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

COMMUNICATION - LENS & CAMERA

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.

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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.

“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