Fuji X-PRO 1 Fully Leaked by French Magazine 'Responses Photo'

I would have leaned MF 20 years ago, but as my vision has declined with age I rely more and more on the AF to get it right. I know that I do not focus in under a second anymore.;)
 
100% with you on autofocus. I had to give up my OM-1 way before I should have due to my being incredibly bad at manually focussing.

Amin, when I was listening to the podcast, I picked up on your mentioning AF and the fact that you wear glasses. As more and more of the buying market needs progressive lenses, AF becomes more and more important.;)
 
Not sure if this was posted here yet: Imaging Resource Interview: Kayce Baker, Fujifilm - Imaging Resource

Couple of take-aways:

They are aimed completely at Pro and high-end enthusiasts. Concedes the "soccer mom" crowd to the Nikon J and V1! :)
End of article, she says to expect phase-detect in this line in the future
They do SW correction, but the lens tells the body all about itself. The CA, vignetting, etc. characteristics.
Lenses are telecentric

It's a good read.
 
It sounds like they want to have a system, not just a camera, like the Oly or Panasonic wing of m43, like Nex, like, to a lesser extent for now, the little Nikon ILC. So I could see them having a few different models, from near SLR to relatively compact, with varying degrees of features at different price levels, all using the same lenses. If they're really gonna do zooms and ultra-wides, for example, an EVF only model seems like something they'd do pretty well with - I think there have GOT to be some pretty real limits to what you can do with the hybrid viewfinder. If they do, if the IQ is basically the same though the line, and if they develop a good range of lenses, this could be a real winner.

But since we haven't even seen the first product in the hands of real users yet, we really have no idea what they'll get right and wrong initially and how it'll have to evolve. I'm sure the initial offering will have some real strengths and leave a lot to be desired, but look at the first offerings from both Oly and Pany in the m43 launch. Nice cameras in their own right, but neither is even remotely competitive with what they're producing 2-3 years later... If they really develop this sytem and its as good as it looks like it might be, I could see replacing most of my m43 gear with this and just keeping one small m43 and one or two specialty lenses. Since I love the EPL3's flip up screen with the 12 and 14 for street shooting, I could keep that much. And maybe the 14-150 because I have trouble seeing Fuji coming out with anything similar in anything like as compact a package for an APS sensor. But I could see moving the three primes and something at the ultra-wide end over to Fuji pretty easily of the IQ and low light on this thing is as good as it should be. And if the AF is even pretty good. But its early days - we'll have to see.

BTW, I'd feel the same way about Nex, maybe even more so, if they'd work out some good smaller lenses. I don't need truly tiny but I'd MUCH sooner see myself walking around with a bigger Fuji body with the lenses they're starting off with than a smaller body and a lens the size of the Zeiss 24. Just personal preference, but a fairly strong one.

-Ray
 
I've just received emails form Adorama and B&H touting the new X Pro 1. All actual capabilities aside, I think Fuji can sell a bunch of these cameras and their associated lenses. Nothing to do with tech, just riding the wave of cache created by the X-100 and X-10. Both of those cameras have flaws and have still developed a loyal following. It's important that Fuji actually has these things to sell, however. Hard to get at first, OK, but they need to get them out before those with the money have too much time to reconsider how much they really need this system. Of course, if the advantages outweigh the problems in real life and it is a winner, then they are good no matter what they do.
 
Ah, fair enough then. It just seems funny since after experiencing how good fast and accurate CDAF is, PDAF is something that I would gladly see disappear given how prone it is to calibration error.

The Nikon 1 uses both CDAF and PDAF. The AF is fast, accurate and can track far better than any 4/3, m4/3, NEX and SLT cameras I've used. I may have mentioned this before, but I'd be jumping with joy if the X100 could AF like a Nikon 1.
 
And early "impression" sort of review with some samples. Some pretty amazing high ISO results. Not shot in the most demanding situation but if you grab the full size version of the ISO comparison and import it into Aperture or LR or PS or something where you can really see the full 100%, its pretty impressive. I'd say at LEAST one stop better than the X100 and arguably two and the X100 is already in pretty rarified air for low light in my book. Being able to shoot easily at 6400, more than adequately at 12800, and have 25600 useable in a pinch!?!? If the rest of this system checks out, I can't imagine I won't own some portion of it someday, unless someone else comes along and leapfrogs 'em...

