Since the announcement of the new Fujifilm 23mm f2 R WR lens for X series cameras, photographers have been wondering what some of the big differences are between the new lens and the one found in the X100 series of cameras. Of course, one has weather sealing and the other is pancake sized. But what else? So we spoke to Fujifilm about it. And here’s their response.

Fujifilm stated:

The optical designs for these two lenses is completely different, the only things they share in common are 9 aperture blades, focal length, f-stop and both are produced by FUJINON in Japan.

The design brief for these 2 lenses was completely different. The XF23mm f2.0 was designed to deliver outstanding image quality without interfering with the optical finder of the X-Pro2. The X100T lens was designed to make the camera as small as possible, while delivering the highest image quality. 5 of the 8 lens elements of the X100T lens are within the cameras body and are of increasing diameter, this is possible because it is a fixed lens camera with a leaf shutter.