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Equipment Review Thoughts

My thoughts on the Fujifilm X-Pro1

 

A lil’ bit of backstory…

I bought the Fuji X-Pro1 in July 2013, and it’s been slightly more than a year since I’ve owned it. To be honest, I’ve thought of selling it off many times. I’m not exactly in love with this camera… But every time I’m about to put a listing to sell it off, I’ll be producing a beautiful shot from this camera. Gosh I’ve never felt such extreme fluctuation of emotions for a camera. Sometimes I love this camera, it feels like a “god-sent”, and the next thing you know… I hate the guts out of it.

I’m going to start off with all the cons with the X-Pro1:

 

One thing to be certain, the X-Pro1 is not a DSLR replacement. I bought the X-Pro1 as a backup camera for my D90, should it go kaput eventually. I got the camera to supplement a wedding assignment I was going to undertake in 2014 (which got pushed forward to December 2013, and then got cancelled in a disastrous manner that’s best fitting to explain in another post). My partner/2nd shooter would ideally be using a DSLR and his X100, but in the end we settled for him using my D90… So I was left with pairing myself with the D800 and the X-Pro1.

 

I tried to get myself used to the X-Pro1 shortly after purchasing it from B&H in NYC… It took me a day to settle with the viewfinder. The manual was pretty porous on how to quickly set-up the camera. I succumbed and bought Rico Pfirstinger’s X-Pro1 guide, which quickly got me going with adjusting the viewfinder to my preferred setting. I used to think all I needed was an optical viewfinder (OVF). So I stuck with my guns and got the X-Pro1 instead of the X-E1/X-E2. I wasn’t confident with electronic viewfinders (EVFs). EVFs work great in daylight (or with ample ambient light), but they get really noisy (static dots) when hunting for focus in dimly lit/dark environments. There’s also the chance of delayed response when focusing. So if you’re trying to seize the moment… Good luck!

 

Oh well… I clearly forgot the X-Pro1 is not a DSLR replacement… It’s a digital rangefinder! The OVF in a rangefinder is nothing like what you get in a DSLR. I’ll put in laymen’s words: It doesn’t matter what lens you put on the camera, the OVF will show you a wide view. Also, you won’t get instant visual feedback on whether your shot is in focus… There’s some consolation though. When you look through the OVF, there’s two white boxes in the center. The larger box marks out the frame that the lens covers, the small box indicates your focus area. Coming from DSLRs and compact point-and-shoots, I wasn’t immediately adjusted to the OVF on the X-Pro1… I kept subconsciously framing out of the box. I also had a hard time trying to figure out how to change the focus point. I tried to manual focus my way out of my plight, but it was horrendous… I couldn’t see if I was focusing proper. Needless to say I had single-digit keepers after shooting my way around Time Square. My focusing problem sort of resolved when I switched over to EVF and read through Rico’s guide (that book was a lifesaver…), and after a couple of firmware updates.

 

I had a lot of ideas about using pairing this camera with my antique Nikkor manual focus lenses. So I bought the X-Pro1 along with a Novoflex F to X mount adaptor. That Novoflex adaptor ain’t cheap, but it does its job well. It’s just that there is a learning curve with the “focus peak highlight” feature for manual focusing. Well granted, this feature is a godsend for Fuji users who prefer to manual focus their shots (or resort to that because the AF is iffy). In the end, after a couple of tries using this supposedly nifty feature, I gave up using it. I just felt unassured seeing the noisy, harsh white outlines on my desired focus area meant whatever is in there is “in focus”. I missed the responsiveness of my D90 and D800… I think I’m better off with MF lenses on those two cameras (yes even without split-focus screens) than I ever got with the X-Pro1.

 

That’s quite a list of grievance you’ve got… Ain’t there nothing good about the X-Pro1? Why are you still keeping it with you?

 

As long as I do not expect the X-Pro1 as a DSLR replacement, it doesn’t seem to be that bad a camera. Great expectations lead to great disappointments… This camera underwhelms me in the areas I so wished it performed on par with the D90. But with a hell lot of practice and a bit of luck, the camera does surprise you with how much it can get away with. It’s a disastrous camera for group photos in dimly lit venues with easily distracted people. Probably something you can get away with if you’re using an external flash and a quick wide-angle (i.e. Fujinon 14mm f1.4/23mm f1.4/18-55mm f2.8). Fujifilm has been readily improving its lineup of lenses and flash (somewhat) that basically offers most of what you need. Unless you’re looking for some specialty lens (i.e. tilt-shift), it’s pretty much what most people would use. If you want a fisheye, I suppose the third party Rokinon/Samyang offerings are good enough.

