Fuji X-Pro1

 

... early thoughts, including comparison with the nex-7:

 

1. it works best with the lens it was designed for. the 35 fuji is a surprisingly nice lens, but it's AF and that's still taking some getting used to for me (i had a frustrating amount of focus errors - AF is fast but not action/sports/street-at-night fast). however, it does give rather nice results.

 

2. high ISO is pretty much awesome. i shot 3200 and 6400 at a local music thing and was very, very surprised at the results, both in jpg and in the abysmally messed-up RAF format. No contest, this is a better night shooter than the nex-7 was for me.

 

3. the controls are great. the menu is simple and straightforward, the manual shutter speed and EX dials on the top are extremely useful (much more so than the ever-so-vague tri-navi on the nex-7) and the manual-assist button is logically placed as a thumbwheel-press so it's very easy to use. plus, a regular pro-style shutter button (ie, it can take a softrelease) instead of the p&s-style on the NEX.

 

4. the EVF is surprisingly good. let's get it out of the way, however... it's not a window finder. it blacks out when you shoot. you can't see outside your frame. your whole anticipation mechanism needs to change, but maybe not to an unreasonable degree. it stinks in bright sunlight (oops). it's not as fast to focus as an RF. that said, it's very very usable. i'm still waiting for more available-darkness opportunities, but for a night shooter, it seems fantastic.

 

5. manual lenses work pretty well. i've shot a bunch of contax and ltm/m mount on it and i'm pretty happy with the results. i'm getting over the crop factor (i'm back to RD-1 territory), but since i shoot normal to moderate-long, i'm good. focusing is fast enough (again, it's not an RF and shouldn't be expected to perform in the same way). i will say that i bought a metabones g mount adapter and really, really like it. all of a sudden, these lovely lenses are at the front of my line. i had a junky adapter for the NEX and it was an exercise in frustration. MF with the fjui 35 is kind of a pain in the neck, but much better than MF with the sony kit lens.

 

6. it's small, stealthy and quiet. i find it less stealthy with the 35/1.4 (which is a big lens) than with a manual focus lens. the shutter is really, really quiet.

 

7. RAF files are going to be a problem. they're slow to render in LR 4.2 and sometimes stuff gets cut off at the top and bottom of the frame (really). so i silkypix into tiff for the ones i like and then put the tiffs in LR. slow, inelegant and the 50MB tiffs are a waste of perfectly good electrons. maybe 4.3 will have some answers. silkypix really sucks. the jpgs are very nice but there is a noticable difference in night shooting at 3200 or 6400 vs the RAFs. sigh.

 

We’ve reviewed the Sony NEX 7 and the Olympus OMD EM5. While we’ve had a very in-depth first impressions review with the X Pro 1 before, we’ve now also finally finished the review of the extremely sought after camera. Before I go on, I need to make a transparent remark that I bought one with a 35mm f1.4 at a rate that I couldn’t turn down. And so far, I haven’t regretted the purchase.

This is Part 5 of the very popular “Leica on a Budget” series is ready. This is the last lens we’ll test for this series. We are testing the two latest contenders the Sony NEX-7 and the Fuji X-Pro1 with various M mount lenses. We will see if they have the quality and usability to be called “Leica on a Budget”. Which Camera will reign supreme? The Sony NEX-7 or the Fuji X-Pro1?

This is Part 3 of the very popular “Leica on a Budget” series. We are testing the two latest contenders the Sony NEX-7 and the Fuji X-Pro1 with various M mount lenses. We will see if they have the quality and usability to be called “Leica on a Budget”. Which Camera will reign supreme? The Sony NEX-7 or the Fuji X-Pro1?

I had a reader ask me what camera would be the best camera for his older M mount lenses that didn’t cost over $5000.00 USD. He had an assortment of Leica M mount lenses as well as a few Voigtlanders. So basically he wants a Leica M9 on a budget. I’ve been wondering what the answer to this question is for a long time also, so I decided to do some tests. This will be a multi part review that will test the two latest contenders the Sony NEX-7 and the Fuji X-Pro1 with various M mount lenses and compare them against each other. Which Camera will reign supreme? The Sony NEX-7 or the Fuji X-Pro1?

For the better part of a month now I have been shooting with both of these cameras. I like them both, but they have different strengths and weaknesses. So here is my basic comparison from the field, personal opinion, not formal controlled tests.

 

X-Pro1 strengths:
1. Great retro design. It has the appeal that us older photographers can love because it is designed like cameras of the past.
2. Hybrid viewfinder is fantastic. It offers the best of both worlds with EVF and OVF.
3. Image Quality is excellent at all ISO settings up through 6400.
4. Controls are well designed, and much improved over the X100.
5. I only have the 35mm f1.4 lens and it is superb. Those with the other lenses seem equally satisfied.
6. With an adapter it can be used with other lenses, but I have not done much with this yet, though i intend to.

