Category Archives: Reviews

Moving On: Fujifilm XPro2 to XT5

Image February 28, 2023 G Dan Mitchell 14 Comments

The XPro is dead! Long live the XPro! That’s not the main subject of this essay, but based on tea-leaf reading and my own experience with the XT5 I think that’s where we are headed. I’ll get to why I think so near the end of this article.

This article is primarily aimed at Fujifilm users (and potential users) considering the retro XPro design versus the recently released (DSLR-style) mirrorless XT5. It is partly about techie camera stuff, but it is also a story about letting go of preconceptions and adapting to something new.

Since some readers may be unfamiliar with the cameras, here’s a quick summary.

XPro2 — The XPro2 is one of three Fujifilm “XPro” bodies — originally the XPro1 , the subsequent XPro2, and the most recent XPro3. These are rangefinder-style cameras with retro appeal due to their similarity to classic rangefinder film cameras and the inclusion of full manual controls. A key feature is the hybrid viewfinder system combining an old-school optical viewfinder (OVF) and a modern electronic viewfinder (EVF). The XPro2 has a 24MP APS-C sensor, while the newer XPro3 has a 26MP sensor.

XT5 — The XT5 is the most recent (as of this writing) in Fujifilm’s series of XT cameras that combine a small DSLR-like mirrorless body with a full set of manual controls, similar to what is found on the XPro bodies. This new camera uses an updated 40MP sensor — previous models (XT1-4) used 16MP, 24MP, and most recently 26MP sensors.

Fujifilm XT5 (l) and XPro2 (r) with Fujifilm 27mm f/2.8 lenses.

Because virtually all models in a generation of Fujifilm cameras use the same sensor, Fujfilm owners are more attentive to other functional differences between them. That is why I’ll focus on those things and say little about the sensor.

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Equipment, Reviews

Fujifilm XPro Camera System

Image November 2, 2020 G Dan Mitchell 6 Comments

Fujifilm makes a variety of interesting APS-C (cropped sensor) cameras with different body designs, including from the DSLR-like XT series, the minimalist fixed-lens X100v and similar models, the tiny XE series, and the XPro designs. Unlike most companies making digital cameras, Fujifilm tends to put the same sensors in cameras of a particular vintage (which today means a 26MP APS-C “x-trans” sensor) and differentiate among the cameras in functional ways — size, types of viewfinders, physical controls, IBIS, price, etc.

After engaging in some discussions about some of these cameras recently, it occurred to me that despite doing about half of my photography with one of these Fujifilm cameras I haven’t written a lot about them here recently. So this post takes on some of the key features of the XPro line and some of my thoughts about the current state of this type of camera. (I mostly will not address general topics here, such as the cropped-sensor versus full-frame comparison, or the pluses/minuses of the Fujifilm x-trans filter array, etc.)

The XPro cameras

Fujifilm has now introduced three cameras in this series, the XPro-1, XPro-2, and XPro3. All of them share the rangefinder-style body design. They are not true rangefinder cameras since they use a non-rangefinder system for focusing, but the experience is fundamentally similar to using old-school interchangeable lens rangefinder cameras. This similarity isn’t just about looking or feeling like a rangefinder camera — it is also about including dedicated physical controls knobs (and buttons and switches) for a lot of camera settings such as shutter speed, aperture, ISO, exposure compensation, and more. While most modern cameras use a modal digital interface, where a single button or wheel may do many different things, on the XPro bodies you can, for example, go straight to a physical aperture ring to change the aperture. If you used those older cameras — or just happen to like them — these cameras are likely to appeal to you.

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Equipment, Reviews, Tests

A Small Test: Fujifilm X-Pro2 Mirrorless and Active Subjects

July 10, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

I want to share the results of a little informal test I did today using my Fujifilm X-Pro2 (B&H | Adorama) mirrorless interchangeable lens camera and a Fujifilm zoom lens to photograph an active subject. First, here is an unremarkable photograph, aside from the fact that I would probably not have used my previous mirrorless camera to photograph this subject.

Fujifilm X-Pro2, ISO 400, f/8, 50-140mm lens at 140mm, handheld

Read on to find out why I photographed this and what I learned from it.

Background

I first used a mirrorless digital camera way back before the 21st century began — before there were DSLRs there were a number of early digital cameras, and my first was an Apple QuickTake! I used several others from a range of manufacturers before I acquired my first DSLR in about 2003.

As a group, mirrorless cameras have had some problems. One of the most glaring has long been slow autofocus (AF) speeds. Those very early cameras were often just plain awful in this regard, but they got better over the years.

Until recently I used a Fujifilm X-E1 mirrorless interchangeable lens camera, and it was my primary camera for travel and street photography for about 3 1/2 years. Its AF was fine for most things, but I also had to learn to adapt to slow AF in low light and with low contrast subjects — and the issue was more acute with some lenses than with others. For this reason — and a few others, including electronic viewfinder (EVF) display latency — I would never have thought to use that camera for photograph active subjects. Continue reading A Small Test: Fujifilm X-Pro2 Mirrorless and Active Subjects →

Equipment, Reader Questions, Reviews

Why Fujifilm Mirrorless?

June 30, 2016 G Dan Mitchell Leave a comment

(When I started this post I thought it would be short — but it grew and grew and grew! In addition, right now and for a couple of days after the publication date, there is a Fujifilm instant rebate promotion that takes hundreds of dollars off the prices of lenses and cameras and bundles. See a list of links at the end of the article.)

My friend “Pat” sent me an email recently with the following question:

I hope you have been well. I was hoping you could offer your thoughts on ‘why Fujifilm’ for your walk-around/street photography system. I have been reading (perhaps a little too obsessively) many rave reviews on their cameras and consistently love the look of images that are shared. (Kevin Mullins, Zack Arias and many others) have professed their love for the Fujifilm system.) While my G.A.S. has been in remission lately, I know I am susceptible to a relapse-I’m not sure if I’m looking for you to talk me off the ledge or give me a solid shove. Why do you choose Fujifilm instead of using a couple of the smaller (non-L) primes with your 5D series? I shoot the 6D as my primary body and have been saving for a 24-70 f2.8 (to replace my 24-105) but the current sale on the Fujifilm at Adorama has me thinking.

As I thought about my reply it occurred to me that others might be interested in the answer, too. With that in mind, I’m sharing my reply. The main context of your question seems to be focused on street and “walk around” photography, and Fujifilm is now my primary system for what I refer to as “street photography and travel photography.”

And, yes, G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) can afflict all of us. Let’s see if I turn out to offer an antidote… or become your enabler!

Settle back. This won’t be brief. Continue reading Why Fujifilm Mirrorless? →

G Dan Mitchell Photography