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  1. #1
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    The most interesting camera of 2012 - Fuji X-Pro1

    I sure as shit am excited about this.


    Reminds you of the Hassy X-pan, right?


    That might be because Fuji made that camera back in the day, along with the optics for it, which werenīt exactly known for their dullness and lack of contrast.

    Nikon has announced/released two cameras, none of which are very exciting; the D800 and D4, and Canon has their 1Dx coming to stores pretty soon. These are all very expected cameras, in lack of a better word for it.

    Itīs not a rangefinder, it has a hybrid electronic/optical viewfinder, and my experience with that solution, on the X100 (fixed lens alternative) leaves me pretty excited for this.

    €1500 body only, which might put some people off. This is a compact! If the criteria for a compact is sub-500g, mirrorless and somewhat practical, then yes, this is a compact, and so is the Leica M9.

    My reason for wanting this:
    -I like smaller systems for travel and walking around. Since I walk around and travel a lot with my family, this seems like a good option.
    -Itīs made by Fuji. Fuji makes astonishingly good optics. Fuji makes good sensors, too. In the past, those have been pretty small, but still capable of print quality up to a certain size before diffraction starts getting noticeable. This is a new type of sensor, in a practically large APS-C size, supposedly good for A3 prints favourably comparable to those from 5Ds and the big Sony sensors (I didnīt want to go there, Lonnie, but you should be excited about this, too! ).
    -Itīs not so expensive I have to save for two years to be able to afford it, actually, I could buy the whole system for about half of what an M9 costs, and I highly doubt the quality differences will be noticeable.
    -Iīm sick of dragging an SLR or two around all the time. I love my big, heavy pro bodies, but itīs nice to be able to go light every once in a while. Iīm aware of the NEXes, the M43rds and all the rest of the world, but they look too modern. This looks like a proper camera. And while Iīm a hack and will still be a hack if/when I buy this camera, Iīll look good doing my hack work.
    -This is a photographerīs camera. It has some sort of video function built in, but who cares.

    In the end, would you buy this? I probably will, with an 18mm f/2 in front (pictured furthest above). That is quite likely the sexiest camera Iīve ever seen, and canīt wait to fiddle with one. Hell, I could sell just my Canon 24/1.4 and fund most of that package. Demand will be high for the first few months of its life, but then, all the firmware issues we know will come with it have been figured out, price will have dropped, and I can buy myself a new system.
    Last edited by arild; 02-11-2012 at 04:59 AM.

  2. #2
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    Am I right in thinking that it will only be able to handle primes? Not sure how I think about that. And it is spendy
    OTOH, it is sexy
    fur bearing, drunk, prancing eurosnob

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Arno View Post
    Am I right in thinking that it will only be able to handle primes? Not sure how I think about that. And it is spendy
    OTOH, it is sexy
    They havenīt said yet, but I donīt see why it wouldnīt be able to use zooms, except for maybe framing in the viewfinder. There will also be an M mount adapter coming, by the way.

  4. #4
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    I am weighing up the Ricoh GXR with M mount adapter

    I have absolutely no need to start spending that sort of money however
    fur bearing, drunk, prancing eurosnob

  5. #5
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    ^^That definitely looks like an interesting way to go, yes. As it is for me, with no M mount lenses lying around, I donīt see the attraction, but I can definitely see it for others, including hard core film users going from an M6 or M7 and look to save a bit of money.

  6. #6
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    It's 42 days into 2012. It's a pretty bold statement.

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    I have a 35 Summicron looking for a home...looks inviting

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by systemoverblow'd View Post
    It's 42 days into 2012. It's a pretty bold statement.
    Nah, what else is supposed to interest me? Itīs a highly subjective thread title, after all. The rumor sites say a 5D mkII replacement is coming; I donīt give a shit. With SLRs, I like pro body heft, so I guess thatīs the 1D series for me, then. The Nikon D800/E does not really interest me either, as I really canīt see myself printing anything that would require more than a 16mp sensor.
    Any Sony SLR will be an SLT, meaning there will be a decent amount of light loss no matter how you put things, so even though they will release an FF A99, it probably wonīt be that interesting to me.
    Leica? Will they release an M10? I think itīs unlikely, given the demand for the M9 as it is, and were Leica to release the M10, it would probably cost four times more than Iīm able and willing to pay for a camera.

