I bought the Voigtlander Ultron 27mm f2 as soon as I had the occasion! Why? Because I love the 40mm field of view, because it’s a small lens with a focusing tab and with an f2 aperture – that promises great image quality!
Introduction
Voigtlander Ultron 27mm f2 is a small pancake lens that many people can’t realize why you should pay so much money for.
It’s a manual focusing lens, but I’m telling you, this lens is a game changer for the Fujifilm system.
So let me share my thoughts after using this lens for several months.
Why Voigtlander Ultron 27mm f2 is Special
Voigtlander Ultron 27mm f2 is a special lens that changed my opinion about Fujifilms APS-C image quality!
Here are the short points that stand out:
- full frame image quality with micro-contrast and 3D pop
- metal build
- small and light
- electronic contacts
- tiger focusing tab
- pretty good focusing scale in practice
- it resolves the 40mp sensor of Fujifilm
Lens Specifications That Matter
- Focal Lenght – 27mm (35mm Equivalent: 40mm)
- Max Aperture – f/22
- Min Aperture – f/2
- Filter Size – 43mm
- Stabilised – no
- 35mm equivalent – 40mm
- Angle of view – 53.7°
- Internal focusing – no
- Maximum magnification –
- Min Focus Distance – 0.25m
- Lens structure – 6 Elements in 4 Groups
- Aperture Blades – 10 rounded
- Weight – 120 g
- Weather sealing – no
- Other tid bits: no USB-C and no firmware update
Voigtlander Ultron 27mm f2 Build Quality
The Voigtlander Ultron 27mm lens is incredibly small and it’s made entirely from metal.
It has a metal lens hood and a metal lens cap that screws on the lens hood.
It’s light like a feather and built like a tank!
Also, the focusing tab is a tiger focusing tab like the one used on the Leica 50mm f2 submicron made in Canada.
The tiger focusing tab is doing the job very well because it has some idents so it’s not very slippery.
Also, the focusing throw is in general good for what this lens is. You can use it with zone-focusing techniques without a problem.
Image Quality
Voigtlander Ultron 27mm f2 image quality is outstanding. This lens is making full-frame images on your Fujifilm camera.
Voigtlander Ultron 27mm f2 is full of details, resolution, clarity and texture!
Sharpness is very good and it’s everywhere. But what is more important is that we finally have a lens that is rendering micro-contrast and 3D pop effects on an APS-C sensor.
This lens is so good at image quality that I can’t believe that we can get such great image quality on a Fujifilm APS-C sensor.
Ultron 27mm f2 is resolving the resolution of the 40-megapixel sensor.
We have plenty of details, organically looking (not digital), and full-frame-like texture.
Regarding the image quality of Voigtlander Ultron 27mm f2, I consider the lens to be even better than the new weather-resistant lenses from Fujifilm, like the XF 18mm f1.4.
Subject to Background Separation
The subject to background separation of Voigtlander Ultron 27mm f/2 is one of the best I’ve seen.
The subject has a strong bite and it’s well defined it because of the micro contrast and of the 3D POP – characteristics that are common in general with full frame lenses.
The only native lens that has this 3D POP and 3D rendering is the Fujifilm 35mm f1.4 XF lens.
The 3D Pop Of Voigtlander 27mm f2
On Voigtlander Ultron 27mm f2 you have 3D pop like on Leica, the images are very organically looking, they have a nice glow to them, and they have 3D pop all over from F2 to F16.
Yes, you have some diffraction at F16 and F22, but the 3D pop is there, you have amazing details, and those objects are popping from your images even if you use a closed aperture or an open aperture.
This is why I love so much the image quality from this lens.
Voigtlander Ultron 27mm f2 Sun Stars and Bokeh
Voigtlander Ultron 27mm f2 produces nice sun stars, well defined.
A well-known feature of Voigtlander lenses.
The bokeh is nervous depending on the background but I like it a lot in real-world use.
Manual Focusing System
But what is image quality with a manual focusing lens if we don’t have a good manual focusing system?
This is where the tricky part comes in.
I know that on paper some photographic geeks will start to explain me about about the hyperfocal distance and zone focusing.
You don’t buy expensive lenses with an F2 aperture to shoot them at F5.6 or F11 for zone focusing – even if you can do so, when you want.
The hyperfocal distance is an option from time to time, but you also want the lens to be shot at the maximum open aperture and you want great image quality and great manual focusing controls for that.
For this, we have a focusing tab and a focusing scale.
The focusing scale of Voigtlander Ultron 27mm f/2 shows the exact scale you see on your Fujifilm camera screen!
But there is a compromise with Voigtlander Ultron 27mm f/2 focusing scale
Regarding manual focusing, this lens is good but not very good because Voigtlander decided to make a compromise.
They probably decided to optimize for the minimum focus distance and they didn’t put a 5-meter mark on the focusing scale.
