FUJINON XF 27MM F2.8 VS Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM

L

lino chetcuti

Regular
Owner of canon Dslr and fuji camera + lenses, curious to hear from present owners or x-owners of fuji & canon equipment.comparing these 2 lenses FUJINON XF 27MM F2.8 VS Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM-price wise canon lens $180 cdn/new-used $ 150 cdn.fuji lens $400 cdn/new. any opinions on their quality end results.
cheers/Thx.
 
Unlike the other Fuji lenses, the 27mm is not made in Japan but China and is not weather resistant. It also looks very small with its pancake design and is cheap. Does any of that put you off? Are you obsessed with bokeh? If not, then you'll love this lens, imo from f2.8, the images rendered are every bit as good as the 35mm f2 and are arguably better as you get more in the frame due to the wider focal length. Hell, even the bokeh/ blurred areas are good. For my needs, I can't justify buying the 23mm f2 at the moment. Whilst I don't have the Canon lens you mentioned, I'm sure I don't need to go through the advantages of a native lens over an adapted one.
 
I've said this before, but the real superpower of the XF27 is its size. That cannot be overstated. Fuji has given you plenty of smallish lenses -- the recent f2 weather sealed primes especially -- to choose from. But none of them comes close to being as tiny as the 27. I started off thinking that didn't really matter... it didn't pull at me, I didn't think I would ever buy one, even used. Then a friend with an XE1 got it, and I put it on my XT1 one day, and my jaw dropped.

1. With this lens on, it feels like you're holding just the camera body. It will hang flat up against you, it will slip inside your coat hanging on a strap, it will look 50% less "DSLR" like and thus be less intimidating to your subjects, and it weighs as much as a hummingbird. It can honestly cut the total camera weight in half vs some of the zooms.
2. The field of view is incredibly useful, second only to the 23mm lenses. You can do a TON with that length.
3. 2.8 isn't blazingly fast, but it will spit out some bokeh, and it will take you right up to dusk without making you drop the shutter speed to 1/30. Something this small has no business having an aperture bigger than 5.6, to be honest. It's a bit of a miracle.
4. The image quality is (in my opinion) about an 85-90 on a 0-100 scale, where the 56 and the 2.8 zooms are 99s. Meaning that if you stop it down to f4, you will get very good sharpness everywhere, and at f2.8 your subject will be ALMOST as crisp as the faster primes.
5. The autofocus is old tech (1st gen Fuji XF), but the little glass elements it's moving back and forth are so damned tiny that it still manages to be plenty quick. AF has never been a problem for me with it.
6. I got ine from a forum member here, used, for about $280 I think. They do show up used, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend getting a clean used one.

Andf finally, if it helps, some samples taken with it on an XT1...

(Circular polarizer)
29322110143_4b7b42abe7_b.jpg
Elk Meadow by gordopuggy, on Flickr

(Circular polarizer)
28927136233_8d0acc6c2f_c.jpg
KBRX9046 by gordopuggy, on Flickr

14123489214_2188d2506e_b.jpg
DSCF2147 by gordopuggy, on Flickr

Straight out of camera
14085674732_9aa402a5bd_b.jpg
DSCF1772center by gordopuggy, on Flickr

18866790860_f8feb13d7f_b.jpg
5 Year Old Ennui by gordopuggy, on Flickr
 
If most of your shooting is planned, staged, controlled, and/or indoors, then there's not much reason to get this lens... the other bigger primes are faster and sharper across the board, although not by a ton. If you take it out, though, and shoot spontaneously, trying to capture things quietly and quickly, then it's nearly at the top of the wish list. If you take hikes or long walks carrying the camera, this thing wins and it isn't even close.
 
I just gifted my barely used X-A1 to my nephew. It'll be his first interchangeable-lens camera. I included the 16-50mm and 50-230mm XC zooms... and the 27mm f/2.8 pancake. A nice little system that should get him started.

But, three days later, I have already ordered another 27mm for myself. Despite the superior specs of so many other Fuji lenses, sometimes that little pancake is simply the perfect tool for the job.
 
I'm a huge fan of the 27mm. I recently sold my 23mm f2. I simply did not like the way it wrote the image.
Here's a shot previously posted from the 27mm on my X Pro1. ISO100, shot at f2.8.
Good luck.
. . . David
Sunflowers (1 of 1)-2.jpg
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
 
I've never had one. I got a B&W brand circular polarizer filter that lives on it til dark, which keeps the front element from getting scratched. When the light gets low, I take it off. You could also (of course) just put a clear filter on there instead and leave it 24/7, except when you shoot bright lights at night (green reflection balls in your images from the light bouncing off the back of the clear filter).
 
I think I saw a picture of the lens hood once, and it looked like it stuck out too far, which would rub up against things -- which would be tugging on the movable front lens element. -shrug- I don't know.
 

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