Fujifilm X-T2 – Yes, It’s a Professional Camera

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guest post by Bal Deo www.baldeo.ca

Every time a new camera come out, Like many others, I was always longing to find a new gadget having some notation that it will make me a better photographer. As I grew older and a little wiser, I realized that Imagination is the beginning of inspiration and creativity, and it became less about the camera but more so about the process of creating an image.

It seems nowadays we choose our equipment based on what the latest hype is as opposed to understanding or considering exactly what our output medium is. Do we even have any meaningful way of understanding or judging what our image will look like on the output medium and can we sufficiently identify differences in quality?

Besides a large print or billboard, a general person or most photographers will have a tough time noticing the high image quality at web sizes – I’m purely speaking from my own personal experience. It’s hard to differentiate between the images that I have shot on full frame to the ones I have captured using medium format cameras.

Hence my journey began to find that perfect system. I have travelled the medium format landscapes using my Hasselblad to full frame using Canon for many years. Then for the past 2 years the hype came along with Sony A7 series and like many, investing my hard earned dollars on a Sony system, for its size and ease of use, yet still not abandoning both my Hasselblad and Canon systems. Sony’s are fine cameras having fantastic resolution and some great lenses, however, I found it was too much work for me to get the final desired skin tones.

I would often read or hear “what fantastic colours and rendition Fuji has“. Then a few months later “the hype” came again and this time it was the Fuji X-T2. This time ignoring the hype and I didn’t go looking for comprehensive test reports on the technical merits. I simply wanted to see the image quality of the X-T2 without pixel peeping. Ignoring all the comparisons and shoot out of FUJI X-T2 vs CAMERA X

So I got my hands on a XT2 – beside having the cool vintage look, it is a remarkable camera and just felt fantastic in my hands. The discrete size, the all metal body and lenses build quality was just amazing. I loved the fact it was smooth, quiet and a joy to shoot with. The dials reminded me of my Nikon FM2.

The post-production process seemed effortless. I was a big fan of Provia and  Astia Film during my film days, hence it’s a matter of selecting the film profile and making a curve adjustment. Dynamic range was excellent,  the sensor handled highlights and shadow details extremely well. Many have said it’s still not a professional camera, I’m still trying to understand, what criteria qualifies a camera to be professional. For someone who makes his full time living as a professional photographer, the Fuji camera has become 90% of my workhorse. YES it’s a professional camera.

Following are some shot with the Fuji XT2.

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Fujifilm X-T2 : “Best 4K Video Quality for APS-C Cameras. Better Colors Than Sony A6500…. but X-Pro2 has More X Appeal”

Fuji X-T2 Video

One of the big steps forward Fujifilm did with the X-T2, is Video. The combination X-TransIII sensor + X-processor Pro seems to deliver quite amazing 4K results. The lastest review that confirms this comes from videographer eoshd here. He says:

  • The original X-T1 had the worst video quality around. The X-T2 has the best overall on any APS-C camera.
  • The X-T2 delivers THE best 4K image overall. Better colour response than the Sony A6300 and A6500 and way less rolling shutter.
  • The trick for maxing out dynamic range on the X-T2 is to slightly under-expose and set both highlight tone and shadow tone to -2 in-camera along with sharpness to -4.

But at the end, eosHD also says that “the X-Pro2 has more X appeal, a nicer design and more innovative viewfinder concept. I wish this model had 4K and an articulated screen but Fuji made the bet that one audience wouldn’t want it and the other audience would.”

Fujifilm X-T2: USA: BHphoto / AmazonUS / Adorama / CANADA: AmazonCA / EUROPE: AmazonDE / Calumentphoto DE / AmazonUK / AmazonITA / AmazonFR / AmazonESP / PCHstore / WexUK / AUSTRALIA: CameraPro

Fujifilm EF-X500 Shoe Mount Flash Review – Part One

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guest post by John Gallo – fotograficoweb

Boxing is typical Fujifilm X Series fashion, big black elegant boxes, white letters and graphics

The brand new Fujifilm EF-X500 flashgun arrived yesterday straight from Fujifilm Portugal – actually I received a pair of these units.This the first part of a detailed review that I started straight away, after all Fujifilm was missing a proper, professional grade flash system and the EF-X500 promises to deliver.

