23mm F2 vs 35mm F2

Hi and thanks for helping me.

I already have the 50mm f2 Fujinon. I am a photography student and I opted for the portrait, wich should I buy between 23mm f2 or 35mm f2, considering that I can only afford one.

Chaidez wrote:

Hi and thanks for helping me.

I already have the 50mm f2 Fujinon. I am a photography student and I opted for the portrait, wich should I buy between 23mm f2 or 35mm f2, considering that I can only afford one.

The 35mm f2 and 50mm f2 are pretty close – if you plan on just owning just 2 lenses I would look at something more different.

The 23mm f2 makes more sense than the 35mm f2 but I think you'd be better off pairing the 50mm f2 with the 23mm f1.4. That way you've got a noticeably different focal length with a bright aperture and clutch focus.

The 27mm could also make sense if you want to keep things small. I sold my 23mm f2 as the softness wide open up close bugged me. I've got the 27mm f2.8 WR and 50mm f2 and they make a killer tiny combo.

Otherwise might be worth considering a zoom to pair with the prime?

Look at the 15-45 zoom.  It is optically good at the short end especially and for the longer end you've the 50mm.

Chaidez wrote:

Hi and thanks for helping me.

I already have the 50mm f2 Fujinon. I am a photography student and I opted for the portrait, wich should I buy between 23mm f2 or 35mm f2, considering that I can only afford one.

Easy. The 23mm F2. Most versatile of all focal lengths plus you do not have any wide angle yet.

Chaidez wrote:

Hi and thanks for helping me.

I already have the 50mm f2 Fujinon. I am a photography student and I opted for the portrait, wich should I buy between 23mm f2 or 35mm f2, considering that I can only afford one.

Traditionally, prime lenses were bought with a distance between them of around a factor of 2. In other words, if you have a 50mm (35 Fuji), you should get a 28+90 (18+56 Fuji, for example).

Leica also made a very nice 35/f1.4 + 75/f1.4 combo as an alternative. This corresponds nicely to the FOV of your 50/f2 combined with a 23/f2.

I have all three. Got the 16mm as well. The 23 is nice as a walk around lens. Casual shooting when you walk around town. Group shots maybe. For me it is not a portrait lens. But you do have the 50mm gfor that so.. If you want a landscape option I would look at the 16mm.

My favorite......35mm f1,4 lol

IMO the 23/2 would better general compliment your 50/2. 35mm is kind of close to your 50mm.

Chaidez wrote:

Chaidez wrote:

Hi and thanks for helping me.

I already have the 50mm f2 Fujinon. I am a photography student and I opted for the portrait, wich should I buy between 23mm f2 or 35mm f2, considering that I can only afford one.

Thank for the answers. Now it is clear to me not to go for the 35mm but now I doubt whether to take the 23mm f2 or the 27mm f2.8. Any suggestions?

I was faced with the same question quite recently... What would compliment the 56? 23mm or 27mm? I opted for the 27mm. Made my decision based on a combination of factors:

• Recommendation on the 27 as a quick focusing, easy to use lens
• The fact that I am pairing it with an X-E4, so the compact size is really, really nice to have on (at least) one lens
• Fuji's own MTF charts which indicate the 23mm f/2 has a LOT of astigmatism in the extreme corners (at least wide open--may improve stopped down, but their charts only show performance wide open)
• The 27 was less expensive as it was available as the "kit" lens for the X-E4
• f/2.8 is amply fast for my use case--combo of environmental portraits, street, landscape. I wouldn't want to go faster than f/2.8 for environmental portraits as the limited depth of field would be too constraining--want backgrounds to have enough detail to provide context without distractions, so I think f/2.8 is perfect
• Having that "little bit wider" view of the 23mm wasn't super important to me since I also have the 10-24mm for landscape and tight spaces

A reasonable person could make the opposite decision, but that's why I went with the 27mm. So far, I'm pleased with my choice. Honestly, in your case (where it is one of only two lenses) I'd probably go with whichever focal length feels more useful to you. The 27mm is approaching "normal" perspective, so people shots may be a bit more flattering, but you might find it a bit constraining if, for example, you were going to try to do landscape shooting. You mentioned you are a photography student--what is coming up next in your coursework? Street? Product? Landscape? Are you going to school in the city or the country? Do you like to shoot people or objects?

