Fuji X-Pro1

Ever since I replaced my trusty old X100 with its newer incarnation, the X100S, I have been struggling with color rendition in Lightroom, which is my weapon of choice when editing RAW files. A while ago, Apple released an update to their Digital Camera RAW software (native RAW support in OS X) with support for the X100S and I found its color rendition of X100S RAW files much nicer right out of the box than what Adobe was offering me. For some time, I exported 16-bit TIF files from Apple’s Preview.app and imported them into Lightroom and continued to edit my photos in there, but this quickly became cumbersome and consumed quite a lot of extra disk space. I placed a request in the Adobe forums to address this bad rendition of X100S colors and got a reply from a fellow user that pointed out to me that this probably wasn’t Adobe’s fault to begin with, since they didn’t bundle a specific camera profile for the X100S, and that I could create my own profile using a standardized color checker, which would probably get the colors right. Enough said, I ordered one, made my own profile and here we are. Today I do not feel the need to do the detour through Apple’s Preview.app just in order to get a good starting point with colors and I can keep an undestructive workflow within Lightroom. Feel free to try it out, but keep in mind this profile was made for my camera and that custom profiles may differ a bit from camera to camera. I’ve also included a bunch of presets I use frequently together with the X100S......

An Fronleichnam ging es für 4 Tage nach Holland. Der erste große Test für meine kleine Fuji XE-1 auf Reisen.

Morgens um 7.00 Uhr war Abfahrt in Richtung Apeldoorn, unserem Zwischenstopp auf dem Weg zum Ijsselmeer. Bei trüben Wetter wurde durch die Stadt gebummelt, für die Kinder Gelegenheit zu shoppen, für mich ein wenig Zeit zum fotografieren. Sehr viel gab der Ort aber in der kürze der Zeit nicht her. Am Nachmittag sind wir dann in Workum, unserem Urlaubsort am Ijsselmeer angekommen und haben unser Zimmer in dem Hotel "Gast-Inn" direkt am Hafen von Workum bezogen. Ein sehr gemütliches Hotel mit einem sehr netten Eigentümer Ehepaar. Kann man ruhigen Gewissens empfehlen! ....

Before I start the Fujifilm X-Pro1 review I just want to explain that I get asked at least once a week about cameras from friends/family/strangers so I thought it was about time I start reviewing them. Now these won’t be as in depth and crazy as other reviews, I wont have crazy in depth details about the technology used to power the camera or charts comparing it with it’s competition. My reviews are going to be simply based off my experience with the camera and who should buy or not buy the camera, followed by a hand full of images taken with the camera being reviewed. Now with that being said, shall we begin?! First camera up is a beast of a camera and one of my most recent purchases, its the Fujifilm X-Pro1.....

So Who Should Buy This Camera?

To be honest I would love to say everyone should buy this camera but that’s not true. The people who should buy this camera are camera enthusiasts, street photographers and or photographers who have a DSLR and want something smaller to carry around everyday with them. I would be brave enough to say that you can use this for fashion photography if you wanted. If your looking to capture fast moving action I suggest you stay away from this camera, unfortunately it’s not fast enough to capture those moments that need fast focusing......

This morning I received the much anticipated Fuji 55-200mm zoom lens. Since I found out the delivery to Hong Kong was last night, I updated my firmware to 2.04 version, which is essential to take advantage of the autofocus system with this lens. The purpose of this review is to see what this lens can do in real life situations – no pixel peeping or technical gobly-gook information is here.

 

The lens was delivered to my place of work and I could not wait until lunch to take photos of street scenes. So I recruited willing staff to test out my new you.

 

Because you are my life.

Curious about how the Fuji X series camera actually stores in the RAW (RAF) file, and how Fuji's DR mode affects the RAW file, I decided to dig into the RAW file a bit to see what I could discover. My tests here were produced using my FujiFilm XE-1, but the results should be identical to the other Fuji X cameras including the X-Pro1, X100, and X100s. The measured values and histograms were produced using RawDigger....

An important observation here is that even though stops of light are logarithmic (one stop is a doubling of light) the CMOS sensor measure light in a linear fashion and the RAW file records those values in a linear value scale. The effect is that tones in the upper-most stop of light can be described by nearly 1500 different variations, whereas tones in the lowest measured stop of light can only be described by two possible values - on or off. Because there are so many variations in the upper stops of light they can be described as "creamy" with smooth transitions from one color to another, whereas colors deep in the shadows with few variations can be describe as "crunchy.".... 

 

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I took my X100 everywhere with me – including to Antarctica and China.   It was a camera that really made me think about composition, exposure and lighting – it was made for “intentful” shooting and thus it allowed me to create some of my best images. I vowed to never, ever sell this camera as I really loved using it. Then I did the unthinkable:  I sold it.

Why, you might ask?  I had just acquired a second X-Pro1 camera body and given that Fujifilm had announced several new lenses for this system, I felt that my X100 was not going to see much use in the future.  I already had the XF 18mm f/2 (28mm equivalent) prime lens which I thought would be a good substitute for the X100′s 23mm f/2 lens (until Fujifilm released its upcoming 23mm f/1.4 lens). It seemed like a good idea at the time, hence why I sold the X100.

It turned out to be a decision I came to regret – a lot.....

