1) dpreview added a page to its “shooter experience” and some images here:
“The X-T1’s biggest improvement lies with continuous focusing. It can now take a phase detection focus reading simultaneously with making an exposure, which means it’s capable of autofocus at its fastest shooting speed of 8fps – and from our quick initial tests, this genuinely seems to work quite well. The main catch is that you have to keep the subject covered by the relatively small PDAF area in the centre of the frame for this to work.
The X-T1’s ISO dial certainly looks great, but after shooting with the camera for a while I’m not convinced it’s actually a good idea. It has much the same problems as the one on the Nikon Df – it’s on the left side of the camera, so to change it you have to move your left hand from supporting the lens. The central locking button also has to be depressed every time, which prevents accidental changes but makes intentional ones more awkward […] The problems [of shooting with gloves] come from the smaller controls, in particular the four-way controller and the drive- and metering-mode switches. I find these quite difficult to operate, even with thin gloves. It’s also impossible to see the markings on the ISO dial when you press down its lock button with a gloved finger. “
2) Portrait session with Fuji X-T1 + 56mm at ehnamour here: “I used for the first time my X-T1 for this kind of work, and it was exactly what I guessed. A fast equipment, light, very ergonomic, with lots of facilities that help a lot the job, like the new EVF, a giant EVF. Everything is very easy, and it is easy to customize with your own taste. The autofocus is fast and precise, it locks very well at all the situations I faced. Speaking of the new Fujinon XF 56mm f/1.2. I am crazy about it.”
3) FujiFilm X-T1 hands-on review at dubaiphotoclub here: “Overall FujiFilm X-T1 is a wonderful camera that competes very well against other high end crop sensor DSLRs. It has a solid metal body and comparatively small size would appeal a lot of consumers over the heavy and bulky DSLRs.”
4) Fujifilm X-T1 review Part 1 review part 1 at karlbratbyphotographer here: “To sum up this is a superb camera with a superb line up of some of the best quality glass available, all in a neat package that has now matured into a fully usable pro system camera. The Fuji X system has always had great image quality, but now it has a body that a pro can use day in and day out. Fuji are quick to listen to photographers and alter things if needed, this is a brand new camera and yes its not perfect buts it NOT far off…”
5) X-T1, where does it fit at soundimageplus here: “It’s when you see cameras like the Nikon D4s that you realise just how good the Fuji X-T1 is. […] The X-T1 fits into a somewhat specialised market. Mostly hobbyists, enthusiasts and those who generate all or some of their income from photography. None of the X-Trans sensor interchangeable lens cameras are going to go mass-market. According to figures I saw recently Fuji have yet to sell a million of their entire X range.”
XF 56mm and XF 10-24
1) Fuji 56mm f/1.2 First Thoughts at f-sunny here: “So far, super impressed with the IQ, will make an excellent portrait lens I think.”
2) Fujifilm X-T1 and XF 10-24mm F4 R OIS (beta) samples gallery at dpreview here.
XF 56mm f/1.2: USA AmazonUS / BHphoto / Adorama / DigitalRev / – EUROPE: wexUK / wexDE / PCHstore / DigitalRev
XF 10-24: USA. AmazonUS / BHphoto / Adorama / Pictureline / DigitalRev / EUROPE: DigitalRev / PCHstore / WexDE / WexUK
33 Responses
Tested the X-T1 at my local camera store this Monday. One strange thing was that changing the AF-L setting Instant Focus from AF-S to AF-C had no effect. It made no difference whether I was in AF-S or AF-C main mode either, all combinations gave AF-S behaviour for AF-L (half pressing the trigger gave AF-C behaviour in AF-C main mode as expected though). Anyone who has seen the same behaviour?
No. My X-T1 behaves as expected with this setting.
It occurs to me that you probably misunderstand what the setting does. It does not do anything when you’re in AF mode. in AF mode the AF-L button will single focus and lock in position. There is no reconfiguration for that behavior into continuous AF (which would make no sense).
In manual focus mode, AF-L would make no sense, so it’s repurposed as “instant AF” and it is in manual mode where the setting changes the behavior of AF-L button.