    The smaller, niche oriented brands are more likely to bring something fun to the table, like Phase One, Ricoh, Pentax, Sigma (which by the way are releasing DP1M and DP2M 15mp Foveon sensors) and the rest. Iīm excluding Phase One from the list if I had to afford anything. Except software, that is.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by arild View Post
    Iīm aware of the NEXes, the M43rds and all the rest of the world, but they look too modern.
    Too modern? The new Olympus OM-D is about as retro looking as possible.



    Personally, I like the handling of an SLR, so I'm not too interested in the smaller, compact mirrorless cameras. However, if I were to go that route, the OM-D does intrigue me. Micro 4/3 seems to have the best combination of lens/sensor size. Of course, the weakness of the sensor has always been its performance in low-light. If they can improve that, I'd say it's a better option than the Fuji.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by AlexC View Post
    Too modern? The new Olympus OM-D is about as retro looking as possible.



    Personally, I like the handling of an SLR, so I'm not too interested in the smaller, compact mirrorless cameras. However, if I were to go that route, the OM-D does intrigue me. Micro 4/3 seems to have the best combination of lens/sensor size. Of course, the weakness of the sensor has always been its performance in low-light. If they can improve that, I'd say it's a better option than the Fuji.
    Good pick, for sure. One should never underestimate Olympus, my bad for not including them. Zuiko lenses are very, very good, and there are a couple of options for those who want really fast zooms - the f/2 14-35 and 35-100 (hold on, those are for 4/3, not micro. my bad).

    If you were to have one APS-c (1.5/1.6x) and one 4/3 (2.0x) sensor lined up next to one another, with the same output resolution, same ISO values, same everything, except, naturally, for pixel pitch, the bigger sensor, the APS-c, would always win. Larger photosites have this tendency to gather light more efficiently, thus making the sensor with larger pixels better at high ISOs. I guess 4/3 will catch up when more R/D money is thrown after the sensor size than after the APS-c chips.

    Also, the smaller sensors you get, the more problems youīll have with diffraction. Iīve never seen this problem, but then again, I donīt own a camera with a higher output resolution than 8.2mp, so I can go happily shooting at f/11 without fearing diffraction and the loss of detail associated with it. Iīve seen, though, the troubles with cramming 24mp into an APS-c size sensor, with bad effects arriving at no narrower than f/8! Iīm sure some will argue that this problem is of a non-practical sort, but some of us want slower shutter speeds without putting a welder mask infront of our lenses, and that means narrow apertures. For straight up DOF advantages, for landscapes, for example, a smaller sensor is a good thing, as it gives you deeper DOF. There are pros and cons every which way you look.

    I might be preaching to the choir here, so Iīll shut up. Itīs late. I still want that Fuji, though.

    (none of this really matters quite yet, as RAWs from either camera has yet to be released to the general public, and the processors out there probably havenīt gotten the codes and algoritms and stuff to work on the files yet. I suspect the Fuji will be better at both high ISOs and sheer dynamic range than the OM-D, simply due to sensor size, though.)

  11. #11
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    anyone have more beta on this?

    I am going to pull the trigger on the XE-1 as a m9 alternative, unless someone has a good reason against it.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by arild View Post
    I sure as shit am excited about this.


    Reminds you of the Hassy X-pan, right?
    I'm getting more of a Leica/Minolta CL vibe...


  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by single View Post
    anyone have more beta on this?

    I am going to pull the trigger on the XE-1 as a m9 alternative, unless someone has a good reason against it.

    I've had the X-pro1 for a couple of weeks. Love it. All the praise heaped on it by the fan boys is not undeserved.

