In summary
The Fujinon XF 23mm f/2.8 R WR is a compact, lightweight, 35mm equivalent prime lens for travellers, snapshots, street, portrait and landscape photography.
Full review
Announced in June 2025, along with the Fujifilm X-E5 camera, (which was used for this review and is reviewed separately – the XF 23mm f/2.8 R WR lens covers the same angle of view as a 35mm lens on a full-frame camera. Small, light, weather-resistant and reasonably fast, it is offered in silver and black and initially released as the kit lens for the X-E5, with the lens itself becoming available later in the year. A key feature of the new lens is a sensor in the manual focus ring that detects movement and makes it easier to adjust the ring more precisely. This ring is also separated from the aperture ring, which has click stops in 1/3EV increments.
Angled view of the XF23mm f/2.8 R WR lens. (Source: Fujifilm.)
It’s difficult to fit a complex range of lens elements into a lens that is almost 62 mm long so the XF 23mm f/2.8 R WR contains only eight lens elements, which are arranged in six groups, as shown in the diagram below. Two aspherical lenses have been used to minimise common aberrations and optimise sharpness from the centre to the periphery of the image frame.
This diagram shows the positions of the lens elements in the optical design of the XF23mm f/2.8 R WR lens. (Source: Fujifilm.)
The lens uses a full-group focusing system, which suppresses aberrations, depending on the focus position. A powerful direct-current (DC) stepping motor is integrated into the lens to support fast autofocusing and 11 iris diaphragm blades create circular apertures at all settings, producing circular bokeh effects at wide aperture settings as well as 22-pointed sunstars when stopped down.
Who’s it For?
Fujifilm makes three 23mm lenses for its X-mount cameras: the XF 23mm f/1.4 R LM WR, the XF 23mm f/2 R WR and the XF 23mm f/2.8 R WR. The table below compares them.
| XF 23mm f/2.8 R WR | XF 23mm f/2 R WR | XF 23mm f/1.4 R LM | |
| Announced | June 2025 | August 2016 | September 2021 |
| Optical design | 8 elements in 6 groups | 10 elements 6 groups | 15 elements in 10 groups |
| Exotic elements | 2 aspherical elements | 2 aspherical elements | 2 aspherical and 3 ED elements |
| Dimensions (Diameter x L) | 61.8 x 23 mm | 60 x 51.9 mm | 67 x 77.8 mm |
| Weight | 90 grams | 180 grams | 375 grams |
| Diaphragm Blades | 11 | 9 | |
| Minimum aperture | f/16 | ||
| Focus drive | Stepping motor | Linear motor | |
| Minimum focus | 20 cm | 22 cm | 19 cm |
| Filter size | 39 mm | 43 mm | 58mm |
| RRP | t.b.d | $679 | $1499 |
As by far the lightest of this trio, the XF 23mm f/2.8 R WR will be the best choice for photographers who require high optical quality plus maximum portability. Its weather-resistant design makes it suitable for location work, including most kinds of travel.
Its minimum focusing distance of 20 cm will allow users to capture close-ups of larger flowers and small animals, while its fast f/2.8 maximum aperture provides potential for distinguishing close subjects from distracting backgrounds. It’s also good for close-up food photography.
Build and Ergonomics
Fujifilm doesn’t state what this lens is made of but its press release claims ‘The lens has been made optically compact through Fujifilm’s latest lens development which reduces size by increasing the number of metal components to make parts thinner while maintaining durability.’ So, it seems at least some of the lens is made from lightweight metal.
The front element of the lens is roughly 10 mm in diameter and located in the centre of a series of stepped rings. With the threaded filter ring, which accepts 39 mm diameter filters, positioned approximately 14 mm from its centre.
Surrounding the filter thread is an annulus that is about 8 mm wide and carries the name of the lens and its physical characteristics. The lens cap clips onto the inside of the filter thread and you can fit a lens hood (supplied) by screwing it into the filter threading. A separate hood cap is also supplied.
The focusing ring is located right at the front of the lens barrel. It’s only around 3 mm wide and entirely covered in moulded ridges to provide a grip. Even so, the thinness of the ring can make it tricky to adjust when you’re rushed.
On the positive side, this ring has a high frequency position detection sensor that relays the position of the focus to a distance line along the base of the EVF or monitor screen. The camera also includes focusing aids like magnification and a peaking display to help users focus manually.
