Fun with the Fuji X-Pro 2 and X-T 2

[rayyan]

You don't have to use the ' 1.4 '.

Good luck with your choice.

Nice image.

I am currently debating between getting the 35/2 or the 35/1.4. I do not really need shallow depth of focus and would like WR so I am leaning to the 35/2 as I very much like the 23/2. Once the 50/2 comes out that would be a nice 3 prime lens street setup. Comments?

 

[rayyan]

Back from Georgia..and very glad to be home!!

 

[algrove]

You cannot go wrong with any Fuji lenses. The trio will be light weight but extremely versatile. I just bought 23/2 but the faithful 35/1.4 will stay in my bag, forever. So my set will be 23/2, 35/1.4, 60/2.4 macro and will add Samyang 12/2 for my upcoming Bali trip. 16/1.4 is also very good but I am reluctant to take this relatively heavy lens.

While discussing this B&H just put Fuji XF lenses on sale with 100-$300 off each lens. So now I want them all! I was also looking at the 14/2.8 or the 10-24 which friends say is versatile and very sharp.

I am of two minds as I like a simple 3 prime lens setup for street, but for travel with street and landscape mixed it might be wise to take zooms like 16-55 and 50-140 and then either a zoom wide or prime wide, leaving the 100-400 behind.

 

[darr]

 

[Shashin]

X Pro 2, XF 14mm

 

[Shashin]

A view of my garden from the window. The window has plastic and the rain was driven against it, making the image soft. Yeah, I know my camera is weatherproof, but this is prettier. X Pro2 and 23mm, f/2.

 

[scott kirkpatrick]

While discussing this B&H just put Fuji XF lenses on sale with 100-$300 off each lens. So now I want them all!

I spent the last six months accumulating nice Fuji lenses, some at discounts that have since disappeared, some on E-Bay from the impatient who have to try everything. One of them gave off a strong sense that it had fallen off the back of a truck -- dusty box, a seller with a spotty record. All of them are performing flawlessly, but it was a lot of work for a little savings, and now most of those savings are available again direct from the major sellers. (sigh!) Maybe there will be even more savings in Black Friday madhouse and post Jan 1 letdown. But I have all the lenses I need, I think.

scott

 

[scott kirkpatrick]

Nice image.

I am currently debating between getting the 35/2 or the 35/1.4. I do not really need shallow depth of focus and would like WR so I am leaning to the 35/2 as I very much like the 23/2. Once the 50/2 comes out that would be a nice 3 prime lens street setup. Comments?

I purchased the 35/2 first, followed by the 23/1.4, using both on my X-Pro2. The X-Pro2 with the 35/2 feels like a an ideal Leica M, with the small form factor, optical plus live viewfinder and less restrictive UI. But it is a bit soft in the corners until I go to f/4 or 5.6. (Sean Reid seems to find the same.) The 23/1.4, on the other hand is pretty near flawless. And for things that I shoot I like bits of detail at all parts of the frame. I suspect that Fuji views the f/2 lenses as optimized for X-Pro2 street shooters and their f/1.4 lenses are more perfected. YMMV obviously.

scott

 

[scott kirkpatrick]

Supermoon time

I posted a comparison of a handheld, autofocused supermoon shot taken with the stabilized Fuji 100-400 with one taken on a Leica SL, manually focused, with a 580 mm Leica R lens (APO-Telyt-R 280 + 2X extender) on a tripod. It's in the Leica thread. Best moon-viewing in 70 years!

scott

 

[rdubois]

Re: Fun with the Fuji X-Pro 2

I am of two minds as I like a simple 3 prime lens setup for street, but for travel with street and landscape mixed it might be wise to take zooms like 16-55 and 50-140 and then either a zoom wide or prime wide, leaving the 100-400 behind.

