blowabs

sorry to go off-topic here, but just to make this short...because Fuji allows us to set the 'min shutter speed' parameter in ISO-Auto, there are certain scenarios where i want to capture blur (ie: a passing train between me and a crowd of other people on a platform across the way). so, i'd have at least one Custom Preset with ISO-Auto (1/15). then as soon as i'd walk out of the subway into the streets, i'd switch to another Custom Preset with ISO-Auto (1/500). i have other scenarios i'd want different ISO-Auto values for, but i don't want to hi-jack this thread.

Wrong.

Except for one poster, you all have it terribly wrong. Focal length, especially for "street photography" is not about field of view, but about perspective. Thus for the OP the choice between the 23mm and the 27mm should not be made on the basis of field of view or even actual physical size of the lens, but on how the perspective of each lens will define the ultimate style of his street photography.

Just got the X-T10. With the 27, it will fit in my ScottE vest pocket. I've been shooting with the 27 for 2 years now and have gotten to really love life at 40mm. The people who say that it's too slow are living in their heads. With the excellent high-ISO capability of Fujis there is no problem. I owned the 23, but sold it. It's a brilliant lens, but fits in between for me. It's too big to be unobtrusive on the street street. It's too long for landscapes and too wide for a lot of studio work. If I did more traditional documentary, it would be great. I don't.
 
I put the 27 at f/8, hyper-focus at about 8 feet and forget about focusing. It's all there. The lens is brilliantly sharp, has great contrast and makes the camera unobtrusive. On the X-T10, the kit looks like a point and shoot and won't catch attention. Add in the totally silent electronic shutter and you fly under the radar.
 

On the X-T1 I have the 23mm 1.4 and the pancake 27mm. I oscillated between both for a while. I love how sharp and useable the 23mm is and it just feels like image quality is a step above that of the 27mm. Whether it was the slight change in focal length (43mm equivalent) or the glass, or just me (likely) I was not happy with what the 27mm was producing. On the other hand, the size and weight of the 27mm is super convenient and effectively transforms the XT-1 into the smaller X100s form factor.
 
I chose to stick with the 23 mainly due to ergonomics of the aperture ring and the field of view being more to my taste. However you might want the 27 because of the form factor or the closer FL. it's a win win situation but these are matters of personal preference.
 
Ok my personal pov coming up next:
 
I don't buy the 'inconspicuous' thing. I think that's a big misconception in street photography. Your demeanour attitude confidence personality have a much larger role to play in my opinion. I decided to stop agonising over this issue, sold one of the lenses and for the past year have gotten used to that lens to the point where I know it so well I can focus on the image and my composition and because I am confident with my gear I get noticed less anyway. (Weight is not an issue for me either with the 23. I carry it around my neck or shoulder with those beatiful Japanese silk straps and it is supremely comfortable. )
 
Allow yourself to be "that guy with the camera " in your neighbourhood, don't be sneaky, talk to people who see you shooting, and soon you will be invisible. I accepted the fact that people will ask me what I am doing who I am shooting for why did I take their picture etc. then magically all of a sudden they stopped asking (well less and less).
 
I realise that's only one approach to street and that's my style and it suits me. It may not suit you but I hope to give you some input for your own journey. I know you only asked about a lens right? And some guy gets all preachy!! Sorry can't help it I love photography ;-)
 
Worry less about your lens choice and more about the opportunity cost of not shooting whilst you deliberate. You cannot go wrong with this wonderful set of tools. Good luck ;-)
 
 
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the XF23 has a much better image quality than the XF27, or at least i notice such a difference. the XF23 (35mm equivalent) is my all-time favourite field of view for everything especially the streets. anything past the 35mm fov is too tight for me. i'm not fond of the 50mm/standard fov for streets/docu. i prefer capturing more of the entire scene especially when i tend to be up closer to people where a wider angle helps. and i can always crop if i need to. though i love the image quality of the XF23, the size is all wrong. and though i love the size of teh XF27, the fov is too tight for my tastes and is kind awkward for me - it's like.. either be wider or be a 50mm/standard already. so, i'd have to choose the XF18. it's pancake enough even with an aperture ring, though i'd prefer it were a dof scale.
 
something i wish Fuji would do is bring us a street photography line of lenses that are small (dof scale, please) even if it means being a bit slower.

There are street photographers that shoot in 35 and even 50.  You going to go tell them that they aren't street photographers?  All the street photographers out there making a living with the X100 series, that aren't street photographers because they aren't shooting the right focal length.
 
I don't understand the need to feel that you aren't shooting street if you aren't shooting wider than 35.  That's a ridiculous and asinine statement if I've ever heard one.
 
Street is subject, not focal length.

I assume that Henri Cartier-Bresson is just a button presser who didn't knew enough about street photography because he shot at 50mm...
 
Look mate, I am not here to start an argument about who's right or wrong, I came here to provide my point of view, which you disagree with and that's perfectly fine with me. 
 
Now for the sake of moving forward in this thread, can we agree that we disagree ?

Is the 27mm much better, no, but it is better. Also, it's a general known thing that primes are to be better than zoom kits.
 
