Fujifilm XF23mmF2 R WR Fujifilm - Review 🏆

The Fujifilm XF23mmF2 R WR is a fast, wide-angle prime lens designed for Fujifilm's X-mount mirrorless cameras. With a 35mm equivalent focal length of 35mm, this lens delivers a versatile wide-angle field of view that's well-suited to landscapes, architecture, street photography, and environmental portraits.

The F2 maximum aperture provides strong low-light performance and allows for shallow depth of field. Photographers looking for a compact, sharp, fast wide-angle prime lens will find a lot to like about the XF23mmF2. It's an excellent walkaround lens for everyday shooting.

Key features and specs:

• Focal Length: 23mm (35mm equivalent)
• Maximum Aperture: F2
• Minimum Aperture: F16
• Angle of View: 63.4°
• Minimum Focus Distance: 0.2m
• Number of Aperture Blades: 9 (rounded)
• Size: 60 x 51mm
• Weight: 180g

Build Quality

The Fujifilm XF23mmF2 R WR lens has an impressive build quality that lives up to Fujifilm's reputation for well-constructed gear. The lens barrel is made of metal, giving it a sturdy, durable feel that inspires confidence. The metal construction also gives the lens a nice heft, striking a good balance between being lightweight for portability while still feeling solid in-hand.

The lens features extensive weather sealing, making it resistant to moisture, dust, and extreme temperatures. The weather sealing provides protection when shooting outdoors in inclement conditions, allowing peace of mind when using the lens in light rain or snow. The seals help prevent water or particles from getting inside the lens and damaging the internal elements. This weather resistance makes the XF23mmF2 a great choice for landscape, travel or street photographers who need reliable equipment that can withstand the elements.

Overall, the excellent build quality with all-metal construction and thorough weather sealing makes the XF23mmF2 feel like a premium lens built to last. The solid construction gives photographers confidence to use this lens regularly without worrying about it breaking down.

Another notable lens from Fujifilm is the Fujifilm Fujinon XF8mmF3.5 R WR. It is designed for those who seek ultra-wide-angle capabilities in their photography. With its compact design and robust weather resistance, the XF8mmF3.5 is perfect for capturing expansive landscapes, architectural details, and dynamic street scenes. The lens also boasts a solid metal construction that ensures durability, while its compact size makes it highly portable and easy to carry in any photographic adventure.

Image Quality

The Fujifilm XF23mmF2 lens produces images with superb sharpness and clarity across the frame when shot wide open at f/2. The fast f/2 maximum aperture allows for beautiful bokeh and subject isolation.

The 11 blade aperture diaphragm creates rounded bokeh highlights that look very pleasing to the eye. Out of focus areas are rendered smoothly.

Sharpness is already excellent when shot wide open at f/2 and only gets better when stopping down to f/2.8-f/5.6 where it peaks. Center sharpness is excellent even at the minimum f/16 aperture.

The lens controls chromatic aberration very well. Color fringing is minimal even in high contrast situations. The images have very natural and accurate color rendering.

Overall, the image quality from the XF23mmF2 is outstanding. It combines excellent sharpness with a fast aperture for bokeh, while keeping chromatic aberration well controlled. This makes it a very versatile prime lens for a variety of shooting situations.

The Fujifilm X-T3 with XF18-55mm is another excellent combination offering high image quality and versatility. The X-T3 features a 26.1 MP APS-C sensor and advanced autofocus capabilities, making it suitable for both photography and videography. The XF18-55mm lens, with its flexible focal range and optical image stabilization, ensures sharp images and smooth video. This combo is perfect for capturing a wide range of scenes, from landscapes to portraits.

Autofocus

The XF23mmF2 lens has a fast and accurate autofocus system. The speed of the autofocus is quite impressive for a prime lens. It can quickly acquire focus and lock on to subjects, even in low light conditions. This makes it well-suited for street photography where you need to capture candid moments.

The autofocus accuracy is also excellent. The lens focuses precisely on the intended area with minimal hunting or back and forth adjustments. It can accurately track moving subjects and maintain focus as they move through the frame. This reliable autofocus performance instills confidence when shooting in challenging conditions.

Overall, the speed and accuracy of the autofocus allow you to capture sharp images in a wide variety of situations. It's responsive enough for spontaneous shots yet accurate enough for more precise compositions. This versatility makes it a great walkaround lens.

Handling

The XF23mmF2 lens is compact and lightweight, making it a great walkaround lens. At just 180g, it doesn't add much bulk or weight to your kit. The lens dimensions are 60mm diameter x 51.9mm length, so it maintains a slim profile.

