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i’ve been searching forward to the X-Pro2, Fujifilm’s flagship mirrorless digicam, ever in view that switching over to the X series 18 months ago. To apprehend why, you need to recognise a little approximately me.i’ve best surely been taking cameras severely for seven years. My first came in 2009, a slightly batteredvintage Nikon D40. three years, 3 Nikons (I upgraded two times) and 3 extra lenses (35mm, 40mm and 50mm fixed) later, i used to be uninterested in lugging around a large digicam, and even moreuninterested in the small choice of desirable lenses to be had in my charge range. I then attempted out a mirrorless Sony camera, but Sony’s lens selection at the time changed into pitiful if you were not inclinedto spend large cash.
It wasn’t until an old colleague of mine confirmed me the Fujifilm X100T, a compact digicam with a 35mm-equal constant lens and an progressive viewfinder that is both electronic and optical, that I knew what Idesired. within weeks i’d thrown my Sony in a drawer and purchased an access–stage X-M1 and a pair oflenses to offer Fujifilm a shot.
After an exceedingly successful trial run at CES 2015, i was satisfied. All that was left to do becomeupgrade from the access–level frame to a model that did everything I wanted it to. I determined on an X-Pro1 — notwithstanding a colleague advising me against it — because it had the equal viewfinder techbecause the X100T i would fallen in love with. The problem was, rumors counseled that a sequel, the X-Pro2, turned into simply around the corner. So I waited.
And waited.
Fujifilm wouldn’t announce the digicam until January this year, and that i didn’t get a risk to touch one tillclosing month. in any case this time, become it really worth the wait? On paper, the solution gave the look of a convincing yes: The X-Pro2 has an all-new 1/3–era X-Trans sensor, which usathe resolutionsubstantially over the relaxation of the X collection, and a clean photo-processing unit (the “X-Processorseasoned“). meaning a 24.three-megapixel resolution and a local ISO restriction of 12,800, a massiveupgrade from the preceding cameras’ sixteen.three-megapixel and ISO 6,400 limits. there’s additionallyan stepped forward autofocusing machine with section detection — not totally new for the X series,however new for the X-seasoned.
Gallery: Fujifilm X-Pro2 sample pics | 14 images
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but before we absolutely get into what the X-Pro2 is, allow‘s speedy cowl what it is now not. The X-Pro2isn’t a compact mirrorless digital camera. At 445g (0.ninety eight pounds), it is most effective 10g (a third of an oz) lighter than the D3100 I tossed apart 4 years in the past. The X-Pro2 is also not a DSLRalternative. The company‘s X-T10 and X-T1 fill that niche, and the X-Pro2 is closer in shape to the Nikon SP and Leica M3 rangefinders famous inside the ’50s and ’60s. subsequently, the X-seasoned 2 isn’tcheap. it’s $1,seven hundred, which places it within the equal rate variety as Nikon’s and Canon’s ultra–excessive–give up APS-C DSLRs just like the 7D and D500, or, in the direction of domestic, Sony’sexcellent full–frame mirrorless A7 II. None of these cameras are at once akin to the X-Pro2, although, and that is because of Fujifilm’s specific viewfinder.
like the X-Pro1, and the X100T that bought me on Fujifilm within the first place, the X-Pro2 has a hybrid viewfinder that takes the nice aspects of optical rangefinders and digital viewfinders and mashes them right into a unmarried unit positioned inside the pinnacle-left nook of the digicam. In optical mode, it offersyou a extensive discipline of view and initiatives more records on top of it. in preference to displayingyou what your lens is seeing and its awareness, you’ll instead have a white field indicating the vicinity your lens will cover. For a more practical instance: when you have a zoom lens, this box adjustments sizesdepending on what focal length you have selected. Above and underneath this view you’ll find the usualstatistics you would expect from a viewfinder. that is customizable, however i have it set to show shuttervelocity, aperture, ISO, publicity and battery.
searching through the viewfinder, you spot hints displaying you framing, and an EVF preview of yourfinished shot inside the nook.
the limitations of an optical viewfinder — namely, now not being able to see what you’re that specialize in— are mitigated by means of a tiny digital viewfinder that sits in the nook of the optical window. this willboth show you the whole body (such as you‘d see on a regular EVF) or a decent crop of what you arespecializing in. The setup is a current-day take at the rangefinding idea — the use of separate picturecourses to take a unmarried photograph — and that i depended on it fairly often whilst using myfavourite Fujinon lens (a 35mm f/1.4). With a telephoto, though, you’ll experience limited, due to the factthe boxed-in vicinity might be tiny. because of this, while taking pictures with a zoom lens i finished up flicking the lever on the the front of the X-Pro2 and turning the optical viewfinder into a full-blown EVF.
The regular EVF is not anything to write down home about. At 0.48 inches and a couple of.36 million dots, it is bested by using inexpensive cameras from other corporations and even Fujifilm itself. it’struely solid, and it offers a few critical flexibility to make up for the optical view’s shortcomings. As defined,it’s tremendous for shooting with telephoto lenses. it is not some thing I do frequently, but nonetheless,i discovered the EVF beneficial for navigating menus and viewing photographs while capturing at night time (i.e., after I didn’t need the liquid crystal display on the lower back lighting my face like a Christmas tree). Likewise, the main liquid crystal display — a 3-inch panel with 1.sixty two thousands and thousands dots — is good sufficient, but it is constant in place. when the X-T, X-M and X-a series alloffer tilting LCDs, you need to query why the X-Pro2 does not have one.
