Review by Markus Stamm, published July 2017

Introduction

The XF 23mm f/2 R WR offers a field of view that is equivalent to 35mm on a full-frame camera. This focal length was already covered by the XF23/1.4 R, which however is a bit bulky and also rahter expensive. For anyone who doesn't need the speed or minds the size or price, the f/2 lens is a welcome alternative.

Talking about the price: currently retailing at roughly 400 EUR/USD the lens is more expensive than comparable offers for DSLRs, but those often lack some of the features the Fujinon has, weather sealing for example.

The Fujinon offers the same high level of build quality that we have seen on the XF 35/2 already. So, there's a sturdy metal body based on a metal mount, a broad focus ring and a dedicated aperture ring which offers click stops in 1/3 EV increments. <>p The only thing that falls short of the high quality perception is the provided dome-shaped plastic hood. It does the job, but the material mix looks and feels a bit odd. A higher quality alternative is the LH-XF35-2, a metal hood which fits both the XF 35/2 and this lens, but one has to invest another 60 EUR/USD for it, quite a bit for a small piece of metal.

Autofocus operation is very fast and basically noiseless. As usual, manual focus is operated electronically by wire.