FR-readers roundup: a year with the X-PRO1, 60mm review, NYC and wedding photography

– Khoral: “Hello! Thanks for the blog, that’s my main source for Fuji news. Just did a post you might be interested into, my personal feelings after a year of use [click here to read the article].  Cheers! Khoral” From the conclusions: “I have a great time with the X-Pro1 and never miss my DSLR. The X-Pro1 is more compact, discreet, delivers top quality shots all the time. The only thing that would make me regret buying it is… the X-Pro2, granted it provides more accurate AF.”

Khoral

– Lorenzo” […]I suggest my profile ( http://500px.com/LorenzoTazzioli ): All last pictures are taken with X-Pro1 (with different lens) and x100. And soon I will upload new 18-55 photos. Thanks ”

Lorenzo

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– Gergely: “Dear Patrick, I wrote a little review about the 60mm macro, for nature photographers, with many pictures. If you are interested, please feel free to post it! 60mm macro review. And I have a late X-E1 review for nature photographers too. X-E1 review (click here).” Here is another one who sold his Nikon.

Fujinon XF60mm [shopcountry 10276]
Gergely

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– Nick: “I am a professional wedding photographer. I was based out of Richmond Virginia until a few weeks ago and now I am based out of Manhattan. About one month ago I bought my first fuji. A used x100 limited edition black from B&H. Everything was in great condition except I recently discovered the little front thread ring missing. (hear thats a common piece for people to lose. Anyway the point in writing was that last night I did a blog post of some of what I have shot here in NYC my first few weeks. Since all the photos are from my x100 I thought I’d let you know incase you wanted to check it out and share with your readers. Most are from Raw some jpeg some without the wide angle attachment some with.” Nickkessler.com  – x100 in NYC

Nick

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Evert: “hi Patrick, First, my compliments with Fujirumors.com! I’ve been following the site for a few months now and I’m really enjoying it :) It might’ve been the trigger to get a Fuji X100s (and who knows what’s next in the future…) Anyway, I though it’d be nice to share a link of a recent wedding I shot as second shooter (I’m a professional photog shooting weddings and commercial events and portraits), but not with my Canon kit: I’ve shot it completely using the Fuji X100s. It was a remarkable enjoyable experience with great results I think. My opinion? Fuji mirrorless could be a really great alternative for a complete DSLR kit for wedding- and event photographers. Here’s the link (translated version). all the best and good luck with the site!
Best regards,
Evert Doorn

Evert

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Battles: X100S vs Nikon Coolpix A + X-E1 vs OM-D vs GH3

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X100S vs Nikon Coolpix A

Mike Kobal posted a “mini-review” where he compares the [shoplink 10075]X100S[/shoplink] (with [shoplink 10069]wide angle converter WCL-X100[/shoplink]) and the [shoplink 8820]Nikon Coolpix A[/shoplink] (both feature an APS-C sensor and don’t have an optical low pass filter).

Among the others, Fuji “scores” because its faster AF, better handling and ergonomics, while the Nikon has a better battery life and lens (“This lens/sensor combo delivers the sharpest shots I have seen from an APSC sized sensor. Scary sharp, really.“) And which sensor is better? Hard question. “I love the X trans sensor and I love the D800e sensor and now I also love the Coolpix A sensor :) where will this end? Getting rid of the AA filter paid off again, mind blowing detail, if you like your images ultra sharp, then this sensor is for you. My personal choice is the X trans. 1:1 Fuji/Nikon (subjective)“

Check out Mike’s whole review here. Here is his bottom line… and keep up the good work Mike!

“Anyone who needs to pack light and small for whatever reason (expedition, extreme sports, etc), can live with the 28mm equiv FOV, has no choice, the Nikon A is the one. Unlike us purists, with both feet solid on the pavement, we do have a choice, Leica or Fuji X100s. :)”

Fuji X100S: [shopcountry 10075] Nikon Coolpix A: [shopcountry 8820] Fuji WCL-X100: [shopcountry 10069]

And who’s the winner for you? Just vote this poll:

Should Fujifilm postpone the XF120mm launch and release the XF23mmF2 WR first?

View Results

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 X-E1 vs OM-D vs GH3

Admiring Light compared the Panasonic GH3 (with [shoplink 8220]Panasonic Leica 25mm f/1.4[/shoplink]) with the Olympus OM-D and the Fuji X-E1. As we already heard from other reviews, they conclude that:

“Well, the X-E1 is a camera with fantastic image quality, that much is certain.  Not surprisingly, it produces cleaner images throughout the ISO range and retains great detail. Is the Fuji the best of these three cameras then? In pure image quality from the sensor? Yes. In other ways? Not so fast.”