My vote is for the 16mm 2.8 and 27mm 2.8.   When paired with your 50mm 2.0 it’s about as close to a 2x jump of focal lengths between lenses and the apertures are pretty close so your DOF should be similar.  They are all light as a feather and should you get the new 27mm, all three would be WR as well.

Chaidez wrote:

Chaidez wrote:

Hi and thanks for helping me.

I already have the 50mm f2 Fujinon. I am a photography student and I opted for the portrait, wich should I buy between 23mm f2 or 35mm f2, considering that I can only afford one.

Thank for the answers. Now it is clear to me not to go for the 35mm but now I doubt whether to take the 23mm f2 or the 27mm f2.8. Any suggestions?

I've owned both, along with the 23mm f1.4. It depends what you value. Key differences for me:

23mm f2: Well built, quiet and fast focussing, sharp and contrasty when stopped down, though not as sharp as the 35mm or even close to the 50mm. It's also very soft at f2 at minimum focus distance. I kept it for about a year then sold it.

27mm f2.8: Surprisingly sharp and also very small and light – makes you feel like you have an X100 series. Noisy focus motor and AF can hunt a bit in low light. I had the original but sold it because I wanted an aperture ring. I have now re-bought the WR version which fixes some of the issues I had with the original (the aperture ring and WR). It's still got that noisy AF motor though. I'm evaluating whether to keep it, but it does make for a really small kit when paired with my 50mm f2.

23mm f1.4: Fast aperture that gives a noticeable different look compared to the other two and is better suited to low light. It's not that much heavier than the f2 but bulkier. The clutch focus system is great for MF. It's just as sharp, if not more, than the other two stopped down. It's got some optical 'issues' at F1.4 such as longitudinal chromatic aberration, but really lovely fall off and bokeh. It's not WR and the focus motor isn't silent like the 23mm f2 but not as noisey at the 27mm.

Might be worth looking at the Viltrox 23mm f1.4, I've not used it though.

It it were me I'd go for the 18mm f1.4. If I were to just keep two of my lenses I think it and the 50mm f2 would be at the top of my list.

Chaidez wrote:

Hi and thanks for helping me.

I already have the 50mm f2 Fujinon. I am a photography student and I opted for the portrait, wich should I buy between 23mm f2 or 35mm f2, considering that I can only afford one.

I will recommend viltrox 23mm f1. 4. I had 23mm f2, 23mm f1. 4 before and I own viltrox now. Viltrox is very capable and cheaper compare to fuji. It has AF and not manual lens. Not too heavy and smaller size compare to fuji 1.4. Something worth to consider.

EuronGreyjoy wrote:

Chaidez wrote:

Hi and thanks for helping me.

I already have the 50mm f2 Fujinon. I am a photography student and I opted for the portrait, wich should I buy between 23mm f2 or 35mm f2, considering that I can only afford one.

Easy. The 23mm F2. Most versatile of all focal lengths plus you do not have any wide angle yet.

I agree. I own the 50f2 and carry it and the 23f2 as my two main street/travel lenses.

StevenScholten wrote:

I have all three. Got the 16mm as well. The 23 is nice as a walk around lens. Casual shooting when you walk around town. Group shots maybe. For me it is not a portrait lens. But you do have the 50mm gfor that so.. If you want a landscape option I would look at the 16mm.

My favorite......35mm f1,4 lol

Agree…if you can only own one Fuji lens I would suggest the 35f1.4

The 23f2 does pair nicely with the 50f2 though

The 23mm . It is wider and lets in more light