The first part of this review will focus on the design and perceived quality, first impressions to put it simply and I have to say that straight out of the box the EF-X500 is impressive. Build quality is second to none, Canon and Nikon are clearly overshadowed: touch, materials, dials and buttons are top notch, but flaps and hinges are a step further and there is no sense of fragility whatsoever. These units seem to be build to last forever. They are made in China, not in Japan, but that doesn’t seem to make any difference regarding build quality.

Enjoy the first set of pictures, part two will cover essential features and functions of the EF-X500, soon.

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Fujifilm Manager: “We Imagine a Smaller Fujifilm GFX with Global Shutter […] Global Shutter Will Change the Industry” (+ make Leaf Shutter Useless?)

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LuLa Fujifilm GFX Interview

Kevin Raber from Luminous Landscape had the opportunity to interview Fuji Guy Billy and Fuji Manager Makoto Oishi. You can see it here.

Some interesting aspects I can highlight for those, who are in a hurry and can’t watch the Video right now.

Adobe Support + Adapters

Billy and Oishi mentioned several times that, thanks to the Fujifilm GFX development announcement, Fujifilm can already discuss with other manufacturers and software companies and work early on supported products for the GFX.

So they say that Fujifilm is already talking with Adobe for support and that adapters are possible, even for leaf shutter lenses, made by Fujifilm or third-party manufacturers.

** Fujfiilm GFX Facebook Group **

Sensor Made by Sony?

Kevin asks if Fujifilm uses a Sony sensor. Billy says that the sensor is highly customized, from the microlens to the silicon process. They do not mention Sony.

Why Focal Plane Shutter + Global Shutter

Kevin also asks what about the future evolution. Will we ever see a GFX with even more megapixel.

Billy’s answer: “The focal plane shutter design allows the GFX to be expandable. So the current lenses, whatever sensor technology comes down the road, will still be capable and that’s one of the key benefits of going with the focal plane shutter.”

And what about the global shutter? Is Fuji looking at this possibility? Fuji Manager Oishi answeres: “Of course we know about the global shutter, and it will change the photography world. Of course we expect it, but currently we don’t have any ideas, because we don’t have that sensor.” Billy: “When the global shutter sensor comes to be, it will be a big change just to the whole camera industry, taking away all the limitations of current electronic shutters.” Oishi: “We always imagine: if the GFX has global shutter, so we can imagine something new. A smaller body. And we also always imagine our X-series with global shutter.”

So to me they seem quite confident about the future of the global shutter… and once it will be part of the GFX system, many out there will be happy to have invested in smaller, less complex and cheaper GF lenses due to the lack of leaf shutter, that work perfectly with the new global shutter.

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Medium Format :: Leaf Shutter or Focal Plane Shutter? – POLL *** And What Will Change with the Global Shutter

Fujifilm Global Shutter Camera coming in 2018 (at the earliest) – SRP :: Organic Sensor, The State Of The Art!

The Great JPEG Shootout by TheCameraStoreTV

TheCameraStore just shared their Big JPEG shootout here. They compare the Pentax K7D, Olympus Pen F, Nikon D500, Canon 80D, Panasonic G85, iPhone 7+, Fujifilm X-T2 with default factory settings.

The goal was just to show how JPEG’s straight out of the box look like and what people tend to find more pleasing.

They took some shots under different conditions, printed them all and let them evaluate by customers, staff members, Pro photographers, amateurs and professional printers.

Some of the results:

Portrait: Winners: 1st Nikon, 2nd Canon, 3rd Pentax. Losers: Panasonic, Olympus, iPhone
Landscape: Winners: 1st iPhone, 2nd Panasonic, 3rd Olympus. Losers: Worst of all Sony. A note regarding Fuji and Nikon: they exposed a bit darker out of the box, and therefore people perceived them as muddy.
Lab Test: Winners: 1st Sony, 2nd Nikon, 3rd Canon. Losers: iPhone

So you see, a lot of inconsistency between cameras according to the scenarios they were used.

Overall Results: 1st Nikon * 2nd Canon * 3rd Panasonic * 4th Fujifilm * 5th Olympus * 6th Sony * 7th Pentax * 8th iPhone

Regarding Fujifilm, TheCameraStore thinks the X-Pro2/T2 does not have the same uniquess as older X-Trans 1/2 cameras have over the competition.

It would be nice to see also how the different film simulations perform in the above mentioned scenarios compared to the dedicated presets of other camera manufacturers. Velvia (for landscapes), Astia (for portraits), Acros (for black and white) and Co…. these film simulations have been specifically designed to get the best results in different areas, and applied to the above scenarios, they might have shown where the famous “Fuji Colors” reputations comes from.