Disassembly - Voigtlander 27mm F2 lens in Fuji X mount

 Voigtlander 27mm F2 is one of the smallest manual focusing lenses available for Fuji X mount. It's also my dream lens because it has all great ergonomic and optics qualities of Fujinon XF 27mm F2.8 combined with true manual focus and manual aperture control.

This article is providing closer look at the lens internals accessible from the rear mount area. At the moment I didn't discover how to safely open front area and keep it for later.

This Voigtlander 27mm F2 X mount lens copy is purchased directly from CameraQuest - official US distributor of Cosina Voigtlander lenses. I'm not affiliated, simply a big biased fan of CameraQuest as the primary resource I check for Voigtlander lens details, announcements and great lens price deals for new and used copies.

Disassembly - rear mount area

First step is to unscrew three black bolts and pull out black metal ring surrounding rear optical module.

Next - unscrew two black bolts holding lens contacts. Finally unscrew four silver bolts of the mount ring. Accurately lift the mount ring and gently release lens contacts - the ribbon cable is very thing and fragile so do it with extra caution.

There is set of metal shims for infinity calibration of Voigtlander 27mm F2 lens (marked with green arrow).

It's important to accurately lift edges of two black plastic locks on lens main board from the red arrows side.

After unlocking, gently pull out two ribbon cables from mainboard. Next - unscrew three black bolts holding mainboard and remove it.

The Voigtlander 27mm F2 lens main board has all electronics components on its single side.

Unscrew three black bolts marked with green arrows and remove the DOF scale ring, watch the ribbon cable when assembling this ring back.

Opposite side of DOF scale ring has simple board to digitally track the manual focus ring position.

Unscrew another three black bolts and remove the focus ring.

There are two bolts securing focusing ring knob.

Internal focusing frame has two areas limiting focus rotation. The bolt with white plastic cylinder is nicely dampening end stops of focus range.

When focusing to minimal distance whole frame is lifting, helicoid has two durable brass guiders.

Red arrows are showing board for digital tracking of the manual aperture ring radial position. There is also end edge of bolt secured from the opposite side. It means that accessing aperture area is requiring disassembly from the front. So far the assumption is that front nameplate need to be unscrewed CCW in filter thread, but I didn't confirm that yet due to perhaps lots of factory glue is securing that ring very firm.

The focus ring tracking contacts are secured on plastic bed. Please pay extra attention when assembling the lens back.

At this point it should be also possible to unscrew the rear optical module CCW after loosening factory glue with acetone. My lens copy is very clean inside so I'm skipping this operation for now and putting lens back together.

Well, all pictures in this article are taken during Voigtlander 27mm F2 lens assembly and simply listed in reverse order. One important hint - when connecting ribbon cables to the board focus lens to infinity, and before securing socket locks focus lens to minimal distance.

Brief conclusions

Cosina engineers are following same design of digital tracking of manual focus/aperture rings radial position. It allows to transfer data into camera, but is also not a critical component of lens. If electronics fail at some point - lens will continue operating optically and mechanically (unlike the fully digitally operated XF 27mm F2.8).

I like to see durable all metal construction of the Voigtlander 27mm F2 lens internals. The disassembly process is relatively simple, though many bolts are secured with glue and require extra attention. Same elevated care is required when dealing with electronics connectors. It's impressive to see high precision of all parts even in so compact pancake lens. It's no surprise the lens cost of Voigtlander lens is higher than Fujinon 27mm - producing of all that separate metal rings with complex geometry surfaces is requiring high quality standards and precise equipment.