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First prime lens: 23mm WR or 35mm WR?

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Txla

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Never owned any prime lenses, but I've tried the 35mm. I feel that it's a bit too tight at times but I love the bokeh it produces and all. I like taking street/lifestyle photos.

Is 23mm worth the extra cash or should I stick to the 35mm which turns out almost half the price?

Any recommendations on which one I should get?
 
I owned this Lens before... The shuttle speed have to be 1/80 to get shape image. Maybe I have shaky hand. The image is impressive. But the main reason I sell it away is because it is too tight as what u have mentions.
 
Txla said:
Never owned any prime lenses, but I've tried the 35mm. I feel that it's a bit too tight at times but I love the bokeh it produces and all. I like taking street/lifestyle photos.

Is 23mm worth the extra cash or should I stick to the 35mm which turns out almost half the price?

Any recommendations on which one I should get?
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The 23mm WR is only $50 more, not half the price... or wait, maybe the 35mm is on rebate. I prefer the 35mm, but these choices are subjective.
 
I have those two lenses, and both will work for your primary application (street/lifestyle photos).

My personal preference for street photography would be 23mm – mostly, due to the tight framing of 35mm mentioned in your post. 23mm will cover a wider field of view but also distort perspective a bit when subject is very close.

My personal preference for lifestyle photography would be 35mm – mostly, due to natural perspective and geometrically-faithful rendering of human body/face. It will cover a narrower field of view, but it will not distort perspective when subject is very close.

For visual assessment, please kindly reference this webpage and compare portraits of human face taken with 23mm (35mm FF equivalent) and 35mm (50mm FF equivalent):

http://www.museandmirror.de/fineartblog/fuji-portrait-lenses-comparison-primes

If you like the form factor and feature set on whichever lens you choose to get first, eventually expanding your lineup to include possibly both lenses, and perhaps also the 50mm f/2 WR (slated for 2017 release), would give you a very versatile set of primes for your primary application.
 
Txla said:
Never owned any prime lenses, but I've tried the 35mm. I feel that it's a bit too tight at times but I love the bokeh it produces and all. I like taking street/lifestyle photos.

Is 23mm worth the extra cash or should I stick to the 35mm which turns out almost half the price?

Any recommendations on which one I should get?
Click to expand...
I'm getting both eventually, but the 23mm isn't on sale now, so no hurry. 35mm is on sale for $299 - hard to beat that. You can use both quite a bit.
 
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lime888 said:
I owned this Lens before... The shuttle speed have to be 1/80 to get shape image. Maybe I have shaky hand. The image is impressive. But the main reason I sell it away is because it is too tight as what u have mentions.
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Yes, you have shaky hand.
 
I may be in the minority here, but I prefer longer FLs for street. After all, the whole point is isolate your subject in a candid fashion, and that's harder to do with a wider lens. With the caveat that I don't do *that* much street, of that which I have done, I've been most satisfied with the shots I get from the 56.

Of course, if you are looking to capture a street scene then wider is better.

So, I'd encourgae you to get the 35 and learn how to create interesting compositions by picking out the bits of a street scene that will make an interesting photograph. It will take a little more work, but it will force you to think a little more about composition, IMO.
 
You should rent them both and probably the 18 and maybe the 27 as well. 18, 23, 27, and 35 sound pretty close but in practice they are pretty different in terms of field of view.

People tend to have a focal length that feels more natural to them than others and the only way to find out is to try the options. You can listen to other people talk about which ones they like, and why they like them, all day long but other peoples preference has nothing to do with how you see.

The 18, 23, and 35 have fields of view about equivalent to ~28mm, ~35mm and ~50mm on full frame, which are the three "classic" street / candid fovs. The 27 is roughly equivalent to ~40mm and it works for some quite naturally as well.
 
georgehudetz said:
I may be in the minority here, but I prefer longer FLs for street. After all, the whole point is isolate your subject in a candid fashion, and that's harder to do with a wider lens. With the caveat that I don't do *that* much street, of that which I have done, I've been most satisfied with the shots I get from the 56.
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That's not a bad call. I like to go wide or long. I like 14mm for the perspective distortion I can achieve, or a longer lens to isolate the subject.

That said I also like the 27mm to capture the street as I see it. It's a nice focal length for that, and small enough to be very discrete.

