Of course, to satisfy the requirements of the nifty fifty, Nikon had to keep an eye on size and cost. For this reason, the Nikkor Z 40mm naturally lacks some of the finer features of the more expensive lenses in the system, and though it has let me down in a couple of ways, on the whole, the Nikkor Z 40mm is a remarkable lens and a worthy successor to the traditional nifty fifty.

Just try to ignore that it’s not exactly a fifty.

Specifications of the Nikon Nikkor Z 40mm f/2

• Focal Length: 40mm FX (full-frame sensor cameras); 60mm DX (APS-C crop-sensor cameras)
• Lens Mount: Nikon Z
• Optical Design: 6 elements in 4 groups
• Focus Type: Auto focus, user-selectable manual focus
• Minimum Focus Distance: 11.4 inches (29 cm)
• Angle of View: 57°
• Maximum Aperture: f/2
• Minimum Aperture: f/16
• Diaphragm Blades: 9, rounded
• Image Stabilization: No
• Filter Size: 52mm front-mounted filters
• Size and Weight: 2.8 x 1.8 inches (70 x 45.5 mm); 6 oz (170 grams)
• Price: $276.95 (B&H Photo affiliate link)

Nikon NIKKOR Z 40mm f/2 Lens

Buy Nikon NIKKOR Z 40mm f/2 Lens featuring Z-Mount Lens/FX Format, Aperture Range: f/2 to f/16, Two Aspherical Elements, Super Integrated Coating, Stepping Motor AF System, Programmable Control Ring, Rounded 9-Blade Diaphragm. Review Nikon null

Why this 40mm Matters

Before the Nikkor Z 40mm, Nikon offered a number of standard prime lenses compatible with their full frame mirror-less cameras, but none satisfied the criteria of the nifty fifty. None were a standard, affordable, every-day lens. I’ve tested them all.

The Nikon Nikkor Z 50mm f/1.8 S came closest to the traditional nifty fifty’s basic specs, but it’s a big lens, and priced high at $620.

The Nikon Nikkor Z 50mm f/1.2 S was a beautiful piece of kit, but it’s simply enormous, and costs $1,900.

The Nikon Nikkor Z MC 50mm f/2.8 macro is a special lens indeed, and one that adds versatility and utility to the nifty-fifty formula. But, predictably, it’s bigger than the traditional 50mm, and costs $600.

None of these 50mm lenses satisfied the needs of someone seeking a traditional nifty fifty.

But then, at the end of 2022 Nikon released the Nikon Nikkor Z 40mm F/2. While not exactly the same as the nifty-fifties of old, the Nikkor Z 40mm delivers on the promise of the nifty fifty; it’s a truly compact standard focal length lens with high performance offered at an incredibly low price (in fact, it’s the least expensive full frame lens in the entire Z series ecosystem – tied with the Nikkor 28mm f/2.8).

First Impressions

The most instantly notable trait of the Nikon Nikkor Z 40mm f/2 is its size and weight. It’s tiny. At just 1.8″ long it feels exactly like the compact manual focus lenses of the olden days, and since it’s entirely made of plastic, it weighs very little (just 6 oz). Mounted to my Nikon Z5 it feels perfectly sized and perfectly balanced.

Next we notice the build quality. While lightness is a benefit in portability, usability, and comfort, it can also lend a sense of cheapness. I get a bit of that with this lens, even though I tested the Special Edition version, which is styled to look like the old manual focus Nikkors of the film days. It just doesn’t feel as dense or solid as the pricier, fancier lenses.

It’s entirely made of plastic. This includes the filter threads, lens barrel, control ring, and worst of all, lens mount. I imagine that Nikon’s engineers in the lab were really feeling the pressure from the bean-counters at the office. There’s not an engineer or designer on Earth who would willingly choose to make a lens mount out of plastic. But I’m sure it shaved a dozen (or so) dollars off the price.

And then we get to the important part – the shooting.

Controls and Focus

Unlike the more expensive lenses in the Z series system, the Nikkor Z 40mm has few controls. In fact, it has just one, a large multi-purpose control ring encircling the lens barrel. This control ring’s default control parameter is focus – by spinning it, we can focus the lens manually. For this purpose, it works well, automatically activating manual focus even when the camera is set to auto focus.

Manual focus is precise and refined, and of all of the focus-by-wire electronic manual focus systems that I’ve ever used (and I’ve used them all) Nikon’s modern system is the best. It’s smooth and responsive, and it acts progressively (more aggressive spins yields faster focusing).

It’s also possible to change the function of the control ring so that it no longer controls focus, but rather controls other settings, such as lens aperture or exposure compensation or ISO. This is particularly useful in certain shooting modes for users who don’t care about manual focus. The ISO control, in particular, is nice.

In auto focus mode, the lens works beautifully. There’s no external moving parts, and focusing is snappy and responsive. There is very minor focus breathing, but it’s not bad enough to really impact anybody, including video shooters. (Focus breathing is defined as a measurable optical change in the image when focusing from far to near.)

Image Quality Pros

The Nikkor Z 40mm makes really interesting images that combine the technical excellence of modern lens technology with a dash of old film-era lens character. This film-era character comes largely from Nikon’s desire to keep down cost and size by using a somewhat archaic optical formula – it’s made of 6 lens elements in 4 groups. Just compare this lens’ formula to the massive and expensive Nikkor Z 50mm F/1.8 S lens – that one has 12 elements in 9 groups.

But such a stark contrast in quantity doesn’t necessarily result in a similar drop in quality.

The Nikkor Z 40mm has two aspherical lens elements to limit aberrations and distortion, resulting in high sharpness and accurate rendering. The lens also uses Super Integrated Coating to suppress flares and ghosting, to improve contrast and render accurate colors.

This blend of minimal optical formula and ultra-modern lens technology creates a very interesting dynamic. Images are crisp, clean, sharp, and punchy. There’s no flaring or ghosting. Chromatic aberration and color bokeh are virtually non-existent. So we achieve most of the most desirable benefits of a modern lens.

However, the relatively simple optics also create images with fundamental flaws (which I call character).

The center of images are super sharp at all apertures (including wide open), but corner and edge sharpness and contrast decline to certain degrees at varying apertures.

Wide open at f/2, we see a very classic rendering which will feel familiar to shooters who remember the days prior to manual focus. As we stop the lens down, all of the optical issues smooth out greatly, as expected, until f/8. Above f/8 we begin to lose sharpness and quality due to diffraction.

This blend of old and new style image quality lends itself best to everyday shooting, street photography, travel, and editorial photography. Users who focus on these types of photographic styles will adore the rendering of this lens.

Landscape photographers and portrait artists will likely find fault (though a 40mm lens likely won’t be on these photographers’ wish lists anyway).

I should also quickly mention that the lens suffers no distortion and very little vignetting. In fact, the latest firmware update for this lens updated its lens profile to further correct any native flaws (the camera does some electronic magic to correct our photos before they’ve even finished writing to the SD card).

Image Quality Cons

Bokeh is not bad, for a 40mm lens. But if we’re comparing it to the other standard lenses in the range, it’s really not great.

The out of focus areas are a bit busy. Bokeh highlights aren’t perfectly round. And the transition from in-focus to out-of-focus elements of an image is a bit abrupt and lacks subtlety. That said, get close to our subject and it’s possible to make some nice subject isolation and decent bokeh. (Especially at this price point!)

Which brings up the next little complaint. Focusing close tends to lessen sharpness at all apertures. This is most noticeable at f/2, as one might expect, but it’s present through the range of f/stops.

Image Samples

Final Thoughts

Right now, the Nikon Nikkor Z 40mm F/2 is a special lens. There’s no other directly comparable lens for the Nikon Z system.

