Fujifilm XF23mmF1.4 WR Fujifilm - Review 🏆

The Fujifilm XF23mmF1.4 R WR is a premium wide-angle prime lens designed for Fujifilm X-mount mirrorless cameras. With a 35mm equivalent focal length of 35mm, it's a versatile lens well-suited to street photography, landscapes, architecture, and environmental portraits.

Key features of this lens include:

• Fast f/1.4 maximum aperture for low-light shooting and shallow depth of field
• Weather resistant construction with dust and moisture sealing
• Fast, nearly silent autofocus motor
• 9 blade rounded aperture for pleasing bokeh
• Minimum focusing distance of 11cm/4.3in for close-up shots
• 62mm filter thread for attaching filters
• Weighs 405g/14.3oz

With its bright f/1.4 aperture, the XF23mmF1.4 delivers excellent low light performance and the ability to isolate subjects with shallow depth of field. The weather sealing also makes it a durable, reliable lens for outdoor photography.

Build Quality

The Fujifilm XF23mmF1.4 R LM WR lens has excellent build quality that feels very solid in the hand. The lens barrel is made of metal, giving it a premium feel, while the aperture ring and focus ring are rubberized for good grip. The lens also features weather sealing to protect against dust and moisture, making it suitable for outdoor use.

The lens is relatively compact and lightweight for its fast f/1.4 aperture. It weighs just 180g and measures 63mm in diameter and 70mm in length. The compact size makes it a great walkaround lens. The lens takes 52mm filters on the front. Overall, the solid metal build paired with the weather sealing makes this a very durable and reliable lens that can withstand everyday use.

Another remarkable product is the Fujifilm Fujinon XF8mmF3.5 R WR. This lens offers an ultra-wide 8mm focal length and an f/3.5 aperture, perfect for landscapes and architectural shots. It also boasts robust weather sealing and a compact design, ensuring it can withstand the rigors of outdoor photography. The lens construction includes high-quality glass elements to minimize distortion and enhance image sharpness, making it a highly versatile and reliable choice for professional photographers.

Image Quality

The Fujifilm XF23mmF1.4 offers outstanding image quality and is considered one of the best primes in Fuji's XF lineup.

Sharpness

The lens is tack sharp when shot wide open at f/1.4, with excellent center and corner sharpness. Stopping down to f/2-f/5.6 leads to even greater sharpness, allowing you to capture intricate details in your photographs. The images have a lifelike three-dimensional pop.

Bokeh

With its fast f/1.4 aperture, the XF23mmF1.4 can create a shallow depth of field and pleasing bokeh. The out-of-focus areas are smooth and creamy, with circular highlights when shooting wide open. The bokeh quality is ideal for portrait photography.

Chromatic Aberration

Chromatic aberration is well controlled. There is minimal fringing in high contrast areas, even in the corners and edges of the frame. The images have very natural colors straight from the camera.

Distortion

The XF23mm exhibits low distortion for a wide-angle lens. There is minimal barrel distortion, which can easily be corrected in post if needed. Lines remain straight for architecture and landscape shots.

In addition to the stellar XF23mmF1.4, Fujifilm also offers the Fujifilm XF23mmF2 R WR. This lens is a more compact and weather-resistant alternative, making it ideal for photographers who need a reliable and portable option. While it has a slightly slower aperture at f/2, it still delivers impressive image quality with great sharpness and bokeh. The Fujifilm XF23mmF2 R WR is also known for its fast and quiet autofocus, making it perfect for both stills and video work.

Autofocus

The XF23mmF1.4 lens has a fast and accurate autofocus system thanks to its inner focusing mechanism and linear motors. The autofocus is virtually silent, with minimal noise that won't disturb video or still photography.

The autofocus speed is excellent, locking focus instantly in good light. Even in low light conditions, it can achieve focus lock rapidly. This makes it well-suited for street, documentary, and event photography where spontaneous moments matter.

Autofocus accuracy is also impressive. The lens focuses precisely on subjects, with very few instances of hunting or inaccuracy. It can reliably track moving subjects and maintain focus when shooting continuously.

For manual focus, the focus ring has a nice dampened feel that allows for precise adjustments. The manual focus experience is enhanced by the digital focus assist modes available in Fujifilm cameras.

Overall, the fast, quiet, and accurate autofocus capabilities make this an excellent choice for a wide variety of photography genres. It's able to keep up with fast action and also excels for creative photography applications.

Handling

The Fujifilm XF23mmF1.4 lens has excellent handling characteristics that make it a joy to use. The focus ring is smooth and well-dampened, allowing for precise manual focus adjustments. There is a nice amount of resistance so you don't accidentally bump the focus when handling the lens.

The dedicated aperture ring is another highlight of this lens. It has well-defined click stops at each aperture value, giving reassuring tactile feedback when adjusting exposure. The aperture ring also enables intuitive control over depth-of-field.

In terms of balance on Fujifilm X-series mirrorless cameras, the XF23mmF1.4 feels very natural and not front-heavy. Its size and weight make it comfortable to use handheld for extended periods without feeling fatigued. The lens is also compact and light enough to not weigh down smaller camera bodies like the X-T30. Overall, the handling experience of the XF23mmF1.4 lens is excellent.

