A Quick Test of the Fujinon XF23mm f1.4R

-


The Fujinon 23mm f1.4R is one of the oldest f1.4 lenses in the Fujifilm armoury having first made an appearance in late 2013 (only the 35mm f1.4 is older).  I did a quick 60-minute test when I borrowed a pre production copy in Bahrain and I was suitably impressed but not enough to buy one. Why?  because I had the superb 23mm f2 bolted to the front of my X100 and didn't see the need to add the same focal length, albeit with a 1 stop advantage, when the money could be spent on other things.

 Anyway fast forward to August 2015, as an X-Photographer I was given the opportunity to try out the 23mm f1.4 for a longer 3-week period. Having just tested the 16mm f1.4 it seemed like a good time to revisit the 35mm equivalent focal length lens.

 The 23mm still doesn't disappoint.  It is sharp across the frame at all apertures and the bokeh at f1.4 is to die for.  I used it in the pitlane at the Nurburgring last week during the set up day for the World Endurance Championship event in Germany.  

 Here are some of the images I took on the 23mm f1.4 during the event and I will be doing a complete review of this lens next week on this blog.









all images taken on a Fujifilm X-T1 and a Fujinon XF23mm f1.4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLEASE SUPPORT THIS BLOG BY VISITING THE ADVERTISERS ON THIS PAGE
By clicking on the adverts you are helping support this blog - thank you.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ALL IMAGES ARE THE PROPERTY OF MACLEAN PHOTOGRAPHIC AND CANNOT BE USED FOR ANY PURPOSE WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION

MacLean Photographic run Tours and Workshops in East Lothian and the Borders of Scotland.  CLICK HERE for more details and availability

Jeff Carter was recently named as a Fujifilm brand ambassador and you can view his profile and gallery on the Fujifilm website HERE

If you like what you see on this blog please visit our Facebook page and click 'like'
   

Comments

  1. hpchavaz3 September 2015 at 18:57

    Did'nt you forgot the XF18mmF2 R and the XF60mmF2.4 R Macro when you wrote that "only the 35mm f1.4 is older" ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Macsport4 September 2015 at 00:04

      hpchavez - no I didn't forget the 18mm or 60mm but I specificaly said f1.4 lenses and the 18mm and 60mm are definately not f1.4 :) sorry for any confusion my comment caused.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

REVIEW: The New Fujinon 2x Converter

-
Image
Yesterday Fujifilm launched the latest edition to the Fujinon XF lens line up, the XF 2X TC WR teleconverter for use with the XF50-140mm f2.8 and XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 zoom lenses.  In April I was invited by Fujifilm to test the new converter and here are my thoughts on this new lens. Before I go into details I need to be upfront about something.  I've never been a fan of 2x converters because the optical quality of the lens is usually affected to a large degree.   I did have a 1.4x and 2x converter for my lenses when I was shooting with Nikon. While the 1.4x converter was regularly attached to my long f2.8 lenses, the 2x converter was probably used about three times in the 18 years I used Nikkor lenses.  I didn't like the results when using the converter so tended to not use it. Anyway back to the X-Series!  The 1.4x Fujinon converter was launched in 2015 and I have been a fan of this diminutive lens attachment on both the 50-140mm and 100-400mm.  The optical qu
Read more

REVIEW: Using Nikon Lenses on a Fuji X Camera

-
Image
I've been using the Fujifilm X-Pro1 for the past month and I haven't enjoyed my photography so much since I bought the Fuji X100 12 months earlier.  The only issue I have with the X-Pro1 is the lack of a long telephoto lens.  The longest lens I have is the 60mm f2.4, which is the equivalent of a 90mm telephoto; it's a great lens but I sometimes wish my Fuji system had a bit more pulling power.   Fuji have provided the X system with a telephoto zoom, the 55-200mm f3.5 / f4.8 R LM OIS and I will be testing this lens next week for three days. I will be showing the results on this blog. However my Nikon kit has one of the best short telephoto zooms in the world, the Nikkor 80-200mm f2.8 AF-D.  I bought this lens brand new in 1996 for £1600.00 and it has been a faithful companion ever since. I've bought and sold plenty of SLRs / DSLRs in the past 18 years but I've never felt the need to upgrade the 80-200mm because it is still optically the best lens I own and it ha
Read more

Rode Wireless Go for the Fujifilm X-T4

-
Image
One of the things I learned very quickly when using video is the need for clear audio. It doesn't matter how good the video looks, if the audio is poor, then the video is not going to be well received. Over the years I have invested in good, portable microphones even invested in a radio mic system.  This worked really well but when working in a motorsport environment, a broad range of radio frequencies are used for various uses and radio microphone frequencies are strictly controlled.  in some countries you also need to buy a licence, which can cost hundreds of pounds, so I quickly reverted back to wired microphones. This brought its own problems as when interviewing drivers the surrounding environment can be noisy, so you need to get the microphone as close as possible.  Of course, the extra added complication in the last few months means the interviewer has to stand at least 1.5 metres, which means wires trailing across the floor, which isn't good. In March
Read more