Convince me not to dump my X stuff

[pizzaman]

... 

[pizzaman]

... 

[pizzaman]

... 

[andrew brown]

I came to Fuji by way of Canon - mainly the 5D2, the DSLR with which the X-Pro 1 is mostly compared to.

 

It left me thinking that DSLR is a dead form for all but the sports/ action/ wildlife photographers and those who need those 40+ MP sensors fo those enormous vista creations.

 

Nothing in the previous sentence applies to you - so why not ditch the Nikon whilst you can still get some money for it? Then, when the next RF format body comes out you can pounce.

 

Through reasons that are not relevant to this discussion, I got rid of my X-Pro 1 (but then I got rid of ALL my camera kit).

 

I did ponder waiting for the X-Pro 2, but wanted a camera now.

 

I was about to purchase another X-Pro 1 when I was introduced to the X-100T which pretty much suits all my needs (which are different form yours).

 

I still have the urge to get an X-Pro 1 because it feels about the most amazing camera I've ever worked with apart from my old Canon film camera - the A1.

 

It is a quirky camera that is a joy to use and hold and takes great pictures.

 

I'm still not sure I will go for the X-Pro 2 because the X-100T really does fill my needs (single lens and body option) - but I may well get an X-Pro 1 again.

 

Given your situation, the lenses you want are out there. If you have any doubts - give Damien Lovegrove work a look.

 

And for the rumour hopeful within you - there is some big announcement going on in Thailand in October (or is it September?), because Damien is going out to help with it.

He hasn't said what it is actually for as yet - but worth going to if you happen to be of a mind or passing that way.

 

Me thinks it will be an X-Pro 2 announcement with a lens or 2 dedicated to making the most of the new camera which I think will come with a 51200 ISO (now available in the X-T10) and a 24mp sensor.

 

Not too long to wait  - surely?

 

 

[pizzaman]

... 

[pizzaman]

... 

[aceflibble]

I'll +1 the recommendation to check out Damien Lovegrove. Whether you look at his Canon/Nikon stuff or his recent Fuji work, his style of slightly more environmental portraiture with minimal additional light and quick, efficient working will be right up your alley, from the sound of your description. I'll also add that I've seen the man at work in person and he's just as fast with his old X-Pro1 as he is with the Canons he used to use, if not faster.

 

I can't say I find the Fujis slow for portraiture myself, either. I'm typically working indoors in dim conditions where flash is not permitted and I'm expected to get solid single and group portraits, posed and casual alike, of bands and artists in whatever few minutes they have available before getting on stage. It's pretty normal for me to have <2 minutes to do something in a room where ISO 3200, f/2 and 1/125th still leaves me underexposed. (And god forbid I lower the shutter and induce the dreaded subject motion.) These images don't get scaled down before they're viewed; the majority of the time I have to send files off at their original size and that's how they're used, so I can't rely on scaling and noise reduction to deal with the noise or make up for a lack of sharp focus. Even so, the Fujis have become my go-to for this kind of work. I'm now using SLRs strictly outdoors when the weather dictates tougher gear or I need the speed and longer reach of a DSLR with a big prime, my 6x7 medium format lives in the studio and my Fujis are ruling my indoors, on-location work. Speed has never been an issue, no matter how pressed I am for time.

I will not pretend to know the ins-and-outs of your exact style of shooting and subject, but if you are finding the Fuji cameras too slow to get portraiture done in a few minutes, I can tell you no other mirrorless system is going to be faster—Sony and Leica are both slower in operation—and it also really makes me wonder what it is you're doing to take up so much time. If I'm not set up, shot, torn down and left within 120 seconds, I've usually screwed up the job and pissed a bunch of people off. I can't imagine what kind of 7th circle of hell job would be so tough on time as to make mirrorless impossibly slow to use, at least in terms of portraiture. Again, not saying you're wrong for wanting or thinking you need something faster, I'm just having trouble wrapping my head around the idea of such a task. Sounds like you could do with getting some more relaxed clients!

[Tom H.]