    It has it's quarks, the AF likes vertical lines better than horizontal and the exposure compensation dial is easily bumped by your right thumb. But the IQ easily makes up for it.

    The XE-1 has the same sensor as the X-Pro 1 and is reported to have the same IQ, so it should be great.
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  14. #14
    Hugh Conway Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by single View Post
    anyone have more beta on this?

    I am going to pull the trigger on the XE-1 as a m9 alternative, unless someone has a good reason against it.
    You might find arild's follow up thread useful:
    https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...ighlight=leica
    and push him for info on the Leica.

    I'd imagine whatever lenses you buy for the Leica will hold value much better.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by single View Post
    I am going to pull the trigger on the XE-1 as a m9 alternative, unless someone has a good reason against it.
    Those two cameras have very little in common, other than one is a rangefinder camera, and the other looks like a rangefinder.

    Maybe consider what interested you in the Leica, and whether the Fuji would give you the same thing.

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hugh Conway View Post
    You might find arild's follow up thread useful:
    https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...ighlight=leica
    and push him for info on the Leica.

    I'd imagine whatever lenses you buy for the Leica will hold value much better.
    I'm descending deeper and deeper into whoredom,and finally managed to pull the trigger on something obscenely expensive to go with the m9.

    Glad I didn't get the xpro1,in the end. See my reason in the other thread.

    That said,the new body without the ovf would make a lot of sense if usage of m-lenses is what you want. The evf should be decent enough.
    Norsk.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Eldo View Post
    Those two cameras have very little in common, other than one is a rangefinder camera, and the other looks like a rangefinder.

    Maybe consider what interested you in the Leica, and whether the Fuji would give you the same thing.
    I think they seem pretty similar, at least in a shooting environment/resulting file sense.

    Similarities
    Compact.
    Interchangeable Lenses. (both can use leica glass, though there isn't much reason to on the fuji)
    Great IQ on both.
    Fast Primes available.
    Quiet
    Discrete
    Classic Stout Build


    Differences
    Optical Rangefinder vs. Digital viewfinder.
    $9000/ basic kit vs $1500/ basic kit
    Full frame vs. 1.5x

    The only real difference is ergonomics, sensor size and price. I would say that they are probably direct competitors, which is why there are a ton of reviews out there comparing the two head to head. Plus the XE-1 is the closest you can come to having a nice digi leica kit without throwing down nearly ten thousand dollars... and thats for a one lens kit


    Quote Originally Posted by Hugh Conway View Post
    I'd imagine whatever lenses you buy for the Leica will hold value much better.
    And hugh, thanks for that link. Good thread.

    I also imagine the depreciation of the m9 body alone over the next 4-5 years will like outweigh the entire cost of a one lens fuji kit, let alone potential fuji resale.
    Last edited by single; 10-14-2012 at 05:54 PM.

  18. #18
    Single, here is a good write up on the x-Pro 1. It will give you an idea of what to expect as far as IQ and low light performance from the XE-1, if you decide to go that route.

    http://zackarias.com/for-photographe...-pro-1-review/
    it's all young and fun and skiing and then one day you login and it's relationship advice, gomer glacier tours and geezers.

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  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rubicon View Post
    Single, here is a good write up on the x-Pro 1. It will give you an idea of what to expect as far as IQ and low light performance from the XE-1, if you decide to go that route.

    http://zackarias.com/for-photographe...-pro-1-review/
    That's the review that sold it for me. Those images are gorgeous.

  20. #20
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    It does sound like it's not a good camera for sports, however.

  21. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by Tippster View Post
    It does sound like it's not a good camera for sports, however.
    No, it's not a sports cam, I would definitely still reach for a DSLR for that.

    But it does excel at people/street photography. It's small, light(which apparently turns some people off to it, but makes it great for travel) unobtrusive, and very quiet. And the IQ is very, very good straight out of the camera.
    Last edited by Rubicon; 10-17-2012 at 07:28 AM.
    it's all young and fun and skiing and then one day you login and it's relationship advice, gomer glacier tours and geezers.

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