Fuji X-Pro 1 – Hands-On Preview | vdodan / weblog

-Ray
 
And early "impression" sort of review with some samples. Some pretty amazing high ISO results. Not shot in the most demanding situation but if you grab the full size version of the ISO comparison and import it into Aperture or LR or PS or something where you can really see the full 100%, its pretty impressive. I'd say at LEAST one stop better than the X100 and arguably two and the X100 is already in pretty rarified air for low light in my book. Being able to shoot easily at 6400, more than adequately at 12800, and have 25600 useable in a pinch!?!? If the rest of this system checks out, I can't imagine I won't own some portion of it someday, unless someone else comes along and leapfrogs 'em...

Fuji X-Pro 1 – Hands-On Preview | vdodan / weblog

-Ray

Oh oh. AF hunts and misses a lot ... that doesn't sound good ... Hopefully that was just pre-production jitters!
 
Oh oh. AF hunts and misses a lot ... that doesn't sound good ... Hopefully that was just pre-production jitters!

I share those hopes. This is the tough waiting period, between launch and real reviews. And by real reviews I mean by serious reviewers who look beyond specs and use the cameras in real-world scenarios. Right now the AF comments I have seen are all over the place, from blazing fast, to significantly faster than the X100, and from accurate to hunting.

Patience, patience...
 
I share those hopes. This is the tough waiting period, between launch and real reviews. And by real reviews I mean by serious reviewers who look beyond specs and use the cameras in real-world scenarios. Right now the AF comments I have seen are all over the place, from blazing fast, to significantly faster than the X100, and from accurate to hunting.

Patience, patience...

You'll find the same range of comments about the X100, even today. There's simply no concensus.
 
You'll find the same range of comments about the X100, even today. There's simply no concensus.

Right, though the difference being that the X100 comments are based on real-world use. For the new cameras, most comments so far are speculative at best. For me these real-world use is critical, because the commentators will describe in detail their style of shooting and subject matter. In my view the X100 AF is neither fast or slow. It is merely faster or slower than other cameras. More importantly, it is more than inadequate for some types of shooting, and weak at others. In my tests it was great for my style. I ended up not buying one because I wanted interchangeable lenses.
 
You'll find the same range of comments about the X100, even today. There's simply no concensus.

I think there's a consensus that its fairly slow. What there's NO consensus on is whether its accurate. I find it to be plenty accurate - I almost never miss focus when the camera can lock on. Other people claim its not accurate. There is a thing in low light, where if you try to focus on a horizontal element, it won't lock on and will hunt for a few seconds and then come up red. But if you hit a vertical element right next to the horizontal bit, it'll lock right on, even in VERY low light. The EPL3 does the same thing slightly differently - it will hunt like crazy on a horizontal element in low light, but will eventually attain focus lock, but might or might not get it right. And on the adjacent vertical element, it'll lock dead on, and notably faster than the X100. If you're aware of this, you can generally get either camera to work really well even in low light - worst case you might have to turn the camera 90 degrees to obtain focus and then turn it back to shoot. If you don't know this, you could think either camera has really useless AF. To me, its a matter of knowing your tools.

If the X-Pro works as well as the X100 but does it faster (about like the X10 would be adequate), I think this camera will be fine for my needs. If its no faster than the X100, I'd be disappointed but will still be seriously tempted if the low light capability is as good as some of the early samples make it look like. I mean, I love the X100 for everything but street photography (except in low light, where it gets shots I just don't get with anything else) and if this is better in some ways that matter to how I'll shoot, I may have to go in this direction for a part of my kit, and sell a couple of m43 lenses. Time will tell.

-Ray
 
I'll find out soon enough. I certainly don't expect miracles. Faster phase detection (or hybrid) AF might be on the table for a future model, though.
 
Looks the Business and if the X100 is any guide sure to lure the Leica snobs in the Fuji direction.

With m43 so good now I simply don't see it as an option for me better IQ is served best by FF but then size intrudes.

Its just a pity that m43 has not been taken up by others ... the common mount etc
 
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