Fujifilm X-Pro 1…a sort of review.

I have so many other things I should be doing, but I’d rather dish about my experience with the Fujifilm X-Pro 1. That’s a mirrorless digital camera. And I usually do not even want to talk about gear. I’m just not that interested. Whatever gets the job done. I’ve had to shoot Nikon and Canon and both can take a good picture (and a bad one). But my DREAM is for cameras to get smaller and lighter and still be capable of professional-level shooting. I’m not about to sell my DSLR and shoot only with the X-Pro, it’s just not at that point yet. But…I think I love it. This will be a totally non-technical review, it’s just my gut reaction and I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this.

I didn’t get to shoot with it as much as I would have liked, but I rented it for a weekend that I was shooting a wedding and wore it the entire time (I had the 35 mm on it but wish I had gotten the 18 mm). It’s so light I hardly noticed it was there. I pulled it up to shoot every once in a while, getting to know it’s quirks. It is definitely quirky. The “lens chatter” didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would but you should know it makes a little sound as the aperture adjusts (I didn’t even know if it had a name but I did an internet search and lots of people have noticed it…apparently a firmware update will help with that but either way it’s not a deal-breaker). My main issue is that the focus is slower than I’m used to with the DSLR, but honestly, when I’m shooting with my Nikon, everything is second nature and I bet the X-Pro would become that way too…you kind of learn how to shoot around things. It slowed me down a little and I liked that. I really like the file results…skin tones, etc. Evidence (straight out of camera) below from Saturday’s wedding…

Will I buy one? I’m not sure…I’m very very tempted. I can’t use it for work (at least for work at the magazine) but I think it would be very well suited for everyday shooting, portraits, personal projects, my MFA project and certainly wearing it during weddings. I love the feel of it. I love the result. I love how light it is. It’s the kind of camera I would want to wear all the time. And having a camera on my person equals less missed opportunities to make a picture.

P.S. There’s video capabilities too…but I didn’t even touch that.