Fujifilm 27mm for street photography? Thoughts...

[saltireblue]

I have found that the X-T3 I have is small enough and discreet enough if I remove the vertical grip, to use for street shooting. I have acquired for very little money, a used Fujifilm 27mm f/2.8 (first version) to use for this purpose.
This will be my first attempts at shooting street with a prime lens, having used first the 18-55mm and then the 16-80mm.
What are your thoughts on the 27mm for this purpose? Is it a good focal length, or have you other suggestions that, in your experience, would work better. Perhaps a Fujifilm 35mm would be a better length?
Thoughts, please.

 

[Nod]

Depends on taste and how close you'll be to the subject(s).

For unobtrusiveness, the 27mm pancake is hard to beat.

 

[saltireblue]

Depends on taste and how close you'll be to the subject(s).

For unobtrusiveness, the 27mm pancake is hard to beat.

Time will tell if I am getting close enough. Although used to street, I'm not used to having to get so close, so this will be a learning curve - one I have deliberately set myself. The unobtrusiveness of the lens is one of the main reasons for buying it. I shall also practise a good deal of shooting from the hip...

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

For unobtrusiveness, the 27mm pancake is hard to beat.

The least obtrusive camera I ever owned was Nikon's tiny S10.

Despite being silver, people just didn't appear to see it. I frequently regret parting with it.

 

[G.K.Jnr.]

I have found that the X-T3 I have is small enough and discreet enough if I remove the vertical grip, to use for street shooting. I have acquired for very little money, a used Fujifilm 27mm f/2.8 (first version) to use for this purpose.
This will be my first attempts at shooting street with a prime lens, having used first the 18-55mm and then the 16-80mm.
What are your thoughts on the 27mm for this purpose? Is it a good focal length, or have you other suggestions that, in your experience, would work better. Perhaps a Fujifilm 35mm would be a better length?
Thoughts, please.

Malc, I've never had that lens but I have got both the 23mm F1.4 & 35mm F1.4, of which I have tried using both of them for my street stuff but in each case I have come back to using my 18-55mm. The primes are both a tad sharper and of course the larger aperture helps to throw backgrounds out of focus etc but neither are as versatile as the zoom. I think @garryknight uses that 27mm some of the time so perhaps he'll see your post and respond.

 

[Marc]

I had the 27mm on my X-T1, is was by far my most used lens.

 

[Fuji Dave]

When I had my Fuji the best two lenses were 35mm and the 27mm two cracking lenses for street imo.

 

[benc98]

I think it's a case of sticking it on, leaving the zooms at home.. and getting used to the prime and focal length.. and it might take sometime to get to used to the new focal length but you'll get there. There's no reason why 27mm on the crop wouldn't work with street photography.

I bought the 18mm 1.4 for street a month back.. only taken it out a few times so far and haven't got a feel for it yet!

tbh I spent a lot of time practicing hip shooting, many hours! and I could just about compose by feel but in that time never came away with a single keeper. I know it works well for some people, but based on my personal experience I wouldn't recommend it. And, I always felt that I looked a bit dodgy and what would I say if someone challenged me, I'd rather be a bit more obvious about it and it'll be a bit easier to explain.. if that makes sense. I'll always have my settings dialled in if I needed to take a quick reaction shot though

 

[saltireblue]

Malc, I've never had that lens but I have got both the 23mm F1.4 & 35mm F1.4, of which I have tried using both of them for my street stuff but in each case I have come back to using my 18-55mm. The primes are both a tad sharper and of course the larger aperture helps to throw backgrounds out of focus etc but neither are as versatile as the zoom. I think @garryknight uses that 27mm some of the time so perhaps he'll see your post and respond.

That's exactly what I am wondering, George - if I will find the fixed lens too restrictib´ve, but it is a learning curve I ahve set myself to learn, and no matter what I end up using, this coming period will be an interesting exercise.

 

[saltireblue]

I think it's a case of sticking it on, leaving the zooms at home.. and getting used to the prime and focal length.. and it might take sometime to get to used to the new focal length but you'll get there. There's no reason why 27mm on the crop wouldn't work with street photography.

