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Fuji 23mm 2.8 lens

  
 
gaopa
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p.1 #1 · Fuji 23mm 2.8 lens


Does anyone know if the new Fuji 23/2.8 lens is noisy when focusing like the Fuji 27/2.8 lens? I was so annoyed by the noise of my Fuji 27 mm lens that I sold it. I sure hope Fuji has made the lens quiet.


Sep 01, 2025 at 02:41 PM
Raptor_Fan76
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p.1 #2 · Fuji 23mm 2.8 lens


It’s quite loud. I don’t have experience with the 27mm, but the loudness is similar to my Nikon 26mm. Definitely not a lens you would want to use for videography.

gaopa wrote:
Does anyone know if the new Fuji 23/2.8 lens is noisy when focusing like the Fuji 27/2.8 lens? I was so annoyed by the noise of my Fuji 27 mm lens that I sold it. I sure hope Fuji has made the lens quiet.




Sep 01, 2025 at 03:00 PM
agvogel
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p.1 #3 · Fuji 23mm 2.8 lens


My only comparison is the original 18mm and 35mm, definitely quieter than those. I don't find it particularly loud overall, but definitely louder than the 35mm f2.


Sep 01, 2025 at 03:01 PM
RoamingScott
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p.1 #4 · Fuji 23mm 2.8 lens


Many reviews have commented about how loud it is.


Sep 01, 2025 at 04:25 PM
fivesixeight
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p.1 #5 · Fuji 23mm 2.8 lens


In my brief experience with it I’d put it at the same level as the 23mm f/1.4 non-WR and the 16mm f/1.4, and slightly quieter than the first gen 27mm f/2.8 (non-WR). It doesn’t feel modern.


Sep 01, 2025 at 04:43 PM
darwinphoto
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p.1 #6 · Fuji 23mm 2.8 lens


I haven't checked - do any reviews have IQ tests? How well does it perform aside from perhaps less than silent auto focus?


Sep 02, 2025 at 09:30 AM
gyoung143
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p.1 #7 · Fuji 23mm 2.8 lens


darwinphoto wrote:
I haven't checked - do any reviews have IQ tests? How well does it perform aside from perhaps less than silent auto focus?


Only one I could find says it's good in the middle, but not sogood at the edges, dissapointing really as the 27 gets such good reviews, sounds more like the old 18.

Gerry



Sep 02, 2025 at 10:02 AM
gdanmitchell
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p.1 #8 · Fuji 23mm 2.8 lens


gaopa wrote:
Does anyone know if the new Fuji 23/2.8 lens is noisy when focusing like the Fuji 27/2.8 lens? I was so annoyed by the noise of my Fuji 27 mm lens that I sold it. I sure hope Fuji has made the lens quiet.


This “noisy 27mm f/2.8 lens” meme is truly a Princess and the Pea situation. I’ve used both of the 27mm lenses since they were available, and the aperture ring-equipped version is the lens I use the most on my XT5.

In actual shooting situations I never even notice any noise from the thing. A few months ago, after reading someone’s description of the supposed “horrendous grinding sound” that the lens produced, I was out on a walk in a quiet location and I made a little informal video of the lens in operation. The phone recording the video was closer to the camera initially than your ears will be.

?si=y5Mw2n2y1jefRa1x

Is there a sound? There is a small click as it quickly focuses across the ful range from close to far, but I have to listen for it to notice it at all.

The complaints about this being a loud lens are, well… see my Princess and the Pea analogy…

As to the 23mm f/2.8 lens, the real interesting question will be whether its optical performance matches that of the 27mm f/2.8. If so, it will likely be a pretty popular lens for things like travel and street photography..



Sep 02, 2025 at 10:04 AM
rbf_
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p.1 #9 · Fuji 23mm 2.8 lens


gdanmitchell wrote:
This “noisy 27mm f/2.8 lens” meme is truly a Princess and the Pea situation. I’ve used both of the 27mm lenses since they were available, and the aperture ring-equipped version is the lens I use the most on my XT5.

In actual shooting situations I never even notice any noise from the thing. A few months ago, after reading someone’s description of the supposed “horrendous grinding sound” that the lens produced, I was out on a walk in a quiet location and I made a little informal video of the lens in operation. The phone recording the video was closer
...Show more

I also tend to forget that the noisy AF motor comes up as a thing to talk about online because it is irrelevant to me. I think really small primes are balancing tradeoffs mainly around size, aperture and IQ. There's no free lunch.