I reviewed the 40mm Voigtlander lens not very long ago. However, that lens doesn’t offer auto focus. And there are a couple of Chinese-made 40mm Z mount lenses, as well, but these are made for APS-C cameras, not full frame.

There are plenty of 35mm lenses, but these aren’t directly comparable, often they’re manual focus only, and often they cost more money. The 50mm lenses mentioned earlier don’t fit the bill, and there are none others that offer the performance to value that this Nikon 40mm offers.

In short, it’s an amazing lens. For Nikon Z series users who want an every day lens with superb performance at a wonderful price, a lightweight travel lens, or a fond reminiscence of the old days of cheap nifty fifties, the Nikon Nikkor Z 40mm F/2 is it.

Nikon NIKKOR Z 40mm f/2 Lens

Buy Nikon NIKKOR Z 40mm f/2 Lens featuring Z-Mount Lens/FX Format, Aperture Range: f/2 to f/16, Two Aspherical Elements, Super Integrated Coating, Stepping Motor AF System, Programmable Control Ring, Rounded 9-Blade Diaphragm. Review Nikon null

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The post The New Nifty Fifty— Er, Forty? Nikon Nikkor Z 40mm F/2 Lens Review appeared first on Casual Photophile.

Anachronism was all around me, in the natural history museum which felt suddenly more like a mausoleum. In the towering glass cases full of dead animals, in their rigid skins stuffed with desiccated straw, in the tanks of formaldehyde, in the grotesque jars of suspended sea creatures and in the thousands of pinned beetles and butterflies. I wondered; in the era of 4K video and augmented and virtual realities, in the era of 100 megapixel medium format digital sensors, the era of the internet, are these dead trophies in stuffy galleries of any real use?

Anachronism was there, too, in my hand. I was spinning it into focus to take another shot.

Nikon’s Z series mirror-less digital cameras are technically incredible. They do all the math, all the complicated arithmetic of calculating the exposure triangle. They can choose our ISO, shutter speed, and aperture in a millisecond. They can auto-focus near-instantaneously.

Along with their counterparts from Canon and Leica and Pentax and the other camera makers who make brand new cameras today, the Nikon Zs are the newest, brightest, fastest, and best cameras ever made. That is, they are if we mount the right lens.

But all of that stuff, that technical innovation and computerized magic, all of it evaporates when we pair the camera to a manual focus, manual aperture lens. Suddenly, the newest and best camera in the world becomes, at least in practical use, akin to a camera from the 1980s. It becomes an anachronism. It also becomes a paradox.

Because the Voigtlander Nokton 40mm F/1.2 Aspherical fast prime lens is amazing, and yet some photographers will hate it. It makes beautiful photos, and yet for some photographers, it won’t. It’s the best value fast lens on the market, and yet some would say that it’s not worth the $799. The lens is both very good, and not. It all depends on who’s holding it.

Specifications of the Voigtlander Nokton 40mm F/1.2 Aspherical

• Focal Length : 40mm
• Focus Type: Manual focus only
• Optical Design: 8 elements in 6 groups, 2 aspherical elements
• Maximum Aperture: f/1.2
• Minimum Aperture: f/22
• Diaphragm Blades: 10
• Lens Mount as Tested: Nikon Z (also available in Leica M and Sony E mounts)
• Lens Format Coverage: Full-frame (60mm equivalent focal length on crop sensor cameras)
• Angle of View: 54.8°
• Minimum Focus Distance: 11.8″ (30cm)
• Filter Size: 58mm front threads
• Size and Weight: 2.7 x 2.1″ (67.6 x 53.9mm); 11.1 oz (315g)

What’s a Voigtlander?

Voigtlander is one of the oldest names in photography. Founded by Johann Voigtlander in Vienna in 1756, the brand got their start producing mathematical instruments, precision mechanical products, and optical objectives. Voigtlander continued successfully in this business for decades, and by 1839, the company had passed to Johann’s grandson, Peter, who expanded the Voigtlander’s scope to include photographic optics.

Over the subsequent century, Voigtlander created numerous firsts in the photographic industry which would later go on to become commonplace. Voigtlander was the first company to create mathematically calculated precision lenses. These were developed by the German-Hungarian mathematics professor Josef Maximilian Petzval, with technical aid by Peter Voigtlander. They soon developed the fastest lens ever produced, the Petzval Portrait Lens, with an aperture of f/3.6. They invented the world’s first zoom lens for 35mm still photography (the 36-82mm f/2.8 Zoomar in 1959), and the world’s first compact 35mm camera with a built-in electronic flash (the Vitrona in 1965).

The German optical industry experienced great turmoil from the 1970s through the 1990s. Voigtlander’s factory closed in the early 1970s, and throughout the next twenty-odd years ownership of the Voigtlander name passed to various companies.

In 1999, the most recent holder of the Voigtlander name (Ringfoto GmbH & Co. ALFO Marketing KG) licensed the brand identity to the Japanese optics and camera company Cosina, who have produced Cosina Voigtlander lenses ever since. Today, Cosina’s Voigtlander lenses are available in Sony E, Leica M, Nikon Z, Fuji X, and other mounts, and they’re revered among photo nerds for their exceptional quality and relatively affordable prices.

The Voigtlander Nokton in Use

The Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 Aspherical for Nikon Z mount is paradoxically old and new, at once.

It was just released at the end of 2022, and features much of what we’d expect of a brand-new, very modern lens. It’s an optically sophisticated lens that makes gorgeous images (with exceptions allowed for its extreme character when shot wide open). It has a super fast aperture that allows for both exceptional bokeh and superb low-light performance. It has electronic communication with the camera body, which allows transmission of EXIF data, allows in-camera image stabilization, and allows focusing aids such as focus confirmation, focus peaking, and focus enlargement.

But it’s also an old-fashioned lens.

Made of beautiful knurled and scalloped chunks of metal, as in the olden days, it feels wonderful in the hand and balances beautifully on the camera body. It’s extremely compact, and impeccably crafted, and includes a metal screw-in lens hood which reminds me of the many Zeiss and Leica lenses I’ve used in the past. The manual aperture control ring and manual focus methodology hearkens back to the heyday of film, and for people who enjoy manual focus, it’s a truly lovely lens.

I was sent this lens for testing, and when it arrived I was thrilled with the chance to shoot a lens with such a luxuriously fast aperture. At f/1.2, I knew that I’d be able to achieve dreamy bokeh and exceptional subject isolation. I mounted the lens to my camera, focused on a nearby curio, and fired the shutter. This instantly locked my camera. Frozen solid. Dead.

After a moment of controlled panic, I figured out what went wrong. Firmware update required. Now my testing could begin in earnest.

I spent the next three weeks using the lens in all manner of situations. Portraits at sunset, with a good working distance and the aperture set to f/4 for nice subject isolation. Snapshots in nature at f/1.2, f/5.6, f/8 and beyond. Craft nights with my children, shot wide open to draw attention to the exact point of focus. It handled it all very well.

And then came the lens’ best use-case, at the dimly-lit and subject-dense Harvard Museum of Natural History.

In the darkened galleries of the museum I spun the aperture ring to wide open and shot, and shot, and shot. In this place, my photographic talent aside, the lens performed masterfully. No corner of the museum was too dark, no specimen too shrouded in shadow. That massive aperture devoured the light and turned it into pictures like very few lenses can.

I was able to focus on one specific beetle amongst hundreds. And if more context was needed, a quick spin of the dial brought more depth of field.

Focusing manually is naturally not as simple as using a fast auto-focus lens. But it’s not prohibitively cumbersome either. The Voigtlander lens is capable of focus confirmation, focus peaking, and focus enlargement. I used them all, and they all work well.

