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Ken Rockwell is unimpressed


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To me Ken is like theonion.com of photography, just humor, i can't take his opinions or pictures in a serious way (well his product shots are good), i admit that i used to read his site and is not that bad as some people swear but it depends with the eyes you look at him, if you are expecting serious reviews, nope you aren't going to get them, if you expect some guy that only shoots jpgs and has the opportunity to try lots of cameras and write funky and exaggerated opinions then is ok i guess.

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To KR credit, he knows how to reorganise the marketing documents and reorganise them in a fairly standard way, allowing for an easy specs comparison; if that is if any interest, between reviews.

 

but looking at his images, I suspect he is color blind or something closely related . as he puts it

 

"New is that we can set the saturation over a broader range, giving me even brighter colors in my JPG images, which I like." 

 

As they are his people images are making my eye water, but may be it i just me

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To KR credit, he knows how to reorganise the marketing documents and reorganise them in a fairly standard way, allowing for an easy specs comparison; if that is if any interest, between reviews.

 

but looking at his images, I suspect he is color blind or something closely related . as he puts it

 

"New is that we can set the saturation over a broader range, giving me even brighter colors in my JPG images, which I like." 

 

As they are his people images are making my eye water, but may be it i just me

 

It's not just you, they're objectively harshly edited. 

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Rockwell sometimes has useful info but you should filter it through your personal common sense module.  First time I read his column he was praising all thing Canon and bad mouthing Nikon like crazy.  A year later it was the opposite.  Speaking as a dad he reminds me sometimes of a teenage girl - when there is some undefined annoyance with life the symptom is expressed by a stream  bitching about everything in site that lasts from minutes to days.  Just as you get used to this it all flips the other way and the world is suddenly filled with fabulous , joyous wonders.

 

A long as I'm being catty let me note that I've looked at his gallery and while he may exceed my technical abilities I definitely do not share his aesthetic sensibilities.

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I prefer Fujifilm's X-T10 which adds a built-in flash. It weighs less, too. The X-T10 skips the optical finder and otherwise has the same practical performance as this X-Pro2 — for less than half the price

 

WOW - that is just nuts. Ken's favorite camera seems to be whatever his mood may be in a given month. I bet he is pissed that FUJI did not give him an advance PRO 2 to review.

 

Well I do like the pretty pictures of cameras and lenses Ken has on his website. That part is informative if you can ignore his idiotic conclusions.

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yeah, I have to say a lot of KR's review of the XP2 is crap.. I'll keep this short by  pointing out the menu system.. what is he talking about? did he really use it?
 
Ok, i'll say a small couple items may have been better organized.. off the top of my head, card format.. have to admit I don't understand why it's under User?
 
but, overall, the xp2's menu system is a lot better.. and to say Sony is better and something almost of praise?.. whatever..
 

 

and, what time period is KR from?.. who still uses the term Orient?  Can't tell you how much I hated that term when it was used once on me in a public place as an insult.

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Why do so many of you read Rockwell's reviews and then declare that he is always 'crap' or some other derogatory term? You keep rereading them and keep declaring them irrelevant.

OK, I get the point, but just remember that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. I don't read his reviews having done so

once or twice. There are a few excellent and generally objective review sites out there. Why not stick with them? It's time to bring this thread to a merciful end.

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Well, Ken's review of the X-100T was one of the things that got me hooked on this camera, when I upgraded from ... my Samsung Galaxy S2. For this, I am thankful.

As others have written, his reviews are a mix of useful information (especially to the newcomer) and bullshit. The X-100T review is highly biased. The face detection is not as good, as he makes it out to be (IMO). The exposure is not always dead on (and how could it be?). I also bought the Hoya UV filter based on his recommendations. No, it is not easy to clean. But yes, it makes the camera very coat pocket friendly. Ialso bought Perfectly Clear based on his recommendations (I had a really bad monitor back then). I used it a couple of hours and then never again.

 

I guess when he says the colours are bad for "things", he means it is not compatible with Perfectly Clear when the JPEGs are set to colour +4 and velvia?