So I took the plunge and purchased an X-Pro 2 with the 14 f/2.8 and 35 f/1.4 to serve as a travel camera and I have some observations and some questions:

- I love the OVF.
- Focusing is very precise and for what I do rapid enough.
- The 35mm f/1.4 is delightful although a little noisy and is supplied with the worst lens cap ever (lost during the first couple of hours).
- The lack of a lock on the diopter adjustment is a real pain
- Picture quality and colours are fantastic
- C1 works very well although I find that I need to crank up the highlight recovery slider. But, highlights recover well.

- I must be doing something wrong because I've had no success with the Acros simulation mode that others rave about. I find the results too contrasty and lacking in detail. The B&W conversion through C1 works a whole lot better for me than saving as jpeg with the Acros profile. Anyone any suggestions or comments about this?
- I would really like to add the 56 f/1.2 but how much does it obscure the viewfinder? Would this be considered too large for a system predominantly used for travel?

All in all just very happy. Great little camera, wonderful lenses.

Here are some examples, all with the 35 f/1.4

 

[Shashin]

It is that time of year when 3 pm feels like 7 pm. And the contrast between the sky and land at sunset is huge. This is Acadia National Park. My wife and I ate our dinner here. With 23mm, F/2.

 

[darr]

Re: Fun with the Fuji X-Pro 2

- I must be doing something wrong because I've had no success with the Acros simulation mode that others rave about. I find the results too contrasty and lacking in detail. The B&W conversion through C1 works a whole lot better for me than saving as jpeg with the Acros profile. Anyone any suggestions or comments about this?
- I would really like to add the 56 f/1.2 but how much does it obscure the viewfinder? Would this be considered too large for a system predominantly used for travel?

I mainly use Acros as a composition aid for seeing in black & white through the viewfinder while shooting.

After looking at the Acros images in Lightroom, I develop further in Silver Efex for black & white.​

I use the 56 f/1.2 APD mostly for portraiture, although I have shot other types of images with it. I find the 56mm to be a bit heavy in the front with my XP2, but it replaced my long-loved Nikon 50mm f/1.2 when I made the switch to Fuji. I purchased the XP2 for use as a travel camera and rented about every lens Fuji makes (test images here) to see what I wanted to keep in my travel bag. I do not like any of the zoom lenses or anything past the 56mm due to weight. I did like the reach of the 90mm, but the copy I rented had an annoying motor sound. I asked on the forum if anyone else had a 90mm with the noise, but no one responded. So I do not know if it was just the copy I rented, or if the 90mm has a louder focusing motor than the other Fuji lenses I use.

I assume you are referring to the OVF regarding visual blocking; the 56mm takes away about the same amount of view as the magnified rectangle box does in the lower right corner with just a tad more above. I prefer the EVF and have no difficulties at all composing with the 56mm. Here are portrait images shot in a dark studio environment with the 56mm in manual focus mode. The lens was hunting because the studio was dimly lit and the walls and floor are painted grey. The 56mm APD is a beautiful lens, but focusing can be an issue in dim light, and I believe the non APD version is the same lens minus the APD filter.

Hope this helps!

Kind regards,
Darr

 

[scott kirkpatrick]

I have the vanilla version of the 56/1.2 and have used it on an X-Pro 2. With the lens shade on a little more than 1/8 of the frame is blocked when using the OVF. Magnification doesn't affect the blocking. Without the lens shade, there is no blocking. But the lens balances better on the X-T2, as it is a bit heavy and the lens shade is a good idea, at least outdoors. Here is a quick portrait, shot with my (now on its way back to Fuji to fix the sensor noise) X-T2:

XT2F0716 by scott kirkpatrick, on Flickr

ISO 320 f/4@1/100

scott

 

[rdubois]

Re: Fun with the Fuji X-Pro 2

I mainly use Acros as a composition aid for seeing in black & white through the viewfinder while shooting.

