Its been almost 2 years since I gotten my first Fuji X series system. Its a birthday gift from my loving wife. Its the Xpro1 plus 2 lenses. XF35mm F1.4 and XF 14mm F2.8. Boy am I lucky! And boy am I lucky to have a wife!
I have always think the Xpro1 looks gougeous. But never though of owning one as the price is not that cheap to start with. Until I had lunch with my good pal and fellow photographer; Joel Lim. He been using the Xpro1 for couple of months already and when I first held it; my first thought was its rather big and AF is not quick enough. Big because I was comparing it with a compact camera and AF is not quick because I was comparing with my DSLR( 1DX ). What a silly comparison.
On the good side; I love the beautiful crafted dials. oozing with such sex appeal. The aperture rings, reminds me of a SLR from the old film days. An APS-C size Fuji X-trans sensor for capturing great details. The built quality that is second to none and after awhile I think its not that big after all. Especially when one compare with a DLSR.
Ever since lunch; I can’t seem to get rid of Xpro1 from my head. Intoxication is the word. Maybe I must have been sleep talking about Xpro1 one time too many. That eventually causes my wife get the hint and did her research and gotten me that lovely Xpro1 and 2 lenses set. I can’t promise this strategy will work for Xpro2 when it comes!
How quickly 2 years have past and my Xpro1 have collected quite abit of dings and small scratches. Fortunately this is not the only thing the Xpro1 has collected. It has help me collected a total of 12 international photography awards. Including a Gold Award(1st prize) at the 2014 PX3. PX3 is Europe’s biggest and most prestigious photography competition.
Xpro1 is no longer my default camera in my daily camera bag. Its been taken over by XT-1 with a 23mm lens mounted on it. Is it because I love XT-1 more? Its for practical reasons. I feel it focus faster, for obvious reason. It a weather resistant camera. So I no longer fear rain when it mounted together with a WR lenses. Primary the XF16-55mm and XF50-140mm. Both are F2.8 constant. And also the very versatile XF 18-135mm F3.5-5.6. Lastly a tilting LCD Monitor to help me view those difficult angle without breaking my back!
With all the practical advantages of the XT-1; I still yearn to replace it from time to time with my sexyand classy Xpro1. Old is indeed gold. Its like how sometime I wish I could own a classic Porsche 911compare with its newer models which is faster and near to perfection in all aspect. But my heart tells me its the classic Porsche 911. In my world, Xpro1 is the sexiest of all Fujifilm X series camera. You have to spend some time with it to understand this camera and its does have a soul! Its a camera I could grow old with. Hopefully together with the classic 911 in my garage too.
Well I would think you should be thinking about new version of the “X-Pro” that is pending release. It should also see a great many upgrades. As a life long Leica M shooter…. M3 M5 M6 (.85) The Fuji X-Pro 1 is a real land mark statement in the history of Digital. I am actually more impressed with the passion Fuji has for developing lenses for the X-series camera line. I am waiting for the X-Pro MK2 body to make a decision about if I should go with XT or X-Pro. X-Pro is most like my many Leica M cameras.
Why is comparing AutoFocus to a SLR “silly”? Fuji is supposed to be making “pro level” cameras. The lenses are lightweight and small. Why should making autofocus that works as well as many SLR’s be a problem? Even entry level SLRs are often better at Autofocus both in accuracy and speed.
Isn’t Fuji up to the task? A camera aimed at advanced hobbyists and professionals should be up the the job without excuses like this.
Don’t forget, Ivan is talking about 2 years ago, Fuji has made numerous firmware upgrades since then and now the focus speed is much improved
The X-Pro1 is indeed an excellent shooter. In the UK in 2015 its price has dropped considerably £650 with the 18 & 27mm lens but its performance have been boosted thanks to Fuji’s numerous firmware updates. This is undoubtedly one of the best serious camera you can get for your money. I use my X-Pro1 with the 27mm lens for what I call my serious photography and I use a Micro 4/3 Lumix GX7 for everything else. The X-Pro1 is not a fun camera such as the GX7, it doesn’t have any scene modes or filter or even a flash for that matter. Instead what it does it does it impeccably! Its focusing system is slower but so much more precise than the super-fast AF speed of the GX7. If you take the time to learn how to use the X-Pro1 your shooting experience will only improve and so will your photos.
I did lease the XT for a while to see how it compared with the X-Pro1 and I was very impressed with it! The only issue I had with it was the crazy amount of dials and buttons on such a small body. I like to have a few buttons to change my settings but I find that the X-Pro1 with its fantastic rangefinder and its fewer buttons and Q menu works better for me. I’ve decided to keep my X-Pro1 instead of upgrading to the XT. This is coming from a keen and passionate enthusiast who always wants to have the latest cameras out there on the market.