Different users will need to determine their own particular favorite focusing aid. Mine is focus confirmation. Simply spin the focus ring and the focus indicator in the viewfinder or on the camera’s LCD will light up green when the point of focus is in sharp focus. An afternoon of this is all it takes to become familiar, and while it’s never as fast as a fast auto-focus lens, zone focusing is (and in fact, it’s faster). With the Nokton’s depth of field scale, zone focusing is as easy as it is with any manual focus lens.

Image Quality Wide Open and Stopped Down

The Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 Aspherical is not just paradoxical in its practical methodology, blending dichotomous elements of old and new, it’s similarly dichotomous in the images it can make.

Shot wide open at f/1.2 it makes surprisingly dreamy images. They’re diaphanous and soft and low in contrast. Even with the lens slightly stopped down to f/2, there’s a significantly dreamy quality to the images this lens makes. Shots at this aperture remind me of those from a sixty-year-old Japanese lens more than they do images from a modern one.

While this dreamy softness will certainly be off-putting to photographers who live and die by the pixels they peep, there’s another camp of photo nerd who will simply melt. These photogs would describe the lens as characterful.

The optical aberrations I’ve found with the lens are pretty typical of fast lenses. Vignetting is fairly extreme at f/1.2. Naturally this vignetting resolves as we stop the aperture down, and by f/4 it’s restrained enough to be correctable in post-processing, but at f/1.2 through to f/4 we need to consider the vignetting with every photo we make. And when shooting wide open or at f/2, we should also remember that chromatic aberration does occur. This resolves significantly by f/2, but does not disappear completely until f/4. Distortion is a non-issue.

Bokeh is quite beautiful. Backgrounds are blurred very well. When shooting into bright light sources wide open, highlight bokeh is round in the center of the frame, but turns to cats-eye shape on the edges of the frame. Bokeh highlights become geometric when we stop down even incrementally, so those who want pure, round bokeh balls will need to stay wide open at f/1.2.

But if we stop the lens down, things change considerably.

At f/4, the lens has resolved to a sharp imaging device. Gone is the dreamy blur and the low contrast. Gone is the vignetting. At f/5.6 and f/8 the Voigtlander Nokton is a scalpel, capable of impressive sharpness and fantastic micro-contrast. Yet even at these stopped-down apertures, the lens retains the artistic rendering that we enjoy wide open.

Voigtlander NOKTON 40mm f/1.2 Aspherical Lens for Nikon Z

Buy Voigtlander NOKTON 40mm f/1.2 Aspherical Lens for Nikon Z featuring Z-Mount/Full-Frame Format, Aperture Range: f/1.2 to f/22, Lens Construction: 6 Groups, 8 Elements, 10-Blade Aperture Diaphragm, Manual Focus for Reliable Fine-Focus, Minimum Focusing Distance: 300mm, 3-Axis Image Stabilization.…

Image Samples Gallery

Final Thoughts

The Voigtlander Nokton 40mm F/1.2 Aspherical (available in Nikon Z, Leica M, and Sony E mounts) is an interesting lens. Anachronistic in its methodology and paradoxical in its rendering, it’s a lens that will appeal to as many photographers as it offends. It makes dreamy and characterful images wide open, yet clinically sharp ones when stopped down. It’s old fashioned, with its manual focusing, and yet modern enough in the ways that it implements that old-fashioned manual input.

That said, for the thoroughly modern photographer who needs a fast aperture and who enjoys fast auto-focus and the absolute highest image quality, there are better options (though they’re all much larger and much more expensive than this $799 Voigtlander lens).

The simple breakdown is this – there are no auto-focus lenses available with an aperture this fast, in a size this small, at a price this low. For those of us who love to turn focus rings and who enjoy the unidentifiable artistic flourishes that come with shooting older, fast lenses, the Nokton 40mm F/1.2 is one to own.

Get your Voigtlander Nokton 40mm F/1.2 Aspherical from B&H Photo here!

Voigtlander NOKTON 40mm f/1.2 Aspherical Lens for Nikon Z

Buy Voigtlander NOKTON 40mm f/1.2 Aspherical Lens for Nikon Z featuring Z-Mount/Full-Frame Format, Aperture Range: f/1.2 to f/22, Lens Construction: 6 Groups, 8 Elements, 10-Blade Aperture Diaphragm, Manual Focus for Reliable Fine-Focus, Minimum Focusing Distance: 300mm, 3-Axis Image Stabilization.…

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The post Voigtlander Nokton 40mm F/1.2 Aspherical Lens Review – Nikon Z Mount appeared first on Casual Photophile.

I’ve been using the Mark II version of this tiny 40.5mm full-frame equivalent pancake lens. This new version features some upgrades compared with the original XF 27mm, including the addition of a clicked aperture ring (R) and weather resistance (WR). Other than that, the new version is exactly the same as its predecessor optically. The lens is sold in a kit with the Fuji X-E4 or separately for $400. But despite its kit lens classification, the combination of unique focal length, high performance, and size makes this lens much more than what it seems.

First Impressions

The first thing you notice about the XF 27mm lens is its minute size. At just about 1 inch (23mm) thick, the lens is indeed comparable to the thickness of a very fluffy pancake. In fact, this lens is one of two “pancake” style lenses offered in the Fujifilm ecosystem (the other being the OG XF 18mm f/2). In diameter, it’s smaller than the palm of my hand and weighs just 2.9 oz (84 grams). The small size makes the lens easily pocket-able and able to fit into basically any bag or small purse. And when combined with the fun-sized body of the Fuji X-E4 (which I reviewed a few months ago), the whole package is lightweight and discreet, only slightly bulkier than the point-and-shoot-esque Fuji X100V (which I reviewed last year).

With a filter ring diameter of 39mm, you can screw miniature versions of your favorite filters over the front glass element, which isn’t really much to behold. But that works in its favor, making the lens more stealthy and less intimidating to subjects. When sold in a kit with the X-E4, the lens only comes with the front and back caps, but no lens hood. The front cap is just awkward. It doesn’t cover the full diameter of the lens barrel, slotting over the tiny glass element and protruding from the barrel like the chunk of plastic that it is. Personally, I’ve never been a fan of lens caps, so I opted to buy the separate, screw-on dome lens hood for $12.99, which I think adds enough protection to the front element and gives the lens that bit of extra flair. Curiously enough, Fuji also sells the lens hood cap separately for $5.99. *Insert shrug emoji here*

Despite being a tiny, lightweight lens, the new 27mm has a bit of heft to it, which makes its construction feel exceptionally solid. Its internals are tightly packed into the barrel, so there is no noticeable rattling of the elements. Judging from the feel in the hand, Fujifilm went with all-metal construction for the barrel, control rings, and mount. The new aperture ring is satisfyingly tactile and gnarled for grip, operating from f/2.8 to f/16 in 1/3 stop increments. The aperture markings extend a quarter of the way around the barrel, and when mounted on the camera, the ring takes about two quick 45 degree turns to get from f/2.8 to Auto. Each stop clicks with a sharp affirmation akin to the familiar sound of a baseball card clicking between the spokes of a bike wheel. Compared to the softer tactility of other Fujifilm lenses I’ve used, the sound and feel of the 27mm are extremely satisfying.

The aperture ring also includes a protruding auto-lock button that clicks into place once you scroll past f/16. This might be a bit of a hindrance for some, as you have to push the button to freely move the aperture ring again, but for those who like to use shutter priority, it’s a nice feature. The button also adds extra grip when you’re using the aperture ring, especially for one-finger use (kind of like a small focusing tab). This lock isn’t standard on other Fujifilm lenses, so I’m curious as to why they made it a point to include it here. But it’s there.

