Impressions after ~30 exposures…
1. AFS….. I don’t have the High Performance option turned on, and it’s already extremely quick, to me. In fairly dim indoor night light, I was rocking back and forth between a close object and the far wall, back and forth, and it never missed. Focus locked on (using the 23 f2) in about a quarter second each time. Anecdotally it felt about half the amount of time the 18-55 on the XT1 would take, and that’s not a slow combo. AF speed in single shot mode is never going to be an issue, with the 23 f2. I can’t wait to see if the older lenses are any quicker than with the XT1. This is “Micro 4/3” quick. Haven’t experimented with tracking, AFC, etc… nervous. I’ve never gotten them to work well ENOUGH on the XT1 to use in real life when it counts.
2. SETUP….. I managed to get almost everything where I want it: Shutter speed dial is always on T and the front dial adjusts shutter speed in 1/3 stops, rear dial = press & roll to adjust ISO (with the 27 pancake or 50-230 which have no aperture ring, just rolling this dial without pressing first = aperture, just like XT1), top Fn button = white balance. That’s 95% of what I touch. I rarely change film simulation, DR, etc. The one thing I do touch next most often is the shutter type. Sometimes I need silence, so I want electronic shutter only. On the XT1, there are more Fn buttons, so I had it on the little flush one next to the lens. Here, there’s less to work with. I am debating between using the touch swipe (gasp), or reassigning the AEL button, which I rarely use. So far, after quick experimentation, touch screen is fully disabled. I reserve the right to change my mind upon further fiddling.
3. THE 23 F2 LENS….. Small enough (what couldn’t be smaller, right?), screaming fast focus, Ap ring feels notchy and crisp and perfect. With shots at f2 with close focus, I see a little green edging when I go 100% crop. Boo hoo. It’s not really visible at normal size, and not a knock against a walk-around general purpose lens. Assuming the sun actually comes up today (heavy cloud / light rain) I can’t wait to go see what smaller apertures do. Very easy to imagine this lens being glued to the XE3 in my Domke, alongside the XT1 with the 56 on it for bike races / events.
4. FORM FACTOR….. If you’ve got even medium-sized normal hands, this thing will need some kind of add-on grip, be it a guy that clips into the hot shoe, a grip that goes around the front, both, whatever. Also, the two buttons on the thumb rest (AFL and Q) are pretty hard not to hit by accident. I have a thumb rest on a slow boat from China, ordered it before the camera even arrived, and now it can’t get here quick enough. I’m pondering some kind of frontal grip add-on as well. I compared, it’s smaller than the old original X100… slightly shorter, narrower, everything. I wish the card slot was on the side, because it’s kinda hard to get the SD card in and out alongside that battery.
5. VIEWFINDER….. No complaints. Big enough, looks good at night, but I no longer have that nice dual screen in MF! I can’t have that little side screen with 100% crop. (sad face).
6. BLUETOOTH….. I can’t port pics over via Bluetooth alone? I have to link with wifi like before? Less cool than I imagined. Need to work with this more, the wife quite often wants pics AS I’m shooting.