a white debut with the X-E1 and 18-55 lens! “on-snow” review

Hi

Federico Frugoli sent me an email with his first X-E1 impressions. Here is his review (see his website here).

Hello

I’m Federico Frugoli, an Italian photographer, and I wanted to share with you my first impressions of the X-E1. I’ve passed my first week end with it in the mountains. So I woke up early, and climbed the beautiful mountains. There was a lot of fresh snow, and I tested the X-E1. Here are my first impressions:

-Body and lens built quality are very good, surely superior to my micro43 Lumix!

–Excellent ergonomics, even for my big hands (I’m 2 meter high). There are no problems with too small buttons or buttons you could press inadvertently.

-The EVF is perfect. I read about a lag, but I didn’t noticed it.

–The 18-55 is impressive to what belongs the lens flares. I’ve never possessed something like this. The Fujinon lens is almost perfect!

-The AF is not as good as the micro4/3 Lumix. Also my 3 years old GF1 is faster and in bad light conditions the X-E1 is sometimes hunting for the focus for too long. It’s not a problem for my needs, but for someone else this could be a problem. Fuji has to improve this!

-What belongs the focus, I’m working slower with the X-E1 than with the Lumix. And I can’t change the exposure comp once that the focus is locked! With the Lumix exposure is always calculated in real time and visible in the LCD/EVF. With the Fuji you have to half press the shutter button to do metering calculation.

-Out-of-cam JPEG quality is impressive!

-High ISO performance is great

-The “Q” button is very useful

-Good battery life. I’ve read about a bad battery life, but it’s quite good to me… and batteries cost less than Panasonic batteries

-The live histogram is quite difficult to read. I was used to that of the Panasonic, where you could also change the position of the live histogram on the LCD/EVF

-The exposure comp dial is not resistant enough. You risk to move it inadvertently.

-Impressive dynamic range!

That’s it for now,

keep up your good work

ciao, Federico

To see his first snow-walk in the mountains and read his impressions and see his gallery, click here! (click here for the translated version) For the film simulation pics click here!

So, keep on writing at fujirumor@gmail.com

 

X-F1 video review


allthingsd.com came out with his review about the new X-F1. For those who prefer to read the review, just click here. You know, there are a few ongoing deals. Just take a look below!

have a nice day!

X-F1 in stock status check

Amazon US (save $ 50) / Amazon GER (save 70 €) / Amazon UK (save £ 51) / B&H / Adorama (save $50) / Jessops UK / Wex photographic (save £64) / Amazon ITA (save 56 €) / Amazon FR / Amazon ESP (save 35 €) / ebayEUROPE  / ebayUS

The beauty and the beast! Petapixel X-E1 review

Now also petapixel (click here) tested the new X-E1. No doubt, great image quality. Great ISO performance. But also some quirks. For example the autofocus and the EVF.

Autofocus: The new update brought faster autofocus. And in good light conditions autofocus is decently fast and accurate: But “While shooting fast moving objects may still be a challenge, the autofocus will do the job in most everyday situations... Step into a dimly-lit environment, and the camera becomes a bit less predictable. It will be obedient to your focusing wishes most of the time, but sometimes it’s unable to get a lock on things you’d expect it to focus on. This doesn’t happen very often, but it’s frustrating when it does.”

EVF: Most of the time you won’t miss the OVF. But in darker settings the EVF starts becoming laggy and blurred.

The Eye Sensor: “If you set your “View Mode” to “Eye Sensor”, the camera defaults to the LCD screen but switches over to the EVF when it senses your face up against the camera. When you pull the camera away from your head, it quickly switches back.… The quirk is that this handoff doesn’t happen during the image review period after you snap a shot. For DSLR users who are accustomed to “chimping,” you’ll find that you can’t.“
Verdict: The most beautiful camera on the market, a true joy to use. It’s a a “fine DSLR replacement for everyday photography. Just make sure you can live with the slightly slower AF and the lack of an OVF. If you’re sure you can, then go out and buy this camera — it’s worth every penny.”

Roundup reviews

X-E1 and 18-55mm

bertstephani.com, X-E1 and XF 18-55 lens (click here). Read why says, at the end of his post: “The 18-55 does everything I could reasonably expect from it and even exceeds my expectations. Let’s hope Fuji can continue like this and give us many more great lenses in the (near) future.”

cnet.com review: the good: Superb image quality and low-light performance; faster AF performance than X-Pro1; good ergonomics; versatile pop-up flash. the bad: Lack of a dedicated movie button; AF accuracy needs to be improved; pricier than competing models.

The ePhotozine review can be read here. For some sample pics click here.

The X-E1 and XF 18-55 dc-watch review can be read here (translated version).

The EVF is superb, and my worries over no OVF are unnecessary. Read the first impressions of photomojomike here.

This review is basically a translation of the digitalliving review, and also picutres are from this review. So I will extract just a few things in addition to what I have already translated for you:  Read the whole review here. “The EVF provides outstanding, high contrast images. All effects, settings and depth of focus are displayed before exposure. The high frame rate ensures that virtually no delays or stuttering are experienced… Good news for fans of polarizing sunglasses: The image in the viewfinder is visible in both portrait and landscape formats (with the X-Pro1, the viewfinder turns pitch-black). In contrast to the X-Pro1, a locking button which is depressed to release the shutter speed from the “A” position is missing in the X-E1. That’s good news because, in practice, it is almost impossible to turn these dials accidentally — in stark contrast to the exposure compensation button. There’s a subtle change in the remote release. The X-E1 features an electronic remote release along with the mechanical release. Fujifilm provides the RR-80 (click here) which is connected via USB port. The X-E1 offers single shots and sequence shooting with 3 or 6 fps. A panorama function automatically shoots a series of pictures and then puts them together on a widescreen. Auto bracketing is not used to its full potential, unfortunately. It shoots three images with a maximum deviation of plus or minus an aperture — definitely not enough for HDR photography. But there is the hope that Fujifilm will follow up with new firmware. The body alone weighs 350 grams (including battery and card), 100 grams less than the X-Pro1. Eliminating the electronic viewfinder means, however, that the X-E1 is not a rangefinder camera like her big sister but a mirrorless system camera, as the Sony NEX range or the Olympus OM-D E-M5.”

