Studio_Melon
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So I had the chance to try an X Pro 2 in store last weekend at BIC Camera in Ikebukuro in Japan. I threw my Toshiba UHS II SD Card in there when they weren’t looking, popped on my XF 90 F2 (as well as the store’s 35 F2) and started shooting away.
Obviously I haven’t had nearly enough time with this camera to even come close to reviewing it, and I’m certainly no pro, but I’ll share my initial impressions none the less.
1. Let’s just start with the fact that… The image quality is…. Wow. Just Wow. The photos I got at lower ISOs up to 1600 were just incredibly sharp, while the middle ISO’s up to 12,800(!) were fairly clean and even higher ISO photos up 25,600(!) were still well within the realm of what I’d consider useable (in a pinch). I didn't have a chance to shoot at ISO 52,000 but given what I saw at 25,600 my guess is that while it’s not going to look great it will be useable in extreme situations. While I also shot compressed raw and played with them a bit in sillypix, the OOC JPEG’s are quite nice and I don’t have the skill to replicate that level of quality with that program (the Engrish is strong in this one... not to mention, ugh, bad Japanese software design 101).
2. The new electronic viewfinder is, in a word, AMAZING. You don’t realize it when you’re using it because its just so smooth and clear, but when you go back to any other Fuji Camera (in my case an XT-10) or god forbid a Sony a7 series camera, you’re just blown away by the difference in smoothness.
3. The joystick is nice for moving autofocus points around.
4. The ISO wheel is… useful…. As long as the shutter speed is locked to auto…. If you try to adjust ISO with the shutter speed dial not locked… things can get… interesting (ok I’ll just come out and say the experience isn’t that good in that scenario)
5. The camera is… Too big. At least for me, after owning an X100, XE1, and now an X-T10. It’s not a deal breaker and of course its still much smaller/lighter than a DSLR (I just sold a Canon 70D), but its just too damn long. Won’t stop me from buying one and I’m sure once I get used to it it wont be a big issue but still, I wish it were smaller (and lighter)
6. The Buffer in Compressed RAW+ Fine JPEG Mode with just one (Toshiba Exceria UHS II) SD card is OK (better than the 70D I had and miles ahead of the no buffer X-T10) but nothing to write home about. I didn't have a lot of space left on the card so I couldn’t adequately test how quickly it can clear the buffer and shoot at 8FPS again.
7. Autofocus seems faster, but I’m not yet sure by how much.
8. This may be a preproduction issue but the camera got unusually warm after what I’d consider fairly light usage (84 frames of Compressed RAW+JPEG)
My takeaway is this. While I’m not sold on the size (it could really be smaller) nor the optical viewfinder (yet), and I’ll need more time to see how much autofocus has really improved, after coming home and checking out the images on my 5K iMac I’m certainly not canceling my preorder
An older gentleman trying out a Nikon Camera.
A young woman camera shopping. Hey now, simple gear test, you were doing the same thing five minutes ago. Don't give me that look.
An employee surveys the store.
Obviously I haven’t had nearly enough time with this camera to even come close to reviewing it, and I’m certainly no pro, but I’ll share my initial impressions none the less.
1. Let’s just start with the fact that… The image quality is…. Wow. Just Wow. The photos I got at lower ISOs up to 1600 were just incredibly sharp, while the middle ISO’s up to 12,800(!) were fairly clean and even higher ISO photos up 25,600(!) were still well within the realm of what I’d consider useable (in a pinch). I didn't have a chance to shoot at ISO 52,000 but given what I saw at 25,600 my guess is that while it’s not going to look great it will be useable in extreme situations. While I also shot compressed raw and played with them a bit in sillypix, the OOC JPEG’s are quite nice and I don’t have the skill to replicate that level of quality with that program (the Engrish is strong in this one... not to mention, ugh, bad Japanese software design 101).
2. The new electronic viewfinder is, in a word, AMAZING. You don’t realize it when you’re using it because its just so smooth and clear, but when you go back to any other Fuji Camera (in my case an XT-10) or god forbid a Sony a7 series camera, you’re just blown away by the difference in smoothness.
3. The joystick is nice for moving autofocus points around.
4. The ISO wheel is… useful…. As long as the shutter speed is locked to auto…. If you try to adjust ISO with the shutter speed dial not locked… things can get… interesting (ok I’ll just come out and say the experience isn’t that good in that scenario)
5. The camera is… Too big. At least for me, after owning an X100, XE1, and now an X-T10. It’s not a deal breaker and of course its still much smaller/lighter than a DSLR (I just sold a Canon 70D), but its just too damn long. Won’t stop me from buying one and I’m sure once I get used to it it wont be a big issue but still, I wish it were smaller (and lighter)
6. The Buffer in Compressed RAW+ Fine JPEG Mode with just one (Toshiba Exceria UHS II) SD card is OK (better than the 70D I had and miles ahead of the no buffer X-T10) but nothing to write home about. I didn't have a lot of space left on the card so I couldn’t adequately test how quickly it can clear the buffer and shoot at 8FPS again.
7. Autofocus seems faster, but I’m not yet sure by how much.
8. This may be a preproduction issue but the camera got unusually warm after what I’d consider fairly light usage (84 frames of Compressed RAW+JPEG)
My takeaway is this. While I’m not sold on the size (it could really be smaller) nor the optical viewfinder (yet), and I’ll need more time to see how much autofocus has really improved, after coming home and checking out the images on my 5K iMac I’m certainly not canceling my preorder
An older gentleman trying out a Nikon Camera.
A young woman camera shopping. Hey now, simple gear test, you were doing the same thing five minutes ago. Don't give me that look.
An employee surveys the store.
