Voigtländer Ultron 27mm F/2 Fuji-X Mount Review - Jay Massie
Years of X-Pro prayers have been left unanswered by Fujifilm who, for reasons best known to themselves never gave us their own fully manual, hard stopped, super high quality, small lens. A few third party manufacturers gave us their offerings - many of dubious quality, but now we can finally give a collective “Thank you Voigtländer!”
I think anyone who chooses Fujifilm generally does so either because of the size to output quality ratio, or the tactile manual handling and ‘physical’ connection the retro style one-to-one input controls provide. Coming to photography after many years of playing guitar, the analogue look and physical controls appealed to me. Guitarists like dials and switches - we don't want to be trawling through menus and being able to quickly navigate around your instrument/camera in the dark through feel alone is important.
The closest native offering to this is Fujis own 27mm F2.8 “pancake” which I have owned and loved for a few years. Its a great little lens. A bit noisy when focussing, but tiny and super sharp and the latest iteration now comes with an aperture ring too. But one day, without warning - mine died. Its mostly plastic construction showed its weakness’ when an interior focus limiter tab snapped off, instantly transforming the lens into a paperweight.
©Jay Massie
In terms of physical dimensions, the diameter of the Voigtländer is slightly less than that of the Fuji 27 and the height is as close as doesn't matter. However upon first picking up the Voigtlander 27mm - my immediate impression was that this is a whole different degree of quality. Its entirely metal construction has a reassuring heft in the hand and everything feels like its been designed to make you want to adjust it. The aperture ring confirms its third stops with a solid and confident muted registration click and the focus ring with attached tab is as smooth as a buttered jellyfish with just enough resistance for precise and accurate control.
Unlike Fuji’s 27, this is a 100% manual focus lens and the focus assist aides in Fuji cameras make this quick, easy and above all - fun to do. Paired with my X-Pro3, this has elevated the experience considerably. Yes - you have to slow down (slightly) but I feel it makes for a more deliberate and mindful shooting experience. You have to work for the shot and in turn you’re that much more invested in the process and hopefully - the end result too. Sure you can set it to F8 and zone-focus blast your way through town if street photography is your thing, but thats going to miss the party trick of this lens.
©Jay Massie
The close focus and falloff is beautiful. Minimum focus distance is only 25cm which combined with the F2 aperture results in super soft bokeh and excellent separation making this lens a surprisingly versatile little unit - equally adept at landscapes, street and even environmental portraiture. Its forensically sharp where it counts and the attached photos show it’s equally stunning reproducing colour or sculpting black and white images. Voigtlanders signature sunstars are included in the price too.
©Jay Massie
To existing fully manual shooters none of this will be particularly revelatory - however, slipping out of the poorly fitting shoes of focus by wire really brings something special to the game. Fujis’ autofocus is great these days and for events and live use its really the only way to go, but I feel being entirely responsible for the shot you take really brings you closer to the craft. And its just fun.
©Jay Massie
You can read the stats on the product description page and I’m not going to be shooting brick walls or discussing chromatic aberration and fringing. Pixel peeping nerds will no doubt find something to complain about with this lens, but if your attention is fixed on the perceived flaws more than the actual subject this thing can exquisitely render, then you’re probably missing the point of this lens.
©Jay Massie
When Fuji released the X100V, demand far outstripped supply and people were reselling units online at crazy inflated prices. Added to a Pro or XE series body - I think THIS combination delivers what people wish they were getting with the X100 line. A low profile, tactile, optically stunning, fully manual rangefinder style pairing. And similar to the X100 situation, once people know what this thing can do and the Youtubers start whipping up the frenzy, I can see demand for the Voigtlander 27mm becoming equally rabid so I can only recommend you grab one while you can.
I bought my copy myself at full price. I was not paid for these words. This review is not sponsored by Squarespace.
Jay Massie IG - @jaymassie Website - www.EnglishVillain.com
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