The 23 Mark II: In Flux
“Our photography is bound to the person we are at the moment of capture. Our hopes, our fears….all of it. ”
I would’ve published this sooner, but it took a few weeks for the promotional film to be released. And when it did come out, my mind was elsewhere. It does that sometimes.
This Lens Stories promo marks my fifth solo collaboration with Fujifilm (counting a few shorter trailers), and as always, there weren’t any imposed guidelines—I was again given the immense luxury of creative freedom. Hence, the typewriter cameo ;)
I shot the bulk of the material over two days: a few hours downtown for most stills; then an entire (scorching) day for the video. I also filmed additional footage at home and on the road.
The X-T3 was used for filming, the X-Pro3 for most pictures (I shot a few with the X-T3 as well, on day 2, between takes).
Quick thoughts on the lens
This new crop of updated lenses (18, 23 and 33 mm) is all about IQ, speed and focusing. They all use Linear Motors, which makes them useful for video but also adds a bit of bulk when compared with the original versions (they’re longer, mostly). But of all three, I believe the new 23 mm is the only one that will actually replace the previous version on store shelves. This makes sense since the other two aren’t the same lenses at all—the older 18 mm is a small, almost pancake f/2; the 35 mm f/1.4 is…well…a 35—not a 33 mm.
The 23 also happens to be the one I’d be most interested in purchasing. For technical reasons (I’m not a fan of the older clutch mechanism), but also because I’d most likely be using it in a context where its size wouldn’t matter to me. Work and video, basically, as opposed to street or travel. I’ve long settled on using an X100 camera for the latter, whenever I need a 23 mm APS-C in a tight, unobtrusive package—and this isn’t about to change. But a fast and sharp 23 mm could be very useful for work, without becoming redundant. It really is a fantastic lens, too.
If you’re on the fence between the f/2 model and this new f/1.4: think about how you’ll be using it. Yes, this one is optically superior, faster, and sharper, but the f/2 is no slouch and much, much smaller. Both are WR as well. It really comes down to ergonomics and your own personal workflow.
Now on to the images—with some new, never seen ones thrown in.