On the other hand, the focus ring is pretty negligible. It’s just as slim as the focusing ring on the X100V, so it’s kind of hard to use comfortably with manual focus, but it turns smoothly and is nicely dampened. I would have liked to see a tab or lever or something that protrudes from the focus ring to help with manual focus, but most people are probably not utilizing manual focus with this lens unless absolutely necessary. (Side note: you can actually buy an external focusing tab attachment on Etsy that might make this more comfortable if you deem manual focus a necessity with this lens, or just want a more rangefinder-style experience.)

In accordance with the exceptional build quality, Fujifilm decided to include weather sealing gaskets in all the nooks and crannies of this little lens. That means you can bring this lens into conditions where the previous version couldn’t go. It’s curious that Fuji decided to bundle this lens in a kit with the X-E4, a camera body that is not weather sealed. But I guess a little weather sealing is better than none at all, right? X-Pro and X-T series owners will surely get the most out of this lens.

Real-World Performance and Image Quality

I don’t want to get too hung up on the specifications of this lens because, on paper, it’s really nothing special at all. While this fact might inadvertently push potential users to pass on the 27mm, it really only takes some time with the lens to realize that it’s more capable than its spec sheet might suggest.

The tiny 27mm lens is constructed of 7 elements in 5 groups with one aspherical element and 7 rounded blades. The blades help to create nice looking bokeh balls, though with its combination of normal focal length, a minimum focus distance of 13 inches (34cm), and a max f-stop of f/2.8, bokeh isn’t necessarily the reason you’d buy this lens. However, while it might not produce the extra creamy bokeh you might get with a 50mm lens, the 27mm certainly produces very pleasing separation between your subject and background with soft transitions between the in-focus and out-of-focus areas. In addition, the normal focal length ensures facial proportions remain natural with virtually zero distortion.

For a prime lens, the XF 27mm isn’t the fastest on the market, but f/2.8 is respectable. And I think if it were faster, the lens wouldn’t be as small as it is. Generally, I wouldn’t recommend this lens for low-light shooting, as it lacks image stabilization and can have some issues achieving focus in dim conditions where shutter speeds drop below 1/100. As such, this lens performs its best in well-lit conditions, and for dedicated night photography I’d certainly reach for something with a faster maximum aperture. But that’s not to say you can’t use this lens for low-light shots. Just open the lens all the way up and, if you don’t mind some noise, push your ISO a little higher to get the shutter speed around 1/100. This will allow you to shoot comfortably in less-than-ideal conditions. Personally, I don’t mind shooting at higher ISO values because I like the grain-like structure of the noise rendered by Fuji cameras.

Mechanically, the lens isn’t the most advanced option in Fuji’s lineup, as the focusing motor moves the elements externally. But luckily, it’s not really all that noisy. When compared to the older motors of the XF 18mm f/2 or the 35mm f/1.4, the focus motor is pretty damn quiet. In addition, you’d think that the external motor would slow down the autofocus process significantly, but in reality, especially when using the single AF mode, I haven’t noticed a difference between this lens and Fuji’s newer internal-focus lenses. When it comes to continuous AF, it can be a bit slower to confidently lock onto fast-moving subjects (especially in low light conditions), but that really hasn’t hindered my ability to achieve accurate focus in most situations. Despite the less advanced external focus mechanism, the 27mm can hang with the best of them, especially when it comes to image quality.

To put it simply, I have absolutely no qualms with the image quality afforded by this lens. I can confidently say that this glass produces sharp images, edge to edge. Granted, I have not done any brick wall tests, but I have been using this lens almost non-stop since I bought my X-E4. I also haven’t noticed any aberrations or significant fringing throughout the focal range. The images produced by this lens seemingly have no faults, especially when looking at the JPGs straight out of the camera. Modern digital cameras automatically correct imperfections in-camera, but even when viewing the uncorrected RAF files in Lightroom, there’s barely any work needed. To be fair, there is some slight barrel distortion and light vignetting at f/2.8, but really nothing else to note in terms of imperfections. I have experienced some minimal flaring, particularly when there is a bright light source pointed at the lens and directly out of the frame, but the domed lens hood helps to mitigate this issue. Overall, I’d say the images that come from this lens are near perfect.

In addition to the clinical sharpness, the lens adds a distinctive character to the images it captures. This might be based on the eye of the beholder, but there’s a 3D pop of some sort in the images I’ve taken with this lens. It’s hard to put a finger on it, but I don’t experience this type of character when shooting within the Sony E-mount ecosystem. I’ve seen this same thing said about the XF 35mm f/1.4, so I hope those who have used that lens can relate to what I’m talking about here. My understanding of this “je ne sais quoi” is that Fujifilm just knows how to retain and process the micro-contrast afforded by their lenses. In addition, I suspect that the micro-contrast combined with the unique perspective of this lens adds up to the indescribable character its images exude.

A Perfect Focal Length

The 27mm provides a full-frame equivalent of 40.5mm, which can be considered a “perfect normal” lens (technically 43.3mm). A perfect normal lens provides the most natural perspective in a camera lens, closely mimicking the true field of view (FOV) perceived by the human eye. While this sounds impressive, photographers who have never used a perfect normal focal length before might be asking themselves “What would I use this type of lens for that I couldn’t use a 35mm or 50mm for?”

The answer: anything really. The perfect normality of this lens makes it extremely versatile.

Oftentimes when I attach a 35mm or 50mm equivalent lens to my camera, I feel like I’m limited in the kinds of photos I can make, which is indeed very true, as the difference in these focal lengths is pretty significant. But when I attach the XF 27mm lens to my X-E4, I feel like I can tackle almost any photographic situation. At a halfway point between 35mm and 50mm, it seems to be the perfect compromise for me. The 40.5mm equivalent focal length feels like the best of both worlds; a flexible focal length that can do almost everything.

To me, this lens feels natural and effortless. Because its FOV is so close to that of the human eye, whenever I visualize a shot, I can simply move to where I think I need to be, pull the camera up to my eye, and snap the photo without having to do any additional maneuvering. The end product is almost always exactly what I had envisioned, which is a special quality in itself. The ability to capture a pre-visualized slice of life without much effort makes this lens the favorite in my collection. For this reason, I call the 27mm my “slice of life” lens. With that said, the 27mm excels in everyday genres of photography that focus on documenting people, places, things, and the fleeting moments of life—genres like documentary, street, travel, lifestyle, and even landscape photography.

The 40.5mm equivalent focal length is pretty ideal for these types of photography. It’s wide enough to capture context and tell a story but still close enough to isolate subjects and give them room to act naturally. In addition, as a pancake lens, its small size and light weight make it the perfect companion (especially when paired with the X-E4) for photographers looking to be the fly on the wall and retain the candidness of a given moment. When combined with the f/2.8 aperture, the normal focal length can tackle portraiture genres, rendering pleasing environmental portraits or head shots with smooth subject-background separation and no unpleasant facial distortion. And the light weight and weather sealing of this lens can cater to the most adventurous landscape and travel photographers. With a focal length wide enough for sweeping shots and stellar image quality that ensures edge-to-edge sharpness, the 27mm can handle all the -scape snaps you can think of—land, sea, mountain, city, and star.

On the other hand, this lens wouldn’t fare well in more specialized types of photography. For example, I wouldn’t recommend the 27mm to photographers looking to do macro work, as its minimum focus distance is over a foot. Nor would I suggest it to wildlife or sports photographers seeking to capture blink-of-an-eye moments from far distances. Despite these few limitations, I think photographers simply seeking a walk-about companion to capture life and tell stories would be pleased with this lens and its versatility.

