AstrHori 27mm f2.8 – No Longer A Pancake

Suddenly, there seems to be another new hype for 27mm among third-party manufacturers. I have no idea why there are suddenly so many 27mm in the market again. If you are not familiar, Ulanzi and 7Artisans release the same 27mm f2.8 setup. (Just that Ulanzi only released it for the Sony E-mount.)

On a second note, you might realized that both 7Artisans and AstrHori shared very similar lens design with Jintu. You are not wrong. They are the same lens. Just rebranded. (However, we have no idea who rebranded from who. But does it matter?)

Intro

AstrHori 27mm f2.8 was announced back in November 2024. AstrHori isn’t a new player for this focal length, in fact, they had released two 27mm manual lenses before. So I suppose they have decided to go for an autofocus one after noticing some demands from the market.

Design and Build Quality

From the look, this lens is a simple, beautiful, and minimalistic. It comes with a simple textured manual focus ring for easy gripping. No lens hood is provided for the 39mm filter thread. It comes with 2 colors, black and titanium, which I think the later one do stand out a bit from the crowd.

When it comes to size, it is not the smallest 27mm lens in the market. In fact, it is not even the size of being a “pancake” lens. It is about 2x the size of the XF27mm f2.8. If in return, the

The lens is metal-constructed, with decent built quality. At 165 grams, it is well-weighted and well-balanced on hand. If you are hoping this lens has a similar size to the XF27mm f2.8 WR, you might be disappointed as it is close to 2 times the thickness.

Image Quality

The image quality is noticeably better than that of TTArtisan’s offering. Not quite a fair comparison as the TTArtisan variant was released in 2022 and I believe the optical glass quality has improved over the years.

While sharpness isn’t exceptional at wide open, it remains decent and perfectly usable. The lens also delivers pleasing contrast, and I didn’t encounter any significant chromatic aberration. Vignetting is present, but it can be corrected easily in post.

As for sunstars, they’re acceptable and considerably sharp or well-defined.

Focusing

The manual focus ring feels satisfying to use, with a textured surface that provides a smooth yet firm rotation.

The autofocus speed isn’t particularly fast or snappy, but it delivers respectable performance and remains largely accurate. In my testing, the Stepper Motor (STM) handled low-light conditions without any noticeable issues, and most importantly, it is quite silent compared to other 27mm f2.8 variants.

Minimum Focus Distance (MFD)

On the bright side, the MFD is actually better (@30cm) than the XF27mm f2.8 WR and TTArtisan 27mm f2.8, at 34cm and 35cm respectively. Also, the good news is that the image quality remains the same.

Price Point

Priced at 126 USD. It is probably the second cheapest 27mm autofocus lens on the market, the 7Artisans variant is now 110 USD. If every cent is considered in your budget, this is the most affordable 27mm lens to be considered.

Others

Like most of the third-party manufacturers, it does come with a USB-C port for future firmware updates. But unlike most of them, the port is located right at the bottom of the lens barrel. The port does protected by a piece of rubber seal but it is not my most favourable one since the seal can be easily lost without being noticed.

Oh yes, it comes with Sony E-mount and Nikon Z-mount too.

Who is this for?

The 40mm (full-frame equivalent) focal length tends to be a love-or-hate choice. This often comes down to two key factors: lens size and aperture. However, this particular lens isn’t designed to excel in either area. Instead, it’s aimed at photographers who want to experience the 40mm perspective without committing to a higher investment.

Conclusion

Although this is a rebranded lens, its image quality is more than acceptable, with reliable sharpness and decent focusing speed. Considering the price point, there’s little to complain about.

I’ve always admired AstrHori for producing unique and unconventional lenses that few other manufacturers attempt. That’s why I was surprised to see them release a focal length that’s already quite common in the market. Perhaps this is their way of balancing between offering distinctive, niche lenses and more conventional options.

That said, I look forward to seeing Astrhori continue to grow, especially with more autofocus lenses in their lineup.

Thank you for reading.

Disclaimer:
1. All the shots taken here are shot by me.
2. Most of the shots are straight out of the camera with some shots edited via In-Camera Raw Processing.
3. The opinions are based on my experience. If there is any mistake, please kindly drop me a message and I will gladly make the amendment.
4. I reserve ownership of these images, if you wish to use my images, please notify me.
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