Read it all and see ISO comparison here at Admiring Light.

Fuji X-E1 [shopcountry 8215] Panasonic GH3: [shopcountry 8219] Olympus OM-D E-M5 [shopcountry 8520]

image courtesy: Admiring Light

Fujirumors Readers Roundup: XF14mm and more

– Tom tested the XF14mm lens (read here, posted on February 24). Here are his conclusions: “I suppose the best thing I have to say about this lens is that I have nothing bad to say about it.  It focuses quickly, is fully corrected for the usual distortions, is convenient to use, focuses super close, has convenient manual focus over-ride, and has excellent resolution — all features I would want in a focal length I use primarily for travel and landscape photography. The $900 price tag is well worth the delivered image quality from this lens. I would expect a similar quality level from a full frame lens of this focal range to cost at least twice as much.”

Tom

– I’ve already posted the first impressions of Olaf (read them part here). Now he posted some more samples shot with the XF 14mm here.

Olaf

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– “Hi Patrick. […] I own a X100, sell it to buy a X-Pro1. I’d like to share with you some of my pictures made with these cameras. Many thanks for your great work on your website. Cheers.” Visit Laurents website here

Laurents
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– “Hello, […]  the thing is that I have an X-E1 and find it very annoying to have that grey bar under the image in the viewfinder. (The grey bar where the aperture iso.. informations are.) It obstructs the view too much from my point of view. What I’d like to see is the ability to change the color (black in my case), so that we only see the informations. I like to have a clean minimalist viewfinder. What do you think of it? Best Regards” If you want, answer to Christopher in the comments.

– “[…] I’m a Fujifilm fan myself and use the Fuji FinePix X100 and the FUJIFILM X-Pro1 with various lenses. I post my (almost) daily photos on my site and sometimes write small articles there, see: http://vannuil.com Feel free to link to it. Kind regards and keep up the good work, Edwin” He also tested LR 4.4 RC and says: “FujiFilm supplied Adobe with all the specs of the ​X-Trans CMOS sensor and it looks like it paid off, because from the little testing I’ve done so far I do see an improvement. Will do some more testing / developing in the coming days.”

Edwin (website or 500px)

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– “Hi Patrick, my name is Einar. I live in Norway and have been doing photography since I was in my teens. Sadly I am not in my teens anymore :D, more like 47, but I can handle it :-) […] Here is my “story”: I bought the X-PRO1 in September 2012 and I currently have the following lenses xf18, xf35 and the xf60. I have taken many pictures with this camera and I really like the results I get from the lenses and sensor Fuji makes. Of course the autofocus and speed could be better... Here are some pictures I have taken with the X-Pro1. Feel free to publish the links. Thanks.” (flickr photostream)

Einar

XF60mmF2.4 R Macro (this image was picked up by Gettyimages, so this is licensed through them)
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– Alessandro: “Hello Patrick! […] I’m in love with the X-series and posses x10 and X-E1. I put aside a [shoplink 8452]D700[/shoplink]. I love street photography […] I share with you this video of my pictures taken with X-E1 Fujinon 18mm manual focus. Hope you like them. Good luck for the site that I follow with passion, greetings!”

Alessandro

(… and if you liked the song in this video, click here for the youtube video)

X100s + X20 test shots

We are all hungry for real X100s and X20 reviews. I check the web every day!

The good thing is, I’m not alone in my daily search. Fujirumors reader Jonti spotted this webiste (translated version) that seems to compare x100 and x100s shots.

thanks Jonti

_

Click here to see X20 sample shots on Flickr or click here for another X20 Flickr photostream.

P.S.: you can preorder the X20 in Belgium, at the PCH store in Brussels. They received a sample of the X20 and took some images of the camera here. For the unboxing video click here. Preorder in silver here, and in black here. They were told by Fujifilm Belgium, that the delivery estimation in Belgium would be March.

P.P.S.: FR-reader M. received an email from the main Fuji Dealer in Ireland. According to the dealer, they will get the X100s on Friday or Monday. Also at AmazonUK the X100s should be released on the March 1. And FR-reader G. emailed me this: “My mate is a fuji dealer and speaks to fuji uk a lot…he told me today that fuji wants us in the uk to have our x100s in our hands in time for the focus on imaging show.. That show runs march 3-6, he says this Friday they should ship and he would be surprised if I did not have cam for Monday.”

