Jan Vogelaar is back. After ““The performance of Carl Zeiss: Super Tele lenses and Digiscoping up to 1620 mm on the X-Pro1″ and “The performance of Carl Zeiss & Leica M lenses on the Fujifilm X-Pro 1” Jan reviewed the X-PRO1, X100S and X20. Thanks for sharing Jan. And here is his review:

by Jan Vogelaar

Introduction

Lenses Guide to Digital Imaging on the Fujifilm X-Pro 1: [shoplink 17648 ebay]eBay[/shoplink] / camerabooks.com (USA)

This summer I have had the opportunity to test and review of three Fujifilm cameras: The [shoplink 12884]Fujifilm X20[/shoplink] and the [shoplink 12883]Fujifilm X100S[/shoplink] as well as the [shoplink 12882]Fujifilm X-Pro 1[/shoplink] with the [shoplink 12888]Fujinon 2.8/14 mm[/shoplink] and the [shoplink 12892]Tele zoom Fujinon 3.5 – 4.8/55 – 200 mm[/shoplink].

Left to right: X-Pro 1, X100S and X20.

The X-Pro1 is the flagship and the top class high-end Fujifilm pro camera with the looks of a rangefinder and is equipped with a hybrid optical viewfinder and the X mount for the interchangeable Fujinon XF and XC lenses. The latest firmware update version 3.0.1 brings among other things: Improved AF speed, Focus peaking, Zoom in for the magnification 3x and 10x

The X100S is in fact the first top class high-end camera with the looks of a rangefinder and is also equipped with a hybrid optical viewfinder and has a non-interchangeable lens: 23 mm f = 2 (35 mm format equivalent: 35 mm).

The X20 is a high-end compact camera with the appearance of a rangefinder and equipped with a hybrid optical viewfinder and a 4x zoom lens: 2.0 – 2.8/7,1 – 28,4 mm (35 mm format equivalent: 28 – 112 mm). The viewfinder is fully coupled to the zoom lens.

The hybrid viewfinder in all three cameras and the electronic information are combined, which means: the optical image is completed with shutter time, focusing point, aperture etc. Furthermore the cameras have the unique Fujifilm film simulation preset mode.

The camera specs table

Real life use

The X-Pro 1

The big advantage for the Fujifilm X-Pro 1 is the new interchangeable X-lens mount. The camera was introduced in 2012 and I produced an extensive and very complete book (94 pages and 150 example pictures) including a DVD, with the evaluation of the new Fujifilm lenses and 11 Carl Zeiss, 5 Contax G lenses (also Carl Zeiss) and 8 Leica M lenses.

The conclusion in the book is:

• The newly designed [shoplink 17602]Fujinon XF lenses[/shoplink] are superior to all other lenses tested in the book.
• The actual lens design is the determining factor for the real life photographic performance.
• In fact the Biogon design is the weaker performer. The Distagon, the Planar, the Sonnar and the Tessar designs are better.
• The score of the [shoplink 17604]Leica Summicron[/shoplink] is slightly below the score of the new Fujifilm XF lenses.

The book (Lenses Guide to Digital Imaging on the Fujifilm X-Pro 1) is [shoplink 17648 ebay]available on eBay[/shoplink] all the time and if you live in the USA you can find it at www.camerabooks.com.

X-Pro 1 and X100S