Four enthusiastic X-series photographers launched of The Kage Collective. They shoot documentary projects about a wide variety of subjects. Follow their stories at kagecollective.com.

The Trinity: X-E1 vs X-PRO1 vs X-100

Alexander has the trinity… he is starting his comparison between these cameras. Who wil win? There can be only one! Read part one of his review here.

X-E1

“For purist photographers who want high image quality over versatility.” Click here to read the gizmodo review or see the full size images here. So should you buy the X-E1? Gizmodo says: “Absolutely, for stellar images. But not if you want bells and whistles. This isn’t a camera for video, for in-camera effects, wi-fi, or scene modes. It’s for unadulterated photography, with fantastic image quality and control.”

Street photography in Cuba with the X-E1. Click here to read it on stevehuffphoto. It’s funny when the Canadian photographer met a German tourist with his Canon 5D and they make a quick comparison! :-)

camerani.blogspot.fr would like to share his shooting experience with the X-E1 with you. Click here to visit his site.

mikobal makes his considerations about the X-E1. He’s very happy with it. Read the reasons here. For mikobals Portrait Of The Day shot click here. It’d been taken with the X-E1 and the Nikon 50mm f1.8 G.

The initial comments of diglloyd can be read here! If you click here you can read his first impressions working with Adobe and Silkypix. He likes the EVF. But he focusses on some quirks. So he says that: “The camera resets its focus when the SD card is removed, so it is not possible to shoot an image, check it, then put the card back in and adjust focus (e.g. with a nodal slider to move it precisely)— the focus has been whacked… The self timer disables itself with power off, so one has to re-enable it every power off/on cycle...mounting the smallest camera plate blocks access to the battery and card, a problem for field work. The good news is that Really Right Stuff will be offering a camera plate that retains access to the battery/card door without the above issue. ”

We already posted the first part here. Now the Spanish DSLR magazine updated his XF18-55 review (translated version).

“The real jewel in the crown of the X-E1 is its sensor. The quality of the results and the detail rendered is excellent, delivering images that are some of, if not the best we’ve seen from an APS-C sized sensor.” This is just a part of the verdict of the whatdigitalcamera review here.

a french review of the X-E1 can be read here at focus-numerique.com

X-F1

photoxels.com posted his detailed review. Take a look at it here. They assigned to this lens the Photoxels Gold Award (best Point-and-Shoot Camera). Read the review to understand why.

The digital-photography-school.com review is online. Read it here.

Read the comprehensive steves-digicams.com review here.

 X-PRO1 (and lenses)

Macro shots with the XF18-55 and XF35 lens? see the adventure of the mini-car here!

A initial test comparison X-PRO1 vs Nikon D700 at nickcoury.com.

X-PRO1 and XF60mm lens. Take a look at the pics here and understand why bdonphoto says: “The in focus elements are razor sharp and look at that awesome bokeh.”

-14 degrees, snow and not so static objects as persons and planes? see the performance of the X-PRO1 here.

You’d like to know how the X-PRO1 works with the Voigtländer 28mm 1.9 (click here). So click here to read the review. It’s not without quirks, but it works quite well. Thanks to George for the link.

“All shots were taken with the Fuji X-Pro1, Fujinon XF 18mm F2 and processed in Lightroom 4…. In this magical moment I shot about 15 images, each of them without a tripod. In a few minutes it had all disappeared. The openings in the clouds closed and the rain started.” Look how olafphoto captured these magical moments here.

Conclusion: “Will I be buying this camera? No, but I do have a the newer FujiFilm X-E1 with the 18-55 f2.8/f4 zoom lens on order. This camera has exactly the same sensor as the X-1Pro and is even a bit smaller and lighter, due to the lack of the Optical viewfinder (OVF). By the way, on the X-1Pro, I did hardly use the OVF and really like how the Electronic Viewfinder (EVF) works.” This are the conclusions of bjornmoerman after testing this camera for 3 days in Dubai. If want want to go directly to his image gallery, click here.

It’s nearly 3 months ago that vetpan.de swapped all his DSLR gear for the Fujifilm X-Pro1. Read his experience here.

And for our spanish audience, click here to read a spanish review at fotoaprendiz.com.

Fuji X-100

It’s 2 am. Dhruv is sitting in a bus, travelling from Delhi from Puskar. He just shot his first images with the X-100, and fell in love with this cam. So, during the bumpy bus ride he decides to write about this camera. Then he posted his considerations and some images in his blog. Click here to read it at dhruvsfoto.com

A review on DSLRphoto.com can be read here.