X100s: AmazonUS / BHphoto / Adorama / AmazonUK / AmazonDE /

X20: AmazonUS (black – silver) / BHphoto (black – silver) / Adorama (black – silver) / AmazonUK (black – silver) / ebayITA /  / AmazonDE / AmazonITA /

image courtesy “just zis guy” on Flickr: “Noise is also pretty good up to ISO 3200 and 6400 is not great but usable if you crank the noise reduction up to the max (+2). 12800 is unusable and only offered so they had say they have it.”

Feedback: Lightroom 4.4 and ACR 7.4 release candidates

Hi

First of all, let me say that the contest for the £50 voucher is closed. I’ll inform the winner as soon as possible.

Before I go back at work, here are the first links with feedback about the LR4.4 and ACR7.4 release candidates… now it’s your turn, Apple!

[Reminder: Rico Pfirstinger updated his RAW converter comparison with LR4.4 samples (click here).  Also dpreview posted first impressions.]

Soundimageplus (click here):

“There is certainly now much more foliage detail, colour rendition is excellent and as you can see with the last 100% blowup ISO 6400 with some noise reduction added in Photoshop is simply spectacular… it does seem that finally we can see the potential of the raw files from this sensor, in an efficient and familiar workflow.”
image courtesy: soundimageplus

Thomasfitzgeraldphotography (click here):

“The raw conversion engine no longer suffers from the dreaded water-colour effect and is as good if not better than Capture One, and pretty much on par with the Fuji Jpegs. Where as previously any amount of sharpening would cause the raw files to fall apart, now you can sharpen away. Adobe have done a great job…”

comparison LR4.3 vs LR4.4 RC at thomasfitzgeraldphotography

frontallobbings (click here)

“I’m please to inform everyone that the dreaded watercolour, or colour smearing issue has been abated in this version which is very welcome… Although details are still not as good as some of the other RAW processors that I’ve thrown at it, it is improved over the previous versions. One of the more notable details is in the shadow details. LR4.3 lost a lot of micro details in the darker or shadier areas. LR4.4RC improves that dramatically. But as you can see, the Capture One details are still surpassing what both default settings are putting out in this case… Is it perfect? No it isn’t, but its improvements are dramatic“

image courtesy: frotallobbings

Lightoom 4.4 and ACR 7.4 release candidates available

The source was right! Now start downloading and leave your feedback in the comments. Download LR 4.4 here. or Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw RC 7.4 here.

Rico Pfirstinger updated his RAW converter comparison with two samples that were processed with Lightroom 4.4RC. Click here, read the article, and see the images.

There is also the first dpreview test: “In the ACR 7.3 rendering, the foliage takes on a distinct ‘watercolor’ appearance, and the white text of the sign is ‘filled-in’ green. As you can see, the new processing approach in ACR 7.4 RC offers substantial improvements in both areas.” (thx MJr)

Lightroom 4.4 Release Candidate and Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw 7.4 include a correction to the demosaic algorithms for Fujifilm cameras with the X-Trans sensor.  This specifically impacts the following cameras:

  • Fujifilm X-Pro1
  • Fujifilm X-E1
  • Fujifilm X100S
  • Fujifilm X20

Download and discuss on Fujirumors.

And many thanks to the source!

Capture One Express 7 released

I know you are all waiting for the Lightroom 4.4 release candidate. In response to the comments here, my source didn’t confuse the C1-express 7 version with the LR 4.4 RC. It’s just, I should have been more precise: it should be released Monday in the USA, and Tuesday in Europe (obviously because of the time difference).

In the meantime Capture One released the Express 7 version with Fuji support for €69 or $99 or download the trial version here.

thanks for the link, Albert.

dpreview (click here): “A stripped-down version of Capture One Pro, Capture One Express 7 gains features including HDR processing, lens correction and a new digital asset management tool. Express doesn’t support tethered shooting, but images can be viewed remotely and wirelessly using either the Capture Pilot iOS app or a web browser on other devices.” thanks again, MJr.

miXed Zone

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image courtesy: Mike Kobal

 Shot with the Fuji [shoplink 7756]X-E1[/shoplink] and the [shoplink 7812]Tokina 11-16mm[/shoplink] at 11mm.

X-E1

Roshan Vyas travels a lot. And he was tired of carrying the heavy [shoplink 7802]Nikon D7000[/shoplink] around Europe. So he sold it off, and was tempted to buy a [shoplink 7800]Leica M9[/shoplink]. But “having a need to continue eating and living under a roof, I wasn’t about to spend a few months mortgage on a used M9 and lenses.” He found a compromise and bought the X-E1, a Leica lens ([shoplink 7804 ebay]Leica Summicron-M 50mm f/2[/shoplink]) and [shoplink 7806]RainbowImaging lens adapter[/shoplink]. Compared to the X-E1, the Leica lens is heavy, “causing the combination to be a little off balance“. The results? Look at his first two sample shots and read more here on his website.