Final Thoughts

The Fujifilm XF 27mm f/2.8 R WR is certainly an underdog in Fujifilm’s lineup of renowned XF lenses. On paper, it’s not a lens that stands out. A boring spec sheet and an unconventional focal length might deter potential users, but this is one of those lenses that you have to experience in order to fully appreciate its true value. In use, you’ll find that this lens offers an enticing combination of benefits for the price—portability, stellar image quality, a reasonably bright aperture, weather sealing, and most importantly, a uniquely effective and versatile focal length.

The unique perspective of the 27mm offers an effortlessness that I have never experienced with any other lens. The ability to simply visualize a shot and capture it naturally exactly as you pictured is what makes this lens so special. The 27mm provides a full-frame equivalent of 40.5mm, which is as close to perfect normal as you’re going to get within the native Fujifilm ecosystem. In modern photography, the perfect normal focal length seems to be underappreciated—referenced in passing, but ultimately overshadowed by more common focal lengths. But the 27mm has the potential to rekindle consumer interest and bring the perfect normal lens out of the shadows. And I can personally confirm that the perfect normalness of this lens is part of what makes it unique compared to more widely used focal lengths like 35mm or 50mm.

For many who gravitate to these more common focal lengths, this lens might feel awkward. But for those who haven’t found that preferred go-to, this lens might just become your default like it has for me. If you identify with the stresses of constantly switching between 35mm and 50mm equivalents, I think the 27mm should be at the top of your list. The perfect normal focal length sits in the goldilocks zone, not too wide but not too close. And in my opinion, this makes it more versatile than the 35mm and/or 50mm. However, even if you prefer one of the more common focal lengths, I can still highly recommend this lens, especially for documentary, street, or travel photographers looking for a challenge and a new perspective. Based on its performance, footprint, and price, I think the 27mm is a lens that every Fuji photographer should have in their collection. Even if you already own a 35mm or 50mm equivalent lens, I can guarantee you’ll find the 27mm to be a very useful companion for everyday storytelling.

Buy your own Fuji XF 27mm from B&H Photo here

Or browse for one on eBay here

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[Some of the links in this article will direct users to our affiliates at B&H Photo, Amazon, and eBay. By purchasing anything using these links, Casual Photophile may receive a small commission at no additional charge to you. This helps Casual Photophile produce the content we produce. Many thanks for your support.]

The post Fujifilm XF 27mm f/2.8 R WR Review – The Goldilocks Lens appeared first on Casual Photophile.

Since all of my two years’ experience was had using an SLR, the prospect of using a rangefinder was initially intimidating. I was already nervous with the idea of leaving my single lens reflex comfort zone, and the staggering abundance of choice in the rangefinder segment didn’t make things any easier. I had to pick a specific model from amongst the hundreds. Countless YouTube videos, blog entries and Instagram feeds later, I at least knew that I wanted the most bang-for-your-buck rangefinder companion. Something small, inexpensive, and capable.

While browsing for my new old camera, I found a Canon Canonet QL17 G-III being sold for $80. I learned as much as I could about the camera, including from our 2014 review of the camera’s first iteration, and was impressed with its moniker as the “poor man’s Leica.” And after learning that my friend was the one selling the listing I found (quite the coincidence), I paid the $80 and my search was over. 

It didn’t take long for the camera to make an impression. Only moments after first picking it up, I started to realize why so many people love this camera. 

What’s in a Name? What’s Under the Hood?

My initial impressions were based solely on the camera’s build quality. In my first walk-around with the camera, I was quite impressed with how much of a punch this thing packed. I didn’t expect it to feel so nice to hold, especially with its focus ring on the left of its non-detachable, fixed 40mm lens. 

So what’s in a name? I learned that the QL comes from the Canonet’s “quick-loading system” that makes loading film as foolproof as possible, and that the 17 indicates the 40mm lens’ maximum aperture of f/1.7. Finally, the G-III indicates that this is the third version of the QL17. While The QL17 G-III looks almost identical to the previous model, the new version offers a battery test light, a stronger rewind lever, and, as claimed at the time of release by Canon, a general “improved quality.” 

Initial impressions and name etymology completed, I loaded a roll of Cinestill BWXX and took the Canonet to a local park. Walking around, I immediately noticed the camera’s inconspicuous approach to taking photos.

As someone used to the slapping of the mirror in a reflex camera, the near silence of the Canonet and its leaf shutter amazed me. A leaf shutter has multiple metal blades that overlap each other, making a sort of spiral that opens and closes when the shutter button is pressed. Later I would use this to my advantage and shoot in situations where I normally wouldn’t with a louder camera.

The Canonet has two modes: shutter priority mode and manual mode. I was surprised that the battery powering the light meter was still working, and from what I was able to test, the light-meter was spot on. As such, the shutter priority mode was a truly pleasant experience. 

The mercury batteries intended for use in the Canonet have long been discontinued, but an alkaline battery with equivalent power is on the market. But because the reliability and accuracy of the meter with such batteries has a checkered reputation, I simply meter externally, which is something I normally do anyway.

The fastest speed that the camera shoots is 1/500th of a second, moving down in standard increments to 1/4th of a second, and there’s the customary bulb mode for long exposures. Its lens aperture closes to f/16 and opens to its namesake f/1.7. The camera even has a nice little self-timer built into the lens itself. Users will pull the lever back, which will be released when the shutter button is pressed, and fire the leaf-shutter when it reaches its original position.

The Canonet in the Wild

Earlier I mentioned the low profile of the camera and how I was excited to use that to my advantage. Well, that’s exactly what I did. I took the camera to my high school graduation and took pictures I probably wouldn’t have been able to take with a monstrous beast that wouldn’t fit comfortably under my gown. 

Later, I took it to a Philadelphia Phillies game where I was able to watch the game like any other fan, without the feeling of a heavy chain around my neck. At the same time, I felt like a sports photographer as I leaned over the fence next to the bullpen, snapping photos of the Phillies pitchers warming up. 

I brought the camera with me when I moved from Philadelphia to New York City, where I was prepared to show the Canonet some sights it had never before seen. Rangefinders, as I came to learn, were a New Yorker’s best friend as it offered quick, quiet snaps. On a trip to Washington Square Park I was able to photograph performers, musicians and artists without disturbing anyone. I also found that Washington Square Park is one of the most popular spots for photographers in NYC, and on that particular day I truly was a “poor man” amongst a sea of stealthy Leicas.

Rangefinder focusing was difficult at first as I adapted to using a rangefinder. But the Canonet made it easy with its technique of lining up what I like to call “the yellow ghost.” Soon enough, zone focusing became my friend and I learned the true capabilities of this fixed lens. After seeing the results from my first rolls, I felt that the Canonet’s 40mm could rival many of the SLR lenses I own.

The Canonet has become my best friend whenever I’m shooting street photography. For conceptual projects, I still reach for one of my medium format cameras. But I grab the Canonet when I want to tell stories of random people or random things around me.

My Canonet has proved to be an amazing camera and I’m grateful it fell into my lap so easily. With its solid build quality, form factor and the quality glass that’s fitted on the front, this tiny rangefinder holds its own against far more expensive cameras. Features like the quick loading are icing on the cake, and once I adjusted to shooting a rangefinder, using this camera now feels like second nature.

For those just started on their road to rangefinder mastery, the Canonet is a great place to start. It’s a fantastic camera to have in your camera bag and it will have a place in mine until the day it falls apart.

Get your own Canonet QL17 GIII on eBay here!

