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Fuji X-H1 versus the rest of current mirrorless cameras

ptomsu

Workshop Member
I had the chance today to visit one of the largest camera stores in Vienna and handle a bunch of current mirrorless offerings like the


  • Fuji X-H1
  • Panasonic G9
  • Olympus EM1.2 (the camera I currently shoot)
  • Sony A9 and A7RIII
  • Leica SL

and thought that my findings might also be of interest for some of you that currently look getting into mirrorless system. Having said that my comparisons and the outcome are solely based on my preferences and personal opinion and I did NOT compare any IQ nor AF speed! Have FUN!

1) Handling:

Fuji X-H1 wins hands down for me - it fits my hands like a glove and thankfully it is now bigger than e.g the X-T2 which I shot for almost 2 years). A big plus when using it with larger lenses such as 2.8 16-55 or 100-400. Also the exposure compensation dial is thankfully gone and can now be easily operated by pressing a button next to the shutter release and turning the rear command wheel - this is a big improvement IMHO above the X-T2.

Panasonic G9 comes very close to the Fuji and overall the handling is nice, similar as the Olympus EM1.2, which I prefer to the G9, I think mainly because I am so used to.

Sony A9 and A7III have IMHO the worst handling - the main fault for me is that the camera bodies are just too small. And it does not need a big lens to find these cameras difficult to hold because the grip is far to close to the lens - and my hands are not the biggest ones, I would call them medium size.

Leica SL is pretty perfect WRT handling but it is significantly heavier than the others and this is kind of putting me off - sorry Leica :eek:

2) EVF:

Fuji X-H1 has one of the best EVFs, for sure better than the Sony A9 and A7RIII that have the same resolution but colours are kind of weird.

Panasonic G9 has same resolution and I think even larger magnification than the X-H1, but looking through both EVFs roughly at the same time I clearly preferred the X-H1

Olympus EM1.2 - come on Olympus this EVF is really outdated by far and cannot compete with anything top class mirrorless currently on the market

Leica SL has on paper the best EVF (4.4MP versus 3.6MP in the Fuji, the G9 and the Sonys) but to my eyes the X-H1 EVF was fully up to the Leica SL EVF in terms of resolution, refresh rate (you think you look through an OVF) as well as color accuracy.

3) Mechanical Shutter:

Fuji X-H1 mechanical shutter is very quiet, but owning the EM1.2 and knowing that mechanical shutter obviously very well I cannot really tell a difference - so both win equally.

Panasonic G9 shutter sound is nice but noticeably more noisy compared to the X-H1 and EM1.2

Sony A9 and A7RIII - come on Sony, these shutters are still loud and noisy and do not make up for a great "listening" experience - sounds like something is breaking or so ... there is definitely room for improvement :cool:

Leica SL has the usual Leica shutter sound which is good, but X-H1 as well as EM1.2 sound much quieter and better - that might of course also be the reason because the SL is FF versus X-H1 APSC and EM1.2 m43

4) Battery Life (of course could not test it but this is common knowledge from either direct ownership or reviews on the Net)

Fuji X-H1 seems to be the worst from the whole bunch and I do NOT understand why Fuji did not upgrade the battery to allow more shots, like Olympus did when introducing the EM1.2. But I hear rumours that also in the upcoming Fuji X-T3 the battery size will stay the same but using a new technology allowing for much more shoots - that would be good because one could reuse all the already owned "old" Fuji batteries which must be a huge number - I think I still own some 7-9 of these :(

Panasonic G9 and Olympus EM1.2 seem to be quite ok WRT battery life

Sony A9 and A7RIII use the new Sony batteries which should be finally ok as well!

Leica SL must have one of the best battery life's - this is known for sure.

My overall conclusion (this is my personal opinion taking the above into account as well as my experiences I directly or indirectly have WRT IQ and file handling):

For me the X-H1 wins overall, even with it's main issue of having the worst batteries, but that may be fixed hopefully soon. I simply love to hold and operate this camera, it is intuitive allows fast handling and operation and in combination with the wonderful Fujinon lenses turns out to be a real marvel - my FIRST CHOICE for now

The Sony's have definitely their advantage with their FF sensors as we all can assume, but when I touch and hold them especially in combination with larger lenses my feelings and heart say a CLEAR NO. This NO also is true for the large and also somehow heavy FF lenses - has of course nothing to do with resulting IQ, but same as for the FF Leica SL I think I am over that willing to carry such bulk around.

The Leica SL would maybe be my choice if I had infinite funds available and would be willing to again carry around as much weight and heft as this system brings - which I seem to have come finally over - at least for now. TOO EXPENSIVE, BIG and HEAVY and I would not like t carry such a system around the world for photography, simply too risky and cumbersome for me!

The G9 and EM1.2 - well I own currently the Olympus and I am still a happy camper, mainly because the m43 system is so nice, fast and small. IMHO both cameras are on the same level, except the EVF, which is kind of important for me, but not so much that I would think of switching, rather waiting for the EM1.3 with hopefully an EVF as I have found in the Fuji X-H1.

So for those who made it through that lengthy post -

my current winner is the X-H1 and if I would start from scratch that would today be my system of choice, directly followed by the Olympus m43 system I currently shoot with the hope that Olympus will give us an updated EM1.3 (significantly better EVF) asap.

The Sony's are nice and may appeal to many, especially if one thinks to need FF and/or need the higher resolution of the A7RIII - but as I found today both are not for me because of overall system size, not state of the art EVF (looking at Fuji and Leica) and the camera bodies are too small for my hands.

The Leica SL is kind of out of competition because of first price, and second the heft and weight of the lenses and finally there is no such original SL lens available like a 100-400 which I desperately need for wildlife.

Again all my personal findings and experiences and your milage my vary ;)

Best regards

Peter
 
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iiiNelson

Well-known member
I agree that the XH1 body is amazing in feel and it’s the only Fuji camera that wasn’t a GFX that I’ve seriously considered switching to. I had some concerns regarding Fuji’s QA/QC and reliability since they’ve become a more popular which caused my hesitation to switch over from Sony. It seems like Fuji may be spread too thin as a company with the reported quality issues for the XH1 (SD card compatibility issues, power management issues, camera resetting to factory settings in the middle of shooting, etc.) and the issues with releasing firmware that bricked some cameras or wasn’t stable. I would almost prefer that they stick to the premium models, the X100 series, and maybe the mid level options while completely dropping the entry level Bauer models... unless they adopt Bader sensors across board.

I do hope Sony introduces a slightly larger body for the next generation A9 for use with larger GM or sigma lenses but I found the EVF to be about equal or slightly superior to the XH1 (judging side by side in February with the A9) in the EVF performance setting (which is usually defaulted to off unless they changed it on the newest bodies). The top end Sony bodies have Zeiss coatingsonnthe EVF so that can produce a slightly cool bias for some but I usually only notice it when shooting at dusk or dawn.
 
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