frankinfuji

That looks cold! Happy New Year.

Post your first photo from the New Year. Here's mine, low light so some high iso loss of detail, but it was the first...

Happy New Year

There's been many threads about faults with various Fuji cameras, and many queries where people have issues created by illogical menu options. There's also some issues with peeling rubber coatings, warped doors, hot batteries and worn paint finishes, plus the regular discussions on how to encourage our cameras to focus on anything that moves - yet we all stick with Fuji. Is that because we like our favourite lenses so much, we tolerate the unreliable bodies? Yesterday evening was a good example, my X-E2 would not work properly with the flash (shutter release stopped responding, then it over exposed the shots), and Face Detection resulted in 50% of the shots with background in perfect focus. But after removing the flasgun, disabling face detection and switching to the 35mm prime, I got a shot that was just what I wanted. Are other systems as problematic? If it were not for your favourite Fuji lenses, would you stick with Fuji bodies?

Perhaps it's just the TTL metering pre-flash you are seeing? I'm not sure about your flashgun, but my Nissin uses a pre-flash when used in auto mode to set the aperture. This needs to be switched off when using a slave flash to prevent it setting off the slave unit too soon (or some slave units can be set to fire on the second flash). I may have got this wrong as I rarely use TTL flash, but try manual or Commander mode? I can't see the first flash in practice with mine but perhaps you have faster eyesight?

Perhaps the next firmware upgrade could give us more informative error messages to reduce the number of complaints? 'Face detected, but I focussed on the background as I thought it was more interesting than your Aunt' 'I've not locked up, I just think you need to put the camera down for 10 minutes and rejoin the real world' 'I massively over-exposed that one for a laugh' More seriously - I'm also thinking about the X-T2, but I think the more sophisticated the camera, the more issues it seems to have. My X-M1 is trouble free, despite serious abuse as a daily travel camera, my X-E2 has some issues, and from what I've heard the X-T2 has more. Don't think I'll wait for the X-T3 as there seems to be a trend here.

Definitely not made a mistake. The X -T10 with the two XC lenses is a great, lightweight combination that gives full auto to full manual with everything in between. It's 90% of an X-T1 at half the cost. Full auto is handy, but you can also set shutter speed (top dial) or aperture (rear dial). Many people who own the full range of XF lenses (aperture ring lenses) will still use the XC lenses sometimes.

I reckon it's part evolution and part market segmentation. X-Pro 2 design probably started well before X-T2, and USB charging and 4k were not part of the brief. When working on development of the X-T2 the team added new features to the spec based on a review of competition. But there's also the marketing strategy to aim the cameras at different perceived market segments, and some marketing genius thinks that a rangefinder style body should not have an articulating screen and that a dslr style body needs a mock prism housing. I wish Fuji would just make the best body they can, and ignore fashion.

All digital cameras will have some compromises when used in low light - and the manufacturers need to balance these compromises in a way that suits the majority of their customers. just my view - but I think older photographers may prefer a noise 'grain' effect - as we're used to film grain and that's what we expect to see at high ISO, whereas younger photographers raised on digital may prefer a cleaner/smoother looking low light image? I live in Asia where Fuji is a very popular brand - and the typical profile of a Fuji photographer is a young woman. They will generally be photographing people (often themselves) and the ideal is a smooth, white-skinned look - and they will use Apps mercilessly to achieve the desired look. I think having this as your major customer base will influence how Fuji engineers balance the low-light compromises. I guess many of us posting on here are, erm ..... rather more mature and perhaps a bit wrinkled, and so well beyond any salvation offered by a skin smoothing App. I also bet that the subject of our photos is rarely, if ever, ourselves. So we're not keen on the smooth, waxy skin look - but this compromise will be seen as desirable by Fuji's core customer base. As an example, whenever I've been taking shots of my local friends in low light, and I see some excessive skin smoothing creeping in to the shots, my friends will comment on how good my camera is! For what it's worth, I still prefer the skin tones and detail from my X-trans 1 equipped X-M1, as compared to my X-Trans II equipped X-E2. So I'll be following this thread as part of my buying decision on upgrading to the X-Pro 2.

