Just posted: Fujifilm X-E1 Review

Had it for weeks: it's a great camera. Feels good in the hand, compact and light enough to carry everywhere, everyday. It's capable of capturing great images when you've set it up to get what you want: it's an easy process. I only shoot and use jpegs: I never post-process anything, it doesn't suit my way of working or aesthetic - I like to get the images straight out of the camera that are perfect for me, and I get them with the XE-1. Now the camera is set up to give me the colour I like I simply use the exposure compensation dial and aperture priority to get what I want. Job done on having a great responsive tool that leaves you free to work out artistically what you think a good photograph is, and how you will take one!....still working on that...this tool helps. Well done Fujifilm.

Isnt' the X-E2 coming soon ?

Dear DPREVIEW, please replace your current here presented JPG images (with NR=+2), with JPG images with OPTIMAL noise reduction (NR) setting (NR=-1 or -2).
More commentators complained about IQ presented here, they saw this is fault of Fuji. But it IS NOT, it is because of not appropriate NR setting.

- Your JPG files have HIGHEST(NR= +2) NR, which removed large part of the fine detail! For this kind of comparison this setting provides WORST detail/noise IQ.

- NR setting you used is not optimal, but also not default (NR=0) setting! I see no reason to provide images with NR=+2, as we see it now.

- the greatest reason why somebody complains Fuji is because it see image with suboptimal settings.

It is not big problem to take your existing RAW files and convert it IN-CAMERA to JPG with optimal NR setting.
I converted your RAW ISO3200 image myself with NR=-2 and I see the difference to your JPG is big.

Yes, it is bristling with tech and features (that many other cameras lack) galore, and most importantly the IQ is THERE, not too much of a debate on that front..

But, from a strictly design and aesthetic standpoint, it just oozes sex appeal!! Makes you want to pick one up and try it out. So from the standpoint alone, they won. I hope they continues to succeed with these formulas, they deserve it I feel.

Yesterday It was the first time I Picked up the Fuji Xe1 after my travel to Burma.
It was in the evening and I tryed to take some photos from my girlfriend.
We were in the livingroom and I had enough lights on but the fuji really had serious trouble to focus. I would say, it had so much trouble focussing that just for that reason it doens't deserve the gold award. The autofocussing is just not good enough.

Still..despite that I think the image quality makes up for tyhe seriously crappy autofocus, but only slightly.

here are my Fuji XE1 photo's from Burma:

http://www.gregorservais.nl/fotografie/

Edited by the way in Photoshop raw, 7.4 with the help of VSco filmpack 03 software.

Fuji X-E1, Leica Elmarit 28mm, NX2 Nik Filter:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53718360@N04/

Message n.500: I think Sony NEX 7, Ol. OM-D-EM5 and Fuji X-E1 actually are on the same level.

I don't have a, "trained eye" and I'm not a professional. Also as a disclaimer, I do own an OM-D, so maybe I'm just psychologically tricking myself.

But, I keep hearing in professional reviews that the Fuji has the best image quality in it's market. But when I look at the OM-D comparison under raw, I see better colors, more detail and an overall better image up to ISO 800. Then above ISO 800 it seems like the Fuji doesnt resolve anymore detail and just has NR applied that would equal out with applying NR on the OM-D.

Am I crazy or just wrong?

I finally got to play with the X-E1 at Kaimuki Camera yesterday, and it got me thinking about autofocus speed. If you've only shot DSLR's, it will seem really slow. If you've used traditional rangefinders, the camera is really fast. It's all perspective...

Still climbing, heading towards 500 comments and nearly 13% of clicks in reviews and specs in the last five days going to the x-e1. That's a stellar performance by any measure.

Simon, that would seem to warrant a bonus for Shawn Barnett and Andy Westlake. :-D For the rest of us, it might be a good time to take a close look at adding Fujifilm shares to the portfolio.

have owned the x-e1 since Uk release in Novmber. Purchased with the outstanding 18-55 kit lens. I previously owned a canon 500D with 5 lenses and sold the lot to buy this and havent looked back since. Yes the camera is slower paced, its meant to be rather than being a spray and pray shooter its designed for a little consideration and patience. with an amazing level of bracketing options, outstanding jpegs, whisper quiet operation and a joy to use i certainly wouldnt trade it in for anything else. you can find samples of my work done with it here
http://fujixphotography.weebly.com/

Test camera crashes, lcd only has 460mp, max 3x magnifiction and no focus peaking. Takes great images. Gets gold award. Congratulations.