NEX 7 strengths:
1. Smaller than the XPro. I consider this a plus.
2. 24 megapixels gives fine resolution of detail.
3. The Peaking feature makes use of adapted lenses a joy, and focus is precise with this feature.
4. Available lenses are good quality and reasonably priced (with the exception of the Zeiss 24 on the price point!)
5. The tilt LCD is very handy for from the waist and above the head shots. This is important to me for street shooting.
6. The controls are well arranged and GREATLY improved over previous NEX versions.
7. The NEX focuses faster than the XPro1, but it has a problem with purple fringing with wide angle adapted lenses.

The Fujifilm X-Pro 1 makes for a great investment if you have the cash for it and know how to use a camera. I personally fall into the category of “It’s a bit to expensive for what you get”, but if I had the money I would consider it as the lens line-up is very strong. Image quality is in my opinion about the same as the Sony Nex-5n if you boil it all down. I honestly can’t give an edge one way or another as both cameras take phenomenal pictures. The Fujifilm X-pro 1 is so much more expensive though if you look at from an image quality stand point per buck. Just y opinion mind you.

High ISO Wars: Fuji X-Pro 1 vs Sony NEX-7 Before I head out to the big Vegas Weekend tomorrow to put the X-Pro 1  to the test I decided to post a quick high...

With a bang, Carl Zeiss is introducing a new family of autofocus lenses for mirrorless system cameras at photokina 2012. Dr. Michael Pollmann, Consumer Lenses Product and Program Manager in the Carl Zeiss Camera Lenses Division, is addressing frequently asked questions in a Q&A.

 

Why has Carl Zeiss waited so long to enter this market?

 

We have observed this market very carefully. Initially, many considered it a “cheap system camera segment” with slightly more sophistication than the market for compact cameras. That was not in line with our idea of quality. However, when growing numbers of camera manufacturers began to offer high quality cameras, Carl Zeiss’ interest in this market increased. Since the introduction of Sony’s NEX-7 and Fujifilm’s X-Pro 1, it became obvious that CSC cameras required quality lenses. So we decided that the time was ripe to bring such lenses to the market.

 

What sizes are the lenses designed for?

To showcase our high demands on imaging quality, we decided to focus on cameras with sensor size APS-C.

 

What focal lengths will be offered?

It will be a product family of its own. Three prime lenses are already in development: 2.8/12, 1.8/32 and 2.8/50 macro.

 

....

The Fuji X-Pro1 has the balance of looks, performance, and features, that edge out the Sony NEX-7 to be the closest “Leica on a budget” camera. This is my opinion, and honestly, much of this conclusion comes purely from a subjective point of view. Some people have told me that they like the color rendition of the Fuji X-Pro1, but prefer the flexibility and features of the Sony NEX-7. Others prefer the form factor and handling of the Sony NEX-7, but like the OVF/EVF of the Fuji X-Pro1.

My first impression was that the camera is bigger than it looks. I have been using the Fuji X-100 for some time, and because of their superficial similarity had imagined something similar. That's not the case. The X-Pro 1 is a significantly larger camera than the X-100, or its current top competitors the Sony NEX-7 and Olympus O-MD. Indeed the Fuji is similar in size to the full-frame Leica M9, which is of course the Fuji's spiritual inspiration. But, compared to the M9 which hefts as if it was carved from a solid block of Unobtainium, the X-Pro 1 is noticeably lighter. 

 

This is Part 2 of the “Leica on a Budget” series. We are testing the two latest contenders the Sony NEX-7 and the Fuji X-Pro1 with various M mount lenses. We will see if they have the quality and usability to be called “Leica on a Budget”. Which Camera will reign supreme? The Sony NEX-7 or the Fuji X-Pro1?

Destroying perfection with beauty and passion. I pulled my credit card and ordered one. There were problems, real problems this time, like auto focus, aperture chatter and no proper raw support. Sleepless nights, again. Nightmares. One morning after coffee, I have had enough and sent her back, just like that. Peace, at last. No more nightmares. But it was not the end as I had hoped. I missed her and recalled the images we had produced together. Stunning files. One morning after coffee, I pulled out my credit card and placed another order. When UPS rang my bell a couple of days later I didn’t recall putting one foot in front of the other as I rushed to the door...

More Fun Comparisons - Fuji X-Pro 1 vs Olympus OM-D vs Sony NEX-7 - JPEG

I know you guys LOVE these crazy comparisons..and some of you get all up in a roar over them but that doesn’t mean I am not going to post more! Today I was out and about with the OM-D, X-Pro 1 and NEX-7. Now, I could not use the same lenses on all of these so I used what I had on hand.