I didn't seem to mention the 23WR or 35WR there. Oh well.
 
I do agree with the advice to rent the lenses and try them out; it makes perfect sense to me.

I also think that getting 35mm WR is almost a non-brainer -- if someone is planning to expand his/her lens lineup in the future. It is on sale now, for $299. It is an amazing standard prime lens and a great deal at this price.

Also, just to share as a potential alternative to actually renting lenses -- which can be expensive -- Fujifilm has a website that allows one to test and compare lenses "virtually." This tool could help with such decisions.

fujifilmxmount.com

Test our lenses | FUJIFILM X Mount Lenses

fujifilmxmount.com
 
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caesarb said:
I do agree with the advice to rent the lenses and try them out; it makes perfect sense to me.

I also think that getting 35mm WR is almost a non-brainer -- if someone is planning to expand his/her lens lineup in the future. It is on sale now, for $299. It is an amazing standard prime lens and a great deal at this price.
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In this case I'd just buy the 35mm because once the sale ends, you'll be able to sell it on the used market for $300 anyway.
 
Perspective does not depend on focal length or sensor size, only on the relative positions of the camera and subject.
 
Perhaps think about what next prime you may get and calculate the best choice now to span FLs. I'd suggest the 16 & 35f/2 pairing, but others my prefer the 23f/2 & 56 or 90.
 
Watch this video: I will say the 23 mm or 35 mm FF equivalent is more versatile especially for indoor anything

Regardless of Fuji, Panasonic, Nikon, Canon, Leica whatever, the idea is across the board the same

 
blessingx said:
Perhaps think about what next prime you may get and calculate the best choice now to span FLs. I'd suggest the 16 & 35f/2 pairing, but others my prefer the 23f/2 & 56 or 90.
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Actually, this sounds like a good idea as they have a WR version of the 16mm!
 
HP1999 said:
Watch this video: I will say the 23 mm or 35 mm FF equivalent is more versatile especially for indoor anything

Regardless of Fuji, Panasonic, Nikon, Canon, Leica whatever, the idea is across the board the same

Click to expand...
The OP says:

"Txla wrote:

Never owned any prime lenses, but I've tried the 35mm. I feel that it's a bit too tight at times but I love the bokeh it produces and all. I like taking street/lifestyle photos."

The last line in the video you linked, Kai says:

"The 50 may be awkward, but for street photography, I keep coming back to it, every single time."
 
walie007 said:
HP1999 said:
Watch this video: I will say the 23 mm or 35 mm FF equivalent is more versatile especially for indoor anything

Regardless of Fuji, Panasonic, Nikon, Canon, Leica whatever, the idea is across the board the same

Click to expand...
The OP says:

"Txla wrote:

Never owned any prime lenses, but I've tried the 35mm. I feel that it's a bit too tight at times but I love the bokeh it produces and all. I like taking street/lifestyle photos."

The last line in the video you linked, Kai says:

"The 50 may be awkward, but for street photography, I keep coming back to it, every single time."
Click to expand...
Well, good for Kai, I did not listen to that. It was just food for thought and helped me look at this decision in a different light . It is personal taste

if one has a zoom lens now that covers the same range like the 18-55 whatever you already know what 23 and 35 for Fuji look like

From first hand experience and when I was deciding I say the 35 mm in FF or 23 mm for Fuji is better for me. It is easier to take a step forward than back to make more room stuck with the 50 mm or 35 mm for Fuji .

35 mm for FF or equivalent (23 mm) is my suggestion if it was between the two.
 
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Thank you so much for advising. I agree, and I stand corrected. I used the term "perspective" loosely and casually in this posting. I actually wanted to convey that using those two different focal lengths, for a chosen perspective, would result in different renderings and resultant impressions of objects' height, width, depth, and position in relation to each other.
 
caesarb said:
Thank you so much for advising. I agree, and I stand corrected. I used the term "perspective" loosely and casually in this posting. I actually wanted to convey that using those two different focal lengths, for a chosen perspective, would result in different renderings and resultant impressions of objects' height, width, depth, and position in relation to each other.
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That's still a description of perspective. What you might be trying to say is that the wider lens allows you to get in closer and capture that unique perspective that comes from being close and do that with a single image.
 
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