You want simplification for your gear? Ditch everything, your Fuji, Pentax and Nikon stuff. Get a Sony a7r II and the Batis 25 and 85, the 35 1.4 and the 55 1.8. Consider the 35 2.8 for shots where you don't need a big aperture, since it's so small.

 

That would be my kit for everything. If.... I liked Sony. Which I don't. I just really dislike their control layout, colour rendition and looks. I also don't like that some of their glass is magnificent, while others are just plain crap. I tried their zooms and they are rubbish... And I bet a new, better one is in the works, but it will be huge, heavy and bloody expensive... And worst of all, probably white...

[pizzaman]

....

[pizzaman]

... 

[pizzaman]

Nissin i40?

Sorry I missed this suggestion. Just looked it up while going back through the other info on this thread.

 

This looks quite promising - thank you!

[jlmphotos]

If you are posting that request here then maybe it's too late.  If you think you'll be happier in another camp then go for it.  

Only YOU can determine your needs, and wants.

Me?  I need convincing to KEEP my Nikon gear at this point.  LOL

 

Good luck in whatever path you choose.

 

J

[fujifilmcollective]

Canon 5D Mk3. That fixes everything 

[pizzaman]

...

[drb]

I had three sony cameras. A7, A7S, A7II

I sold them all, no joy.

Bought an xpro1 and x100t instead and I'm happy.

[Alan Sircom]

Unfortunately, I don't think there's much that will fit your bill, outside of the existing Nikon or Canon systems.  The XP1 is far more responsive than it originally was, but it's still behind the curve, IMO. I think the camera is outstanding in many ways, and I still use it alongside my XT1s, but that doesn't make me blind to its shortcomings, and those shortcomings seem to be butting up against your style of picture taking. There are some things you can do, however.

 

I'm very used to using the XP1 in manual with back-button focus in the kind of situations you suggest, as it speeds up the shutter responsiveness considerably. In addition, as most of the time I'm zone focusing under such conditions, using the AF system every time you press the shutter seems a touch pointless. It is also worth noting that the contrast-detect focus of the XP1 places different demands on focusing than you might be used to with a Nikon. The XP1 will focus surprisingly fast and accurately on any reasonably well-lit chiaroscuro subject, but if you are used to focusing for phase detection (where you look for edges for focusing) you are actually slowing the XP1s focusing system down, and this takes some unlearning. Having spent years focusing that way with DSLR AF systems, the change comes as something of a shock, although it's actually easy to master. Later Fuji cameras (from the X100S and X-E2 onwards) use a combination of phase and contrast detection. 

 

The advantage to contrast detection is it is consistent across the frame, and you might also want to consider a move away from 'focus-recompose' and to choosing the right AF point for the subject. Once you get used to doing this, once again responsiveness increases, although this time I think it's the response time of the photographer that improves. I certainly did!

 

The thing here is familiarity. You need to relearn how to spot the parts of a scene you 'key' to for focusing, and recognise they are different to those used on a Nikon. In a way, you are already doing this, thanks to the Leica and Contax you use, and it's worth bearing in mind that some of your relationship with the Leica and Contax are also based on years of familiarity: if you had picked them up cold and new at the same time as the XP1, you'd possibly rank them differently.

 

Regardless of focus, the flash system on Fuji's X system is in dire need of being dragged into the 21st century. It's a lot better with manual off-camera flash, if only because it doesn't put the camera into some kind of bizarre 'pause' mode while the flash recharges. But if you have to use a flash on the hot-shoe, need TTL, and want fast recycle times, it's back to the Big Two, I'm afraid. The fastest I can get is a Cactus RF60 with a Canon-clone battery pack, or a LumoPro LP180 with the same, but both of these are manual flash only. The fastest auto or TTL flash on the Fuji system is the small Nissin i40, which also has the benefit of charging fast, but it's not SB800 powerful. Everything else is either too slow, too weak, or too limited, or too slow, weak, and limited.

