New fuji x camera

sniperone · 1 Feb 2015 at 11:56

Hi everyone

I'm looking to buy a Fuji X series camera soon and I deliberating over which model to get

I recently purchased an x100s and love the image quality you get from fuji and sold my m43 and nikon dslr gear but although the x100s is great im missing the reach and versatility a system camera can give.

I have a budget of £750 and have been looking at the x-e2 or the xpro 1 that comes with 2 free lenses at the moment .

Does anyone here have first hand experience with either camera or are there better for the budget i have.

CGrieves · 1 Feb 2015 at 13:27

I own an X-E2 and love it- so much so I rarely touch my DSLR gear these days.

I always saw the hybrid OVF/EVF as the main raison-d'etre of the X-Pro1, but for me the EVF on the X-E2 is pretty much flawless. The ability to see the actual resulting picture, with processing applied while shooting has transformed how I shoot, and takes a lot of the guesswork out.

The X-E2 is a slightly better performer than the X-Pro1, particularly in AF as it has both phase and contrast detection. Having said that either will make a great camera, the sensor output is very similar between all the APS-C models, so it's the operational differences between them that should be the deciding factor in your choice.

Note that the X-T1 is a better performer again, although for me it's real draw is the physical controls. You'd struggle to get an X-T1 body and lens in your budget though.

Note that the X-Pro1 deal comes with the 18 and 27mm lenses. The 18 f2 is great (I use one) and the 27 f2.8 is very compact, but they are not the "star" lenses of the lineup in terms of performance. The 23 f1.4, 35 f1.4, 50 f1.2 and upcoming 16 f1.4 are all top-line lenses.

Depending on what focal lengths you want, you might get a better deal buying two lenses and using the cashback offer?

sniperone · 1 Feb 2015 at 16:01

I was leaning more towards the X-Pro 1 because of the lens deal to be honest as the 18 f2 is a lens i would like to keep and the other could be sold on and put towards a the 55-200mm F3.5 or another telephoto lens .

sniperone · 1 Feb 2015 at 16:46

Amazon have the EX-2 for £501 and the 35mm f1.4 for £399 with cashback that is a round £700 .

Is this a good deal or is the X-Pro 1 the better of the two?

DanF · 2 Feb 2015 at 11:17

It's more about personal preference, the x-pro 1 has an OVF available however the x-e 2 gets better AF and EVF, it also has things like a diopter adjuster. So if you really need an OVF then x-pro 1 is the only one, otherwise the x-e 2 I guess does have it beat now.

They both offer a very similar sensor and final picture output.

CGrieves · 2 Feb 2015 at 11:26

sniperone said:
Amazon have the EX-2 for £501 and the 35mm f1.4 for £399 with cashback that is a round £700 .

Is this a good deal or is the X-Pro 1 the better of the two?

It's not a bad deal. I paid just over £1000 with the 18mm and got the 35mm free.

But as said, I think you'd be better deciding which is the best model for you based on features rather than the best deal....

If you don't want an OVF then I'd say X-E2 every time. And X-T1 if you can afford to save a little more.

sniperone · 2 Feb 2015 at 12:18

Would you know how good the EVF is on the X-E2 compared to the X100s?
As i found the X100s preety poor quality coming from a Olympus VF4 .

CGrieves · 2 Feb 2015 at 12:35

sniperone said:
Would you know how good the EVF is on the X-E2 compared to the X100s?
As i found the X100s preety poor quality coming from a Olympus VF4 .

No personal experience with the X100s, but the X-E2 (and T1) are regarded as having the best EVFs on Fuji cameras. The recent firmware improved my X-E2 further, it's basically real-time all the time.

If I slap a manual aperture lens on at night, and stop down to F22, obviously the EVF struggles but it still work, albeit with noise. It's a pretty extreme case though, and on an OVF you'd see nothing at all.

sniperone · 5 Feb 2015 at 18:15

Had a play with both the X-E2 and X-Pro 1 today at the shops and have to say both performed nice with very little difference in focus speed with the kit lens ,Although both seemed slower than my old epl5 . But the jewel in the crown so to speak was the XT-1 .Wow this camera is awesome everything about it screamed quality and the evf and screen looked much brighter and faster than the other two .

Out of the 2 i will probrably say the X-E2 just edges it due to slightly faster focus and better EVF .Although the Ovf on the Xpro 1 was nice and with the 18mm it was like using the x100s .

RaV · 5 Feb 2015 at 18:32

sniperone said:
Had a play with both the X-E2 and X-Pro 1 today at the shops and have to say both performed nice with very little difference in focus speed with the kit lens

I would have loved an XT1 but the price was just a bit too much for the same image quality as the XE2. I've had the XE2 for a week with the kit lens and am trying to decide on another prime lens to get. Really enjoying the camera so far.

Its worth mentioning that one of the previous firmware updates did improve the frame rate and lag of the viewfinder to the same specs as the XT1. Hard to know if the shop would bother updating them. There is also a "high performance" setting in the menu that is off by default but is meant to improve the AF somewhat.

sniperone · 6 Feb 2015 at 09:21

The xpro-1 and x-e2 were both running the latest firmware and both were nice cameras but the viewfinders in both were not as good as the xt-1. Both very nice cameras but i think im going to save a little more and get the xt-1 as the focus speed is much faster than both.

CGrieves · 6 Feb 2015 at 09:45

sniperone said:
The xpro-1 and x-e2 were both running the latest firmware and both were nice cameras but the viewfinders in both were not as good as the xt-1. Both very nice cameras but i think im going to save a little more and get the xt-1 as the focus speed is much faster than both.

Gotta say that's a smart move. I love my X-E2, but the X-T1's physical controls still tempt me greatly....

CGrieves · 6 Feb 2015 at 09:46

sniperone said:
The xpro-1 and x-e2 were both running the latest firmware and both were nice cameras but the viewfinders in both were not as good as the xt-1. Both very nice cameras but i think im going to save a little more and get the xt-1 as the focus speed is much faster than both.

Gotta say that's a smart move. I love my X-E2, but the X-T1's physical controls still tempt me greatly....

(I'll keep the X-E2 though- I still giggle when people ask me where I get film for my camera!)

sniperone · 6 Feb 2015 at 09:52

CGrieves said:
Gotta say that's a smart move. I love my X-E2, but the X-T1's physical controls still tempt me greatly....

(I'll keep the X-E2 though- I still giggle when people ask me where I get film for my camera!)

I have actually been asked the same thing when using my x100s