So's mine - but that's because I use the 55-200 more. :-)

I think the 23 will be fine, as the X-M1 is not that small. I did the same as you and started with a low cost deal on an X-M1, and even though I now have an X-E2 and a wide range of lenses, the X-M1 plus the 27mm is still my most used combination as they seem to be made for each other, and together they make a great travel camera. And the 27 is a lot cheaper than the 23!

I've not used an X100 series camera, and I know it has a leaf shutter, but isn't an X-Pro 2 with 23mm f1.4 superior to the current X100's in most respects?

I really like that night/street shot in Budapest! I keep hearing good things about the 23mm f1.4 ...... think I'll try one and see if I 'need' another prime.

I have 2 XF zooms, 3 XF Primes (27, 35, 60) plus an X-E2 body, but when I'm travelling for business or pleasure, I usually take the X-M1 plus 27mm, because it's easy to carry, quick to set to fully auto when needed, and the lens seems to be so versatile that I rarely feel I've missed a shot because I needed a different lens. Shots below were all taken this weekend in Singapore using the 27mm + X-M1 - seemed to do a decent enough job considering the range of subjects? What's your favorite travel combo? Is there an even better combination from the Fuji range?

My favourite prime is still the 35 f1.4, but if I'm going travelling I like to pack light, and always reach for the trusty old 27mm f2.8. It's sharp and the focal length works well for travel, when the 35 can be a bit long for street and general scenery shots. And I can always zoom with my feet. It's cheap too!

All the lenses in your list are very good (when used with the latest body and lens firmware), but looking at your excellent photos I noticed that the portrait shots tend to be head and shoulders or waist up, rather than tbe longer distance full body 'fashion photoshoot' style. Your shots of the Enfield Bullet are also quite close up. This makes me think tbat either of the 35mm lenses would be better for you than the 60mm. And if you do want a head to toe portrait with an out of focus background, then your 55-200 at 55mm and wide open will work well enough. There's a lot of debate about which is the best 35mm Fuji lens, but as your X-E2 is not weather resistant, and as wide aperture / narrow depth of field is important to you, then go for the 35mm f1.4. You will not be disappointed with this lens, and it adds a look to portraits that the 18-55 and 55-200 cannot match.

XF 27mm at entrance to a Buddhist Temple

I find it a sharp and versatile lens

I reckon any single generation is tough to justify. I hung on to my Lumix G2 for years, and only the GX7 tempted me to upgrade. But then the X-E2 prompted a system change. The X-T2 is likely to tempt many DSLR users over to the dark side. For X-T1 owners, the X-T3 may be a better option

Yes. Great to have some quality shots of this special time.

It does seem strange to make a 90mm lens without optical stabilization. Lack of in-body stabilization is also an issue for me - it's the only area where other systems have a significant advantage over the latest Fuji bodies in my view. I also suspect that it's the large investment required to develop effective in-body stabilization that is the real issue - and the technical arguments are just a smokescreen. Unless you use a tripod there will always be some movement - so the higher shutter speeds are just reducing the impact on the image, but there will still be some impact. Plus the noise from higher ISO means that there's always some compromises - so saying that they are not fitting IBIS because of the effects on the image is not logical.

I think these are Canon triggers - so they should work. And yes, TRX mode is the right setting. You need to make sure you are not in silent mode. My triggers work with my X-E2 - not tried with an X-Pro 1

Logically it would be the 18-55 and the 55-200 as they cover the full range with no overlap? And they are two good lenses. The 56 may be overkill as the 55-200 ay 55 is a nice portrait lens.

Interesting. I've not used Nikon, but what you say of the downsides of Fuji are really due to support and peripherals from third party suppliers. Perhaps as Fuji grows in popularity at the serious end of the market, the flash and software providers will support them more?

I agree about too much background blur removing any context from an image. That's one of the reasons I like the 35mm lenses - even fully open there's generally just enough background blur to make the subject stand out, but not so much that we lose the context. Longer focal lengths, such as the 90mm, can completely blur the background into a smudge (although of course we can stop it down a bit).