Read the cameras.about.com review here.

PS.: what’s the best way to use natural light? If you just started shooting and want some useful tips, just read this post at digitalcameraworld.com

image courtesy: nikonland.eu

The founder of nikonland.eu sent me two links to his X-E1 reviews.

“Hi,
I’m Rudolf the administrator and founder of nikonian’s italian website Nikonland. In the last weeks I’m fall in love for the Fujifilm X-E1 and I wrote a couple of review :
Fifty Shades of freedom : test della Fujilm X-E 1 (translated version) and The Sexy One goes Glamour (translated version)
Regards
Rudolf”

As the name of his website suggests, normally he takes his shots with a Nikon… since 30 years. But now he was tempted by the new X-E1. So he took some shots in his studio.

The camera is really great. Great pictures. Did he miss his good old Nikon DSRL?… Well, when the set is getting dark (low light and black background), he really missed his Nikon because he had problems with the EVF lag and the focus.

 Check the X-E1 in stock status here:

 AmazonUS: X-E1 kit BLACK / X-E1 kit SILVER / X-E1 body only BLACK / X-E1 body only SILVER

Adorama: X-E1 kit BLACK / X-E1 kit SILVER / X-E1 body only BLACK / X-E1 body only SILVER

B&H: X-E1 kit BLACK / X-E1 kit SILVER / X-E1 body only BLACK / X-E1 body only SILVER

EbayUS: X-E1 kits (via slidoo)

Wexphotographic: X-E1 body only BLACK / X-E1 body only SILVER

Jessops: X-E1 kit SILVER

Amazon GER: X-E1 body only BLACK / X-E1 body only SILVER

 Fujinon XF18-55mm in stock status check

 Amazon US / Adorama / B&H / ebayUS via slidoo)

dpreview just posted his hands on preview-update of the X-E1. They’ve added seven pages to the preview made in Sep., including studio test shots and a sample gallery. “We’ve had our hands on a production X-E1 for a few weeks now, and our first impressions are that Fujifilm’s promises aren’t idle. Autofocus is quicker and more-responsive, and the ‘feel’ of manual focus has certainly been improved. We’re not convinced it can yet match the very best of its mirrorless peers, but Fujifilm has made a step in the right direction, and that has to be applauded.“

It’s a comprehensive preview. As you know, there is the interactive dynamic range comparison widget, sample images, image quality comparison and so on… just click you through the preview here at dpreview.

image courtesy: lindsaydobsonphotography.com

lindsaydobsonphotography.com (click here) compared the Fuji X-E1 and the Olympus OMD EM-5. It’s a well made, comprehensive, real life review, with a lot of images and also a list of PROS and CONS of these cameras.

At the end, which camera would she choose? “That’s quite a difficult question, both are capable of producing outstanding images… In the room with the snake the Fuji really struggled to lock focus at times and the slight lag of the EVF added to my frustrations. However the OMD nailed the shots easily (despite having a cheap and slow zoom on at the time). And of course the OMD is not only faster but is also weather proofed which is a great bonus for me, amongst its other performance attributes. So whilst I greatly admire the XE1 for its outstanding images, classic looks and wonderful build quality, it’s rather like a luxury saloon car – pleasurable to handle providing you’re not in too much of a hurry. The OMD on the other hand is a bit like a highly specc’d modern sports car – a little sharper around the edges but your journey will be fast and fun.”

Read much more in her post here. And here is the second part of her review.

PS.: There are some price drops at AmazonUS on the Olympus (body only and kit). You can save $99. Click here to see the deal (kit). Save $50 purchasing this camera also through Adomara (click here-body only) or at B&H (click here-body only).

Here is the next X-E1 video review. Take a look at it or read the review at digitalcameraworld (click here).

Check the X-E1 in stock status here:

AmazonUS: X-E1 kit BLACK / X-E1 kit SILVER / X-E1 body only BLACK / X-E1 body only SILVER

Adorama: X-E1 kit BLACK / X-E1 kit SILVER / X-E1 body only BLACK / X-E1 body only SILVER

B&H: X-E1 kit BLACK / X-E1 kit SILVER / X-E1 body only BLACK / X-E1 body only SILVER

EbayUS: X-E1 kits (via slidoo)

Wexphotographic: X-E1 body only BLACK / X-E1 body only SILVER

Jessops: X-E1 kit SILVER

Amazon GER: X-E1 body only BLACK / X-E1 body only SILVER

Fujinon XF18-55mm in stock status check

Amazon US / Adorama / B&H / ebayUS (via slidoo)