Review - Tokina atx-m 23mm F1.4 X
Hands on review of Tokina 23mm F1.4 X lens for Fujifilm X cameras. Learn technical details with sample photos.
This is my hands-on review of Tokina atx-m 23mm F 1.4 X lens for Fuji X mount mirrorless medium format cameras. Being a travel photographer, I tested this lens in different conditions and captured various subjects to check the versatility and reliability of this lens.
Combination
I have tested this lens (Tokina 23mm atx-m F1.4 X) with both Fujifilm X-T4 & XE-4 X-mount crop sensor cameras. I intentionally added two camera bodies to see the calibration of the lens in low light and under wide apertures.
Features you will love immediately
WIDE APERTURE OF F 1.4
Compare to its competitors, Tokina 23mm atx-m F 1.4 X lens can also wide open with an aperture of F 1.4 and goes up to the level of F 16. Where Fujifilm X lenses can open wide at F 1.2, the difference of 0.2 in aperture doesn’t make much difference in my opinion. The good part here is that lens is quite sharp and AF works pretty fine at F 1.4 aperture so don’t worry if you are planning for some Bokeh shots for wedding. Being a travel photographer, I tested this feature on gigantic architectures and compared details at 100 to 200% crop and they were absolutely amazing. Although the edges were little soft at F 1.4, the lens still provides amazing corner to corner to focused & sharp details.
This Tokina series for Fujifilm X mount cameras comes with sweet engineering called click less aperture, which works smoothly from point A to B, especially when you want to shift your settings from manual to Aperture mode. Pretty good for street photographers!
Photo on your left is taken at F 1.4 aperture
COMMUNICATION - LENS & CAMERA
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Photographers don’t buy third party lenses due to the fear of poor calibration between camera body and lens. The fear is true because when you are shooting under different conditions, that is the first issue you might face. Imagine you are trying a take a panning shot at Formula 1 race or you are a wedding photographer using strobe lights or there is a football game where you can’t miss a moment, if your camera is taking time is reading the scene and then deciding what to do, by that time, moment is gone.
Tokina 23mm F 1.4 lens’s features like Face detection, Eye(s) detection, Switch AF/MF, Focus Area, points & mode & In-body image stabilisation makes it really trustworthy.
Tokina tax-m 23mm F1.4 X calibrate at a very fast speed with all of the above functions. I tired the above so many times, by changing the seconds all of a sudden and found no issues. Particularly in this area, Tokina 23mm F 1.4 gets full marks here.
Remember, if the camera is taking more than a second to process what you want it to capture, the calibration between both tools (camera and lens) is bad. You will always miss shots and frustrate.
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SHARPNESS
For sharpness, a lens should have low dispersion glass elements in its construction along with other multiple coating. That is why it is said commonly that “a poor glass in front of a great camera wouldn’t give you the desired results”.
So if you are after sharpness, Tokina 23mm F1.4 is your lens.
FOCUS
The most fascinating thing one can notice in these lenses for medium format cameras is the aperture curtain movement. It will open wide at F 1.4 and closes going towards F 16 and you can actually see it happening. All shots showcased in the gallery here were taken handheld because that’s where the AF mode can be tested properly.
Mechanically, focus ring is smooth & snappy and AF system backed by the built in Internal focus in Tokina 23mm F 1.4 works perfectly.
MONOCHROME EFFECTS & CHROMATIC ABERRATION
Are you a street or travel photographer who just love to convert raw images (straight out of camera) into monochrome black and white?
If the answer is yes then this is your Lens. Simply take photos in daylight, open them in Adobe Photoshop raw, convert into basic black & white and see the fantastic dramatic light effect in monochrome mode.
Even compare to Tokina 56mm F 1.4 X lens, Tokina 23mm F 1.4 X lens provides even lesser chromatic aberration. Check the below gallery for architecture shots taken during harsh light for more detailed results.
“Just go out with this lens in harsh day light when sunlight is creating shades and highlights and you will love the details”
COLOUR CONTRAST
Colour contrast in the photos is just amazing. As far as the scenery does not have haze or fog, colours will just pop up without any need of artificially added saturation in post processing. This can only be achieved if the lens is built well with good quality glass and it is reading the subject well.
The image with lake was taken handheld.
FOCAL RANGE
Focal range of Tokina 23mm F 1.4 is also interesting. You might think it is a wide angle lens but when used for a crop sensor X-mount cameras like Fujifilm XT-4 or XE-4, the output focal range will be equal to 35mm, which is great for many reasons.
If you are an architecture, travel or street photographer, you don’t need a lens which is too wide or zoomed into your subject because that is when you will lose details and story of your photo. 35mm focal range is perfect in almost all cases.
For more detailed results, check the below gallery.
BUILD QUALITY
Built quality of Tokina lenses goes without saying because they are manufacturing one of the most competitive and viable products for many years. Tokina 23mm F 1.4 is also one of those great lenses with all metal construction, except the focus ring, along with pretty handy weight of almost 276gm and the dimensions of 65mm x 72mm. In case you are into filters like me, the lens has the filter size of 52mm.
“in construction & performance, Tokina atx-m 23mm F 1.4 X is no lesser than its competitors”
A perfect optical design of 11 elements in 10 groups, captures sweet creamy bokeh and F1.4 aperture makes this prime ideal for low light, travel, architecture and street photography.
What’s missing?
Lens is not weather sealed so if you are planning to go under showers or close to some waterfall, be careful so your lens wouldn’t get wet. This lens (as well as the whole series of X mount) is manufactured in China, not Japan. Even it doesn’t make it a bad product but I still prefer cameras to be manufactured in Japan, perhaps I am a bit more sentimental about it. Even the whole lens (including hood) is of metal but focus ring is of plastic, perhaps some technicality which I cannot understand as I am not an engineer/manufacturing expert.
Summary
“Tokina atx-m 23mm F1.4 X for Fujifilm X mount cameras is an amazing lens and if you are a street or travel photographer, buying this lens wouldn’t make you regret at all. Compare to its competitors, its quite affordable and the performance is absolutely amazing. Construction of the lens is perfect so it should be staying with you for years to come”