For controls, there is an aperture ring with 1/3 stop clicks, allowing you to adjust aperture directly on the lens. The aperture ring moves smoothly and has enough resistance to avoid accidental changes. The focus ring is nicely damped and has a good amount of rotation for precise manual focus. The focus ring is closer to the front element, while the aperture ring sits closer to the camera mount.

The manual focus experience is good thanks to the smooth focus ring and focus-by-wire implementation. There is a focus distance indicator on the lens, though no hard stops at minimum or infinity focus. The lens is not parfocal, meaning the focus position shifts slightly when changing aperture. Overall, the handling characteristics make this a very usable prime lens for different shooting scenarios.

Video Performance

The Fujifilm XF23mmF2 performs well for video recording thanks to its fast, quiet autofocus and optical image stabilization. The lens uses an internal focusing system that enables smooth and silent refocusing during video recording. This is ideal when shooting video of events and presentations where you don't want the focus motor noise to be audible in the footage.

The optical image stabilization provides up to 4.5 stops of stabilization which helps minimize camera shake when shooting handheld video. This allows you to capture steady handheld footage without investing in additional stabilization equipment like gimbals. The stabilization is very effective and makes shooting casual handheld video feasible.

Overall, the quiet autofocus motor and highly effective optical stabilization make the XF23mmF2 a great choice for video shooters using Fujifilm mirrorless cameras. It enables capturing high-quality handheld video footage.

Pros

The Fujifilm XF23mmF2 R WR lens has several notable strengths that make it a great choice for many photographers:

• Compact and lightweight design. Weighing just 180g and measuring only 51mm long, this lens is extremely portable. The compact form factor makes it a great walkaround lens for street, documentary, and travel photography.

• Fast f/2 maximum aperture. The bright f/2 aperture provides strong low light performance and allows for shallow depth of field effects. This adds versatility for isolating subjects with smooth, creamy bokeh.

• Weather resistant construction. The lens features weather and dust sealing, making it suitable for use in inclement conditions. This is advantageous for landscape and outdoor photographers.

Cons

• The aperture ring can be easily moved accidentally. The aperture ring on the lens does not have a lock, so it can sometimes get bumped out of position. This causes the aperture to change unintentionally while shooting.

• No image stabilization. Like most prime lenses, the XF23mmF2 does not have optical image stabilization. This makes it more prone to blur from camera shake, especially in low light situations. Using a tripod or fast shutter speed is recommended.

• Manual focus ring could be smoother. The focus ring has a clutch mechanism that switches between auto and manual focus. In manual mode, the ring feels a bit stiff and uneven. It lacks the smooth, dampened focus ring that makes manual focus a pleasure on some other prime lenses.

Alternatives

When looking for an alternative to the Fujifilm XF23mmF2 lens, here are a few options to consider:

• Fujifilm XF35mmF1.4 R - This prime lens has a slightly longer 35mm focal length but maintains a fast f/1.4 maximum aperture. It offers excellent image quality and smooth bokeh. The build quality is also superb with an all-metal construction. Downsides are it's larger, heavier and more expensive than the XF23mmF2.

• Fujifilm XF27mmF2.8 - This pancake lens provides a near identical 27mm focal length to the XF23mmF2 in a much more compact form factor. It trades off some aperture speed with a maximum of f/2.8 but is great for travel and discreet street photography. The biggest compromise is autofocus speed is not as fast.

• Fujifilm XF16mmF1.4 R WR - For a wider angle of view, the 16mm f/1.4 lens is a superb choice. It's wider aperture makes it better suited for astrophotography and low light shots. It is bigger and pricier than the 23mm lens but offers excellent sharpness and fast autofocus.

Conclusion

The Fujifilm XF23mmF2 R WR lens is an excellent choice for Fujifilm X-series mirrorless camera owners looking for a versatile prime lens. It combines a classic 35mm full-frame equivalent focal length with a bright f/2 maximum aperture, making it a great lens for everyday shooting.

The lens delivers sharp, detailed images across the frame when shot wide open at f/2. Stopping down further enhances sharpness, especially in the corners. The fast aperture produces pleasing background blur for subject isolation. Autofocus is very fast and silent, which is useful for street photography. The weather-resistant construction allows shooting in inclement weather.

The compact size and light weight make the XF23mmF2 a highly portable lens that doesn't add much bulk to the camera. Handling is excellent with a smooth focus ring that allows manual focus override. Video recording benefits from the fast, quiet autofocus and circular aperture blades that produce pleasing bokeh.

Overall, the Fujifilm XF23mmF2 R WR is an outstanding prime lens for Fujifilm mirrorless cameras. It combines excellent optics, fast aperture, weather-sealing, and pleasing bokeh into a compact, lightweight package. If you're looking for a versatile prime with a classic wide-normal focal length for everything from landscapes to portraits, the XF23mmF2 is easy to recommend.