Here is a comprehensive Italian review (translated version). It’s a good overview about the X-E1. And, I know, you will think that a comparison with FF-cameras is unfair… but on page seven you will find some ISO-comparison samples. This time the competitors are the [shoplink 7900]Canon 5D Mark II[/shoplink], [shoplink 7908]Canon 5D Mark III[/shoplink], [shoplink 7902]Canon 6D[/shoplink] and the [shoplink 7904]Nikon D600[/shoplink]. (thanks Omar)

Fuji X-E1 + [shoplink 7855 ebay]Elmarit-R 24mm F2.8[/shoplink] + metabones speed booster (via slidoo). See the sample shots at dc.watch (translated version).

XF 14mm

“How to never miss another shot with the Fujifilm X-E1: Zone focusing“… DOF with the XF14mm explained by Mike Kobal here!

“We’re currently testing the Fujifilm 14mm lens with the XE-1 body. We’ve included the entire aperture range from f/2.8 to f/22 to show what the lens is capable of. A gallery of 40 JPEG photos taken with the Fujifilm XF 14mm f2.8 R lens.” See all samples here at photographyblog.

FixelPix loves his [shoplink 7821]XF 18mm lens[/shoplink]. But now the [shoplink 7764]XF 14mm[/shoplink] arrived, and he shot for one hour with it. “I know a number of people have asked if the 14mm is really worth the investment over the 18mm. I personally think it is, 21mm (full frame equiv.) offers a fair bit more image than the 28mm. I’ve marked the approximate scale factors between the 14mm,18mm and 35mm lenses. […] There is a massive versatility of speed + ultra wide + stunning output and I can’t wait to get it know it better. The Fujinon 14mm lens looks like the perfect companion for both landscape photography as well as general street / documentary work.” Read more and see his long exposure shots here at FixelPix.

image courtesy: FixelPix

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Sony 35mm f1.8 (NEX) vs Fujifilm 35mm f1.4

The phoblographer made an informal Lens comparison: [shoplink 7816]Sony 35mm f1.8 (NEX)[/shoplink] vs [shoplink 7766]Fujifilm XF 35mm f1.4[/shoplink] (X Mount). “As far as this test goes, Sony has done great things with their lenses, sensors and cameras. But in terms of pure image quality, it still can’t stack up to Fujifilm.” See the comparison pics here on his website.

X-PRO1

Fuji X-Pro1 Portrait Review at roughly365 (read it here). “For me the X-Pro1 was built for this kind of work, I needed a powerful yet discreet bit of kit. It slipped into my pocket easily… I can see how the Fuji X-Pro1 system would be amazing for wedding photography and documentary/backstage photographers, the files are defiantly comparable to the canon 5dII when shooting RAW….Would I swap my Canon Kit for the X-Pro1 kit?? NO….  I find the X-Pro1 to be the perfect camera to have in your kit as a backup/2nd/3rd/4th? camera or for situations you need subtlety.  There are definitely situations where the X-Pro1 is an advantage.“

RAW-conversion

“How to get the most from the Fuji X-Pro1: Using Capture One and Photoshop“. Read roughly365 workflow here.

[shoplink 7865]XF1 (specs&price)[/shoplink]

“The XF1 is without doubt the best looking compact out there – just look at it! And, while it’s not a back up to a DSLR by any means, it certainly does have that wantability factor that is hard to resist. It does exactly what is asked of a camera of this type – it has a near instant start up, is very quick to focus and very quick to process an image.” Read the whole review here at photographymonthly.com

Updated X-Photographers websites (with X100s and X20 samples)

To be frank: the X100s and X20 sample shots at Fuji’s website are not that good. I agree with MJR, who said in the comments: “I’m sorry Fuji but these are the worst samples ever. (at photographers fault) :( I’m heading back to http://fujifilm-x.com/photographers/en/ to feel better.”

So, take a look at the dedicated X-Photographers pages (with X100s and X20 samples) here. Just look worldwide for them!

_

X100s: AmazonUS / BHphoto / Adorama / AmazonUK / AmazonDE /

X20: AmazonUS (black – silver) / BHphoto (black – silver) / Adorama (black – silver) / AmazonUK (black – silver) / ebayITA /  / AmazonDE / AmazonITA /