I bought the X-E1 used, when the seller showed me a shot taken with ISO 6400, I was immediately sold (literally) the noise level is at the same level if not better than the 5D3...
But soon reality came, Fuji cheated on the ISO and on me.
Still, it's a great little camera, but it's low-light ability is sliced into half.
I think the autofocus is adequate, and mines never freezed up...
But frankly, the ISO cheating, is not acceptable by all means and to me is a serious offense, based on this alone, the camera should not get a gold award

"By our tests, the X-E1's measured sensitivities are about 1/3 to 1/2 stop lower than marked" - isn't that cheating?

strange review, "less than stellar", "clunky" "crashes" , "sub par movie mode" and a gold award. Extremely very strange. Viva la difference

Had a play with one today at Focus-on-Imaging. Fabulous camera, would sell my soul for one, or near enough! Seriously good EVF compared to my X100 (which isn't *bad*), fast enough focusing for me at least, nice size, liked the lens that was on the test units (35 1.4). Yes please!

The one thing that matters in this to me, more than all the rest, is that I want it. Yes, in a year Fuji will come out with the X-E1s that speeds up the focusing -- I assume that is what the "s:" is for :) -- but that does not disappoint. I have 2 Nikon DSLRs, and the 2nd is better than the 1st. I expect them all to keep releasing better stuff. But now I'm not waiting for Nikon to get better. This Fuji is just brilliant!

I have been waiting for this review for a long time..
I think it deserves the gold spot! I own one.
However camera ISO level sensitivity is not reflecting the truth.
It is mostly half or 2/3 stop darker than my Nikon's results...
Moreover I still found Nikon D700 WB is more realistic than Fuji's... But D700 is not that great in this area as well.
Last more point.. LCD screen gives more warmer/yellowish results than it is actually... D700 was giving more cooler results either...
ayway, still very good camera.. and I wam desperately waiting for 23mm f1.4 Fuji lens.. I believe it will also be most successfull combination set available in all photography market alon with this camera...

One thing that I don't see stressed out much is that the X-E1 is an incredibly easy camera to use. I have a Canon 5DII and my wife got an X-E1 2 months ago.
It is such an easy camera to borrow. Everything you need to set to take a picture is on a dial (with fixed focal lenses, here the 18mm). Even though I use it very rarely, when I do everything makes sense at a glance and I get the picture I want.
And of course the X-E1 plus 2 lenses weights the same as the Canon lens cap (OK, a little more :-) )
I'm not giving up my gear though!

This review seems to be stacked in fuji's favor, though I realize it may be unintentional. I do read some of these reviews pretty thoroughly and this was one of them. A few things of note. Since they are lying and overstating iso, it would be valid to compare these sensors at true iso value. I'm guessing 3200 is more like 2000. That's a pretty big difference. 6400 is probably more like 3200 on the other cameras and I'm thinking it might not look so much better if all things were equal here. Also the foreground part of the studio shot is much closer in the xe-1 shot. Was the 35 used vs 50s on the k-01 and nex-7? It is either different focal lengths and perspective or the studio shot was moved at some point. My point is that it makes many of the detail parts of the shot look better because they are taking up more of the frame. I think it is is intriguing but its hard to make apples to apples comparisons when things are different. I'm always interested in noise and resolution first.

I just discovered that the images in review was taken with MAXIMAL noise reduction setting (see exif info:NR=HARD=+2). Default setting is =0. But I strongly prefer to use MINIMAL NR=-2(minus 2). You get considerably MORE DETAIL at higher ISO, with NO CHROMA noise and with only natural luminance noise.
In my own 3 months experience OOC JPEG images are really TOP, with a lot of fine detail and only little noise (and no chroma noise). I do not worry to shoot auto ISO up 6400, this was something unbelievable with my previous DSLR cameras (Pentax, Canon).

Fuji X-E1 not bad. But personally I think much better IQ have Sigmas DP1,DP2,DP3. I would really like to compare them in Raw.
For studio, where is lot of light, for landscapers are Sigmas the best choice. I just regret, that we will never see review of those cameras here.

If nothing else comes out of all of this I hope DPR takes away a few things:

1 - we read the reviews
2 - we read them carefully
3 - we remember what was said previously
4 - we WANT reviews to be comparable across brands and time
5 - we CARE about the awards
6 - we might disagree with the reviews but they are better across the board than anyone else

and finally.....there is no way to make us all happy

We often have a zero-sum mentality when it comes to cameras -- in other words, for my camera to be superior, every other camera must be inferior. These days, technology has come so far that comparing Fujifilm to Nikon to Canon, etc. is like comparing Porsches to Corvettes to Ferraris, and so on. As a result, we as photographers have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to camera selection and have the luxury to nitpick over things that may be more or less important depending on the needs of the individual photographer (i.e. arguing over operation speeds that vary only milliseconds from one camera model to another).