 

The Pros

The colors produced in X-Pro1’s photos are rich and vivid… The JPEGs usually need little adjustment, provided you don’t screw up your exposure. I can use most stuff straight out of camera. But typical me, I get bored with whatever standard film simulation settings Fuji offers. I played around with Velvia for a short while, then switched to Astia, then back to Velvia and finally Pro Neg Hi. To be honest, Velvia is too saturated for me. It works beautifully for landscapes and travel pictures, but it’s overkill for portraits. I don’t need punchy skin color for portraits. Astia works well with its slightly muted and silky color rendering. Sometimes the silky colors from Astia are little too soft for my taste, but a little sharpening in-camera or in post-processing does the trick. I “discovered” Pro Neg Hi by accident a couple of months ago, and have been delightfully using it. Pro Neg Hi stands for Portrait Negative High. I like how it provides a more neutral palette of colors (nothing too saturated) and an adequate contrast punch. I understand low-contrast is in vogue these days, but I appreciate a healthy dose of contrast and clarity in my pictures. It’s all a matter of personal taste.

 

The X-Pro1 is pretty compact for an interchangeable lens camera. I am able to pack the camera fitted with the 35mm f1.4 and another lens into my Think Tank Speed Changer V2.0 pouch, as opposed to my usual backpack or messenger bag. I’m able to carry an interchangeable-lens camera with me more often, without feeling too bothered by the weight. Well the weight is going to be an issue if I’m pairing it with a super telephoto lens (i.e. the new 50-140mm f2.8) but I have no plans for that in the near future.

 

The dials for setting exposure (ISO, shutter speed, exposure bias) are pretty no-brainer and reminiscent of film cameras. I have been asked if I were using a film camera by friends and strangers. Fuji has indeed hit a home-run for the nostalgia theme.

 

Sometimes the critical flaw of the camera is also its strength (ironic?). In the case of the X-Pro1, the lack of a speedy AF actually pushes you to slow down, think and work harder to nail your shot. You know those problems I have with manual focusing on the X-Pro1? I have somewhat gotten used to the quirks of the camera and more or less overcome the finicky issue of nailing focus on my manual focus lenses. I stick with live view and trusting my guts… The results have been pretty neat so far. Until Fuji works out a way to provide speedy and reliable AF, sports and action photos are best done on DSLR cameras. Same goes for parents trying to nail fleeting moments of their pre-schoolers.

 

Fuji is perhaps the only brand I’ve bought cameras from that frequently made me download and install firmwares. I’ve done zero for my Casio S100 and the Nikon D90, just one for the D800. But I’ve downloaded and installed 3 firmware updates for the X-Pro1. I’ll probably download the latest firmware over the Christmas holidays, but the need is negligible. The Kaizen concept that is core to Fuji’s business strategy is what makes the X-Pro1 less of a dud and works in the favor of nurturing brand loyalty. If Fuji didn’t bother to release free firmwares after absorbing customer feedback to resolve flaws in the camera, I don’t think it might be enjoying the success it has.

 

Last notes:

The X-Pro1 meets the needs for my casual, daily use. I won’t be bringing this to a fast-paced photography job, but it more than suffices for even serious food photography. I cannot replace the X-Pro1 with my D800 for certain… Not even the D90, but that’s because it’s almost like comparing apples to oranges. Fruits nonetheless, but they taste different. Cameras that produce quality photos but engage the user differently.

My mum used my X-Pro1 during our trip to Okinawa earlier this year, albeit in aperture priority mode, and loved it. It isn’t too hard using the camera in live-view or with the EVF, but the OVF is quite redundant to me.  She commented that if the X-Pro1 and equivalent Fuji models were released 5 years ago, she would have bought one of them instead of a bridge camera (yep we got ourselves a Fuji bridge cam). Likewise if I had waited a year later to get myself a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera, I would have walked away with a X-T1 with far less complaints. Yup, that camera is so much closer to a regular DSLR, which I have come to realize is my ideal camera type.

 

I guess it’s just ole buyer’s remorse.

 

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