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X-Pro 1 user experience questions...

momo

Member
I wonder if all you Xpro1 users can tell me about your shooting experience with the camera.

I'd like to know about working speed when shooting raw files. I'm not doing action photography, sports, dancing...but is there a wait between taking shots? I shoot with a D700 now and want to know how happy/unhappy i'd be with actual day to day usage. I usually just shoot one image at a time, carefully, but sometimes I might shoot two or three raw files in succession say on the street. There's no lag time with the Nikon.

A question about autofocus. I often hold the D700 against my stomach and shoot 'blind'. Or I'll hold the camera at my side vertically at arms length and shoot. I depend on the autofocus for accuracy and a steady hand. Sure, it's hit and miss, but i get lots of very sharp images this way. Is it possible to work this way with fuji's Xpro1?

I usually use the center focus point. Sometimes I shift it around depending on subject. Do you find the xpro1 focus points accurate and sensitive enough, even the ones at the edges?

I do wonder if the choice of evf or ovf is better for how i like to work. I guess I'll find that out if I get a chance to try the camera.

Ok, I think that's it for now. I will go to a camera shop and try and use the camera so i can judge all this for myself, but it's early days yet. They aren't in the stores here in the south of France. I do really need to make sure the camera feels good in hand too.

Thanks kindly for your advice and experience. Oh, and I've been following the 'fun with'...thread and there's so many excellent images. The color and dynamic range on these images looks really good to me.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Quirks of the body and its controls aside, my big reservation about the Fuji XP1 revolves around its fancy sensor and what it takes to process the images. I've not been very happy processing the raw files from other Fuji cams in anything but the Fuji raw converter, and I'm just not thrilled about having to use that.

In choosing a digital camera, the choice of software is at least as important as the choice of body and lens.
 

Cindy Flood

Super Moderator
Sorry I missed your post earlier....here is a post from a D700 shooter that I enjoyed.

A confession: Fujifilm SLR/X100 Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Honestly, I didn't expect Thom to love this camera.
I really enjoyed reading this.

Momo, I hope you can get your hands on this camera and give it a try. All of these reviews are good, but only you can decide if this camera will work with your shooting style. The Fuji photos in the "Fun with" thread are really making me take notice. I am watching, but for now will stick with the NEX7 and Leica M lenses. I am sure that there will be another Fuji in my future, as I loved the S5 and X100.
 

momo

Member
I really enjoyed reading this.

Momo, I hope you can get your hands on this camera and give it a try. All of these reviews are good, but only you can decide if this camera will work with your shooting style. The Fuji photos in the "Fun with" thread are really making me take notice. I am watching, but for now will stick with the NEX7 and Leica M lenses. I am sure that there will be another Fuji in my future, as I loved the S5 and X100.
Passing a local camera store yesterday I did see one in their showcase. Didn't have time to stop and ask to play with it. Hopefully this coming week. And I agree with you Cindy. Images in the 'Fun with'... thread also made me take more notice of this camera and lenses. Still, there's a bunch of things noted by Thom Hogan that will keep me waiting a bit longer...see if fuji does some improvement via firmware updates...

today, the raw color processing is a problem for me, that needs to get worked out too...I agree with godfrey's post up above on that..."In choosing a digital camera, the choice of software is at least as important as the choice of body and lens." Post processing is as big a part, for me, as taking a photo. kind regards...
 

momo

Member
Sorry I missed your post earlier....here is a post from a D700 shooter that I enjoyed.

A confession: Fujifilm SLR/X100 Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Honestly, I didn't expect Thom to love this camera.

It was a funny read, but the underlying message kind of depressed me...

I mean ok, i get it, the d700 is big, heavy, and attracts attention...you can live with that or you can't...

The guys tons of boring photos, or complaining about how well the auto-focus works on the d700, that's something else...you aren't going to buy 'new eyes' or better thinking with a different camera, even if it's lighter, takes you more time to get to know, and is more difficult to operate in the field...in the end I think he'll still be bored with his photos...

trying to buy creativity, ideas, and work that means something to you?...my view, it's just the wrong road to go down but i suppose many go down that road and get stuck there and then spend more money on new equipment?...

sorry, it's just not how i view photography, but dpr is basically a gear forum, so the emphasis on consuming isn't a surprise...

photography is work...sure it's pleasure or joy and many other things, but it's also work...
 

Terry

New member
It was a funny read, but the underlying message kind of depressed me...

I mean ok, i get it, the d700 is big, heavy, and attracts attention...you can live with that or you can't...

The guys tons of boring photos, that's something else...you aren't going to buy 'new eyes' or better thinking with a different camera, even if it's lighter and takes you more time to get to know and operate in the field...

trying to buy creativity, ideas, and work that means something to you?...my view, it's just the wrong road to go down but i suppose many go down that road and get stuck there and then spend more money on new equipment?...

sorry, it's just not how i view photography, but dpr is basically a gear forum, so the emphasis on consuming isn't a surprise...
I guess we read that post differently and think a bit differently about what he had to say. I know my shooting is very different depending on the camera I use. With medium format tech camera I can come back after a day of shooting and only have a small number of images and then use a different camera and take a couple of hundred. My shooting with the Fuji is different than my shooting with the OMD.