A comprehensive ISO performance test of the X-E1 can be seen on pixinfo.com

X-F1

The popular German newspaper Spiegel.de posted his review about the X-F1. Click here to read it (translated version)

Read the first impressions of thephoblographer here.

dcwatch posted his super-comparison between the X-F1 Olympus XZ-2, Canon PowerShot G15, Sony RX100, Nikon P7700, Panasonic DMC-LX7. There are many sample pics to compare. So take a look and declare your winner!

X-PRO1 (and Fujinon XF 35mm f/1.4 and XF18-55)

Some beautiful X-PRO1 XF35mm sample pics can be seen here at johnnypatience.

Tests, specs, quirks, bugs, deals… apart this, the X-PRO1 can shoot pictures. And one of those photographers out there that enjoyed shooting with it during the music festival in Telluride is mikelyonsphotography (click here to see X-PRO1 shots).

aboutphography.blogspot posted his XF18-55 lens review. The conclusion: “This lens is a winner.  Not perfect, but for the price and purpose it is an excellent option particularly if you only want to carry only one lens for your X-Pro1.  It may be an even better match for the Fuji X-E1.”

Some pics and one complaint: “I have about the camera is the autofocus in really backlit situations.” Click here to see the shots of  alexanderolsson.com.

There are people that are disappointed with this camera. On of these is clearingthevision (click here). Read the reasons why he sells his X-PRO1! Yes, it’s the focus. The focus speed on this lens, but more: “It came to a head in a well-lit cafe in Taos with my daughter. She was sitting across the table from me and had her back to a window about ten feet behind her. I lifted the camera to photograph her, and I got the red box of uncertainty as I tried to focus. I moved focus slightly, got it again, and then I tried an area of greater contrast, and then the lens went back and forth a couple of times, before it finally focussed for me. But by that time, whatever fleeting expression I’d wanted to capture had gone, and I didn’t want to take the photograph any more. I wanted to throw the camera on the floor.” So the focus isn’t fast and reliable. But “if you’re slower and more methodical in your work, or excellent at manually focussing, or maybe all around a better technical photographer than me, then the X-Pro1 might be perfect for you.”

X-PRO1 and the autumn… see some images here.

Fuji X-100

Some people still love the X-100 more than everything else. So I got an email, and the person said: “I know that the X-E1 is the hot camera right now, but the X100 is still the most compact and an amazing camera too.” He send me another “real world” review. The review is not the newest, yes, but it’s well made, and you can see shot taken from Spain to Morocco. For everyone who’s interested, click here to the X-100 review of stuff review.

Mastering X-PRO1 at Amazon GER + X-PRO1 review

Mastering the X-PRO1 (…advantages and disadvantages compared to the AF of a DSLR)

The “Fujifilm X-Pro1 Handbuch” (click here) is now available at Amazon GER. The first reviews at Amazon are really enthusiastic. Buyers say that this book is full of useful tips and tricks. It’s of course also a very technical book. The reader should have a basic knowledge of photography before reading this book. But it’s well written, so that also not so well-versed photographers could find this book very useful. Rico (the author) leads you deep inside the technical aspects of the X-PRO1 without getting lost in details.

A useful book, also for X-100 [and X-E1] users, and also for those who are coming from DSLR cameras. What can they expect from this camera? At chapter 2.4 for example, Rico explains very clearly the differences, advantages and disadvantages compared to the autofocus of a DSLR. (click here to read the translated versions of the customer reviews)

From Amazon US: “Mastering the Fujifilm X-Pro 1 provides a wealth of experienced-based information and insights for owners of the new X-Pro 1 camera. Readers will learn about the features and capabilities of the X-Pro 1 and will discover numerous tips and tricks for how to maximize its potential.”

US citizens have still to wait for this useful book to be available at Amazon US (click here to preorder).

X-PRO1 review

Here is another “real life” review. No studio crew, no editorial staff. Just give this camera in the hands of a photographer. So you can read, for example, that of course the X-PRO1 is smaller than a DSLR, but “my point is this: we specialise in documentary wedding photography, and at a wedding, I think this camera will allow us to get closer to people and capture images without the intrusion a pro DSLR camera/lens combo can often bring. This means more natural images and a less obvious presence of the photographer, this is good!… I can’t remember a single person even taking any notice of me and the little camera.” I’ll just tell you the title of his post: X-PRO1 part 1… WOW! (click here). Yes, there will be a part 2. He will talk about OVF versus EVF, image quality, ISO performance, off camera flash and Lightroom 4 workflow… we are waiting for it!

iPad App

And one more thing: Version 2.0.0 of the offical X-PRO1 guidebook is now available for the iPad (click here). From the descriptions: “This is an official guidebook for the premium interchangeable lens camera, FUJIFILM X-Pro1. It is intended to help users enjoy photography even more with tips on how to use each of the various functions. It also includes an interview of photographer Mr.Yoichi Sone on the spectaculars of X-Pro1 and a gallery of his works from Macao. The guidebook will also provide users with instructions on how to use the attached RAW file converter, RAW FILE CONVERTER EX powered by SILKYPIX®.”