CASUAL PHOTOPHILE is on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube

[Some of the links in this article will direct users to our affiliates at B&H Photo, Amazon, and eBay. By purchasing anything using these links, Casual Photophile may receive a small commission at no additional charge to you. This helps Casual Photophile produce the content we produce. Many thanks for your support.]

The post Learning to Use a Rangefinder With the Canonet QL17 G-III appeared first on Casual Photophile.

I’ve been on a journey for the past five or so years to find my ideal “bring everywhere” camera. I’m not looking for the perfect camera, or one that can do everything, just one that suits my shooting style and isn’t a pain to carry around all the time. I’ve been looking for the camera I want to have when I’m not necessarily trying to take photos. The “the best camera is the one you have with you” camera, as the kids like to say. But ideally, one that also can take great photos when I am trying to take photos. Maybe I’m too picky.

The reason I tell you this is because I think I’ve found it in the Agfa Optima 1035 Sensor. Or, I should say, I think I found it in 2018 when I first owned (and lost) the Agfa Optima 1035 Sensor. It just took me a while to figure out that the camera I was looking for was right under my nose.

When I first started shooting in late 2015, I had no idea what I wanted from a camera. I learned to shoot on a quirky Zeiss Ikon SLR that didn’t even have instant mirror return. But this was 2016, and the film camera industry was still a bit of a wildcard. There were plenty of options out there for a clueless amateur like myself.

I would frequent second-hand stores, and buy basically whatever cameras they had. From Minolta X-700s to Fuji point and shoots with plastic lenses, I was a proud Goodwill scavenger. I’ve found multiple Olympus XAs for less than thirty dollars, and in the process, basically ruined myself for almost all other cameras. I gave those XAs away to people like they were candy on Halloween, thinking I could always find more at that price. What a fool I was. Now they’re typically selling for more than $200. I’m happy to report that most of the people I gave them to still use them actively, though.

I was a collector. I loved (and still love) to try new cameras, figure out their quirks, and then be either excited or disappointed with the results. I’m a big appreciator of the design and feel of a camera, and a big believer in the idea that if you’re a good photographer, you can make good photos with pretty much any gear. I guess that’s part of why I write for CP.

So naturally, when I was planning a trip to Costa Rica in 2018 I wanted to have a cool camera by my side. Bag space was limited, so I wanted something small and light. I also wanted a prime lens, preferably with some kind of manual control. Enter the Agfa Optima 1035 Sensor. Not a great name, but a recognizable one. It’s a compact, plasticky wonder with excellent design, a 40mm f2.8 Solitar lens, and “manual” focus. Seems like a good fit, and $45 isn’t such a bad price for a test.

When I pulled my first Agfa from the box, I was blown away by how small it was. How was I supposed to fit a roll of film in this thing? I’m being dramatic, as always, but it was abundantly clear that this camera had been designed meticulously and with purpose.

The entire camera is made of textured black plastic with rounded edges and simple, sans serif fonts. The entire thing screams Bauhaus, and it really appeals to the graphic designer in me. There are no hard edges on the Optima, and there’s something about the material that makes the light hit it nicely from any angle.

It’s plastic, yes, but it doesn’t look or feel cheap. It’s solid, but not showy. A very understated thing, really. The advance lever even looks a bit like the lowercase “B” in the Bauhaus font. So that’s fun, too. But anyway, back to actually handling the camera.

When you lift the latch to open the film back, a section of the bottom plate pops open as well. After putting film in the camera, this bottom plate pops back into place, holding the film steady. With this little feature, Agfa’s engineers managed to make their camera quite a bit shorter, and I’m genuinely surprised that I haven’t seen it on other cameras.

Another cool design feature is the combined advance/rewind crank. Where most cameras have two separate levers to control film advance and rewinding, the Agfa’s clever gearing means the same crank both advances and rewinds, depending on the position of a small button next to the shutter. Don’t ask me how it works, I’m sure there are a bunch of little gears in there. It’s just really cool, and again saved the Agfa engineers quite a bit of space, which aids the smooth, minimalist design.

A third engineering feat is the quick-loading system. There is a plate covering the take-up spool with guiding arrows telling the photographer where to put the film. This may seem simple, and other quick-loading systems work just as well, but it’s a simple and elegant solution that just works. I have never had an issue with the advance in my Optima.

So the Agfa engineers were clearly concerned with saving space and ease of use. What did they do with the space they saved? Well, they put a big red shutter button on top. This is Agfa’s “Sensor” shutter, a soft membrane that covers the actual shutter button and is meant to be… comfortable? I guess. Whether it is or not is up to you, but it does make the shutter hard to miss. Compared to cameras like the Minox 35 that have tiny shutter buttons, it’s a point for the Agfa.

Another way that the Agfa Optima 1035 Sensor uses its free space is in having a huge viewfinder. You can sort of tell from looking at photos of it, but the viewfinder dwarfs almost every similar point and shoot in size and brightness. It’s wonderful, and the 1035 model even has distance markers for zone focusing. The lower models don’t, and that’s a deal breaker for me. I want to know where I’m focused.

Traveling with the Agfa // Sample Shots

Cut back to 22-year-old me opening this camera for the first time in February 2018. I had just spent nearly my entire life savings on a trip to Costa Rica and the film to document it, but there was no existential dread (yet). The Agfa felt so right in my hand that I didn’t even bother to test it before getting on the plane. Please, no comments bullying me about that. My current self is already appalled enough at my boldness/stupidity. Please test your cameras, or buy your cameras from someone who has.

My destination was Puerto Jimenez, a small town on the Osa Peninsula. The town was very close to a large national park, and promised a mostly tourist-free vacation compared to some other popular spring break locales. The town was also close to a group of students from my college, one of which happened to be my then-girlfriend. I chose the location at random, though, I swear.

When I stepped off the plane in the Costa Rican capital of San Jose, I had to switch planes from a large commercial plane to a small “puddle jumper” plane. Now, I don’t like heights, and this was my first time leaving the US. When the pilot asked some of us to sit in different spots to “balance the plane out” I was convinced that at some point within the next thirty minutes, my life would end in a fiery explosion.

It was loud, shaky, and intense, but as soon as we got to our cruising altitude I was blown away by the natural beauty of the Costa Rican isthmus. My face was pressed to the window for the first half of the flight, vibrating with the plane and appreciating the views. There were rows of houses as we left San Jose, then sections of colorful farms, then dense tropical forests.

Eventually, we crossed through some clouds, and I was reminded that I had a camera. We emerged from the clouds into a small section that felt like the eye of a hurricane. We were surrounded on all sides by clouds, even below, with no wind to shake the plane. It felt like flying a plane really close to some concept of heaven and giving a high five to whatever God lives there.

Then we arrived in Puerto Jimenez, landed on a dirt runway, and departed. I had recently learned that I would be unable to stay with the other students, so I was left to my own devices to find a place to stay. Agfa in hand, I wandered the late-afternoon streets. The trip was beautiful, and I was incredibly lucky to be able to experience Costa Rica so naturally. I wandered the streets of the city, taking photos for days.

That means taking photos and naps in various natural locations, like a black sand beach in Matapalo or… an ironic black sand beach at Playa Blanca. There were a lot of beaches and a lot of forests. I spent a week in Puerto Jimenez, walking around, swimming in the ocean, riding bicycles, and underestimating the strength of the tropical sun. I had been in Vermont’s dark, winter-y embrace for too long to not wear sunscreen, but there I was, burnt to a crisp after three days.

The Agfa Optima 1035 Sensor was a constant companion, and I didn’t once question its abilities, even if I was unable to get the film developed. I shot fifteen rolls of film that week with absolutely no idea how any of them came out.

