X-PRO 1 - X-E1 - X-E2, Genuine advice

Of the three, the X-Pro1 is easily the worst choice for manual focus, for all its retro charm. The EVF is lower resolution than both the others, very laggy, and LCD rather than OLED which means the colours and contrast are poor, and it washes out badly past a certain brightness. The camera is really designed entirely around the OVF, but the OVF is entirely useless for manual focus - it lacks the “picture in picture” ERF patch found on later X-Pros.

Both the X-Pro1 and XE1 have only one form of focus aid, focus peaking in white, which isn’t always the easiest to see. They are both first gen cameras and it shows, being generally slower and lacking various features from the newer models. They do have the first gen sensor, which is nice in some ways, but I wouldn’t buy one now (although I do still own an XE1 by accident).

Re the differences in rendering between X-Trans I and 2 - the first thing to be clear on is that this only affects the JPEGs out of camera. The raws are near identical because in truth the sensors are too, it’s the processing that changed in the second generation. I also only really notice the difference in Provia - first gen provia is much less contrasty and has much more going on in the shadows. Someone once likened the first gen JPEG’s as matte prints, and the second gen as glossy - the latter have a bit more pop and contrast, but slightly lose some of the subtlety of the first.

There is also an issue with the X-Trans II processing doing weird things with skin tones at ISOs of 1600 and above due to over aggressive noise reduction (common to all the 2nd gen bodies) - but again this is a jpeg only issue, and not a problem if you keep your portraiture to sensible ISOs.

On the plus side the XE2 does include classic chrome on the latest firmware. It’s faster overall which also means there’s a lot less lag in the viewfinder. There are a few extra colour options for the focus peaking which can make it a lot better to use for manual focus - the rear screen is higher resolution than the XE1’s too. It also has a lot more customisable buttons (or rather, the same amount of buttons but a lot more flexibility in how to use them) and has much more useable autofocus if you ever wanted to use it as a backup body with your XF lenses. It would be my pick of the three as the best all rounder.

Downsides of the XE2 - like the others it also lacks a bunch of features that became standard later on, and it’s EVF while best of the three is still a little dim in bright conditions.