Writing the question this morning I suspected that this could be the case. I did not test it in manual mode. Currently I do not see why it should not work in the same way in all main focus modes (AF-S, AF-C and M) though. Thank you for the clarification.
Because it’s autofocus “LOCK” what could possibly be the point of continuous AF when the point is to LOCK the focus?
And again, when focus in manual, what meaning is there to locking autofocus when there is no autofocus? Your autofocus is essentially locked by the act of not manually focusing or requesting instant AF.
It makes complete sense to work the way it does.
Hi, I’m facing an issue and not sure whether is this the right behaviour of camera or not cuz if it is then it’s strange to me.
While playing with camera in my living room which has normal lighting, i set the ISO to 200 & shutter speed to 4000 which means the pic would be completely black and that was the result too but while composing/taking pic EVF was showing me bright view of the room, isn’t it that it should show me the same dark image as what camera is going to take? Camera is set on shutter priority.
You have to turn “Preview Exposure in Manual Mode” on in the Menu. Turning if off makes a lot of sense for flash photography.
It is on still EVF/ LCD shows a bright image while pic is totally dark
Sorry, totally forgot: only works in manual mode. As long as you have aperture in auto mode it won’t work.
So what to do for if aperture is Auto? You mean it won’t show me real view of image? That’s strange
Fuji LCD/EVF behavior in this regard has always been a little odd. If you’ve got it enabled and are in manual mode, it will show you an exposure preview. Otherwise, what it shows you is the exposure it’s trying for. If it can’t get it for some reason, whatever photometric setting is under its control will appear red. If you want to see the exposure preview change, then you will want to turn the EV compensation dial. That will change the desired exposure which is what the LCD/EVF display outside of M mode.
I personally wish it would show a preview of the exposure it expects to make, but, that’s just not how it works.
While I must admit it wouldn’t hurt to have a live preview also in this situation, I can’t think of a real shooting situation where it would be necessary.
If you want manual control got to manual mode. If you want auto exposure, use settings that allow the camera to actually choose a parameter and don’t limit it to the largest aperture.
You seem to be jumping to odd conclusions. You need to shoot with a Sony E-mount camera. They give exposure preview at all times in all modes (unless it’s disabled) without issue and without any kind of imposition of the aperture. In fact, in E-mount cameras, the selected aperture is preserved as much as technologically feasible. it will only open the aperture up if absolutely necessary to operate correctly in low light situations.
In other words, there is no reason, technically speaking, that we can not have an EVF show us a close approximation of the actual exposure based on metering and settings at any given time.
Good to know that it works as it is supposed to, enabling bu the way AF-On-like behavior or back button focusing which I love so much, and give so much freedom 😛
Anxiously waiting for my X-T1 to play with the fuji 35mm and all my nikon lenses including the 85mm 1.4 Rokinon/Samyang which I hope could use it for real shoots with the focus hightlight.
I got my X-T1 today and had about 30 minutes of light left to play around. I was able to get about 80% hit rate on an oncoming accelerating light rail train. Just in case you don’t know about such trains, they accelerate astonishingly fast, so every 10-15 feet it travels it might have increased 10-15mph depending on how the driver is operating it.
Anyway, the fact that it handled this with only a couple of missed shots was really impressive. It seems to indicate that the predictive AF updates about every other shot.
It is true that you have to take care about keeping the AF area over the subject. You also need to watch out for higher contrast things entering that AF area, especially if your subject is lightly colored/low contrast. I was shooting a cyclist coming down the road, aimed at his face, and it was working great for about 5 shots then a car pulled behind him and the camera instantly focused on the car.
To be sure, this happens with regular DSLR but, they typically have a sort of timeout to keep the camera from making sudden AF changes right away. This is a feature that is necessary for this camera or a future revision. We should be able to control how fast (even if in vague terms of say, very slow, slow, normal, fast, very fast) the camera will make a major distance change.