After looking at the Acros images in Lightroom, I develop further in Silver Efex for black & white.​

I use the 56 f/1.2 APD mostly for portraiture, although I have shot other types of images with it. I find the 56mm to be a bit heavy in the front with my XP2, but it replaced my long-loved Nikon 50mm f/1.2 when I made the switch to Fuji. I purchased the XP2 for use as a travel camera and rented about every lens Fuji makes (test images here) to see what I wanted to keep in my travel bag. I do not like any of the zoom lenses or anything past the 56mm due to weight. I did like the reach of the 90mm, but the copy I rented had an annoying motor sound. I asked on the forum if anyone else had a 90mm with the noise, but no one responded. So I do not know if it was just the copy I rented, or if the 90mm has a louder focusing motor than the other Fuji lenses I use.

I assume you are referring to the OVF regarding visual blocking; the 56mm takes away about the same amount of view as the magnified rectangle box does in the lower right corner with just a tad more above. I prefer the EVF and have no difficulties at all composing with the 56mm. Here are portrait images shot in a dark studio environment with the 56mm in manual focus mode. The lens was hunting because the studio was dimly lit and the walls and floor are painted grey. The 56mm APD is a beautiful lens, but focusing can be an issue in dim light, and I believe the non APD version is the same lens minus the APD filter.

Hope this helps!

Kind regards,
Darr

Hello Darr

Thanks for your helpful comments.

I've never got on with Silver Efex (or NIK for that matter. It may be that they do not play well with my Windows based system and I've been too often frustrated with crashes) but will persevere with Acros off camera jpegs and see if I can get the simulations to work better.

My primary motivation to get the XP2 was the EVF (which for me works perfectly) as I have an aversion to OVF. I've now ordered the 56/f1.2 and will try it out during my next travels this week to New Zealand and the USA.

 

[darr]

Re: Fun with the Fuji X-Pro 2

Hello Darr

Thanks for your helpful comments.

I've never got on with Silver Efex (or NIK for that matter. It may be that they do not play well with my Windows based system and I've been too often frustrated with crashes) but will persevere with Acros off camera jpegs and see if I can get the simulations to work better.

My primary motivation to get the XP2 was the EVF (which for me works perfectly) as I have an aversion to OVF. I've now ordered the 56/f1.2 and will try it out during my next travels this week to New Zealand and the USA.

You are welcome rdubois.

I do not know if you are shooting in RAW + JPEG or JPEG only, but just want to comment RAW has a much deeper bucket of information to pull from than JPEG. I could never get all the tones in the Silver Efex image with a JPEG file. I only shoot RAW and when I initially bring the images into Lightroom (LR), they will all be in "Adobe Standard" profile even though I have shot in the "ACROS+G" profile with my XP2. Once the RAW files are in LR, I highlight the first image and change it to "Camera ACROS+G FILTER" in the Camera Calibration Profile panel. Then using the Sync Settings, I sync the "Calibration" setting for all images to match the first image. I am sure Capture One (C1) has the ability to do this, I just do not use C1 like I do LR. Funny thing is, I have C1 v.9, but do not use it even though I have kept up with it since v.5. I recently purchased the book, "Capture One Pro 9" and plan on going through it over holiday break. One reason I think I stayed with LR over C1 is the catalog feature in LR. I am hoping C1 has gotten better with this feature.

I think you will enjoy the 56mm lens and look forward to your images!

Kind regards,
Darr

 

[rdubois]

Re: Fun with the Fuji X-Pro 2

You are welcome rdubois.

I do not know if you are shooting in RAW + JPEG or JPEG only, but just want to comment RAW has a much deeper bucket of information to pull from than JPEG. I could never get all the tones in the Silver Efex image with a JPEG file. I only shoot RAW and when I initially bring the images into Lightroom (LR), they will all be in "Adobe Standard" profile even though I have shot in the "ACROS+G" profile with my XP2. Once the RAW files are in LR, I highlight the first image and change it to "Camera ACROS+G FILTER" in the Camera Calibration Profile panel. Then using the Sync Settings, I sync the "Calibration" setting for all images to match the first image. I am sure Capture One (C1) has the ability to do this, I just do not use C1 like I do LR. Funny thing is, I have C1 v.9, but do not use it even though I have kept up with it since v.5. I recently purchased the book, "Capture One Pro 9" and plan on going through it over holiday break. One reason I think I stayed with LR over C1 is the catalog feature in LR. I am hoping C1 has gotten better with this feature.