Sep 02, 2025 at 09:08 PM
bencaju
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p.1 #10 · Fuji 23mm 2.8 lens


gdanmitchell wrote:
This “noisy 27mm f/2.8 lens” meme is truly a Princess and the Pea situation. I’ve used both of the 27mm lenses since they were available, and the aperture ring-equipped version is the lens I use the most on my XT5.

In actual shooting situations I never even notice any noise from the thing. A few months ago, after reading someone’s description of the supposed “horrendous grinding sound” that the lens produced, I was out on a walk in a quiet location and I made a little informal video of the lens in operation. The phone recording the video was closer
...Show more

+1 the 27mm is known as a noisy lens, but in real situations you won't really care about that noise unles you are doing video with camera audio.

I bought the 27mm WR about two months ago and I would change it to the 23mm if the IQ is the same... And if it wasn't $600 right now . I have a Viltrox 23mm f/1.4 which I love, but the compactness of the 27mm makes it so convenient to carry it everywhere.



Sep 03, 2025 at 01:09 AM
 


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CKrueger
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p.1 #11 · Fuji 23mm 2.8 lens


My favorite two Fuji lenses—the 35/1.4 and 60/2.4–are also audible. And now my 23/2.8.

The bad news is, in a quiet room people will know you’re using a camera.

The good news is two-fold:
1) These noisy DC motors enable very small lenses
2) You don’t hear the noises in the photos



Sep 03, 2025 at 12:23 PM
darwinphoto
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p.1 #12 · Fuji 23mm 2.8 lens


Wait, this lens is the same price as the 23mm f/2 R WR at $500? I think I've seen them sell in the classifieds for like $600. Wow.

So what is the advantage of the pancake over the faster lens? Size and weight at the expense of DoF and brightness?



Sep 03, 2025 at 04:56 PM
fotografur
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p.1 #13 · Fuji 23mm 2.8 lens


darwinphoto wrote:
Wait, this lens is the same price as the 23mm f/2 R WR at $500? I think I've seen them sell in the classifieds for like $600. Wow.

So what is the advantage of the pancake over the faster lens? Size and weight at the expense of DoF and brightness?


Yeah but when bought as a kit the $200 extra is a no-brainer.



Sep 03, 2025 at 05:31 PM
gdanmitchell
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p.1 #14 · Fuji 23mm 2.8 lens


bencaju wrote:
+1 the 27mm is known as a noisy lens, but in real situations you won't really care about that noise unles you are doing video with camera audio.

I bought the 27mm WR about two months ago and I would change it to the 23mm if the IQ is the same... And if it wasn't $600 right now . I have a Viltrox 23mm f/1.4 which I love, but the compactness of the 27mm makes it so convenient to carry it everywhere.


The 27mm lens is “known as a noisy lens” not because it actually is a noisy lens, but because some have falsely described it that way and then it caught on as a meme. (It is possible that this slight sound could be picked up when. shooting video. I don’t do that with my camera, so I have no way to know.)

I literally cannot hear it unless I’m in a completely silent situation AND remembering to try to listen to it, at which point I can, if I listen carefully, barely hear a very slight sound. It is less loud than the shutter…

It will be interesting to see if the 23mm f/2.8 has the same optical performance as the 27mm f/2.8. The 27mm focal length works perfectly for me as my “always on the camera” lens, being approximately angle-of-view-equivalent to the 40mm, a focal length found on some of the old-school film bodies. (I once had such a lens that I used on an old Pentax film camera.) It sort of splits the difference between the so-called “normal” 50mm FF lenses and the common 35mm FF lenses.

It is probably too soon to know for sure, but I’ve seen a few positive reports.

- - -

CKrueger wrote:
The bad news is, in a quiet room people will know you’re using a camera.


I really doubt they will figure that from the sound of that lens. If it is literally so quiet that you can hear a pin drop and someone is intentionally listening for the sound and has good hearing they might, maybe, just barely be able to hear it. But you, as a photographer, are going to be making at least as much noise by simply moving. And then there’s the shutter… ;-)

- - -

darwinphoto wrote:
So what is the advantage of the pancake over the faster lens? Size and weight at the expense of DoF and brightness?