When speed is critical, I go to my Nikons. When image quality is crucial, the Fujifilm comes out the box. Why? Because in my studio, it is the portraits shot with the Fujifilm cameras that make customers ask what camera took that shot and place orders. I challenge you to actually use the Fujifilm X-E1 to take real portraits of real people and not be impressed.

400

I am not a regular poster, but sometimes I want to say something. Dpreview is, as for me, a great site. I am a fully professional photographer, which does not mean I am better than others, but it means that I know what I am talking about. And all these comments are disturbing me. I can not imagine there is one propho on the line here... All these comments make me laugh on one hand and on the other hand I find them very sad. Use this camera, make pictures in stead of selling all this bs. Then you'll find out Dpreview is right. It was also right if it got silver, or if it got nothing at all. This is, I can assure, a wonderful camera. I made pictures using an X-E1 of professional models (cfr Geneviève Lagravière - not the first the best) (you can see them on my fb). Well let's talk. Or no. I don't want to talk. Just look and see. And wonder. What Fuji nowadays produce is really top notch. No Leica for me. I have been working with an M6 for about 7 years. But no digital one for me.!

Why on the same ISO (6400) and the same aperture (F8) every camera has time shorter than 1/1600 and on Fuji is 1/1000? I don't like this. I have to increase ISO to have the same time like on other camera? ISO is not a standard?

This is a very successful camera review, it has generated a lot of interest and discussion, nearly 400 comments and the x-e1 is topping the camera scale at almost 10% of clicks in reviews and specs over the last five days.

Well done dpreview.

ps. Reuters ran a story recently showing a senior Western Politician explaining how our western systems cherish the inalienable right of the individual to be an idiot - I see many are testing that freedom in the comments below.

Want one so bad, but cannot afford one right now. Maybe after a price drop.

Oh Dear Fuji. Goofing with a RAW file is never such an ingenious idea. The noise level is incredibly low compared to the elite DSLRs (Nikon D4, Canon 1Dx) but none of the higher ISO images is sharp but soft and smeared. Sorry that sucks and belongs to a entry level body at best.

This is a fascinating review. I've pixel peeped extensively on this one. What's up with the k-01? The AA filter looks week to the point where I'm seeing false detail, but yet subtle details are being smoothed. Yeah I realize that at high ISO pentax smooths noise. This is more aggresive than my k-5.

The k-01 resolves more than the fuji. (raw test might not be best here) The NEX at base iso outresolves all of them and shows outstanding detail, but quickly falls apart above ISO 1000. With careful noise reduction it may still edge out the K-01, but the color noise is bothersome and not the kind of noise I like to see. The fuji does very well with high iso though and IMO looks better/cleaner/etc at 6400 than any of them, but at the same time with a loss of detail that is very subtle and nothing like the smearing you see with bayer pattern sensors and hardware noise reduction.Fuji has done something really different here. It will be interesting to see how they can develop it further.

>it earns our coveted gold award, by a whisker.

no longer coveted gold award I think , recently all your reviewed cameras getting gold or at least silver , why is that?

As a XE-1 owner I can say the review is fair. The camera delivers great image quality but does have a few quirks, like every other camera. It's not designed to be an action/sports camera so don't judge it for what it isn't. Fuji designed it to be a great street/travel camera, and it excels at that.

But I did find the comment in the "Cons" section: "Large and chunky build won't suit everyone" to be strange. The camera is boxy, sure, but it isn't large or chunky: It's just about the same size as my FE-2, minus the mirror box. I wouldn't call that large or chunky.

I Have this Camera and being an older guy that remembers MF and having Canon FD lenses its great to shoot them and the files I get are great. Is this camera for you? I don't care. The DP review is 90% on the mark, Maybe a bit to negative. After they come out with a X Pro 1s and X E 1s AF will be right up there with the DSLR's. but isn't bad now at all.

Fuji are finally really pulling it all together, they've had some pretty big teething problems with their x series in the past few years, but now it is maturing very well indeed.
Fuji are looking like they will finally become a very serious player in the digital era, they have done what Kodak couldn't do.

Relax, guys!
DPREVIEW is not independent reviewer for many years already.
They just help to sell camera of their owners. It's business and nothing else.
Dpreview is sold to Amazon on 2007.

"He who pays the piper calls the tune".