 

Flash seems to be something of an afterthought with most systems apart from the Big Two. Olympus has a reasonably good system it developed for the E-series that it migrated across to µ43. But none of them have anything close to iTTL, IMO. If your thing is to photograph a subject using a fast recycle, TTL flash on the hot-shoe of your camera, try the Nissin i40. But if this still fails to come up to snuff, and it well might, I suspect your own real solution still has a Nikon logo on the pentaprism.

[gordonrussell76]

I have not read all the thread as I wanted to get my thoughts down quickly in response to OP's original post so apologies if there are repeats.

 

1) If you want to move system you want to move, its up to you, although moving because all your colleagues have a camera is not for me the strongest reason.

 

2) If you are willing to accept compromize of Sony A7 size body, then surely you could consider a X-T1 or X-T10 both of which will give you a massive improvment over X-Pro 1 in terms of AF speed. I would very seriously consider it. Failing that even the X-E2 gives you a fairly decent increase in AF speed over X-Pro and is a great camera, plus its getting a firmware upgrade at the end of the year that will further improve AF. I think that one might be your baby. The other issue with Sony is there lenses are HUGE so basically you have a choice with teh Sony massive native lens which breaks your size requirement or vintage lens that will be smaller but break you AF speed requirement by dint of not having any AF whatsoever

 

3) Flash get Nissin i40 and your done.

 

4) Low light capability, you already have one of the best lens in the line up for native low light performance. Can I suggest you consider the 10-24mm wide angle, yes its a big lens, but it is very sharp give some very nice focal lengths and most importantly has an insane OIS system. This gives you the ability to shoot lower shutter speeds and still get sharp images this obviously allows you to use lower ISO's not great for moving subjects but I have found that it can be very useful. I grant you this comes with a substantial sized lens. The other very serious alternative might be the 18-55mm its a lovely little lens, super super sharp at 18-35mm and has built in OIS, although not as good as the 10-24mm or 18-135mm or 50-140 which is probably the best. Personally I think the 18-55mm + 35mm on an X-t10 might be just the ticket for you. Give you a very compact little camare with F2.8 at wide end on zoom stabilization and the 35mm for super low light situations

 

5) Fuji 35 F2 is coming out if you are really worried about size.

 

Seriously though do what you will, I already own the 27mm and 35mm I am happy to think of another Fuji user having the opportunity to buy them cheap from you

[tennjed]

The Fuji X-pro 1 is still the closest/only approximation of the Contax G2 in the digital photography world. What would you switch to in order to get closer to that goal? I mean, something like a used Leica M8 would give you an actual rangefinder, but you would lose AF. I assume AF is important to you as the G2 is AF only. I own a G1; the fact that it is AF only is my one big complaint about the camera. With the Fuji X-Pro 1 you get 1) rangefinder style body, 2) OVF, and 3) both AF and MF. I went with the M8 and love it, but, you know, there is always the $ thing associated with that camera.

 

Thanks for the great OP, it prompted me to join the group. Maybe the X-Pro 2 will flip more of your switches.

[Fiddlergene]

Actually, I think you should dump it all. Obviously you are much to talented and deserve much better equipment than what Fuji has to offer.

[Alan Sircom]

Actually, I think you should dump it all. Obviously you are much to talented and deserve much better equipment than what Fuji has to offer.

 

Whoa! This isn't DPReview.

 

The OP's needs are relatively specialist and not easily met, by Fuji or any other mirrorless system, IIRC. No camera system is perfect, and no camera system is ideal for everyone, and what the OP describes is beyond Fuji's flash system as it stands. We should be pleading with Fuji to make a flash system that allows people like the OP to stay in the Fuji fold than patronise people who hit the limits of the system. 

 

IMO the worst thing a company can do is listen to its fanboys. It's even worse than listening to the detractors, because at least the detractors give you an indication of what might not be that company's finest hour. The OP raised some valid points about AF (that a few of us have addressed if not entirely resolved) and about flash (which no one can fully address). It's that kind of commentary (and the rational responses) that Fuji should be noting.