Video Performance

The XF23mmF1.4 lens performs exceptionally well for video recording. The fast f/1.4 aperture provides the ability to create beautiful bokeh and shoot in low light conditions.

Focus breathing, where the angle of view changes as you adjust focus, is very well controlled on this lens. You'll notice only minor shifts in framing which makes focus pulls look smooth and natural. This is important for videographers to maintain a consistent composition while filming.

The optical image stabilization works very effectively, providing up to 5 stops of shake reduction. Handheld footage comes out smooth and steady with the OIS activated. This allows you to film handheld in situations where you'd normally require a gimbal.

The autofocus is quick, precise and near silent. You won't hear any noise from the AF motor in your video footage. This allows you to use AF confidently without it being picked up by the camera mic.

Overall the XF23mmF1.4 produces outstanding results for videography. The fast aperture, effective stabilization, quiet AF, and minimal focus breathing check all the right boxes for video performance. This is a very capable lens for filming on Fujifilm cameras.

Pros

The Fujifilm XF23mmF1.4 WR lens has many excellent attributes that make it a compelling choice for Fujifilm X-series camera owners looking for a versatile prime lens.

Sharpness

The lens is renowned for its sharpness, even when shot wide open at f/1.4. It maintains excellent center and corner sharpness across the aperture range, only slightly softening at the extremes. The images it produces are tack sharp with plenty of detail.

Build Quality

In keeping with Fujifilm's high standards, the XF23mmF1.4 WR is very well made. Its metal construction feels solid and durable. The aperture ring provides pleasing dampened clicks, and the focus ring rotates smoothly. The lens also has weather sealing to resist dust and moisture.

Bokeh

Thanks to the fast f/1.4 maximum aperture, the lens can produce creamy, dreamy bokeh when shooting wide open. Out of focus highlights are rendered smoothly and pleasingly. This adds greatly to the lens's versatility for portraits as well as general use.

Low Distortion

The optical design of the XF23mmF1.4 WR does an excellent job of limiting distortion. Images have very little visible barrel or pincushion distortion, even when photographing architecture or other straight lines. This reduces the need for distortion correction in post processing.

Cons

The Fujifilm XF23mmF1.4 WR lens does have some drawbacks to consider.

Price - This is a premium lens with a premium price tag. At around £899, it's one of the more expensive Fujifilm primes available. While the image quality justifies the cost for many, it may be out of reach for some buyers on a budget.

Size/Weight - Weighing in at 405g, the XF23mmF1.4 is relatively large and heavy for a prime lens. Combined with the all-metal build, this makes the lens feel very solid, but reduces its portability. Photographers looking for a lightweight setup may find it bulky.

Flare Resistance - While generally good, the lens is not immune to flare and ghosting issues when shooting into the sun. The hood helps, but it's not foolproof. Some situations may still exhibit veiling flare, reducing contrast. Careful composition is required in high-contrast lighting.

Alternatives

When looking for an alternative to the Fujifilm XF23mmF1.4 lens, there are a few other options worth considering that offer a similar focal length and fast aperture:

• Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM - This lens for Sony full-frame E-mount cameras has an equivalent field of view of 36mm and also features a bright f/1.4 maximum aperture. It's a high-end option with excellent image quality and fast, quiet autofocus but comes at a high price point.

• Canon RF 24mm f/1.2L USM - Designed for Canon's full-frame RF-mount mirrorless cameras, this 24mm f/1.2 lens offers a 36mm equivalent field of view and an extremely fast f/1.2 maximum aperture for shallow depth of field. It's very expensive but offers outstanding optical performance.

• Nikon NIKKOR Z 24mm f/1.8 S - With a 36mm equivalent focal length and a fast f/1.8 aperture, this lens for Nikon's Z-mount cameras is a more affordable alternative to the Fujifilm. It's sharp across the frame with fast, quiet autofocus but not quite as fast aperture.

• Sigma 24mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art - Available for multiple camera mounts, this 24mm f/1.4 lens from Sigma offers excellent edge-to-edge sharpness and beautiful bokeh. It's a versatile prime lens choice with great low light performance.

So in summary, the Sony, Canon, and Sigma lenses are the most direct alternatives with equally fast apertures, while the Nikon offers a more budget-friendly option. Each has minor differences in field of view, price, and performance.

Conclusion

The Fujifilm XF23mmF1.4 WR is an excellent prime lens that delivers impressive image quality in a rugged, weather-sealed body. It's super sharp from edge to edge, even at its widest apertures, and captures beautiful bokeh thanks to its fast f/1.4 maximum aperture. Autofocus is blazing fast and silent, and the lens handles very well with its metal construction.

Video performance is also great with smooth aperture changes and quiet focusing. The 23mm focal length is extremely versatile for everything from landscapes to portraits. Overall, the XF23mmF1.4 offers tremendous value by delivering professional-level optics and performance at a reasonable price point. It's a great all-around prime lens for Fujifilm X-mount cameras.

The weather resistance, fast aperture, sharp optics, and great handling make this a lens that can keep up with you no matter the shooting conditions. For photographers looking for a high-quality standard prime for their Fujifilm mirrorless camera, the XF23mmF1.4 is easy to recommend.