Contents
Image Quality
Sharpness
The XF 23mm f/1.4 is an amazingly sharp lens. Straight from f/1.4, there is very good sharpness at the center and it remains at that level across almost the entire frame, with only a little further softening as you near the extreme image edges and corners. This is an incredible performance wide open. Stopped down just a bit, the 23mm becomes extremely sharp. At smaller apertures there is minimal difference between the center and the extreme corner, with very sharp results from corner to corner.
Having acceptable sharpness at any aperture frees the photographer to choose an aperture based solely on the desired depth of field, which is always welcome.
Bokeh
One of the best things about shooting with a fast moderate wide-angle is the ability to isolate your subject while also allowing for some context to the surroundings. As such, the quality of the out of focus areas is a main area of concentration for such a lens. If you’ve been shooting with many of the Fujinon XF lenses, you will notice that they all have a very nice, somewhat creamy bokeh signature, and that trend continues with the 23mm. While there can be some situations where some very faint rings can appear around specular highlights, typically those highlights are evenly illuminated and smooth. The XF 23mm f/1.4 turns in an excellent performance here.
Color, Contrast and Chromatic Aberration
The XF 23mm f/1.4 features a very similar color rendering to the other Fuji XF lenses. Fuji is relatively unique in that they seem to design their lenses to have very similar rendering characteristics, and this allows the photographer to change lenses and keep a similar look for all the lenses in their system. This lends consistency to a shoot and is one of the things I really appreciate when shooting the X-System. As such, the color response with the 23mm is excellent. It’s accurate and rich without being too saturated.
Contrast is great and gives the images some pop and clarity without going overboard by causing an image to appear harsh. The 23mm f/1.4 is somewhat unique in that the contrast is maintained even at maximum aperture. At f/1.4, the lens retains a high level of image contrast and clarity, giving your photos some punch at the widest apertures.
The one weak point with the 23mm f/1.4 is in longitudinal chromatic aberration, which shows up as green and red fringes behind and in front of the focus point on high contrast subjects. The longitudinal CA is somewhat pronounced at closer focus distances and in very high contrast situations. It’s not terrible, and I have seen far worse on many fast lenses, but it can crop up and become rather visible under the right circumstances. Some lateral CA is present, but generally minor, and can be easily corrected in post.
Distortion, Flare and Vignetting
The XF 23mm f/1.4 is very well corrected for distortion, and as such, it’s a great lens for moderate-wide shooting of architecture and other subjects with straight lines. You’ll notice in the image to the left that the lines are extremely straight. While this shot was corrected for perspective distortion in Lightroom (which is due to shooting up at the building, and is not a lens flaw), there was no correction for lens distortion with this image.
I was very pleased to see that the XF 23mm f/1.4 is also quite resistant to flare. As I mentioned on the previous page, the hood is large and provides good coverage, but I don’t think it needed to be that large simply because the 23mm does very well against bright light. Even with a point light source in the image frame, there is minimal effect on the final image. Even veiling flare is not a major issue with the 23mm.
The XF 23mm f/1.4 also has well controlled vignetting for such a fast lens. At f/1.4, there is minimal corner darkening that is only visible if you look for it really hard. Stopped down a bit it goes away completely.
Hi, there was a firmware update released when the X-e2 was launched which was intended to improve AF performance of some lenses. Was your camera using the latest firmware?
Sincerely,
Ed.
The firmware updates you speak of were for the older XF lenses to enable PDAF capabilities. The 23mm came with that out of the box, and the X-E2 has no firmware beyond the launch 1.0 firmware. So, yes, all firmware was up to date.
That gavel photo is awesome!
Hey Jordan
May I ask what you used to post-process the courthouse photo? And what parameters?
Love the colors and overall impression of that photo!
Cheers
Michel
Thanks! That was a pretty minor edit. I did some minor exposure and saturation tweaks, and then did some selective clarity in Lightroom – increasing it on the tree and decreasing it a little on the background to help the tree pop a bit more. I also added a bit of a vignette.
Hello, Jordan
I wonder if you have tried taking infrared images with the 23mm, and if so, how did you find it? Were there any hot spots?
Many thanks
Peter
Hi Jordan,
absolutely love the sunset bench photo! It has depth, color and lots of mood, can almost imagine sitting on that bench watching the sun go down.
Well done! Wish they had such a lens on the Sonys 🙂
Best regards,
Chris
Hi,I’m looking at getting a setup using the XT-1 for travel writing and tourism in New Zealand, also on an 800 km walk through parts of Europe and a trip to west Africa, trying to keep weight down and be as minimal as I can, I would really like to get some advice regarding lense choices, there will be a lot of street shots and landscapes etc, not interested in animals just people and surroundings. Thanks in advance.
Dear Jordan Steele,
Thanks for this great review,
I’m thinking to buy Digital Camera APSC,
Nikon D5500 or Fuji X-E2S, but the problem with APSC sensor there is no real 35mm lens, the only option is to use either Nikon 24mm F1.8 or Sigma 24mm F1.4 both in the same price range also Fuji 23mm f1.4 in the same price range,
I don’t care about the View finder or the camera size or weight,
If I Buy X-E2S with 23mm f1.4 with it produce sharper image than D5500 with Sigma 24mm 1.4 Art lens
Can I rent these lens with the camera
Nikon D5500
Sigma 20mm f/1.4 DG HSM
Sigma 24mm f/1.4 DG HSM
Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM
and send it to you then you make the compare between them and X-E2 with 23mm
to see the difference in sharpness in the center and corner like the compare between FE35mm F1.4 and 23mm
If you don’t mind is there any way to contact you about that, I’m interesting about Digital Camera and I like to share info about that or give some help to share info for people as like what you do.
Kind Regards,
Haider from IRAQ
Very useful, thank you. I am a newcomer to the Fuji system who has just bought a second-hand x-pro1 to fool around with my Nikon glass. So far, I am delighted, although I do not see this system as being capable, so far, of replacing my Nikon stuff but merely as a joyful complement. I plan on getting some fuji lenses and the 23mm and 35mm are on my shortlist but I keep questioning my self whether to get the 1.4 or 2.0 versions. Your review reinforces my belief that the 1.4 versions are more suitable to what I look for when I shoot. Thank you. BTW, there are nice photos in your portfolio, I’ve just checked out your instagram as well.
Many years later…
Thanks for your extensive review of the Fujinon XF 23mm f/1.4 lens. I’m in the market for a 23mm lens. I have the XF 27mm f/2.8 and although I think it’s a very good lens, a 23mm will probably be more suitable for me. Also, both 23’s feel a bit better in use. The question is; which one is best for me? After reading a lot of test and reviews, including yours, I decided to give the older f/1.4 model a try. The older XF lenses are not as refined and sometimes even a little quirky, but the image quality is very good. I like the fact that the 23mm is optically corrected for distortion and that images taken at wide apertures are useable. This makes it a very good low light moderate wide angle. Thanks again and have a great day.