Steve Huff & I Review the Fuji X-Pro 1 (AF update)

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Well, not really. Steve Huff did a comprehensive review, and it’s very well written. You should check it out, it mentions both its merits and the quirks/AF woes in deep detail.

On the other hand, I FINALLY managed to get my hands on one in my local Camera store. I’ve got to say, I’m impressed with what Fuji’s vision was in creating the X-series. I’m not surprised that Dpreview came away impressed, the construction of the camera looks good. But Steve Huff is dead on in saying that it feels cheap, or at least lighter than it looks.

I tried to test for Steve huff’s quirks, but strangely I had no trouble with the on/off operations, and controls were responsive. I’m guessing uncleared SD cards usually pose this issue, and I had that same problem on my X100 before I sold it.

Give me some time to play around with this, I’ll be back later to test its AF..

*AF UPDATE 1

Shooting in the bright lighting of the camera store, the AF felt responsive. I tried it in street situations, and it quickly picked up focus. Raising the camera to my eye and quickly pressing the shutter button grabbed it excellent focus. I was using the 35mm f/1.4 lens.

But the trouble began in the narrow, dimly lit hallway of the store. Even with a much smaller focusing distance compared to the X100’s lens, I couldn’t get it to focus on a vase. It took 4 tries. No street photographer focuses 4 times on a subject. By then you’ll have already missed your shot.

In twilight (7:30pm), Steve Huff’s observations stuck as well. In hunts, misses, hunts, misses, and then maybe nails it on the third shot. Realistic street movements/actions including: raising the camera to your eye for immediate shots, or shooting from the hip are completely unreliable, primarily due to the lack of any image stabilization. For some reason, Leica glass never seems to suffer from this IS; it may be the electronic sensor that is more prone to movement. I don’t know, I have no technical knowledge in this area.

Unfortunately they didn’t let me take out any samples from the card, but this was more than enough to convince me that the X-Pro 1 needs a severe update to the AF. I went into the MF mode just to see what it was like, but the similar focus-by-wire design is still close to unusable. I’ll see if I can sneak out some images later.

Come on, Fuji. You can do better.

&&Phil

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2 thoughts on “Steve Huff & I Review the Fuji X-Pro 1 (AF update)

  1. Yeah, the AF is perhaps the ONLY pitfall that is keeping a lot of ‘graphers from grabbing it.

    I for one, would love to get it, but I’m “scared” that if I do, Fuji might come out with a Pro-2 with way better AF and such. I am sure that the X100 users kicked themselves after the Pro1 was released, esp. the ones that bought it just before the Pro1 came out.

    Anyhow, share your pics and let’s see what happens! 🙂

    Ciao,
    Ali
    http://eyeofali.viewbook.com

    • Thanks for your comment tigerclaws!
      Yes, I kicked myself for getting the X100, although it was pure ecstasy when I first got acquainted with it. I heard the v1.20 (and 1.21) improves on it a by a mile, which made me kick myself again.

      I’m going to wait on the OM-D reviews and spring for that if that seems alright.

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