Fujifilm Fujinon XF 23mm f/2 R WR Review

Fujifilm Fujinon XF 23mm f/2 R WR Handling and Features

This delightfully compact lens weighs in at a modest 180g. It looks as though it could be at home on any classic rangefinder camera body, and it is easy to see how this style of optic and the Fujifilm X-Pro2 could appeal to those who have previously used Leica or Voigtlander cameras. Could this be a perfect combination for the purist street photographer?

Starting at the front of the lens, we have a small but effective bayonet lens hood, surrounding a very small 43mm filter thread. Immediately behind this, we find the manual focus ring, which operates electronically. It is nicely damped, although it is perhaps a pity that it has no function when the camera is set to AF. The lens is multi-coated, using Fuji's Super EBC Electron Beam Coating.

The only other control on the lens is the aperture ring, a very solid affair that feels quite superb in its action. It clicks smoothly into place in third of a stop increments, ending with an A setting that can be used if the camera is to control the aperture. Different cameras and lenses can suggest different techniques, and here it was found to be most convenient to use the aperture ring on the lens. Apart from anything else, there is a certain tactile pleasure in operating a lens that feels like a traditional, metal, quality optic.   

Focusing is down to 22cm, a maximum magnification of 0.13x. This proves to be reasonably close, but nowhere near macro distances. Optical formula is 10 elements in 6 groups, with two of these elements being aspherical. The diaphragm has 9 blades, rounded to improve the bokeh.

Finally, construction is weather resistant, always a bonus. The quality of finish is superb. There is nothing else adorning the lens, which is simple and straightforward in operation. 23mm on APS-C has a 35mm-equivalent value of 34.5mm, almost exactly the 35mm “wide standard”, used by generations of reportage/street photographers as a lens of choice. Purist street photographers may well find the lens and X-Pro2 to be a compelling choice. The combination has an instinctively good feel about it, an indefinable quality that we know when something fits perfectly.

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