I expected to write a longer review of the Fuji 23mm F1.4, (at the time of writing available for wonderful price of $749) but that can be a bit hard when there isn't really too much to say. It gives you the field of view of a 35mm lens on full frame (with the DoF characteristics of an F2 lens), is built well, has a cool snapping MF ring feature, and takes great pictures. I wrote some earlier impressions in this post here (Reviews - Fuji X-E2 + 23mm f/1.4 First Impressions from a New Fuji User) with more detailed notes on things such as build, and this will be supplementary to that as more of a real-world report. Here, I'll mostly let the images do the talking.
The 23mm is a very solidly constructed lens without being too heavy. Mounted on the X-E2, the kit is marginally lighter than an Olympus E-M5 + 25mm F1.4, on a smaller sensor. It's a bit large, but never felt unwieldy, although I never bothered to use the included hood which essentially doubles the size of the lens. That's fine though; I never noticed significantly reduced contrast or abnormal flaring from not using the hood.
The manual focusing ring's snap-back feature is really cool and quite useful. As noted in my first impressions, I do wish the distance scale were written a bit higher up on the lens so it could be more easily seen when shooting from the waist, as that's when I'm most likely to use the distance scale in the first place (see what I mean here: https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5500/12166583813_16500fd704_z.jpg). Nevertheless, a nice feature to have.
One of the weaker notes of the lens is its autofocus performance. It's not bad, but a bit slower than what I've come to expect from modern lenses. The excellent 18-55mm F2.8-4 focuses much faster, and from my recollection, so the 35mm F1.4 might be a little faster too (debatable, as I'm just going from memory). For instance, while with the 18-55mm the X-E2's phase-detect continuous AF seems to work quite well, the 23mm feels like it can't quite keep pace with the system. Granted, the 23mm has to deal with a much narrower DoF, but I didn't notice a difference stopped down. Curious to see how it performs on the faster AF system of the X-T1.
The 23mm also makes more noise than I'm used to nowadays, though nowhere near some of the noisier SLR lenses. Not enough to be irksome or distracting, but you can definitely hear it going, and potentially annoying for video recording.
In my first impressions, I wrote that I thought the fly-by wire mechanism was slower than ideal. I stand by that statement, particularly considering that the mechanism feels much better on the 18-55mm, but at the same time recognize that this will matter little in many real-world shooting situations. I spent most of my time with the 23mm in manual focusing mode, and there were only a few specific instances where I felt hampered by the fly-by-wire mechanism. Mainly, I tend to shoot environmental portraits on the move (both my subject and me), and the digital system just can't compare to a real, mechanically coupled focus ring. But in most other situations, it's totally serviceable, particularly when coupled with the X-E2's excellent focus peaking.
As always, I wish the lens were weather-sealed, as it would have provided an extra degree of security when out shooting in the snow with a weather sealed body (February was a very snowy month in New York). That said, construction feels tight enough I wouldn't be too worried given a light drizzle or some snow.
To be honest, I'd never used the 35mm equivalent focal length very much until now--I've found myself loving it. While I'm not sure whether I prefer it to the 50mm equivalent, it renders an appealing photojournalistic look to images that finds a good compromise between showing ample environment without being unnaturally wide.
Certainly wide enough to frame subjects decently in many tight spaces where a 50mm would be too narrow.
I've also found myself surprised at how much I liked the focal length for portraiture. While it's up to you to decide whether a focal length works with your particular subject and environment, I found it to be more serviceable than I originally assumed. You'll probably want to stand a little further from your subject than you might normally, but this lens has shallow enough DoF that isolating your subject still isn't very difficult. Besides, with the amount of subject isolation this lens can provide, you can get away with standing further from your subject and cropping to minimize perspective distortion while still getting some background blur.
On one hand, the angle of view lets you capture a sort of intimacy that would be difficult with a narrower lens:
On the other hand, this lens lets you stand quite far from your subject and still get some noticeable isolation.
The 35mm equivalent perspective also tends to lend a bit more of a dramatic and unusual perspective to portraiture that I've grown quite fond of:
Likewise, this lens features surprisingly pleasant bokeh, with clean, rounded highlight circles. Like I said in my first impressions, the bokeh on this lens is better than that on many lenses with more typically portrait-friendly focal length.
And overall bokeh character is smooth and rarely, if ever, distracting.That's good on its own, and even more remarkable at this focal length.
In terms of resolution, the lens is sharp at all aperture settings, but there is a definite improvement when stopped down. Wide open, the lens exhibits a slight amount of ghosting around high contrast detail. I never find it annoying, but it’s something to be aware of.
By about F5.6, the lens seems to reach maximal sharpness. It’s tack sharp throughout the frame, and very probably out-resolving the sensor.
There is nary a hint of CA, and as mentioned earlier, very little tendency to flare, if any.
All that being said, many of my favorite shots with this lens were the ones that are unsharp and technically imperfect. The 35mm focal length has long been associated with telling stories, and I can't imagine a better tool to do so with on the X mount. Like so much of Fuji's X system, this feels like a lens that was really made for photographers, by photographers, and I'm impressed by how such a technically good lens can seem to display so much character too.
Although everyone has their own preferences, if I had to suggest a singular prime on the X-system to get, it would be this one. It's not perfect, but its versatility allows it to handle most anything you can shoot at it with some tact. It's also not inexpensive, but it's certainly worth every dollar.
Normally retailing for $899 (and worth it), at the time of writing the XF 23mm F1.4 is available for $749 at B&H and is an unhesitant recommendation.
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Wonderful images.