One thing though – someone asked me recently if I was planning to purchase the upcoming XF Fujinon 23mm f/1.4 lens to use with my X-Pro1 now that I own the X100S. The short answer is, “no.”  The way I view the X100S is that it is an excellent 23mm f/2 lens with a great camera attached to it – which now has a permanent place in my bag.

An appalling pun and my final conclusion is probably a little more balanced with respect to the subject of this post, the Zeiss Touit 12mm. Its equivalent focal length is 18mm, which is very wide indeed. High level, this is a very good lens and if you like 18mm equivalent you should consider buying it for your Fuji X camera. I haven’t tried the NEX version (having sold all my NEX gear) but I would be willing to bet it looks good in a similar manner on the 16mp sensors and not so good on the NEX-7. Those who have seen my previous post will realise I was very happy with the results from the 32mm. I wasn’t sure about my initial results with the 12mm but it’s grown on me significantly. Readers hopefully realise that I’m a WA lens addict and I love to play with perspectives. None of the shots here are corrected for perspective/keystone issues and I’m happy with that (though I might not be for a different subject)! ....

 

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The only reason this lens doesn’t deserve superlatives left and right is the existence of the Fuji 14mm. If the Fuji didn’t exist or was a little bit more average, the 12mm would be a must buy lens, as it is it’s a very good lens that’s not as good primarily because of variations in sharpness in the corners. However there is no question in my mind that a person wanting the widest lens available shouldn’t hesitate in buying the Zeiss instead of the Fuji 14.

I have been DSLR free for about two months and all is well. During the past two months I’ve been to Cuba, New York (x2), and Arizona. I feel I have hit just about every type, and kind, of job I do and my little Fujis have performed flawlessly. I really relied on them in Arizona where I was shooting for Land Rover. I shot that job with a mix of Fujis and the Phase One. Everything else has been Fuji only. I have no clue how many miles I have put on my Think Tank Airport Security roller bag. I love that bag and it has been everywhere with me for four or five years as my main camera bag. For the past two months I’ve mainly been living out of the Think Tank Airport Essentials backpack. Here’s a fully packed bag that fits under the seat in coach. I never have to worry about it getting gate checked. Packed in there is a Fuji X-Pro1, X-E1, x100s (x2), a Fuji 60, 35, 14, and the new 55-200, Kung Pao (Yongnuo) 560, an external battery pack for the Kung Pao (JJC), Fuji EF-X20 flash, Wein Safe Sync IR transmitter, an OCF Gear 5 meter Canon cord, a Rainbow Imaging intervalometer and remote release controller (for the X-E1), a Fuji M mount adapter, Macbook Air, external drive, and misc other bits and bobs. Strapped to the side is a Phottix 36″ double fold umbrella, and a one foot length of 1/2″ copper pipe with a small swivel adapter. That’s A LOT of gear in a small bag......

 

This weekend we fled to the country, trying to escape another dreary, drizzle/cloud fest. Don’t get me started… I sometimes feel this blog is becoming some sort of weather watch (!). I brought the X-Pro1 and X100 with me but spent most of my time shooting the Pro with the Fujinon 55–200mm zoom. In fact it pretty much stayed glued to the camera. This is still the same pre-production unit Fujifilm sent me a few weeks ago, but I feel perfectly confident in its abilities to provide great image quality so I’m not at all concerned about using it. No stories today, no semi-poetics… Just four sequences, each one comprised of five images. Four sequences to illustrate four moments. All shot with the 55–200 zoom.....

I haven’t been back to Japan in over 7 years so when I was given the opportunity to go again, I didn’t hesitate. It was time to put my X100s to the test and see what it could do in the busy streets of Tokyo. I’m not much of a street photographer, mostly because I’m shy and don’t wanna seem creepy, but if i see a shot, I’m more than willing to suck it up and go for it. All photos were taken with the fujifilm X100s, uploaded onto my Ipad 2, edited on Snapseed, and presented here. There was something really fulfilling about spending the afternoon taking photos with a camera that excites me as much as the fujifilm x100s does, and then spending the evening in a coffee shop uploading and editing the photos. It’s something that really inspired me and I truly enjoyed the entire experience. The Fujifilm x100s is a gorgeous camera. It’s physically beautiful and the results are even better. This camera has the “it” factor. There’s just something about it that just works for a lot of fuji users. The simplicity of it is just right. All the controls are at my fingertips which I absolutely love. This camera makes me want to take photos. Unlike my DSLR which sits on a shelf until its time for a gig, the x100s makes me want to be a better photographer. It inspires me to get out there and shoot some damn photos! It was an absolute joy to use during my two week stay in Japan. Having travelled all across Europe with my DSLR and lenses, this was such a welcomed change in terms of size, weight, and simplicity.....

Bei der Carl Zeiss AG in Oberkochen hat man wohl entschieden, anstelle der Marke «Carl Zeiss» bei neuen Produkten nur «Zeiss» als Marke zu nutzen. Die erste Produktfamilie, die davon offensichtlich betroffen ist, scheint die im vergangenen Monat vorgestellte Touit-Objektivreihemit Sony-Nex- und Fujifilm-X-Anschlüssen zu sein.

 

Inzwischen sind die ersten Distagon-2,8/12-mm-Objektive im Handel aufgetaucht, bei welchen der Name Carl fehlt. Die Touit-Objektive der ersten Produktions-Charge, die noch den traditionellen Markennamen tragen, könnten sich schon bald zu gesuchten Sammlerstücken entwickeln.....