I was able to shoot birds in flight with about 50% success rate. I’ll need to work this one more, though, as many of the shots were on a lateral motion which doesn’t require much AF anyway. Still, I believe with preliminary results that this camera body is sufficiently capable of BIF level AF-C performance. However, I am getting the distinct impression that the XF 55-200mm lens is somewhat slow at focusing compared to the DC motor lenses. This, I believe, is the reason you do not see “LM” designations on any of the “pro” zooms on the roadmap. I don’t think the LM motors will serve pros well and that these lenses will have much faster, probably also louder, motors. At least, that’s my hope, because, the AF performance is much more impressive with lenses like the 23mm, 14mm, 56mm, etc. which use the coreless DC motors.
One of my favorite new features is really subtle. You can jam the buffer full with a long continuous burst of exposures, stop and look around, then pick the camera up and continue shooting BEFORE THE BUFFER IS EMPTIED IN THE FIRST PLACE! You can not do this with the X-E2. It was always so infuriating. I don’t even have a fast SD card. The camera is just far more asynchronous than previous models. This is so good.
I’ve heard complaints about the ISO dial. I don’t have any problem with it. But, I don’t understand why you’d be screwing around with the ISO setting all that much anyway. In all the years I’ve been shooting, I either know just what setting I need or want, or I use a properly configured auto ISO setup. I typically only go manual ISO for strobist work or landscapes and rarely need to set anything but 200-400, 800 max and that’s really easy to do. I wouldn’t take much stock in the ISO dial complaints unless you change your ISO constantly. And if you do, maybe you should stop that 🙂
I love that the shutter dial turns both ways and has no stopping points, you can just spin all the way around, go from A to 4000 or A to B, doesn’t matter. This is great. ISO dial works this way too, of course.
I have no problems with the large EV compensation dial. In fact, I think I finally understand why it’s so big. I hadn’t noticed until I had been shooting for a while, but, my finger comfortably rests over top the dial. If that dial was smaller, its edge would rub on my finger uncomfortably. Suddenly it makes perfect sense. Duh. That’s why the EV comp dial is so large, because they realized your finger would go there and it actually feels really good once you embrace that position. This is the first grip-toting CSC I’ve used where I just feel comfortable holding the camera naturally. No need to force some special “tiny camera handholding method” or whatever as I always had to do with my NEX cameras. I think the EV comp dial’s size is part of the reason for this comfort. I’ll try to attach pics that demonstrate what I’m talking about here.
Anyway, all in all, I have a really good feeling about this camera. Maybe it won’t magically turn Fuji into the system camera king, but, this is the first camera in a number of years (and I switch around a TON, trust me) that really feels like it strikes the right balance of price, size, comfort, and pro-photographer (not pro as in professional, but pro as in supportiveness) features in this CSC space. It gives me a similar feeling of ability and confidence that I got when I spent a year shooting with the Nikon D7000, which imho is still one of the best DSLR ever made. Period.
I would absolutely not hesitate for a second to recommend buying the X-T1, even if you have an X-E2. Unless you have an absolute need for the smallest body Fuji sells, this is the best camera they have made without a doubt and it’s not even close. X-E2 is in second place, but, it’s a pretty distant second now.
I like your view on X-T1, i share the same view in last few years i have used and tested many cameras & system ranging from Nikon to NEX 5N & 7 to OMD EM5 & EM1. I bought this camera to replace my recently bought EM1 cuz once i tested and played with this camera at the local launch event i knew i wanted this despite that many specs sheet proves that E-M1 is higher/better specs than X-T1. Image quality and colours are great, still getting used too of focusing with X-T1 but i have no regrets that i sold my E-M1 for X-T1.
Photographers today suffer an embarrassment of riches with regards to choices in equipment. It may not be ideal for the business health of the camera producers, but, it sure does give us photographers a great deal of freedom to choose the gear that not only works well but feels good to us as well.
Wow, your last paragraph seems quite decisive. What would you say are the main improvements over the X-E2? Is it just the continuous mode performance? OK, and the viewfinder… and the tilting screen…
Maybe a X-E2 firmware update will close the gap a little.
