Fujifilm Fujinon XF23mm F1, Exceptional

November 29, 2019

Fujifilm Fujinon XF23mm F1, Exceptional

I feel bad about only giving this lens 3 stars. I’m sure for most users it would be a 5 star review. However its design causes me some problems. With older style fuji primes you switch from auto to manual focus by moving a switch on the camera body. With this lens the setting of the switch is ignored and you switch to manual focus by sliding the focus ring towards the camera body. This reveals the distance marks and the dof scale just like old style lenses. This is very pretty but it makes the lens behave differently to the older models. With the older lenses when you are in manual focus mode you can hit the af-l button and the lens will auto focus and then you can fine tune the focus by hand. I use this a lot when shooting the x-pro1 in poor light because the manual focus assist is not great with that body so it gets you close the the focus you want a lot quicker than using full manual. With this lens hitting the af-l button has no effect.

Good as fuji gets, what more can i say.

Good image quality but just too expensive. Bare in mind that is is effectively a f2. 0 35mm full frame equivalent. 4 samyang lens for my other camera which is a d700 you get a lot shallower depth of field with it.

This is a cracking lens, full stop. An adage is to first buy the best lenses you can afford then buy a camera that fits them. The fuji prime lenses were one of the main reasons i sold my nikon equipment in favour of fuji equipment. Nikon don’t make wide angle lenses for their aps-c sensor (dx) cameras. This is not only a wide angle but an f1. Roughly equivalent to a 35mm on a full frame camera, it is a really sharp lens on a fuji xt-1 camera and makes for a compact, first class general purpose lens. It has very smooth out of focus areas (bokeh) and is excellent in low light and indoors situations. Post production allows one to make a copy of a photo then zoom in by cropping, for a more telescopic effect if you wish.

I’ve now been using the lens for a few months and am delighted with it. The image and build quality are exceptional.

I absolutely adored this lens until i had to sell it. Takes amazing images when used correctly and is an excellent piece of kit.

I have just upgraded from the 18-55 kit lens to the 23mm f1. 4 and i am absolutely astonished. I now understand why the xt1 has been so highly rated, but it obviously has to be combined with a fuji wide prime. The image quality and resolution from this combination is nothing short of amazing. I bought the fuji to replace a big nikon that i was not taking with me enough because of the size/weight. I have been impressed with the xt1 size/weight/technologically from the start, but the images missed the ‘wow’ that i was expecting. With this lens on the camera the image quality, resolution and colour are sublime.

Key specs for Fujinon XF23mm F1.4 R Lens:

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The fast f/1.4 aperture allows the user to create images with beautiful bokeh and helps reduce blurring in low light conditions.
The new lens design provides enhanced resolving power with high contrast to draw the maximum performance out of the highly descriptive X-Trans CMOS sensor.
The FUJINON XF23mmF1.4 R weighs 300g and the distance from camera lens mount flange is 51.9mm
Angle of view-63.4°. Focus range-Normal- 0.6m – ∞, Macro- 28cm – ∞

Comments from buyers

“Simply brilliant
, Top quality prime lens
, Five Stars
“

Fantastic build and image quality. I don’t mind the weight but i do wish it was a little shorter – it looks somewhat oversized on my xpro2, though i am used to the 18 f2 and 35mm f2, so i’m used to very small lenses.

I have waited nearly a year before reviewing. Let me say that this is the best lens i have ever used and it now stays on my xt1 camera 90% of the time. I have used the xf23mm in jungles, dry sandy heat, countless cities and recently in iceland. The pictures are suberb every time, day or light. No scratches, faults or dirt. So the build quality is impressive. Snall price to pay for such a solid lens.

Pin sharp, with that retro touch and feel. Fuji hit the nail on the head with most of their kit and this is no exception to the rule. This lens would be perfect it has some weather resistance. Its pin sharp and a pleasure to use in every respect, a work of art.

The zooms are great and better than most other brands but this prime lens gives results that sometimes take your breath away. Having recently being using full frame nikon using nikon prime lenses, i needed to lighten my load and because of lens quality the only other choice for me was fuji. I tried the x-e1 and x-e2 bodies and was blown away with the results on these cameras. However i needed higher shutter speeds to go with the excellent 23mm f1. 4 so that i could use it wide open in bright situations without having to resort to nd filters. The updated firmware on my new x-t1 gave me the higher shutter speeds and now i can use this lens almost constantly. It out performs anything i have used before. I love the ability to snap between auto and manual focus on the lens as i find the front switch on the camera a little more fiddly when quick reactions are needed. I have used many brands and formats of cameras and lenses over the last 50 years and i have never experienced such excitement at the results i am getting with this lens along with the 14mm f2.