While I was out in Las Vegas attending CES this year, I was introduced to Fujifilm's newest addition to their X system. The Fujifilm X-Pro 1 is the culmination of the X system lineup. Fujifilm has created another groundbreaking camera that, pound per pound, is one of the best interchangeable lense cameras on the market.
I am a firm believer that if a camera fits right in your hands and is easy for you to operate, then the brand of camera is irrelevant. When the Fujifilm X100 arrived in the showroom , I was blown away by the image quality and ISO performance, but at the same time I was put off by the size of the camera and the layout of the buttons. The good news is that the Fujifilm X-Pro 1 addresses these issues in my opinion and is a real winner.
It is no secret around Unique Photo that I am a tech nut. When Samsung came out with the Galaxy S II I was one of the first to jump on it from my iPhone 4. When Asus came out with their Transformer Tablet I was there and left my iPad in the dust. So rapidly exchanging electronics for newer models is not something something foreign to me. As you may have gathered, I have made such an upgrade with the Fujifilm X-Pro 1.
While my Photography has consisted of Landscape and Long Exposures and night, I noticed that I was getting bored. and that I wanted to change things up. I had taken my camera bag into New York City with me while I was waiting to get some 4X5 Chrome slides developed so I could photograph the people and places around me. After about an hour of shooting, I had a small epiphany. I was shooting with the prestigious Canon 5D Mark II, the crown jewel of the Canon Empire. While this camera has been a great friend to me, and helped my produce some incredible images, everyone and their brother that was around the 9/11 Memorial grounds was shooting with one. This normally would not bother me, but for some reason, I was becoming frustrated at the fact that people had seen my camera, since it was something that everyone can identify, and reacted differently when I pointed it at them. It was at that moment that I had decided that I was done with my 5D Mark II.
So Now that my Fujifilm X-Pro 1 has landed and I have bored you with my story, it's time to get down to my first test, a simple ISO test from L(100) to H2(25600). Before I go into detail about the images, I should explain my parameters. The Fujifilm X-Pro 1 was set up on a standard tripod, nothing fancy. All of the internal noise reduction and sharpening was turned off, and the film simulation was set to standard. The Fujifilm X-Pro 1 was equipped with the Fujinon Super EBC 35mm f/1.4 and was set to a fixed aperture of F/8 for each shot and was manually focused on "Trainspotting" by Irvine Welsh. White balance was set to Auto and the only light source in my living room was a simple tungsten light about 20 feet from the target bookshelf. Originals can be downloaded and viewed Here
The low ISO performance of this camera is spectacular. Shooting at ISO 200 gives you a clean spectacularly clean and sharp image. Though if you plan on shooting this camera in RAW, like myself, you can count out ISO 100. The expanded ISOs (both low and high) are only available when shooting in JPEG only. As you can see below, the detail is incredible.
I generally gravitated more towards 400 or 800 ISO during my brief time I've spent casually shooting indoors. The extreme detail and low noise at higher ISOs that the XPro1 captures coupled with the 35mm f/1.4 lens make for an amazing pair in low light. Pay attention to the detail in the lower left corner of the image, you can still clearly make out the "Polaroid" logo molded on the front of the One Step camera. Also notice that a very high amount of detail is retained in the book at the top right of the image " Trainspotting" by Irvine Welsh.
Now on to the higher ISOs of 1600 and 3200 ISO. In my opinion the results are incredible. The amount of detail retained and the lack of smoothing at theses high ISOs completely blew me away. While the 5D Mark II was great at 1600 and usable at 3200, the XPro1 seems to be just as good, if not slightly better especially in terms of chroma noise. When you look closer at the left lower corner, you can still make out the "Polaroid" logo, but there is starting to be some noticeable smudging in the flat portions surrounding it.
At 6400 ISO you can start to see more noise in the shadows, and some detail smudging in the flat color areas. I would have to say that 6400 ISO would be the highest I would ever go to get a usable image, and only if I was making a small print out of it. Anything bigger than a 5X7 and would show considerably more noise. The overall sharpness is rather impressive though. Even at H1(12800ISO) you cans till differentiate the "Polaroid" imprint from the rest of the camera(though it is rather tough), as well as see the clear definition in the words on the books.
Finally at H2 (25600 ISO) The image is rather unusable and only good for viewing at smaller resolutions on a display. The blotched details and high level of color noise in the shadows is typically more than what can be fixed in post production. I do have to say that the overall sharpness for something like the words printed on the books is still impressive. Yes the noise is too much, but the lack of the anti-aliasing filter definitely shows that it is still able to display detail at this insanely high ISO setting.
Overall I believe that the X-Pro1 is an amazing camera. I have no regrets about getting rid of my 5D Mark II. Though there are some minor quirks with the camera, these are greatly over-shadowed with by the killer final images I have been able to make. As I get even more acquainted with the X-Pro1, I will continue to share my thoughts on it. First stop is the New York Auto show next week! For those who missed the link in the beginning, here is my Flickr set that has the sample images from this review that you can download and look at in greater detail : http://www.flickr.com/photos/smrphotography87/sets/72157629742765057/
Have an opinion of your own about the Fujifilm X-Pro 1 or a question about the system? We would love to hear from you. leave us a comment or give us a call and I would be happy to speak with you directly.