I bought the 18mm 1.4 for street a month back.. only taken it out a few times so far and haven't got a feel for it yet!

tbh I spent a lot of time practicing hip shooting, many hours! and I could just about compose by feel but in that time never came away with a single keeper. I know it works well for some people, but based on my personal experience I wouldn't recommend it. And, I always felt that I looked a bit dodgy and what would I say if someone challenged me, I'd rather be a bit more obvious about it and it'll be a bit easier to explain.. if that makes sense. I'll always have my settings dialled in if I needed to take a quick reaction shot though

That's good info, Ben, many thanks, especially the shoot from the hip experience. I agree that it can look more furtive and that it is perhaps better to be blatant about what you are doing. When I take the lens out I will leave the zooms if not home, then in the car. ;-)

 

[saltireblue]

I had the 27mm on my X-T1, is was by far my most used lens.

Thanks Marc - am looking forward to the new experience.

 

[Nod]

If you don't get on with the 27, you should be able to get your investment back. Not sure how buoyant the used market is in (?)Norway though!

 

[saltireblue]

If you don't get on with the 27, you should be able to get your investment back. Not sure how buoyant the used market is in (?)Norway though!

I bought it dead cheap as it is the first version, so not a problem, even if I don't sell it on. However, getting my money back would be a doddle. I just have to make sure I price it attractively.

 

[garryknight]

I sometimes use the XC35mm and occasionally other lenses, but it's the first-version 27mm that stays on my camera most of the time. I used to prefer shooting at around 50mm, but it didn't take long to get used to the wider view. As for missing the zoom, IMO even the 12megapixels on my X-E2 are enough to crop in by quite a bit in post-processing. When I do crop in, I use ON1 Photo Raw's excellent resizing algorithm to bring my photo back to the full 4896 x 3264 pixels.

When I do want more reach, I'll carry my Viltrox 56mm f/1.4 AF lens with me. I think you can preserve the photo quality better throughout post-processing with a prime lens, especially if it's stopped down a bit. The 35mm is also a good focal length for street, but when I've got mine on I sometimes forget, and I get too close, as if I'm stuck in 27mm mode.

Anyway, Malc, I recommend that you don't make your mind up about it too soon, but give it a good go over several weeks. I very much look forward to seeing what you can do with the 27mm.

 

[saltireblue]

I sometimes use the XC35mm and occasionally other lenses, but it's the first-version 27mm that stays on my camera most of the time. I used to prefer shooting at around 50mm, but it didn't take long to get used to the wider view. As for missing the zoom, IMO even the 12megapixels on my X-E2 are enough to crop in by quite a bit in post-processing. When I do crop in, I use ON1 Photo Raw's excellent resizing algorithm to bring my photo back to the full 4896 x 3264 pixels.

When I do want more reach, I'll carry my Viltrox 56mm f/1.4 AF lens with me. I think you can preserve the photo quality better throughout post-processing with a prime lens, especially if it's stopped down a bit. The 35mm is also a good focal length for street, but when I've got mine on I sometimes forget, and I get too close, as if I'm stuck in 27mm mode.

Anyway, Malc, I recommend that you don't make your mind up about it too soon, but give it a good go over several weeks. I very much look forward to seeing what you can do with the 27mm.

That's very interesting, Garry - especially coming from someone like yourself who knows their way around the street genre...
I will certainly give it a very good probation period. I had also thought about the possibilities of cropping in post, and will be interested to see what Affinity Photo does when I crop. I'll also have a look at the ON1 and try its resizing logarithm if I feel that Affinity is not doing a good enough job.

 

[Marc]

If you don't get on with the 27, you should be able to get your investment back. Not sure how buoyant the used market is in (?)Norway though!

I bought mine from here and sold it on for the same price. I could've got more for it as the 2nd hand price had gone up a fair bit

 

[saltireblue]

I bought mine from here and sold it on for the same price. I could've got more for it as the 2nd hand price had gone up a fair bit

As long as the MkII remains not available, then the price will remain good, but as soon as Fuji manages to ship more MkII's then the demand will fall off a bit. Anyway, I'm so taken with how discreet it is, I can see me using it a lot...

 

[Nod]

I got mine a couple of years ago and it was fairly specifically so the X-H1 with it on the front would slip into a jacket pocket. Haven't used it much since, mainly because a nasty little b*****d has screwed the world up since then! It's not quite wide enough to be exactly what I wanted it for but with a little patience, I managed to get the shots I was after. Something a bit wider would have allowed me to get a bit closer to avoid the inevitable crowds (it was a classic bike show, indoors and not that well lit so I wanted the IBIS of the X-H1 as well as its high ISO performance.)
Hopefully restrictions will have eased a bit by June so it'll come with us on holiday where it should be ideal for (as close as I get to!) street shooting - at an outdoor market or 2.