A fixed spacer is positioned between the manual focus and aperture rings. It’s only a couple of millimetres wide but wide enough to carry the white indicator line for setting lens apertures.
The aperture ring is roughly 8 mm wide and has a raised lock release that enables the lens to be set for auto aperture. Manual aperture settings range from f/2.8 to f/16 in one-stop increments, with 1/3 of a stop clicks between them. The rest of the aperture ring is ridged to make adjustments easy.
Behind the aperture ring is a narrow band of knurling to provide a secure grip when changing lenses. The lens mount has a rubber ring to keep out moisture and dust. Nine sealing points are distributed along the barrel to ensure dust and moisture resistance and enable it to be used in temperatures as low as -10 degrees Celsius.
Performance
The review lens performed well on the X-E5 camera we used for our Imatest tests, delivering resolutions that were close to (or just above) expectations for the camera’s 40-megapixel sensor with JPEG files and meeting expectations around the centre of the frame with raw files. Measurements made across the frame fell only a little short of expectations until the edges of the frame, with the highest resolution at f/4.
Overall resolution remained quite high until around f/8, when diffraction began to take effect. The graph below shows the results of our Imatest tests based upon JPEG files.
As usual, to escape the influence of in-camera processing of JPEGs, our assessments of vignetting and rectilinear distortion had to be carried out on raw files, which were converted into TIFF format with all optical adjustments disabled. Slight vignetting could be seen at f/2.8 but it had largely vanished by f/4.
As expected for a wide-angle lens, some barrel distortion was evident. We also found evidence of coloured fringing in a few image files that had been converted from ARW.RAW originals with the lens profile disabled. But they only occurred along high-contrast boundaries and were automatically corrected in JPEGs.
Autofocusing was reasonably fast and accurate both in bright conditions and after dark, although it wasn’t totally noise-free, which could be problematic for for its use by videographers. The minimum focus of 20 cm is usable for close-ups of larger subjects but its maximum magnification of 0.15x puts it out of contention as a macro lens.
The 11-bladed iris diaphragm produces nice, 22-pointed sunstars at f/16 but bokeh quality is reduced by outlining of out-of-focus highlights at wide lens apertures. This can be reduced a little by keeping the background contrast relatively low but never completely disappears.
Conclusion
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SPECS
Picture angle: 63.4 degrees diagonal (equivalent to 35mm in 35mm format)
Minimum aperture: f/16
Lens construction: 8 elements in 6 groups (including 2 aspherical elements) coatings
Lens mounts: Fujifilm X Mount
Diaphragm Blades: 11 (circular aperture)
Weather sealing: Yes
Focus drive: Linear DC motor
Stabilisation: No (relies on IBIS in camera)
Minimum focus: 20 cm
Maximum magnification: 0.15x
Filter size: 39 mm
Dimensions (Diameter x L): 61.8 x 23 mm
Weight: 90 grams
Standard Accessories: Front and rear caps, LH-XF27 lens hood, LHCP-27 lens hood cap, cloth wrap
RRP: To be determined
Distributor: Fujifilm Australia; 1800 226 355
TESTS
Based on JPEG files taken with the Fujifilm X-E5 camera.
Based on RAF.RAW files converted into 16-bit TIFF format with Adobe Camera Raw.
SAMPLES
Vignetting at f/2.8.
Vignetting at f/4.
Rectilinear distortion.
From RAF.RAW file with corrections disabled; ISO 250, 1/105 second at f/3.2.
From RAF.RAW file with corrections disabled; ISO 200, 1/160 second at f/4.5.
Close-up at f/5; 1/200 second, ISO 250.
Close-up at f/2.8; 1/220 second, ISO 250.
Bokeh in close-up at f/2.8; 1/900 second, ISO 250. Note the outlined background highlights.
ISO 200, 1/1000 second at f/5.6.
Crop from the above image enlarged to 100% to reveal coloured fringing.
ISO 125, 1/80 second at f/8.
ISO 400, 1/100 second at f/2.8.
ISO 400, 1/80 second at f/2.8.
ISO 200, 1/100 second at f/5.
ISO 400, 1/100 second at f/5.
Sunstar with flare artefacts; ISO 250, 1/280 second at f/16.
Sunstars; ISO 125, 1/50 second at f/16.
Additional image samples can be found with our review of the Fujifilm X-E5 camera.
Rating
RRP: TBA
- Build: 8.8
- Handling: 8.7
- Image quality: 8.9
- Autofocusing: 8.9
- Versatility: 8.7
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