When I returned to the cold “spring” in Vermont, the film was the first thing on my mind. The guy at my local lab took one look at the happy, sunburnt boy holding fifteen rolls of film and said “Had a nice trip, eh? This much might take us a few days to finish.” That’s fine, I can wait, it’ll be worth it.

And it truly was. The vivid colors, strong sun, and intense flora showed up on Ektar and Portra exactly how they did in my memories.

The photos had, and still have, that wonderful quality of bringing me right back to the moments I took them. Even smells and sounds from the Costa Rican beach come back when I look over the results from the Agfa Optima 1035 Sensor. The camera did exactly what I wanted it to. It didn’t get in the way, and exposed things properly. The only way I could have gotten through that much film is with a camera that doesn’t fight back, and the Agfa just works.

That tiny light sensor directly above the lens does a great job metering the entire scene, and the Agfa’s flexible shutter has a wide range. The Optima Sensor series is named based on their top shutter speed. The 335 is 1/300, 535 is 1/500, and the 1035 is 1/1000. All the models can, according to Agfa, handle up to 15 second exposures. Pretty impressive for something so small.

It was safe to say that the Agfa had secured a permanent spot in my bag. Its next chance to shine was a journey to Kingston, Ontario, for a concert. Kingston was the opposite of Costa Rica. The colder urban scenes and general darkness presented a different challenge for the Optima than the lush greenery of Puerto Jimenez. But even in low light, or clouds, or dark concert venues, the Agfa pulled through. The camera’s compact size and very quiet leaf shutter mean that lower shutter speeds are doable, and I fell in love with the shots I got at the concert itself.

The Agfa’s ability to shoot up to 15 seconds came in handy, and the dreamy effect of a slow shutter combined with the bright neon lights make these concert shots some of my favorites I’ve ever taken.

Over the next few months, the Agfa had removed other cameras from my bag entirely. Instead of carrying an SLR, or even the rangefinder system I had invested in, I was reaching only for this tiny Agfa and filling the rest of my bag with film and snacks. Having the Agfa on my wrist just felt right, and I didn’t think I needed any other camera.

It also made a great party camera. I would strap a small flash on top and get way too close to my friends’ faces in an attempt to blind them. The photos were always crisp and well exposed because the Agfa is a smart camera. And while that last sentence feels a bit too much like a Ken Rockwell sentence, I mean it. Maybe they fit a little brain in all the extra space they saved with clever engineering tricks.

It was its status as a party camera, though, that spelled doom for the Optima. At a friend’s party, after consuming an amount of beer that I’d rather not admit, I dropped the camera straight onto concrete. I picked it up, went “oh no,” ordered Chinese food and fell asleep before the delivery driver got to my house. Little did I know that the Agfa’s shutter had broken entirely.

The next day, I realized what had happened. My Agfa Optima 1035 Sensor had shot its last shot, and for some reason I wasn’t too upset about it. In my hubris, I figured I would find another camera just as good and be fine. It was just like giving someone an XA to play with. There would always be more cameras, right? So up on the shelf went the Optima Sensor 1035, relegated to a life of looking nice. What I fool I had been. And so, my search began again.

Luckily, I was working at Complete Camera Center in Vermont, a wonderful repair shop full of cameras I could borrow and play with. It may have been a curse, though, to be constantly surrounded by new gear. It can have the effect of making any one camera seem less special. I played with point and shoots like the Minolta Talker and Samsung ECX-1. The quirky Yashica Samurai almost became a permanent member of my bag. I shot a lot with a Nikon F3 and an Olympus OM-1, both of them being go-to SLRs for years. I added a Fujica GM670 as a professional option, but carrying that around every day would give me back issues by the time I turned 30. I still didn’t have that “bring-everywhere” camera that I wanted.

My search went on and on, stopping for a bit as I tried different cameras, but always continuing when they didn’t feel quite right. I brought this search with me when I moved from Vermont to Georgia, and when I moved from Georgia to New Jersey. It was right before I packed up one last time to move to Finland that I said enough was enough. I finally searched for another Agfa and found… none. For the first time in the previous few years, I was unable to find the camera I wanted to play with.

I ended up buying an older version of the same camera, taking it out of the box, and going “oh no, this isn’t it” before returning it. The lens was also hazy, in my defense.

So I left for Finland, Agfa-less. And again, working at Kamerastore.com, I was surrounded by new gear. I played with a silly Olympus point and shoot SLR thing, and an iconic Zeiss folder that could easily be a “bring everywhere” medium format camera, but my Agfa lust became well-documented to some of my coworkers.

Then I received the text that we had one. An Optima Sensor 1035 in good condition, with the compact Optimalux flash. I came running to my coworker’s desk, took it from his hands, and tested it myself. Then I went shooting.

It was like saying hello to an old friend, and all the muscle memory came right back. Clicking the focus ring into the different zones is satisfying, and seeing the needle move in the viewfinder is the peace of mind I need. For fidgety people, the ring is what you’ll play with. The clicks are just… so nice.

The frame counter on this one is busted, but who cares. I don’t take notes on every shot I take, especially not with a full-program pocket camera like this. I just shoot until the camera doesn’t let me shoot anymore. And the most beautiful thing about the Agfa is that it lets you do that. The slight wheeze of the shutter is an interesting tone, but I trust the metering system in the Agfa to deliver great results and leave framing and focus up to me. This may offend the “I only use mechanical cameras because I don’t trust electronics” crowd that I used to be part of, but I think for everyday snapshots I like a program camera.

The zone focus is the ideal amount of interaction for me. It’s just as fast as using a rangefinder once you memorize your camera’s zones. The Agfa’s are 5 feet, 15 feet, and infinity, with an unmarked “macro mode” at 3 ft. That’s 1.5m, 5m, and infinity for everyone at home not using the Queen’s units.

The 40mm focal length is also great for me. It’s so close to the eye’s natural focal length that framing is second nature. What you see is more or less what you get. What else could you want from a “bring everywhere” camera?

And again, the photos are fantastic. The lens is sharp, the colors are crisp, and the light meter is just magic. It meters the entire scene properly even with harsh light. I’ve shot much more expensive cameras with 40mm lenses, like the Leica CM, and honestly the only difference I could notice is a very tiny bit of distortion when comparing the $100 Agfa to the $2,000 Leica CM. Does the distortion impact everyday photography? Absolutely not.

The Agfa has not left my bag since I acquired it, even on multiple trips to Helsinki and other cities in Finland. The Optima has succeeded in the Finnish city and countryside just like it did in the US, Canada, and Costa Rica.

This time, I’m not going to let it slip away (literally, from my hands, because I dropped the last one). Hopefully it will be my trusted companion on many more journeys. So, with that, I declare my search for my “bring-everywhere” camera officially over. Even though I am still struck by Gear Acquisition Syndrome when I, say, pick up a Minox 35 GT-X in the store, I don’t think the Agfa will be replaced anytime soon. I spent two years missing it without even realizing it, and I think it’s time to let the little guy shine.

That’s been my story of finding, losing, and re-finding my Agfa Optima 1035 Sensor – my everyday camera. It’s taken me two years, four countries, and plenty of cameras which ended up broken, stolen, or lost. I hope you all find a camera like that for yourselves, someday. Maybe even on F Stop Cameras. Who knows? James always has a nice selection, after all. [Editor’s note – thanks for the plug, Connor.]

Want your own Agfa Optima 1035 Sensor? Get one on eBay here

The post Agfa Optima 1035 Sensor Review appeared first on Casual Photophile.