As for the 27mm vs 18mm, it's about 2/3 of the weight of the 18mm and 1 cm smaller, if you want something small with your camera, the 27mm is still the current smallest XF lens available to us.
 
I can only speak for myself, I wanted the smallest lens for streets and the 27mm fit the bill, I considered the 18mm but because of the small loss in quality compared to the zoom kit, I picked the 27mm out and got the 35mm along side.
Do I consider the 18mm to be a bad lens ? Hardly, it's a very capable lens, just not good enough for my personal preferences. For a lot of X shooters the street combo is still the 18, 27 and 35, some might swap the 27 for the 23 but again, to each their own.
 
Street photopgraphy is about taking picture of subjects in the streets, what you use to achieve that end depends purely on your style. I know ppl with telezoom lenses doing the streets, they get more candid shots than I can when I walk up to the subjects because they are so far away the subject hardly notice them.
I have even seen ppl doing street with the 23mm, which is certainly not small but they still pulled it out.

Neither.
23 is too big and bulky, whereas 27 is too slow and narrow.
X100T is not bad (I own one), but it's overpriced imo, no articulating screen and way too soft and hazy at macro range.
Therefore your best bet is 18 - small size, relatively cheap, has an aperture ring unlike the 27, and wider than 23 (just crop a lil if required).
In fact that's exactly why I bought mine.

It's unlikely that you need F1.4 for street unless you like to shoot at dusk(?), and the size of the 23/1.4 would scare away some people. It's better to look like a tourist than a pro .. perception can be everything. I think that even the Graphite X-T1 would be best because that makes it look more fancy than professional, making people curious instead of nervous .. just thinking out loud here.
 
As you've seen, the image quality of the 27mm is impeccable. The X-T10 looks harmless as well in both colors i guess, it's tiny (too tiny for some hands). The main reason to get the X-T1 over the X-T10 is the larger viewfinder, but that's just a luxury .. as are most of the other small differences.
 
As for the focal length, read this: http://www.japancamerahunter.com/2014/11/storytellers-kit-daniel-schaefer/

With Auto-ISO set to a ceiling of 12800, it most certainly does.

I'm double-checking this with an X-T10 in my hands right now—well, it's on the desk because I can't hold a camera and type at the same time—and there's no way to do it.
 
With the lens set to A, you are not in aperture priority. If the shutter is set to A, too, you'll be in program. This allows you to change the shutter and the aperture through various combinations, to keep the same exposure. (E.g. increasing the shutter by a stop also opens the aperture by a stop; closing the aperture by one stop slows the shutter by a stop; etc.) That is done with both the front and rear dials; although the dials are marked as being shutter on front and aperture on rear, because changing one automatically changes the other by an equal amount, the result is both dials control both perimeters.
 
You can see which mode you're in by simply pressing the menu button once and loking at the top of the first screen.
If the aperture ring is on an f-stop number and the shutter is on A, it will say you're in 'aperture priority AE' and only the aperture ring can be used to change the aperture. If the lens does not have an aperture ring, the rear dial has to be used to adjust the aperture.
If the aperture ring is on A and the shutter is on an exposure time, it will say 'shutter priority AE' and the shutter dial and front dial will, together, control shutter speed. Front dial can adjust the shutter in 1/3rd stop steps up to 2/3rds of a stop faster or slower than the value indicated by the shutter dial; whole stop steps must be made with the top shutter dial.
If the aperture is set to A and the shutter is set to T, the menu will say 'shutter priority AE' and the shutter speed will be controlled with the front dial.
If the aperture is set to A and the shutter is set to A, the menu will say 'program AE' and both front and rear dials will change the mixture of aperture and shutter speed, in 1/3rd stop steps, to maintain the exposure as the camera meters it.
If the aperture i set to an f-stop number and the shutter is set to an exposure time or T, the menu will read 'manual'. Aperture will only be controlled by the ring on the lens, and shutter will be controlled by the top shutter dial for whole step changes, and the front dial for 1/3rd-stop changes. If the lens does not have an aperture ring, the rear dial controls aperture.
Pressing the front dial in, in any mode, will bring up the ISO menu. Pressing the rear dial in will enlarge the image preview/live view.

You can swap the front and rear dials around in the menu, under button/dial settings. This allows you to switch shutter adjustment to the rear dial and aperture adjustment—when available—to the front dial.
 
There is not, categorically, an option to control the aperture with the rear dial if the lens has an aperture ring.
 
There is a menu option for 'aperture setting', which is where you can adjust the dial settings for controlling aperture if the lens attached is one which does not have an aperture ring. If you attach a lens which does have its own aperture setting, this menu option will be greyed out and you are unable to select it.
 
 
Short recap: If your lens has an aperture ring, the rear dial can not control aperture. If your lens does not have an aperture ring, the rear dial is the only way to control aperture. If you have ever thought you've been able to use the rear dial to control the aperture of a lens which has an aperture ring, either you're thinking of Program AE mode, or you're simply completely remembering incorrectly.

I am a new fuji x-t10 owner and like the camera very much but I cannot get the rear command dial to change  the aperture that the book says you can do.
The only way I can change aperture is to rotate the aperture ring on the lens . Could someone tell me what I'm doing wrong.I only have the 18 to 55mm right now.
                                               JT