His talks about what pros want and need must be part of his style of charismatic (to the noob) writing. I am not a pro, but this guy has written that with his Fuji cameras, he sometimes even does not shoot his JPEGs in fine ...

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"The X-Pro2 is for people whose work isn't yet good enough to warrant the ownership of the LEICA system, but still want a camera that feels well-made."

 

really.....

 

I have always had issues with Ken's openly biased reviews, and now its so obvious :)

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When you pay for a camera what you pay for an X-Pro2, then some of us darn well expect it to create excellent images straight out of the camera; otherwise then just buy an entry-level DSLR and use top-tier lenses.

You can buy relatively cheap x-e2s for that.

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But he drives a nicer car paid from his reviews than I can from my daytime job.

 

The guy must obviously do something right :)

 

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

But look at the Rolex and Omega watches he uses for his macro/close up shots, they're beginning to look a little tatty, give the guy a break and click on his support button so the guy can buy a new watch (or two) Come on the guy is obviously struggling  :blink:

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From Kens Leica M9 review:

 

The D3X only had a market value of $5,500, so it was a flop at Nikon's gouging price of $8,000.

Worse than the D3X being a flop, attempting to ask such a foolish price was such a bad move on Nikon's part that Adolph Hitler himself came back through history to express his astonishment.

If something is offensive enough to disturb Hitler, it's not something I want to touch even with someone else's 20-foot (6 meter) pole.

 

Priceless, and some people think he's a troll ?

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It's hard to take someone seriously when they seem to have such outspoken views as does Ken. He seems to either love or hate something with nothing much in between. I think it's often that he goes with his initial impression. My first impression of the X-Pro2 was that I was a little disappointed, I'd hoped for a tilt-able screen and IBIS, neither of which was provided. I decided to get one, nevertheless and after getting used to the new sensor, I actually have grown to like it. Life has shown me that I need to try things out and use them for some serious work before either praising them or damning them, a lesson for our Ken?

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I've picked out some enjoyably inconsistent snippets from this review (KR is the first to say that his reviews are unapologetically subjective and often whimsical)

 

"The Fujifilm X-Pro2 is... the first mirrorless camera of which I know that has two card slots, which is mandatory for use as backup for any professional use. Neither Sony nor LEICA are there yet; with only one card slot these other cameras are fun, but not suitable for any professional use

 

The X-Pro2 is for people whose work isn't yet good enough to warrant the ownership of the LEICA system

 

It's sad to see Fuji starting to go down the same road as LEICA

 

The fit and feel of the controls, as well as all the dedicated knobs and dials, is the best in the business today — even better than LEICA M!

 

It's not silent, but is it quiet and refined; far more quiet and refined than my LEICA M9, for instance.

 

Color Rendition Compared:-

Fuji  - People: superior    Places & things: poor

Leica - People: fair        Places & things: poor

 

Ken, you're brilliant!

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Actually, Ken Rockwell was pretty spot-on IMHO with the statement regarding amount of features and lack of organization, as well as the H ISO settings.  I too have lost a few shots after fumbling in the dark.  After coming from Leicas to this extremely capable camera, I find myself having to do a reset or call my very nice brother-in-law Leigh who may be lurking in this forum.

 

Although I AM impressed with the image quality, I too am NOT impressed with Fuji's apparent disorganization of both new and existing features.  I thank Ken Rockwell and others who have given me some really great advice over the years.

 

With that, I try to have both Fuji and Leica with me, not being able to fully trust the "X."

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Actually, Ken Rockwell was pretty spot-on IMHO with the statement regarding amount of features and lack of organization, as well as the H ISO settings.  I too have lost a few shots after fumbling in the dark.  After coming from Leicas to this extremely capable camera, I find myself having to do a reset or call my very nice brother-in-law Leigh who may be lurking in this forum.

 

Although I AM impressed with the image quality, I too am NOT impressed with Fuji's apparent disorganization of both new and existing features.  I thank Ken Rockwell and others who have given me some really great advice over the years.