Extreme example: how many rolls of film would you shoot in a day vs. shots with a dslr?

So, I didn't look at it as much as buying creativity but changing a shooting style.

No big deal....I'm not here to convince anyone to get a camera if it doesn't work for them.
 
Just to add an other personal user opinion.
What I dont like:
-Slow AF
-Poor manual focus implementation
-Innovative CFA which do not prevent moirè (not completely) and cause severe color smearing, not only with ACR but also with any other raw converter I have tested, including Silkpix, and with the in-camera converter (may be to a lesser extent)
-Other issues which can be easily fixed via FW such as Auto-ISO and frame line handling

What I like:
Everything else.
 

momo

Member
I guess we read that post differently and think a bit differently about what he had to say. I know my shooting is very different depending on the camera I use. With medium format tech camera I can come back after a day of shooting and only have a small number of images and then use a different camera and take a couple of hundred. My shooting with the Fuji is different than my shooting with the OMD.

Extreme example: how many rolls of film would you shoot in a day vs. shots with a dslr?

So, I didn't look at it as much as buying creativity but changing a shooting style.

No big deal....I'm not here to convince anyone to get a camera if it doesn't work for them.
Hi Terry,...it did not feel like you were trying to convince me of anything...actually, the photos you posted using the fuji were what started me to thinking about maybe buying the xpro1 to replace my take everywhere camera, an aging canon a630 point and shoot...well, your images and all the other great images i've been seeing here...

i think i understand the different ways one feels when out shooting with different cameras and how the experience feels different, especially when having to adapt to the working differences each tool has...i still have a couple 35mm film cameras i use on occasion, and an old 6x6...

and yes, i do shoot a bit more with digital than film, but not a lot more...maybe old economy habits from the film days...

I think this other part of Thom Hogan's xpro1 post sums up a lot of how i feel today and why i'm going to wait, at least on the xpro1...

Fujifilm X-Pro1 Review | Sans Mirror ? mirrorless, interchangeable lens cameras | Thom Hogan

honest, i'm not a tech person, but don't understand why the xpro1 doesn't work as quickly as say the new em5 from olympus...another camera i'm considering which 'seems' to have more fluid (2012) working speed ...and i like the flip lcd system more on the em5 for how i like to shoot...image quality is another thing to consider...

something else i haven't done yet, download raw files from these cameras and play with them myself in photoshop and lightroom, something i always do before buying a camera...

kind regards, Terry...

M
 

momo

Member
Just to add an other personal user opinion.
What I dont like:
-Slow AF
-Poor manual focus implementation
-Innovative CFA which do not prevent moirè (not completely) and cause severe color smearing, not only with ACR but also with any other raw converter I have tested, including Silkpix, and with the in-camera converter (may be to a lesser extent)
-Other issues which can be easily fixed via FW such as Auto-ISO and frame line handling

What I like:
Everything else.
maybe it has been posted elsewhere, but i'd love to know if someone is using the m adapter from fujifilm with leica lenses and is happy with how the system works...I've read in a lot of places about how the manual focus implementation leaves a lot to be desired...

the color smearing issue is not good...waiting to see how this is resolved...it's a shame, i wanted to buy this camera/system, but don't have money to burn...budget is tight these days...
 
maybe it has been posted elsewhere, but i'd love to know if someone is using the m adapter from fujifilm with leica lenses and is happy with how the system works...I've read in a lot of places about how the manual focus implementation leaves a lot to be desired...

the color smearing issue is not good...waiting to see how this is resolved...it's a shame, i wanted to buy this camera/system, but don't have money to burn...budget is tight these days...
I do not have the M Fuji adapter but I have two adapters from Kipon (M and F) on which I have used Leica Lenses, M and R converted to F.
What I'm missing with the Fuji manual focus is: any sort of focus peaking, a reasonably steady image on the viewfinder, in particular with long lenses, which might be obtained with a higher refresh rate and/or image stabilization ( I am afraid none of these features can be made available via FW);
Legacy wide angle lenses are better used on sensors equipped with dedicated microlenses (such as Leica M8 and M9 and Ricoh GXR M module)
 

Jay Emm

Member
I wonder if all you Xpro1 users can tell me about your shooting experience with the camera....
Well last night I made an advertisement to put my XPro 1 on eBay. Today I took it out for one more try, and instead of shooting everything wide open as I had been before, I shot at f5.6 and f8. The results were a lot more pleasing, but I still had shots were focus was a mess. I've decided to use if a few more days this week in different situations. But at the moment the slow and so-so focus is very frustrating. I had an X100 and hoped the XPro 1 would build on that, but I feel like I am a test-market, which is not what I wanted to buy into, so I think I will be hitting the "for sale" button later this week. (But yes as others has said, when it all comes together, IQ is very good)
 
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