I think you will enjoy the 56mm lens and look forward to your images!

Kind regards,
Darr

Thanks Darr and Scott

Just received it. Nice piece of glass :thumbs: Perhaps a little heavier than I had thought but wow, beautifully made.

 

[scott kirkpatrick]

Re: Fun with the Fuji X-Pro 2

Thanks Darr and Scott

Just received it. Nice piece of glass :thumbs: Perhaps a little heavier than I had thought but wow, beautifully made.

I'm looking forward to seeing some results. On C1 vs. LR, I've been a C1 user since around when the Olympus E-1 came out, which must be around 2003 or 4 and a release around 3.x. I have a home-grown cataloging system, so didn't spend much effort on the data management part, and I also plan to set some time aside to master some of the local corrections tools (Photoshop style) that are now part of it. When I have seen comparisons, I get the feeling that LR takes a bit more of a "one size fits all" approach. In particular, for Fuji's Xtrans files, C1 has been much better in retaining detail without generating artifacts. One thing -- the sliders for noise and sharpening in C1 for an Xtrans file should be left in their middle (default) position unless you have a good reason. Both down and up moves are towards more unusual situations. It's worth spending a little time trying them before using them.

scott

 

[Shashin]

This morning we had our first snow. Nothing bad--anything you do not have to shovel is good. But after such a mild fall, it was a bit of a shock. Those are one of our blackberry briers in the foreground.

With 23mm, f/2.

 

[rdubois]

Re: Fun with the Fuji X-Pro 2

I'm looking forward to seeing some results. On C1 vs. LR, I've been a C1 user since around when the Olympus E-1 came out, which must be around 2003 or 4 and a release around 3.x. I have a home-grown cataloging system, so didn't spend much effort on the data management part, and I also plan to set some time aside to master some of the local corrections tools (Photoshop style) that are now part of it. When I have seen comparisons, I get the feeling that LR takes a bit more of a "one size fits all" approach. In particular, for Fuji's Xtrans files, C1 has been much better in retaining detail without generating artifacts. One thing -- the sliders for noise and sharpening in C1 for an Xtrans file should be left in their middle (default) position unless you have a good reason. Both down and up moves are towards more unusual situations. It's worth spending a little time trying them before using them.

scott

Hi Scott

I'm travelling from tomorrow and should have some good opportunities to test out this lens. I'll post some examples when I get a chance. As for C1 vs LR; perhaps people are different but as I get older I'm finding that "good enough" becomes sufficient and for my use, C1 gives a good balance of features which is more than "good enough" also as concerns X-Trans handling. Although we have Adobe CC at work for things like InDesign, PremierePro.... I tend to give it as wide a berth as I can with the exception of PS for which there is little alternative. I've tried LR and it and I just didn't get on.

Hi Darr: The film simulations are available with in-camera jpeg conversions. Some have reported that they get excellent results from the Acros (and other) film simulation options. I have not but entirely accept that this is my problem although I am very interested to progress with this if I can find out how. Raw is great but it is, in my opinion, even better if the camera can do the work. Clearly Fuji makes this available and by all accounts it does the conversions very cleverly but, as yet, I haven't mastered that art.

 

[scott kirkpatrick]

Re: Fun with the Fuji X-Pro 2

Hi Scott

... Although we have Adobe CC at work for things like InDesign, PremierePro.... I tend to give it as wide a berth as I can ...

That's my feeling, too. Unless I become a Premiere user (and I have FinalCut X), I find Adobe CC to be unnecessarily expensive.

scott