Hi

Today I woke up, early, as usual, but when I looked out the window I saw, that for the first time this winter, the whole little village where I live was covered with snow. What a view from my window at the last floor, over all the white roofs and mountains! Everything was so silent in the dawn. Some warm light flickered in the houses of my neighbours and the smoke of the chimneys rose up into the dark grey sky. It’s maybe the first time, after all the really hard works of this last time, that I realized that soon X-mas is here. And I still didn’t purchase any gifts. But I don’t want to put myself under stress again…

Coffee and Mac, check the web… and I immediately found mingthein.com x-mas blog post! It’s a nice list for all those, like me, who have photographer friends, and are looking for an interesting gift. Compacts, CSC, DSLR, Lenses, Accessories, Books and more.

Well, for obvious reasons, I excluded expensive cameras from my gift list. I’m still saving money to purchase for myself the… But it’s interesting to see what mingthein included in his list.

So you’ll find the X-F1, which he calls “superb”, and perfect for non photographers who don’t do any postprocessing. There are price drops (see here this post) right now on this cam, so hurry if you’re thinking to buy one.

The X-E1 is not in his list. He says that “truth is I haven’t spent enough time with either to form an opinion. There are things I like, and things I don’t, which mean that I can’t make an objective recommendation either way.”

Also the Accessories are interesting. A cheaper but useful present. I’ll just pick out one of the mingthein list. Look at the price drops on the fast San Disk Extreme PRO and the slower SanDisk Extreme HD sd cards at amazonUS! You can save 66% on the Extreme PRO 32 GB version here and purchase it for $ 69! You can save even more if you purchase this card through B&H (click here). Thanks to Josh who told me about the B&H price through facebook!

So read the full list at mingthein.com.

But also petapixel made his list of what should not miss under the X-mas tree. PetaPixel Photography Gift Guide 2012 includes the X-E1 and much more!

And here an accessory that could be useful for the everyday use of your X-E1. I looked for a hand grip for the X-E1 (see worldwide hand grips for X-E1 here). There are not many until now. The hand grip will add a bit of weight to your camera, but some reviews says that the X-E1 is too easy. So maybe this is not necessarily a bad thing. Of course there are some for the X-PRO1 also here.

So, hope I made your gift-hunting a bit easier.

Have a pleasant day… it’s time for me to go in the snow!

Patrick

P.S.: and don’t forget the book “Mastering the X-PRO1 (X-PRO1 Handbuch)”. I’m sure X-PRO1 photographers would appreciate it. It’s still to have with a 47% rebate at AmazonUS.

PPS.: share your gift ideas in the comments!

The XF18-55mm lens is now available at ebay GER, ITA and ESP. Click here to see them all at slidoo.com. There are big price differences, so compare the different stores. This goes very fast if you use slidoo.com.

Also ebayUS has the lens in stock (click here) but beware that you have to pay $50 more than for example here at AmazonUS (preorder here).

Oh, this time I made you hurry, sorry. But the offer on the X-PRO1 + 18mm or 35mm lens is still valid until 02/2/2013. So, there is no haste. Grab the $600 deal on the X PRO 1 + lens purchase at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here) and on many eBay US stores (via Slidoo).

So lxcellent was right in the comments to this post. Still time to think about it, and decide, X-E1 or X-PRO1? I’ll give you one more review to read and think about.

What camera would frankdoorhof choose? X-PRO1 or X-E1? His first impressions of the X-E1 can be read here: “I would choose the X-E1, it’s about 90% of the fun of the X-Pro1 but at a much lower price, and the image quality is equal… so for me…. well the X-E1 is a 100% winner and I would HIGHLY recommend the camera for everyone that is on the lookout for a great smaller camera that has different very high quality lenses and gives an image quality that is 100% on the level of a DSLR.” He also posted part two of his review here. In the second part, after comparing the X-E1 and Sony A99 he says: “Now when you are shooting as a hobby and you really only want one camera….. get the Fuji…… without any doubt, it’s a camera that is about everything you will get from a DSLR but it’s smaller, the lenses are smaller/lighter AND…. the image quality rivels many DSLRs… When you want to work in the studio, do model photography, maybe sometimes a wedding or a paid shoot….. now get the Sony/DSLR. It’s a real all rounder and it looks much better in the studio for a client than the Fuji.”

Would frankdoorhof still recommend the X-E1, also now, that there is the $600 deal on the X-PRO1 with lens?