Smooth Operator – Fuji Xf 23mm F/1.4 R Lens | Chris Dodkin
Just in from Japan, and due for release in the US and UK from next week, Fuji have finally delivered on the much anticipated 35mm equivalent lens for the X Series cameras. The XF 23mm f/1.4 R. The new Fuji 23mm lens is a beast – as fast as the excellent Fuji 35mm lens (at f/1.4), but with the latest AF drive and pull focus ring from the 14mm. The build quality feels superb – this lens is a chunky guy, with some reasonable heft, and a rather impressive girth. It takes a 62mm filter – which is annoying, as non of the other Fuji lenses I have take 62mm! It also has a HUGE petal shaped hood – which no doubt is technically wonderful – but looks out of place on the Fuji X series retro bodies. Maybe I’ll swap it out in time, for a smaller 3rd party hood… Mounted on the X-Pro1, the camera really has a very nice weight and balance – especially with the Fuji grip attached. I also have a thump grip, and would recommend this to potential 23mm lens purchases, as it really helps to brace the heavier lens and camera body. AF is fast and smooth – manual focus feel is excellent, and the focus ring is very smooth to operate. One downside of the large lens body (and hood), is that it protrudes into the OVF by a huge amount. Even taking into account the smaller image area within the bright lines – you’re loosing the ability to see the bottom right quadrant of the frame. This pretty much forces you to use EVF if you want to see what is in frame accurately. A vented hood would improve things somewhat, I might experiment at a later date…..
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