My Quick Review of Fuji X-E4 kit

jhorse wrote:

Hi, a wonderfully informative review, which for me is helpful. I am on the fence about upgrading my XE3/27 Mk I to the XE4/27 Mk II. I have a kit on order, still no sign of it at my retail outlet (they do have bodies only) here in the UK.

In relation to the cost of change, for which I would gain minimal image quality improvement I am grappling with, in my opinion, the worse ergonomics versus better internals.

The 27 Mk II comes, I believe, with a nice lens hood. However, from all that I have seen, the kit version omits the hood. Is that the case? Can ono get one independently? Fujifilm UK shows that one is available (£9.99), but out of stock.

Currently, I use a wide angle one like this off eBay, which works well on the 27 Mk I:

Ø 39mm Lens Hood for Fuji Fujinon XF 27mm f/2.8 | eBay

Thanks for writing up your views - appreciated.

If I had a Mark I 27mm lens I wouldn't buy the Mark II, because the front command dial on the X-E4 can be used to adjust the aperture. I haven't tried it but I don't often change my lens aperture. Most lenses I shoot are manual anyway, and when I went out shooting with my Fuji lenses they usually stayed at F5.6.  If you change aperture often it could be worthwhile to upgrade, particularly if you have a X-E4.

I didn't get a hood with my kit lens.

I looked at the lens hood you linked, but I found this one on B&H:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/800620-REG/Heliopan_73019H_39_mm_Metal_Lens.html

It looks good, and it's in stock. This has the nice advantage that the 39mm pinch type lens cover fits on the front of the hood. It is $27.80, not too expensive, but for now I am getting along just fine without a hood.

One possible issue here is that the filter mount on the Mark II lens (as well as the front element) moves in and out to focus.  If the hood is too wide it would interfere with the fixed part of the lens and this would be very bad.

I do have a 39mm Fuji clear protector filter on the front, Fuji PRF-39 ($50).  Lens seems to work fine with this filter installed, moving in and out without issue.

B&H also offers the Fuji LH-XF27 hood for $12.99 but they have none in stock. This is the one that comes with the lens if you buy a lens separately, I believe.  If I threaded this on the front of the clear protector filter I might worry a little about vignetting.