – this time, with a new accessory: Fujifilm’s 27mm f2.8 lens.  […]

    Reply

  5. Fuji 27mm F2.8 – The best lens for travel photography: pretty, tiny, and SHARP! | Monica Lent
    September 17, 2016 @ 2:17 pm

    […] Source: Fuji 27mm F2.8 – The best lens for travel photography: pretty, tiny, and SHARP! – FUJI X PASSION […]

    Reply

  6. Fuji 27mm F2.8 – The best lens for travel...
    September 17, 2016 @ 9:47 pm

    […] Croatia, land of dragons and Rakija, was the site of my most recent European excursion – this time, with a new accessory: Fujifilm’s 27mm f2.8 lens. It stayed glued to my camera maybe 90% of the ti…  […]

    Reply

  7. Zack Schindler
    September 19, 2016 @ 12:29 am

    I agree with your assessment of the focus speed of the 27 on my Pro2. It is easily the fastest focuser of all of the Fuji glass that I own (27, 14, 35 f2, 56 18-55 and the 55-200).

    Reply

  8. Fuji 27mm F2.8 – The best lens for travel...
    September 20, 2016 @ 6:30 am

    […] Croatia, land of dragons and Rakija, was the site of my most recent European excursion – this time, with a new accessory: Fujifilm’s 27mm f2.8 lens. It stayed glued to my camera maybe 90% of the time, and gave me most of my favorite shots from the whole trip. I took over a hundred photos a day with it! Here’s why I think it’s the best lens I’ve used for travel. Looking for a technical review? This isn’t it – but here are some helpful ones…..  […]

    Reply

  9. jdizzl
    December 4, 2018 @ 2:17 pm

    I agree… I like this lens… I swap this or the 18mm out depending on what I’m in the mood to shoot, and they are both tiny…. 18mm if leaning more cityscapes, buildings or night shooting, 27mm if leaning more towards people. You might say they are too close, but I don’t think so… It also means less lens swaps, the 18 can still shoot a person in a pinch, the 27 can still shoot a scene… Something like the 14mm sucks at shooting people, and the 35 is too narrow to capture a scene. They are both underrated lenses for Fuji… most people are obsessed with stuff like the 23 1.4, 16 1.4 and 56 1.2, 16-55 2.8 etc… sorry, those are all too big for everyday cameras to me and defeats my purpose of going mirrorless. I also have the 35 1.4, and the 60 2.4… but I feel even those are kind of on the big side, and usually are for portraits. Basically all I shoot is street, lifestyle, portraits.

    Reply

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