It’s a “death by a thousand cuts” type of situation. Almost every little thing is an improvement, but, the totality represents the crossing of a generational threshold where the camera is now competing, fairly successfully, with the best APS-C DSLRs even. X-E2 is a good camera and it can make great images, but, it’s a plasticky, hollow, uncomfortable “toy” of a body in comparison and lacks many of the operational refinements found now in the X-T1. It’s also still quite slow/clunky (though improved over the X-E1, for sure).
Of course, the X-E2 was only a minor upgrade over the X-E1 so it’s not too surprising that it carries on its lower tier fit and finish. And it’s very kind of Fujifilm to continue improving its software performance. I think for many people the X-E2 will continue to be just fine. However, if you’re looking for a Fujifilm body that matches their lenses in operational quality, the X-E2 isn’t it. The X-T1 is.
When interviewed recently, Fujifilm said that, of course, they must compete with full frame professional level cameras. The X-T1 is their “shot over the bow” in this effort, and it should be taken seriously. As we have seen, their cameras only get better over time, and while I plan to thoroughly enjoy the X-T1 as my primary shooting device, I admit to be kind of excited over what an X-T2 or X-Pro2 might bring in this same directed effort.
Hi everone!
I picked up my X-T1 today. After testing it I can say that I really love it. Its sexy, responsive and solid. The startup time is really impressive, and the focus speed with the newer lenses is good. But I have to agree with dpreview http://www.dpreview.com/previews/fujifilm-x-t1/8
the buttons and dials works nice, but as soon as you put gloves on, things start to get difficult. And the one thing I really hate is the four way controller. Its very difficult to feel them when you put your thumb over them, and its hard to know if you press them or not. Thats a bit disappointing, but I guess I´ll get used to it. Other than that, I really like it. Its a winner!
I do agree regarding the four way controller, don’t know if it had to be like this due to weather sealing or so. Especially the “northern” button I can hardly press without using a finger nail. And I really got thin fingers.. Any ideas what one could do to customize them a bit, like adding tape?
One more thing I noticed is that when u activate face detection, the focus area selection is disabled. I dont know how this works on other cameras, but I think Fujis solution is a bit limiting? Wouldnt it be more useful if the face detection could override the focus area if it detected a face? Or isnt that possible?
Totally agree. At least the X-T1 remembers which position you had moved the focus point selector to, and sets it back to that point when you deactivate face detection, which the X-E2 did not.
Since I currently prefer the Fn1 button for switching face detection on and off I have a request to Fuji. When there are only two alternatives in a menu such as the one that currently comes up if you have assigned face detection to an Fn button and press it, then please skip the menu and just toggle the assigned function to the other state, on->off and off->on respectively in this case.
I was shooting on a x-pro1 since it’s released. Although the initial firmware is rough at best, the successive updates really re-make the camera. I switched to X-T1 yesterday and here are my cents.
1) AF-wise, it’s really a reasonable jump from X-pro1. I won’t say huge jump as running on 3.0x, X-pro1 is already fast enough (under normal conditions). However, the perception of the AF speed also depends on the generally responsiveness of the camera, and the refreshing rate of the EVF, which improves a lot (say more later). So on perceptual, it’s a lot faster than X-pro1. In addition to that, X-T1 seems easier to focus low contrast area equally well with the rest, my X-pro1 tends to hunt a lot.
2) One thing I hated most on X-pro1 is their low light video lag on the EVF. I was a Nikon shooter before and coming down from SLR, I never really get very comfortable using the OVF on X-pro. Additionally, for the most of the works I’m handling, it’s usually done within 3-5 feet, where the parallax gets me very hard to use OVF. From this point of experience, I was suffering from X-pro’s poor refresh rate. For X-T1, the super responsible EVF becomes the single most important improvement. Now I can hunt stray cats wandering on the streets during the night. I tried X-E2 before getting X-T1 and unfortunately I found X-E2 is not yet to the responsiveness that X-T1 now has.
3) The huge EVF view is the most spoken feature X-T1 has I believe. It’s really good, it reminds me the good old days of using a Nikon D3x.
4) Ergonomics (or be exact, handling excluding the control) is better than Xpro1. I am astonished that X-T1 feels lighter than X-pro. And it’s a little bit smaller in hand. I really like the grip.