[phototank]

Peterh,

I would really suggest taking another look at the X-T1. I know you said you are more into the RF design, but if you're thinking of going A7 ii / A7 R ii then it would be a switch to a mirrorless DSLR just like the X-T1. Only difference is that in my opinion, the X-T1 keeps your fingers on the body and not in the menu's like the A7's do. I have had the X-T1 for over a year now, and there is no other camera out there that lets you create such a tactile relationship with your camera, aside from older 35mm's and range finders. The X-T1 is also leaps and bounds ahead of the Pro 1 in terms of performance, so you might be surprised when you slap that XF 35mm 1.4 on an X-T1 body with an up to date firmware.

 

I agree with one great tempting feature of the A7's and that is the larger FF sensor. I have a canon 5d3 with similar primes to my fuji X primes, and although the fuji's always make fantastic sharp images, there is always a difference i see in dimension and depth of field between the fuji and canon, and i really think it's something that comes from a larger sensor.

 

I have never had a sony A7 series camera but the few times i picked them up at the stores to play with, they always felt a little distant from my intuitions, but maybe that's something that changes with time and usage. If you can wait, i am sure there will be an X-Pro 2 and also an X-T2, but it's not really about waiting anymore because once they release a new camera, there is already a successor in the makings these days.

[ranger9]

[content deleted]

[Kris]

Sony cameras are great. But the difference between Fuji and Sony is that Sony does not support its own products. They will just make a new one every year or so and never update the older one.

If you can wait a little longer, maybe Feb-Mar for Fuji to announce and release the new X-Pro 2 and X-E3 (I think). Then deiced to shift to Sony or not.

[Ektachrome]

No, there's nothing I can convince you with. I love Fuji bodies and lenses, but X-Trans raw processed files have always been a let-down next to my other cameras. I actually prefer the E-M1 overall, but noise at low ISO can be an issue. I'm probably getting an A7rii and some of the smaller primes.

[matthewislam]

There is another option that's got me split in different directions......

 

The fix I am in is similar to the OP about wanting more but distinct in other ways. I shoot the XT-1 and I need more Mpx for larger, clearer prints and general recomposition in post. I love the XT-1 otherwise. I just want the sensor to harness the full potential of the glass, the awesome glass system fuji has built.

 

I briefly used the uber expensive Leica Q and just couldn't not notice the lack of sharpness / clarity or whatever you would call it in the prints I have been making with the XT-1. For some reason with the same work flow my prints with the leica Q while in testing blew up better than the XT-1 with comparable settings. I'm not pixel peeping here but the resolution + clarity of the Q sensor & glass pairing resulted in better image production. Don't ask me how. I love fuji so much that I realise I didn't want to admit to that bit but I have great hopes for the X-Pro 2.

 

So, I have been really on the fence about adding a Leica Q to my pack now or wait. I can never ditch the Fuji because they are the right middle ground for this era in Photography but envelopes need to be pushed more once in while, which means more aggressive sensor development. Add to that, I love the X100T and I really think its the best camera for me in the world and the Q really is its only true competitor except that I love the OVF for the X100T and leica doesn't do that in the Q price point. That is a huge consideration for me. The OVF/EVF mix is magical. It makes me use my X100T more than the XT-1. 

 

Do I need a Q? Yes. Can I hold out for the X-Pro 2? Ofcourse. I have been for ages now. Just a higher resolution and slightly more clarity and detail in the RAW files would make it to me the best camera even compared with the Sony's. 

 

The Sony A7Mii and Sony A7RII are both not discreet cameras. They are still plenty noisy when being operated and hardly inconspicuous to people. With large lenses a pain too. So colour, lens range, tech and price aside, they are cameras you will get good images out of but having tried them out, I can guarantee they will mess with your good chi. You'll say great pics but man it's nikon level effort to use them. Trust me, I have had that feedback from many many of my friends. 

 

So to the OP.....its  just a few more months.....see what Fuji has to offer if not I suggest you take a look at the Leica Q. It does everything you want it to do and does it really well.