Produced from 1976 to 1984, this full-frame lens offers an incredibly compact form factor that was rare in its own day and downright impossible to find in today’s era of auto-focus lenses. A pancake in the truest sense, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more compact lens from any manufacturer to mount on your Pentax or mirrorless digital camera. But size isn’t everything, and this lens does have some issues. Whether or not these imperfections will be enough to detract from the value proposition inherent in its portability will depend on your needs and preferences.

Let’s get down to details, and find out if this Pentax short stack is right for you.

Okay, it’s small. But how small is it? At 68mm it’s similar in diameter to any other legacy lens, but its length of just 18mm is astoundingly short and quite rare. For reference, that’s less than three-quarters of an inch of lens sticking off the front of your camera. I’ll give you a moment to estimate that distance with your thumb and forefinger. Pretty small, eh?

And not just tiny, it’s also dense and well-made. Like most Pentax lenses from the SLR era, build quality is right there with the likes of Nikon and Minolta. A beautifully damped focus throw, an aperture ring that clicks into its detents with mechanical precision, and robust, metal construction throughout the lens barrel, lens mount, and filter threads, all combine to create a lens that, in 2017, is uncommonly precise and solid. At 110 grams it’s lighter than most standard primes, and the five elements in four groups optical configuration does extremely well to correct for any and all distortion. This compact size and weight coupled with quality construction means that when mounted to a small Pentax SLR or modern mirrorless camera, the lens feels fantastic.

The 40mm focal length is just about perfect for general-purpose photography, and even excels in some specialty shooting styles. Street photographers, for example, should enjoy the way it splits the difference between wide-standard 35s and the tried-and-true 50mm. Arguably the street focal length, subtracting 10mm from the 50 gives us just a bit more to work with, as far as capturing more stuff in the frame. The additional background can provide greater context in certain street environments, yet it’s not so wide that we need to get right up to the nose of our subject. Snapshots, family photos, travel shots, landscapes and architectural shots, as well as everyday adventures should all look fantastic through the 40mm eye.

Where this minuscule lens starts to stumble is when we bend a critical eye toward image quality. Sure, certain optical ailments are well-handled by Pentax’s fantastic SMC (super multi-coating) tech, such as flaring and ghosting, and the SMC glass continues the trend of coaxing punchy and colorful images from the world around us. But other optical issues are prominent. When shooting at maximum aperture there’s substantial chromatic aberration (color-fringing). While this won’t be a problem for those who shoot black-and-white or those who know how to mitigate the effect in post-processing, it might stand to distract from other folks’ images. When we stop the lens down to F/4 things get just a bit better, but to be honest, the chromatic aberration doesn’t totally resolve until F/5.6, and even then we can still make it happen in extremely contrasty areas of the frame.

Light fall-off (vignetting) is pretty extensive, with corners of lighter exposures being noticeably darker than the center of the frame. This is worse on full-frame digital sensors, such as the one found in my Sony a7. The phenomenon is less prevalent with film, and won’t really show up at all on crop-sensor machines such as Fuji’s X-series where the lens will give a field of view similar to that of a 60mm lens. All this taken, vignetting is one of the easiest problems to solve in photo editing software – slide a slider and you’re good to go.

What’s worse than these troubles is that the lens just isn’t super sharp, an issue that’s especially egregious, again, when shooting wide open. Corners are spongier than a rum cake, and even the center of the frame lacks the clinical precision of something like a Nikkor 50mm, or Minolta’s Rokkor 45mm F/2. And with the Pentax’s maximum aperture being a relatively sluggish F/2.8, this lens will need to be shot wide open in more situations than you might expect. Shooting Portra in the city at night? Better bring some diazepam. Or a tripod. Pick your poison.

Stopping the lens down will naturally improve sharpness, to a point. When we’re shooting at F/4 or F/5.6 we’re making images that are acceptably sharp, and at F/8 I’m happy to compare shots made with the Pentax with many other legacy lenses. It’s true that even at F/8 or F/11 shots aren’t as sharp as those made at equivalent apertures by some non-pancake lenses, such as the Zeiss 45mm F/2 Planar I’ve been shooting on my new G2, but we can’t really expect them to be, can we? This is a pancake lens of tiny proportions – we shouldn’t be surprised if image quality suffers a bit. And sharpness isn’t everything. Some of my favorite shots I’ve ever made are ones that you wouldn’t necessarily describe as “sharp”. In the real world, the Pentax lens will be sharp enough, just don’t expect anything special.

The five-bladed iris creates some fairly distracting bokeh, and this combines with the far-flung minimum focus distance of 60 centimeters (nearly 2 feet) to make for a lens that won’t be mistaken for an exceptional subject isolator. Highlight bokeh at any other aperture is geometric and rather unpleasant. Just as you wouldn’t buy this lens if sharpness was your primary metric for quality, so too should it be avoided by those for whom bokeh is the only thing that matters.

All these imaging caveats might make you think twice about hunting out one of these lenses, and before I’d spent a good deal of time with the 40mm I’d have understood if this lens’ reputation had you finding more fault than virtue. But after a few months shooting this pancake from Pentax I feel it’s a lens that defies the kind of normal lens assessment to which we all mostly subscribe. For sure, this lens is not a perfect lens, and it doesn’t make perfect images in challenging situations (low light, close subject, traditional portraiture). But there’s something special about it that stems directly from its size, form factor, and usability. There’s a certain character and quality about this lens that may get lost in translation when reviewers put their pen to paper.

It’s just a great lens to carry around, and paired with the right camera it’s an absolute dream. Mount this lens on something like the Pentax K1000 and you’ll likely miss the boat. That camera is large. But put it on something like the professional-spec LX, or the mid-level ME Super, cameras that are among the smallest SLRs in the world, and you’ll have discovered a pairing of lens and camera that is simply divine. These pairings create a machine and lens combination that just feels so, so good.

Concise, precise, and sophisticated, I found myself simply setting the lens to F/4 and firing away, caring very little if things weren’t quite sharp enough and caring even less about potential vignetting and chromatic aberration. Out in bright light and shooting the street, I often realized I’d been simply pointing and shooting with the lens set to F/8 and the focus ring set someplace in the middle of its action. It worked. Shots were sharp enough for my taste, contrasty, vibrant, and most important, I was happy to take those shots. In fact, this lens fitted to the Pentax LX became my surprisingly luxurious go-to set-up for the final few months of 2016 (LX review coming soon, Pentaxians).

Mounted to the Sony a7 the lens is truly capable of making excellent images with little fuss. Unfortunately, mounting this lens to a Fuji or Sony digital camera will require an adapter (as do most legacy lenses), so the size benefit is somewhat negated. That said, this combination is still a smaller overall package than mounting competitive and comparable legacy lenses. In truth, this 40mm mounted to my Sony presents the smallest legacy lens profile I’ve ever used. And I should mention that this lens uses Pentax’s K-mount, which in similar fashion to Nikon and their F mount is still being used by Pentax on their modern DSLRs. That means this lens can mount to your new Pentax DSLR with only minor concerns (it’ll be manual-focus only, and the aperture will not be controllable via the camera’s in-body controls). If you’ve got a modern Pentax DSLR, try looking for the newer version of this lens, called the SMC Pentax-DA 40mm F/2.8.

All this said, it seems that the SMC Pentax-M 40mm F/2.8 is one of those rare creations that is, clichés be damned, greater than the sum of its parts. It’s inexpensive, a capable image maker with uncommon fit and finish, and a lens with fantastic feel on the street. It offers a standard focal length that’s just abnormal enough to keep things interesting, great optics capable of making punchy shots, and the smallest package available to vintage Pentax fans and modern legacy shooters alike. If you’re a photo geek using a Pentax film camera, a traveler with a digital machine, or anyone interested in compact precision, this lens is worth a try.

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