How 23mm Became My Favourite Fuji Focal Length — and Why I Keep Coming Back to It

For a long time, I was a 35mm guy. Not the classic rangefinder 35mm field of view — I’m talking about Fuji’s 35mm f/1.4, which I used for years as my go-to, general-purpose lens. It gave me the kind of subject isolation I liked: shallow depth of field, a bit of compression, and a tighter frame that made it easier to crop distractions and guide the eye.

I always found it harder to make impactful images with the 23mm focal length. It felt too wide. Too loose. Too easy to end up with photos that lacked focus — in every sense of the word. I had the original Fuji 23mm 1.4 lens which was very good but I struggled to use it. I have just put the newer 23mm 1.4WR up against the Fuji X100VI and reviewed it too.

But in 2014, all that changed.

See why I still shoot photos and not video

A Breakup, a Backpack, and the X100T

After a breakup, I sold off nearly all of my gear. I wanted a fresh start and something simpler. I kept just one camera: my Fuji X100T. No interchangeable lenses, no choices to make. Just the X100T, a few accessories, and a one-way flight to Southeast Asia.

I spent over a year travelling around the Philippines with that single camera. I shot with it almost every day — on beaches in Boracay, in mountain villages in Negros, in restaurants, helicopters, makeshift houses. That 23mm lens became my only option — and, eventually, my favourite. The X100 series is still one of my top recommendations in this guide to the best Fujifilm travel cameras and lenses.

At first, I appreciated the simplicity: no lens changes, nothing to distract me. But what surprised me most was how versatile the 23mm focal length actually was. I could shoot landscapes with it, yes, but also environmental portraits, daily street life, quiet moments — and more often than not, it delivered.

Learning to See Differently

What I came to realise is that 23mm requires more from the photographer. With a tighter frame like 35mm, you can get away with a shallow depth of field and let the background fall away. With 23mm, you don’t have that luxury — especially if you’re not wide open or close to your subject. You need to compose intentionally.

I started seeing the frame as a three-dimensional box. Everything inside had to be considered. Balance, layering, depth — it all mattered. It wasn’t enough to just point the camera and open the aperture. I had to arrange. I had to think. I had to be patient and purposeful.

Ironically, it was lessons I’d known as a landscape photographer — foreground, mid-ground, background — but hadn’t consistently applied to my everyday shooting. That changed with the X100T. Once I started to approach all compositions as spatial problems, 23mm stopped feeling wide and started feeling powerful.

It became a kind of puzzle — constantly moving, reframing, waiting for that missing piece. The kind of frame where you find yourself thinking, “If only a dog had walked in here… if only that kid had been standing just a little to the left.” That’s the challenge of 23mm, and it’s why I never get bored with it.

Why I Still Shoot 23mm Today

That’s why I still own and shoot with a Fuji X100 series camera. Right now, it’s the X100VI — and it continues to feel fresh because the focal length continues to stretch me. It’s not the easiest to compose with, but it’s one of the most rewarding when you get it right.

23mm gives you enough width to tell a story, to include context and scene — but not so much that you’re dealing with distortion or exaggeration. It’s a natural storytelling focal length, perfect for the way I shoot: simple gear, real moments, layered frames.

Don’t get me wrong — I still enjoy other focal lengths, that’s why I own the Fuji X-T5 and reviewed it here. The 35mm is a long-time favourite, and I’ve always had a soft spot for the look you get around 50mm (Full frame equivalent). But recently, I’ve been exploring 18mm more — which adds another level of compositional challenge, like 23mm turned up a notch. I also enjoy shooting the 56mm 1.2WR lens.

Next: Which 23mm Lens is Right for You?

I’ll be diving deeper into Fuji’s 23mm options soon. Right now, I’m testing the f/2 and the newer f/1.4 WR, both on my XT5 — alongside the built-in lens on the X100VI. I’ll be looking at sharpness, size, rendering, autofocus, and price to help you figure out which 23mm makes the most sense for your style and budget.

If you haven’t already, you can also check out my previous comparison of the X100VI vs the XT5 + 23mm f/2, which was the starting point for this whole series of thoughts.

Until then, if you’ve struggled to get on with 23mm in the past, I’d encourage you to give it another try. It might just surprise you — the way it surprised me.