First review / impression of the 7Artisans AF 27mm f2.8 lens
Till end of last year, 7Artisans has only been known for excellent manual lenses for a range of APSC and Full Frame Camera Brands. Many of those lenses, for the Fujifilm X-Mount, I have been testing / exploring in the past years. I was able to notice that lens after lens the mechanical but even more the optical quality has been improving.
Since end of last year, 7Artisans also offers autofocus lenses for the Fujifilm X-Mount. First lens has been the here tested AF 27mm f2.8 lens and since May 2025 also a AF 35mm f1.4 lens. The second lens I will test in the coming weeks in detail.
All original Fujifilm lenses are autofocus lenses. Without any doubt they are optically great lenses. Most of them have even an aperture ring which is not the case anymore with original Nikon (Z-Mount), Canon and Sony mirrorless camera lenses.
What I do not like too much with many Fujinon lenses I own, is the use of a lot of polymers in the housing. Even those lenses are high performing the haptic feels too cheap. I did not have the chance to test the newest generation of their lenses e.g. the Fujinon XF 33mm f1.4 lens. I will do this for sure in the coming weeks.
Now, let´s focus on the reason for this review. The 7Artisans AF 27mm f2.8 is a compact lens made of a robust and simple but metal housing including only some parts in polymer. It´s missing an aperture ring, you need to use the front wheel at the camera to choose the right aperture. The lens is compact but not a real pancake lens. An interesting detail is that the lens itself, that does not turn or extend during focusing, is deep in the housing having a kind of build in lens hut. The lens, even made of metal is wonderful light weight and the autofocus stepper motor is fast silent and precise. All in all, a great mechanical design for such a cost optimized lens (139€ at Amazon in Germany).
Let´s talk about the optical quality of this lens. 27mm APSC (40,5mm FF) are a wonderful light wide-angle just perfect for any kind of street photography. Also, there are near to no distortions while reproducing any kind of portraits of people. Compared to the classical focal length of 35mm APSC (52,5mm FF) which is near the field of view of a human, the 27mm are offering some more space in the street photography. You can tell easily a story not just capture a situation. The maximum opening of f2.8 is good for this kind of images as well. Yes, it will not give you the bokeh of a f1.4 or even f0.95 lens but that is not that important in the style of street photography. If you get close enough to an object, even at f2.8 you get a selected sharpness and bokeh into your images.
During the first hours after the grand opening of the largest funfair at the Rhine in Düsseldorf, I took many pictures of the event. It’s not a test like using a test chart, that will follow soon too, but it gives a first impression of the capabilities of this autofocus lens in a real-life photographical situation. I used the Classic Chrome film emulation of Fujifilm. An emulation with reduced colors that enhances the depth in an image. It´s a kind of a classical design just like the name is promising but I like this style so much and try to translate it with the right framing into todays photography.
First thing I noticed is the high resolution of the 7Artisans AF 27mm f2.8, reflected in displaying a lot of fine structures in the images. Have a close look to the images of the Chain Carousell. All the chains, even in motion, are wonderfully reproduced. The color rendering is neutral with some kind of depth effects. This might even come from the Fujifilm film emulation, more tests are needed. All in all the pictures are exciting and not at all boring analytical as many new lenses are rendering today. It´s a lens with a character, outstanding that are my preferred lenses. Like the Fujifilm XF 35mm f1.4 or the Zeiss Touit 32mm f1.8. Those lenses are not perfect, but they give the images a kind of magic. A soul and flavor that unveils something unique in the images. I am wondering if I will find that magic also in the picture rendering of the 7Artisans AF 35mm f1.4.
All in all, the combination of a simple, well build, metal housed, high optical quality and all this at an unbeatable price, the 7Artisans AF 27mm f2.8 lens has the potential of a top seller, as I see no reason why not every Fujifilm photographer should have this lens in his camera bag. To me the 7Artisans AF 27mm f2.8 deserves the label always on lens.
I guess it´s soon time to publish a short summary of my top 3 recommendations in those 4 categories of lenses, 23-25mm, 27mm, 35mm and 50-56mm lenses, that are to me the lenses only needed. Some might say where are the wide and ultra-wide lenses, 6,5-10mm and 12-17mm. I have them in my bag but to be honest if I use them once perhaps twice a year, that is all.
More will come soon.