Fujifilm X-E1: Digital Photography Review

Studio scene comparison (Raw)

This is our standard studio scene comparison shot taken from exactly the same tripod position. Lighting: daylight simulation, >98% CRI. Crops are 100%. Ambient temperature was approximately 22°C (~72°F).

For a (more) level playing field for comparison we also shot our studio scene in Raw mode with each camera and converted it using Adobe Camera Raw. Because Adobe Camera Raw applies different levels of sharpening to different cameras (this confirmed) we use the following workflow for these conversions:

Load Raw file into Adobe Camera Raw (Auto mode disabled)
Set Sharpness to 0 (all other settings default)
Open file to Photoshop
Apply a Unsharp mask: 100%, Radius 0.6, Threshold 0
Save as a JPEG quality 11 for display and download.

Note: this page features our new interactive studio shot comparison widget. Click here to find out more.

GearShop

Fujifilm X-E1 Mirrorless Camera, Body Only (Black)●	$799.00	Buy on GearShop
Fujifilm X-E1 Mirrorless Camera Kit with 18-55mm f/2.8-4 Lens (Black)●	$999.00	Buy on GearShop
Fujifilm X-E1 Mirrorless Camera, Body Only (Silver)●	$799.00	Buy on GearShop
Fujifilm X-E1 Mirrorless Camera Kit with 18-55mm f/2.8-4 Lens (Silver)●	$999.00	Buy on GearShop

Fujifilm X-E1 16.3 MP Compact System Digital Camera with 2.8-Inch LCD - Body Only (Silver)	$799.00
Fujifilm X-E1 16.3 MP Compact System Digital Camera with 2.8-Inch LCD and 18-55mm Lens (Black)	$999.00
Fujifilm X-E1 16.3 MP Compact System Digital Camera with 2.8-Inch LCD and 18-55mm Lens (Silver)	$999.00
Fujifilm X-E1 16.3 MP Compact System Digital Camera with 2.8-Inch LCD - Body Only (Black)	$799.00
Fujifilm X-E1 16.3 MP Compact System Digital Camera with 2.8-Inch LCD and 18-55mm Lens (Black)	$999.00
Fujifilm X-E1 16.3 MP Compact System Digital Camera with 2.8-Inch LCD and 18-55mm Lens (Silver)	$999.00
Fujifilm X-E1 16.3 MP Compact System Digital Camera with 2.8-Inch LCD - Body Only (Black)	$799.00
Fujifilm X-E1 16.3 MP Compact System Digital Camera with 2.8-Inch LCD - Body Only (Silver)	$799.00
Fujifilm X-M1 16MP Compact System Digital Camera Kit with 16-50mm Lens and 3-Inch LCD Screen (Brown)	$799.00
Fujifilm X-A1 Kit with 16-50mm Lens (Black)	$599.00
Fujifilm X-E1 with 18-55mm Lens 32GB Deluxe Bundle Kit	$1,009.95
Fujifilm X100S 16 MP Digital Camera with 2.8-Inch LCD (Silver)	Too low to display
Fujifilm FinePix HS50EXR 16MP Digital Camera with 3-Inch LCD (Black)	$375.00
Fujifilm X-M1 Compact System 16MP Digital Camera Kit with 16-50mm Lens and 3-Inch LCD Screen (Silver)	$727.98

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Comments

Total comments: 7

continuing my post . . .

I understand why Fujifilm designed the lens rings with those slim grooves for stylistic reasons, but I find myself frequently turning the wrong one because they all feel the same. I'll get used to it, but a rubber ring on the zoom would help. Also, the zoom ring is stiff and those little grooves are slippery. Rubber would help the grip.

I would suggest turning off the image display as the default is 1.5 seconds. The image display clogs up the EVF for 1.5 seconds making it impractical to follow action. It's in the menu under setup screen 2.

0 upvotes

Had mine a short while, purchased in part due to this review.

A couple things worth mentioning in terms of this review. The exposure compensation dial on my camera has a very firm detent so there's no chance of an inadvertent movement of the dial. I've loaded body firmware 2.0 and 18-55mm lens firmware 3.0. According to Fujifilm, these updates are supposed to address a number of issues, including the slower focusing. I find the camera/lens focus speed to be quite good with this update in place.

0 upvotes

Had my xe-1 2 weeks now and I'm blown away by the quality of the images taken with the kit zoom lens. The images could easily be printed at about 50" and are in practice comparable to my D800. AMAZING!
In use too I love it. The EVF whilst not as clear as an SLR viewfinder, tells me all I need to know and enables me to see all the menus without putting on reading specs. I use it exclusively in EVF mode. It is light and handles superbly. The image stabilisation seems incredible- so far, as good as the D800 shots from a tripod! If you're in doubt, go and buy one.

1 upvote

Can the back screen be turned off completely so only the electronic viewfinder is used for composing and shooting?

0 upvotes

sure

0 upvotes

when you say ":but powering off usually cleared the error." can you expand a bit on that. Was there a different fix at another time?

0 upvotes

What about shutter lag? Any appreciable delay from the time one pushes the button til the shutter actually releases?

0 upvotes

Total comments: 7