Shot at f/four.0, ISO 12,800, with a 18-55mm f/2.8–four.0 lens. A excessive-res shot can be determinedhere.
one of these 3 themes — exceptional, flexible and exact enough — may be carried out to every facet of the X-Pro2. the new photograph sensor and processor are remarkable, with outstanding JPG dealing with, shade replica (aided by way of Fujifilm’s “movie simulation,” which lets you choose from diverseprocessing options), and usable photographs even at ISO degrees as excessive as 12,800. Fujifilmsupplied me with an 18-55mm zoom lens (f/2.eight–4.0 with optical photo stabilization), which has beenround for some years. it’s remarkably sharp round 27–40mm — a long way greater so than your commonkit lens — but as you would assume suffers on the extremes of its variety with softness and distortion. i finished up leaving it at domestic for most people of my checking out, generally because i’m used tocapturing at constant focal lengths.
when I paired the X-Pro2 with lenses i am acquainted with, i was very pleased with the effects, if not withthe ease with which they were obtained. There are a couple of dials atop the digital camera, one afundamental exposure (to ±three) manage, the other a twin ISO/shutter velocity control. The latter may be very unintuitive — I actually could not give an explanation for how it’s supposed to worknotwithstanding having used it significantly. at the front and back of the camera are wheels whosefunctions exchange depending on what mode you’re in — shutter, aperture ISO, and so forth. — which Ihandiest certainly used for excellent-grain manage of shutter speed, as my lenses all have aperture dials.some other place you may locate dedicated mechanical buttons for automobile–publicity lock, autofocus lock and a three–factor switch for leaping among autofocus modes. there may be also a tiny joystick by using the lcd at the again of the camera that helps you to set a focal point easily. it is amazing, andevery Fujifilm digicam to any extent further desires to have it.
The X-Pro2 handles nicely, and with the package lens, or smaller lenses like the 27mm or 35mm constant,it is very clean to move and hold consistent. positioned a bigger lens on it, even though, and it suffers; the grip is a touch too shallow for assisting the weight of a fifty five–200mm zoom, as an instance.
The offending/offensive dial.
despite a big variety of bodily controls at my disposal, i discovered the X-Pro2 lacking. The troublewithout a doubt is that ISO/shutter dial. The X-T10 (Fujifilm’s DSLR-like digital camera) breaks out shutter speeds and ISO into two separate dials, as do endless other cameras. Why the agency‘s flagship does now not is a mystery. happily, the X-Pro2 has three customizable car ISO settings, so I set them up inmoderately tight increments (200–800, 800–three,two hundred, three,2 hundred–12,800, respectively) and jumped among them at the fly using the Fn button. That suits my contemporary capturing fashion (Itypically use manual mode with constrained car ISO as a safety internet), but it is nonetheless nowherenear as short or intuitive because it must be. What i was hoping for from the X-Pro2 was granular mechanical manage over every side of the digicam. What I were given alternatively was an hecticcompromise.
talking of, one important ache point for Fujifilm cameras has been video. I especially have a reasonably-priced Canon DSLR just to shoot the only or two matters I want to per yr, due to the fact Fujifilm’s video is so bad. even as nobody is buying an X-Pro2 for its video functionality, i’m satisfied to report that it cancertainly shoot passable video now, at 1080p and 60fps. One for the “correct enough” column, for sure.
Autofocus, some other spotty location for the X series, is vastly advanced over previous Fujifilm cameras. The original X-seasoned had exactly zero phase-detection pixels. it is some thing this is been rectifiedby more current models, but the X-Pro2 has by using a long way the most segment-detection pixels of any X series digicam, covering more or less forty percent of the frame. That ends in a big real–worldimprovement in terms of both pace and accuracy, even though it have to be mentioned that the realpace of focusing will depend on the lens you have got in the front of that sensor.
After multiple weeks of taking pictures, i’ve taken a few stunning shots. In case my origin tale failed toclue you in, i am very a whole lot an newbie. My framing can be terrible, my intensity of field too narrow, my shutter pace too gradual. No digital camera will restoration that. What i will say is that the photos i have all in favour of the X-Pro2 had been better than the pictures i have thinking about different Fujifilm cameras. And i’ve had loads of fun taking pictures them. I probable should not be advising you to go toa competing website, however i might suggest sorting out Sam Byford’s sample gallery over on theVerge. he is a far higher photographer than i’m (and, not coincidentally, the aforementioned colleague whodelivered me to the X collection inside the first location).
Shot at f/4.5, ISO 2000, with a 35mm f/1.four lens. A high-res shot may be found right here.
As amazing a time as i have had with it, i’ve come to the belief that the X-Pro2 isn’t what I need from acamera. And that sucks, particularly after a yr of watching for it. Of course, I cannot forget about the leaps ahead it offers. accelerated resolution without a dip in pixel-via-pixel first-class, a native and usable ISO 12,800, stepped forward autofocus, better JPEG rendering, a new movie simulation mode (Acros, a black-and-white movie, become used to seize the shot above), the brand new hybrid viewfinder —these are all worth and welcome improvements. however they may be caught inner a body that doesn’tpaintings that nicely as an normal interchangeable-lens camera. That viewfinder, as flexible as it’s miles, is much better appropriate to the enterprise‘s fixed-lens services. The corporation‘s awesome lensselection handles higher attached to the DLSR-like X-T1 and X-T10.
however this sensor and processor will come to different Fujifilm cameras. And they may be lots, tonshigher for it. As a whole lot a laugh because it‘s been to shoot with, and even though it‘s one of the first-rate–appearing cameras i’ve ever used, i am now not too sad to be saying good-bye to the X-Pro2. i’msad, although, to be stuck waiting again, this time for a refresh to any other Fujifilm digital camera — for, Iguess, the “X-T2.”