Let me start by saying that some of this was written yesterday and some of it today. Eh…who cares….
I had to get my Dreamcatcher stuff posted first because of such high public demand. Just kidding but not really. These images sell more than anything else from my artsy fartsy collection. These were all made with the XP1 and the 35mm 1.4. It’s a chore for me because I don’t like the 50mm FOV but yet with the XP1….it’s very natural. I use the OVF 90% of the time and the screen the rest and of course somewhere in my demented mathematical equation, the EVF works in.
So there’s much talk about the new kid on the block. Oh yeah…it’s all over the net and all over the world. The Fuji XT1 is going to break records. I don’t know which records but I’m told big stuff…wait and see. Well….here in Northeast Philly on Montour Street, in the back room that’s converted to an office but nobody works in it just me and it ain’t work if you love it but anyway…..here…the XT1 will never make an entrance. It’s shunned and not allowed to make a presence. Andre’ the XP1 and Ding the XE1 have decided that …we doin’ need no stinking camera with a center mounted evf that looks like a SLR from the days long gone but they ain’t long gone cause many still like that form but here …. we don’t!
The Form Factor
I don’t think the form factor of the XT1 is something I find attractive, in fact I know it isn’t. I’m not going to make a realtime comparison between the XT1 and XP1 but I do want to get a few things off my chest. I speak for my self and whoever else is in my head at the time of this writing but you may just find some stuff to think about. That hump on tomp of the body is something I find totally repulsive. Because of that, I can’t wrap my head around it.
It’s a know fact, at least here in Philly that photography is about seeing. More importantly, seeing at the precise moment of exposure…The Decisive Moment…ring a bell? Now this isn’t just about the moment of exposure but maybe a few seconds leading up to it. On the street, avenues, alleys etc, there are many puzzles to find and to try to put together to make your photos. Many elements work together in either positive or negative energy and many times both together that make up your photos.
The ability of the shooter to se these parts before and during exposure is something that has to be recognized as most important. So what happens is something like this: You spot something of interest and you feel a photo ready to be born. You look and then when you think things are either really close or are at it’s peak….you raise the camera to the eye…frame, then shoot. See, here’s where I take issue. With the XP1, this is how I most times do things: I raise the camera to the eye and…I can see my frameline and then I squint the right eye looking thru the finder and open the left eye…this immediately allows me to see the elements outside the frameline and decide if my crop is complete or I need to rethink the frame. Of course, this happens really fast and the hidden elements outside the frame are exposed and I can be more precise in the statement I am trying to make.
This is something every Leica M shooter knows about and probably does. This is not something that should be dismissed or taken for granted…it’s actually lifesaving at times. Yeah, yeah….what about that parallax thing shooter? So what! Things like that are not intrusions, they are things to keep the mind awake and to keep it off AP…(auto pilot). Now I’m not saying that the EVF isn’t a good thing, not at all I’m just saying that all things being equal, the OVF is better for me.
I gotta come back to this but I feel it’s like beating a dead horse. Many shooters understand this stuff and many haven’t a clue. It’s ok, I stated on the get go that the XP1 killed the XT1 for ME! Ya know….the difference between the OVF and the EVF is as strong as the EVF against the LCD screen……WHAT!!!!!!!
While I find features of the XT-1 I like, the form doesn’t do it for me either. I do hope there is an update to the XE/XP line soon.
Keith, what would you like to see a firmware update do to the XP1?
The wonderful thing now is that there are cameras capable of great things { in the right hands } from all brands and formats . Probably the most fundamental { and often ignored } issue about cameras / lenses whatever is that they should simply disappear. The more time you waste with technicalities the less time doing what needs doing.
Thanks for stopping by…your right but today, it’s intoxicating to get into the menus, specs, design, form of a camera and get lost as to why one wants it in the first place.
If you read my stuf you know that I simply can’t tolerate intrusions from cameras.
So sometimes I write that the XP1 has a Leica experience for me. That means that I can just find my next image, raise the camera and find the next. No intrusion. I just set aperture, shutter and use auto iso. The old days it was an M4.
Load film, set aperture, set shutter…..shoot.
I agree with you. I am in Australia at the moment with X100S and Nikon DF and 50mm. I saw the XT1 in the shop for sale. I also saw the X pro 1. What a lovely camera the X pro 1 is. I also have XE1 and was looking at shots I have taken with it in the past. I would be crazy to buy the XT1 I would have more cameras than lenses if I did that. The Nikon DF is not too big with a 50mm 1.4d Its good for the street. People are already complaining of small controls of XT1 and adding grips and battery packs to it. Also what happened to the OVF coupled with the EVF?
More and more I use the OVF on the X100S and of course the DF, The XT1 is banned from my roof top studio. And I am banned from buying any more gear,
Ahhhhh David, David, David….yee of such little faith. The XP1 not only has your name on it but is awaiting you to name it. For your work and I do know it as I check out all my friends work….The XP1 is perfect. Your street stuff, the OVF, studio and portraits, EVF or screen. I’m not pushing anything, it’s just an observation from one friend to another. When we do our interview soon, we can get into this a little more…..
don
for many people the newest model is the best one. Not for me, I really enjoy my X-E1 … by the way great photos
Thank ya kindly…..
The XE1 is an amazing wonderful camera to have and use. It’s soooo good I had to get rid of it because it took much time from Andre’ the Fuji XP1.
I’d love to see some photos of what your seeing……
Don
This is an interesting discussion for me. Thank you.
Up until March I had been shooting with an M6. M8 and RD1 as well as a Ricoh GR. I have a full kit of Leica and Voigtlander lenses. The crown jewel of my glass collection is a Hexanon 60 1.2 which I obtained way before it became a cult piece. I actually shoot with it. So I suppose you can say I am a rangefinder man.
I had been looking for a new camera to dedicate to the Hex and I almost went for the Sony A7. Luckily, I did not and after months of mulling I suddenly went and got the XT1 when I realised Fuji made a dedicated M adapter.
I shoot primarily street and boy am I glad I bought this camera. The EVF is amazing. The jpg image rendering is absolutely beautiful in both BW and colour. I have been shooting with four lenses on the camera. The Hex, a Nokton 40, a Summcron 28 and a Voigtlander 21. The results have been amazing. And the combo of the the Hex with the XT-1 EVF is a photographer’s wet dream. I have to get another adapter for my Cron IV, but I am sure that will be awesome as well.
So now I have three cameras on me when I am out. The GR on my belt and the RD1 in my bag and the XT1 in my hands. No Leicas.
It has been a long time since I have been such a happy camper.
As an aside, the reasons I did not get an X-P is someone I know was constantly complaining about the focusing. I realised early on that the camera technically is not a rangefinder. Nevertheless, I tried it and given the way I use rangefinders I did not feel compelled to buy one. However, when the new model finally comes out, I will seriously consider acquiring one simply because I now consider myself a convert to Fuji cameras.
Cheers
WB7
William, Thanks for posting and joining the discussion. We travel much like the same path. The Eppy was a great camera but one thing got me and bad. The rangefinder. I bought it new but ended up doing just zone/hyperfocal shooting….bye… The GR is a wonderful camera but mine didn’t come with the Sensor vacuum attachment.
Teleport to the here and now…….For manual lenses you probably made the right choice. I use a few of mine but lately, I’m just using the Fuji OEM glass. I did like the XE1 with my M lenses because I still had the 2 eye rangefinder experience. If ya ever get to Philly, your welcome to try my XP1’s providing you don’t get romantically involved….
don