OK, so let’s see something annoying me.
1) The D-pad keys! I don’t know why fuji chooses such a stiff and shallow D-pad. It’s particularly hard when I have to choose AF points with my eyes on the EVF. I have no problem with X-pro1’s keys then why you need to change that?
2) Delete image! That’s another ridiculous. Why I have to press a tiny delete button, then travel to the tiny D-pad’s center key to select an option (how earth one is going to need those options), and to select, to confirm before getting one image deleted. And the worst thing is after finishing all above, the camera is still in deleting image mode. I want my old X-pro1’s style back.
3) Stiff exposure compensation dial. Again, I have no problem with the old X-pro1 dial, and I think in generally one would ever need to go higher than +/-2 in 99% of case. Besides that, the dial is stiff, it’s very hard to rotate with a thumb in one direction (the push (clockwise) direction is relatively easy). Very strange idea.
4) Poorly written manual and some of the menu option description. I have to look up back and forth to find what’s the available configurations for the front command dial and rear dial. And the page number indicated in the manual sometimes is even inaccurate.
5) Excessive denoising smoothing on high ISO. I found when ISO=4000 above, looks like it applies a heavy denoising algorithm which make the face of people like a doll. I was using NR=-1 as in Xpro1 and X-pro1 never gave me this problem. This makes me think to shoot raw instead.
Don’t buy this camera from reading reviews only!
The cover for the Mic/HDMI/USB-ports on the left side is so flimsy and weak, thin almost as paper and does not fit, opens accidentally just by touch that this first impression is a deal breaker. I mean, going to a store with cash in the pocket and seeing that, is just a big disappointment. And I wonder why this is not mentioned in the posts, it is so obvious and utterly bad, it’s unbelievable that Fuji has the guts to sell something like that in a ‘Pro’-Cam with weather sealing. Maybe they sell this kind here in Switzerland only, what I do not believe.
The EVF was big and impressive, the haptics is very good, the body seems to be rugged, but I did not go further with checking out the other features. Fuji needs to fix the mentioned cover before. Sorry for this, take care.
Agree, those flaps are weirdly plasticy but they close fine and stay closed. I haven’t had any issues with them. They clearly “lock” into place when you close them.
Nope. Something is going on here with Fuji marketing. I can accept different opinions but not wrong facts. I wanted this camera and if it’d closed like you describe I’d not fuss about. It’s just not fair to people who trust reviews. I want to read fujirumors and it’s reviews to get informed and would like to support the efforts, but the admin must protect his credibility. There are worse things than bad quality covers but if somebody is reasonable with money and must save a bit, this camera should be checked out before order. I just wanted to say that and leave it there now.
Manufacturing variances I suppose. They are fine for me–but the design could be better. Did you read reviews of the camera? Many of reviews posted to this site mentioned issues with those doors.
I too am underwhelmed by the X-T1. I guess the hype was too good. The EVF for instance is “nice” but man it’s not even close to what was said about it. Camera feels very toy like, too plasticky, and just too small. For me anyway. I’ll put it thru its paces and wringing t out but I just expected more….
Toy like? Highly disagree. X-E2 is toy like. Everything about the X-T1 feels solid.
I’ll take the heft, build and feel of my X-Pro1 any day over the X-T1. I’m not saying the new body isn’t good. But the hype was a bit overblown to me. It does focus fast, by far the best improvement and I love the design but wish it were just more solid. Maybe once I get the grip it will help. The EVF is very good but it’s still an EVF and has limits. I don’t see what people were so excited about to be honest.
This is the Fuji marketing that works, “OMG YOU NEED TO SEE “THIS” FEATURE” and everyone repeats it endlessly till you believe it and buy it. What they really make is a good camera that doesnt live up to the hype and isnt as good as what people say it is. They are still good cameras though.
I don’t think I understand what you mean by “solid.” You want it to feel more rigid? It’s too soft? E.g the X-E2 is a rigid plastic–you can tell it is the kind of material that is more likely to crack than absorb force. The X-T1 is a rigid metal but with a softer material over it.