Fujinon XF 23mm - A Review


Fujifilm has been producing some spectacular cameras and lenses lately. This is a comparison between Fujinon XF35mm 1.4 R and the more recent Fujinon XF 23mm F2 WR. 
I have been using the Fujinon XF35mm 1.4 R for over a year and it is perhaps the best lens in my collection. It holds a legendary position among the Fujinon lenses and can be considered a classic lens. It is capable of producing spectacular images even when shot wide open. There is an ethereal quality to this lens, which is hard to define in technical terms.The only issue with the lens is lens chatter and slow auto-focus. 
 I mostly use it for street photography and I've produced an award-winning photograph using this lens. Therefore, the Fujinon XF35mm 1.4 R will always have a special place in my heart and camera-bag. However, the problem with the 35mm focal lens is that on a crop-sensor camera like Fujifilm XE-2 it gives a full-frame equivalent focal length of around 52mm. The 50mm focal length can be used for street photography but at times the focal length becomes a little long for classic street photography. I still love the 35mm for taking environmental portraits. However, the 23mm turned out to be a game-changer for me. 

The best feature of the Fujinon XF 23mm is its great AF acquisition. It is hard to imagine a faster AF on any lens. The Fujinon XF 23mm offers a maximum aperture of F2, which isn’t too bad. However, in my experience, it doesn’t produce tack-sharp images when shot wide-open -especially when shot  at a very close distance. Once stopped down to f2.8, it comes at its own and produces beautiful images. It produced tack sharp images at F4 and its capable of producing spectacular images from anything betwen F2.8 amd F8. After extensive shooting with both lenses, I can claim that the XF 23mm F2  produced darker albeit more contrasty images than the XF35mm 1.4 R. Its micro-contrast might be a hair better than the Fujinon XF35mm 1.4 R, as well and there is a cinematic feel to the images it produces. 
I decided to stack up the Fujinon XF 23mm against the Fujinon XF35mm 1.4 R to see how it performs at various apertures and following are the results.


Fujinon XF 23mm 1/200 sec. f/5.6 23mm


Fujinon XF 35 mm 1/200 sec. f/5.6 23mm





















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