That’s pretty much it. It is all abou the small size of these lenses. That is a desirable attribute for certain kinds of photography, such as street and travel photography. Fortunately, Fujifilm seems capable of making pancakes that area also optically excellent.

- - -

To a later poster who said that the 35mm f/2.8 is a “no brainer” at $200… I agree!



Sep 03, 2025 at 06:17 PM
rbf_
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p.1 #15 · Fuji 23mm 2.8 lens


gdanmitchell wrote:
The 27mm lens is “known as a noisy lens” not because it actually is a noisy lens, but because some have falsely described it that way and then it caught on as a meme. (It is possible that this slight sound could be picked up when. shooting video. I don’t do that with my camera, so I have no way to know.)

I literally cannot hear it unless I’m in a completely silent situation AND remembering to try to listen to it, at which point I can, if I listen carefully, barely hear a very slight sound. It is less loud
...Show more

Just loaded a couple of files from last weekend although I mostly had the 18 on it. Thge 23 looks pretty reasonable in the shots I do have with it. Let me know if you want me to sends you some raws/jpegs I live in a brick building sure I could find a way to torture it.






  X-E5    XF23mmF2.8 R WR lens    23mm    f/5.6    1/6s    125 ISO    0.0 EV  



Edited on Sep 03, 2025 at 09:26 PM · View previous versions



Sep 03, 2025 at 08:25 PM
swldstn
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p.1 #16 · Fuji 23mm 2.8 lens


rbf_ wrote:
Just loaded a couple of files from last weekend although I mostly had the 18 on it. Thge 23 looks pretty reasoble in the shots I do have with it. Let me know if you want me to sends you some raws/jpegs I live in a brick building sure I could find a way to torture it.



Do you live in Maine or are you just visiting Nubble Light. I live in Maine so that Light House is very familiar to me. Nice shot.



Sep 03, 2025 at 08:48 PM
rbf_
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p.1 #17 · Fuji 23mm 2.8 lens


swldstn wrote:
Do you live in Maine or are you just visiting Nubble Light. I live in Maine so that Light House is very familiar to me. Nice shot.


Thanks! No I'm currently in New Hampshire(from MA) but I'm exploring the coastal areas of Maine a lot in recent years. I was on my way up to Portland. Maybe I'll move up the way sometime I love it up there.



Sep 03, 2025 at 08:59 PM
gdanmitchell
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p.1 #18 · Fuji 23mm 2.8 lens


rbf_ wrote:
Just loaded a couple of files from last weekend although I mostly had the 18 on it. Thge 23 looks pretty reasonable in the shots I do have with it. Let me know if you want me to sends you some raws/jpegs I live in a brick building sure I could find a way to torture it.



The full image looks good… and makes me jealous, as we had to revise some upcoming east coast travel plans that _would_ have taken us to Maine but now won’t!

If you have the time and inclination to do it, it would be interesting to see some crops from different parts of the frame: center and some corners perhaps?

Thanks,

Dan



Sep 04, 2025 at 10:01 AM
fotografur
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p.1 #19 · Fuji 23mm 2.8 lens


gdanmitchell wrote:
The full image looks good… and makes me jealous, as we had to revise some upcoming east coast travel plans that _would_ have taken us to Maine but now won’t!

If you have the time and inclination to do it, it would be interesting to see some crops from different parts of the frame: center and some corners perhaps?

Thanks,

Dan


The 23 f2.8 is plenty sharp Dan

Click on the Flickr link for accuracy.

The 23 f2.8 seems plenty sharp right out to the edges on my copy at f2.8

These are my standard testing shots. I currently have no other Fuji lenses but here's the frame shot with a Sony FF and 50mm lens at f2

And then the Fuji at f2.8 and a fuji crop of that shot to see sharpness. All jpg because of no raw converter yet.

Sony
9-3-25sony by dennis laska, on Flickr

Fuji

9-3-25a by dennis laska, on Flickr

Fuji crop
9-3-25b by dennis laska, on Flickr



Sep 04, 2025 at 11:17 AM
gaopa
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p.1 #20 · Fuji 23mm 2.8 lens


fotografur, your new 23/2.8 looks good and sharp.... hope you enjoy it......


Sep 04, 2025 at 01:16 PM
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