 

With that, I try to have both Fuji and Leica with me, not being able to fully trust the "X."

 

 

I think the X-Pro2 menu organization is better than Ken Rockwell claims. There are a few things that could be better/more accessible but that does not mean the whole thing is disorganized. 

 

I doubt I will ever use ISO 51K so I don't care if it is less readily available. Pretty trivial complaint I think.

 

At first I thought it was too clumsy to have to go into the menu to switch from Card1 to Card2 when viewing images, but then I found the shortcut. Problem solved (and was mainly user ignorance)

 

Rockwell mentions the clock and formatting cards. I never format cards on a shoot. I have spare cards ready to go. I also don't expect to ever think about the clock while out shooting. Screen brightness is also not readily accessible, but so far I have not needed to adjust it while shooting... and I have been shooting at night, bright sunlight, overcast etc.

 

There is a User menu that can be configured how one wants. I put a few things there to make them easier to get to. So I think the complaints he mentions are a bit obscure and in most cases there are already ways to address them. I understand that as a reviewer, he is not actually using the camera much and in his work he uses many cameras. 

 

If the X-Pro2 is your main camera or one of them, it is relatively easy to become fluid and fast with it in terms of intuitively navigating the functionality. I appreciate his interest for the functionality to be as easy as possible and I can imagine improvements for the X-Pro2 but I have also never tried a single camera that did not frustrate me in some manner. 

 

My only significant complaint about the X-Pro2 menu is I want to be able to control which menu is the default when hitting the menu button. 

 

Oh, not menu related, but I'd like when using film simulation bracketing to be able to use C1-C7 including the different adjustments. 

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Actually, Ken Rockwell was pretty spot-on IMHO with the statement regarding amount of features and lack of organization, as well as the H ISO settings.  I too have lost a few shots after fumbling in the dark.  After coming from Leicas to this extremely capable camera, I find myself having to do a reset or call my very nice brother-in-law Leigh who may be lurking in this forum.

 

Although I AM impressed with the image quality, I too am NOT impressed with Fuji's apparent disorganization of both new and existing features.  I thank Ken Rockwell and others who have given me some really great advice over the years.

 

With that, I try to have both Fuji and Leica with me, not being able to fully trust the "X."

Which Leica do you shoot with?

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He's right on the money about the failure to evolve the menu system. I have a particular bugbear with the Custom1, Custom 2, etc thing. Firstly, hasn't Fujifilm realized by now that these are properly termed 'user defined profiles' and that there is a robust requirement for the user to be able to give each profile a name such as "Mean Street" and "YABS". And while I'm whining on, why 6 profiles - why can't I create the number I want?

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He's right on the money about the failure to evolve the menu system. I have a particular bugbear with the Custom1, Custom 2, etc thing. Firstly, hasn't Fujifilm realized by now that these are properly termed 'user defined profiles' and that there is a robust requirement for the user to be able to give each profile a name such as "Mean Street" and "YABS". And while I'm whining on, why 6 profiles - why can't I create the number I want?

Limited On board ram memory?

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You know what I don't get is Ken Rockwell loved the X-Pro1.  How can you love the XP1 and be unimpressed by the XP2?  Weird. 

 

Because the X-Pro1 was a phenomenal camera when it came out and thus also when Rockwell wrote his review of said camera. However, like most people with a website consisting of hundreds of pages, he probably doesn't keep revisiting and updating the content already posted, but continually moves ahead with new stuff.

 

This said, there is nothing weird about "loving" the X-Pro1 (when it was released) and now being "unimpressed" with the replacement camera, now. It is probably his opinion that the X-Pro2, apart from the more megapixels of the sensor, is not really that much of an advance over the X-Pro1, as a lot of the old niggles are still there.

 

And similarly I won't be much impressed by the X-T2 sufficiently to entice upgrading from the X-T1.

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And similarly I won't be much impressed by the X-T2 sufficiently to entice upgrading from the X-T1.

As always it's worth to upgrade to a direct replacement model only if you're a working photographer who uses camera every day or you have extra money. 

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