You don’t have the 5-meter mark. And from 3 meters to infinity, it’s a short focusing throw.
If I want to have a subject in focus at 4m or 5m it’s pretty hard to go there because the focusing throw is very short.
This means no muscle memory for you at first – but after using it for some months I discovered that in practice it’s not a deal breaker, you get used to the operation of the lens.
The Focusing Tab
Another important point is that the focusing tab at infinity is very close to the button for changing the lenses – so in winter time with gloves, you can knock by mistake the Fujifilm button.
It’s a little cumbersome but not a deal breaker again.
I would have preferred a normal focusing tab. It’s doing the job but this tigler claw tab can be a little slippery from time to time.
For day-to-day shooting for street photography, it’s acceptable but it’s a compromise.
It’s not at the level of the Voigtlander full-frame lenses that you find on Leica, it’s not at the level of other Nikon lenses or other full-frame manual focusing lenses.
I hoped this lens will be built regarding focusing as good as the full-frame siblings – that on the other hand are costing more.
Voigtlander Ultron 27mm f2 Compatible Fujifilm Cameras
- Parallax compensation only possible with X-Pro3 Body Communication compatible models and firmware *2 *3
- X-H2s V3.01 or higher
- X-H2 V1.21 or higher
- X-Pro3 V1.23 or higher
- X-T5 V1.03 or higher
- X-S10 V2.10 or higher
- X-S20 V1.13 or higher
- X-H1 V2.13 or higher
- X-T4 V1.25 or higher
- X-T3 V4.12 or higher
- X-T2 V4.40 or higher *4
- X-T30 V1.41 or higher
- X-T30 II V1.00 or higher
- X-E4 V1.04
Check full details on the manufacture site: here.
How To Focus Voigtlander Ultron 27mm f2
These are the options that you could use for focusing:
- change the depth of field display in your Fujifilm camera settings to the film standard
- activate focus check for automatically punch-in zoom / focus check
- use focus peaking
- use red peaking with a black and white simulation like my Ilford recipe
- learn zone focusing and hyper focal distance focusing
For What To Use Voigtlander Ultron 27mm f/2 Lens
- for portraits
- for product photography because of the great minimum focus distance
- for documentary photography
- for street photography
Voigtlander Ultron 27mm F2 Alternatives
These are some alternatives that come to mind:
- Pergear 25mm f1.7
- TTartisan 25mm f2
- Fujifilm 27mm f2
From my point of view, the best image quality (but for a price) goes to Voigtlander Ultron 27mm f2.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the lens is a wonderful manual focusing lens for Fujifilm like no other.
The image quality is better than any Fujifilm lens I’ve encountered till now.
It’s a great portraiture lens, a great documentary lens, a great everyday lens that resolves the 40 mega-pixel sensor of Fujifilm cameras, and even more!
The only downside is that the focusing throw is a little short and because of the Fujifilm firmware updates it is possible to lose the correct EXIF data reports on the newer cameras.
Overall it’s a lens that must be in your camera bag if you shoot Fujifilm because there is no other lens like this.
Voigtlander Ultron 27mm f2 with Fujifilm X-E3
And the cherry on the cake is that Voigtlander Ultron 27mm f2 is making from your Fujifilm camera an X100VI camera with a GREAT quality lens!
Short PROs
- the lens is ultra-light – 120 grams
- excellent image quality 10 out of 10
- 3D POP and micro contrast as on a full frame
- it resolves the 40MP sensor and it has an amazing resolution
- details, texture, and subject-to-background separation are amazing
- beautiful colors
- electronic contacts
- true infinity point
- 0.25 meters (25cm) minimum focus distance
Short CONs
- the focus scale doesn’t have 5 meters mark
- it has a price tag
- hard to find
- no weather sealing
- no firmware
Where To buy
- Please use my affiliate link from Amazon if you can find one: click here
- Or find one on MPB and get 20$ discount click here
Voigtlander Ultron 27mm f2 Real World Sample Images
I will show you now more images made with this lens on different Fujifilm cameras. The samples are exported from Lightroom at a smaller resolution for easy loading and web browsing.
Voigtlander Ultron 27mm f2 on X-PRO3
Voigtlander Ultron 27mm f2 with Fujifilm X-T5 Candid Street Portraits Photography
I’ve used the Fujifilm film simulation Kodak P3200 from Fuji X Weekly.
Voigtlander Ultron 27mm f2 with Fujifilm X-T5 Street Photography
Based mostly on your strong recommendation and excellent pictures, I bought this lens for my x-t30 to take pictures while out and about with family or walking around city streets and parks. The images are great. I’m an amateur, and prior to getting the lens I didn’t use manual focus very much, but I’ve now taken the lens out for over a month straight and my manual focusing has gotten much better, to the point that I don’t fear missing shots. The best method for me has been punching in to zoom on my subject; focus peaking with highlights is my alternative method.