Choosing a 27mm Pancake Lens - Fujifilm, TTArtisan, Voigtlander
I've found myself in a position with my Fujifilm camera where I can imagine a 27mm pancake lens being a perfect fit for me.
For street photography the smaller and more inconspicuous a lens is, the better - and you can't get smaller than a pancake lens. The 27mm Fujifilm lens, along with its third party counterparts, all have a full frame equivalent of 40mm, hitting that sweet spot between the popular 35 and 50mm focal lengths. I find 35mm a little too wide for isolating a subject, and while 50mm works a lot of the time, I do sometimes find the framing a bit tight - wishing I could extend the frame just a little bit.
So a 40mm lens is just about perfect for me as a prime lens, and the size of these lenses makes my setup very minimal while avoiding unwanted attention.
There are three to consider right now, and like everything in photography gear choices, all have downfalls and none are perfect.
NOTE:
Something that might be unique to me and my style of long exposure photography, is that I usually shoot between f5 and f8 with an ND filter, so wide aperture performance isn't a deal-breaker for me. Saying that, it would be nice to go wide if I want to, and it would be advantageous if the filter thread is the same size as some of my other lenses.
Here are some examples of my work, and the kind of shots I want to use the lens for. Primarily I will be fairly close to a subject and shooting blind from the hip while moving.
Fujifilm 27mm f2.8
Fujifilm WR 27mm f2.8
The most obvious place to start is Fujifilm’s own 27mm pancake offering. Probably the most ‘complete’ lens out of the three, with good performance, looks and water resistance all in a small lens that looks seamless on the camera.
Water resistance isn’t particularly important to me as my camera isn’t water sealed and I never shoot in the rain.
The lens lets itself down with noisy autofocus - not great for covert street photography in quiet areas or video work - and the filter thread is 39mm; which means another expensive ND filter to buy and carry in the camera bag.
The Fujifilm 27mm’s most glaring setback is the price. Coming in at over double the price of the very similar TTArtisan equivalent that we will look at next.
Pros
Looks flawless with Fujifilm bodies
Water Resistant
Good autofocus
Slim size
Good image quality
Cons
Price ~ £399
Focus noise
39mm filter thread
TTArtisan 27mm f2.8
TTArtisan 27mm f.28
Budget brand TTArtisan released this as their very first autofocus lens, and as a direct competitor to Fujifilm’s pricey 27mm pancake lens. There are a few noticeable differences, but nothing major and not all bad (depending what your needs are of course).
The form factor is slightly larger, but still firmly in pancake territory. The filter thread is the same at 39mm, but the weather resistance is missing.
When it comes to image quality it does fall behind the Fuji when wide open at f2.8; however, once you stop down to f4 it sharpens up nicely and any lens flare problems all but vanish. For the most part, if you put two images from the Fuji lens and this one beside each other it would be hard to separate them after editing - provided the images are shot between f4 and f8, and that's exactly where I plan to shoot with this lens. Out of focus backgrounds give a swirly bokeh effect, similar to vintage Helios lenses, but I don’t mind that aesthetic as it often lends well to my impressionistic style.
All in all, there is little to sacrifice compared to the Fuji lens, especially for the price point.
Pros
Much cheaper alternative ~ £150
Good image quality past wide open
Silent autofocus
Cons
Bigger size
Cheaper looking build
39mm filter thread
Voigtlander Ultron 27mm f2
Voigtlander Ultron 27mm f2
As soon as I chanced upon the Voigtlander I could feel myself being drawn to its charms. This particular brand of lenses are renowned for their sharp and reliable performance. The size is comparable to the Fuji 27mm, and alas, it even has a 43mm filter thread - the same as my 35mm primes!
The only downside is that it is a manual focus lens, and as much as I adore manual focus, shooting from the hip while moving will be much more successful with the help of autofocus.
Pros
Slim size
Excellent build quality
Excellent image quality
43mm filter thread
Wide f2 aperture
Cons
Manual focus
Price ~ £450
Conclusion
I’m leaning towards trying to find a deal on a used TTArtisan 27mm f2.8. Even the price of a new unit is almost too good to not at least give it a try and see if a 27mm pancake lens works for me.
If, after some use, I grow to heavily rely on it but feel like it falls short in some areas, then I could consider upgrading to the Fujifilm 27mm f2.8.
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