Fujifilm Fujinon XF23mm F1.4 R Lens

Product Information

In fact, the autofocus of the 23mm f/2 is even better than that of the 35mm f/2, which received a lot of praise for its autofocus when it was originally released.

Next for my bokeh ball test with the Sigma 23 wide-open at f1.4 and focused close to its minimum distance of around 25cm. Let’s briefly toggle between it and the Sony 24 from the same distance and position at f1.8. Notice how the Sigma is actually delivering a similarly-sized subject to the Sony – maybe even a tad larger – despite its slightly shorter focal length. This is due to a mild magnification from focus breathing at close range as demonstrated earlier. The focus ring on the 23mm F1.4 does at least have a nice feel as the components in the manual focusing ring assembly have been specially engineered to respond with more precision, especially when the focusing ring is moved slightly.Fuji has essentially two ranges of prime lenses: the fast primes (f1.4 lenses) and the more budget-friendly, yet weather resistant, f2 varieties.

First off, 23mm is an extremely versatile focal length. It’s a wide-angle lens that you can still use for portraits of people without it looking unflattering. This Fuji XF 23mm f/1.4 is an extraordinary aspherical 35mm-equivalant normal to wide lens that only works on Fuji X-mount cameras. As the world's newest ultra-speed mid-wide lens, this lens has superior optical performance. The Fujifilm XF 23mm F1.4 R LM WR is capable of producing quite nice sunstars when stopped-down to f/16, as shown below, and flare is well controlled even when shooting straight into the sun, as you can see in the following photos. Macro It toggles between auto aperture control (the ring is set to A) or manual aperture control (the switch is set to one of the aperture values). To better reveal any differences in rendering, here’s my close-up bokeh ball test shot from the same distance with all three lenses. Let’s start with the latest 23 1.4 LM WR wide-open at f1.4, then switch to the original 23 1.4 where the bokeh blobs are similar in size but a little less elongated, and finally for the compact 23 f2 which not only has smaller blobs, but also the least symmetrical or circular shapes towards the edges.But, oh my, was I in for a surprise. They completely reimagined this lens, and made what I consider the best XF series lens to date! Yes, even better than the XF18mm f/1.4 and todays co-released XF33mm f/1.4. So le’s have a look at this latest lens offering from Fujifilm. And exactly like the XF33mm f/1.4 the bokeh reminds me a lot of that of the XF35mm f/1.4R which is widely regarded as some of the best bokeh from any lens of the XF system. I would actually say that it has better OOF quality than it’s predecessor. So again, well done Fujifilm!

Let’s zoom-in for a closer look at the middle of the frame with the Sigma 23 on the left and the Sony 24 on the right, both at their maximum apertures of f1.4 and 1.8 respectively. If you are focussed on street, in various weather, yes portraits but also with a priority on details and getting closer. And especially if shooting children or other lively subjects, then you will love the upgrade and appreciate the big improvement of AF.However, they aren’t weather resistant and don’t have the same speed of auto-focus as the newer generation of lenses: the 35mm f2, the 16mm f2.8, and the 23mm f2 lens we’re talking about today. Disclaimer 1:I’m an X-photographer. That’s spelled brand ambassador for Fujifilm. I don’t get paid for doing these write ups (and I have been doing them even before getting involved with Fujifilm). This means that I’m just about as biased as I can get, and whether you choose to believe my views or not is entirely up to you. I expect you to be adults, capable of forming your own opinions based on presented information.

The fact that the autofocus is so good, as well as silent, makes this an excellent lens for shooting video. The Fujifilm XF 23mm F1.4 R LM WR lens has an internal focusing (IF) system that uses a linear motor, which results in fast, accurate, and virtually silent auto-focusing on the X-S10 camera that we tested it with. All that subjectivity aside, if 35mm is your preferred field of view, you can get by without weather sealing, and don’t might the added size and weight, or if you simply want shallow depth of field, it’s a lens that might be worth considering. The FUJINON XF23mmF1.4 R features a camera-to-subject distance indicator and a depth-of-field scale on the barrel. Both are useful when manually pre-focusing to capture a fast moving subject, or minimise the shutter lag to capture a fleeting moment. In general, this is a lens that really does not see much hood use. I’ve written many times before that I often like a little flare and ghosting in my images. You can probably get away with shielding the lens with your hand most of the time. I would recommend mostly keeping it small and leaving the hood at home. If you do want a shade, either one of the aftermarket hoods would be a more compact, discrete choice.

As I gradually close their apertures, you’ll see the impact of their respective diaphragm blade systems, with the Sigma on the left rendering the rounder shapes we’re more used to seeing on newer lens designs versus the more angular shapes of older models. There’s no right or wrong here, only personal preference.