nighstar
eternal beginner
Ouch.
Well, like the nex-7 we know now in the right hands its is capable of some horrific imagery
obviously this camera isn't your cup of tea. please feel free to go comment in the thread of the camera that is.
Turtle
Veteran
Chris, relax! We do not know enough about this camera to be dismissing it, or claiming it to be the next prophet either. It does still look interesting to me, even if the AF is not blistering, as long as it is 'good'. If the MF is superb then so much the better. As always, we will see, but lets not forget that this camera is miles smaller than a DSLR and so you cannot expect exactly comparable performance. You will be giving something up for the smaller package.
The market will decide what is 'valid' and what is not. My X100 has very average AF, but overall the camera has great 'utility' as far as I am concerned. While two sides dig their positions I will crack on taking pictures
The market will decide what is 'valid' and what is not. My X100 has very average AF, but overall the camera has great 'utility' as far as I am concerned. While two sides dig their positions I will crack on taking pictures
benlees
Well-known
Perspective. Has anyone here used the camera? Fuji didn't say poor AF it said not the best. If you want the best AF you can spend $6000 on the new D4.
A Fujifilm camera as jewelery? C'mon, you can get Fujifilm digicams at truck stops. As a brand Fujifilm has a long way to go before it is recognized as some purveyor of luxury trinkets.
A Fujifilm camera as jewelery? C'mon, you can get Fujifilm digicams at truck stops. As a brand Fujifilm has a long way to go before it is recognized as some purveyor of luxury trinkets.
Joe AC
Well-known
With all due respect, let's not forget that this is NOT a D-SLR. It is a compact, mirrorless, removable lens digital. Probably one of the better ones out there. Lets try and compare apples to apples.
Joe
Shade
Well-known
I would really have to wait on the production camrea rather than a pre production sample. Im sure there are flaws waiting to be corrected and even when released there still will be some flaws as do all cameras.
N
Nikon Bob
Guest
I going to wait until actual user reports start to come in before getting too excited about potential AF problems. It uses a different AF system than do DSLRs so there is sure to be some differences. You could always spend $6000 or so on a camera with a very inferior AF system, the M9. That is if you want to look at it that way. This is primarily an AF camera with some capability to be manually focused as a secondary consideration. I would govern my expectations with that in mind. Personally I would be happy with an AF camera with reasonably fast and reliable AF that is much smaller than my D700 and weighs less, with a lens attached, that the D700 weighs on it's lonesome without a lens attached.
Bob
Bob
dfoo
Well-known
Damn, I guess all my M- Leica cameras are a super rip off considering that they have no AF of any kind
noimmunity
scratch my niche
Fuji just gets it
Fuji just gets it
Fuji has sort of adopted a feisty "bring it on" attitude in their marketing PR, so the apples to oranges comparisons are somewhat warranted, as long as people remember the whole equation.
As far as price goes, I think there are many people in North America for whom the reality of the yen's appreciation hasn't really sunk in. When I bought my ZI body in Japan five (or was it six?) years ago, the yen was at 140:1 with the US dollar. The yen has now appreciated to about half that level. The ZI I bought then in Japan was less than US$1000. With today's exchange rate, even if it were priced as before, it would be close to $2000. As it is, the current US price of the ZI is still lower than it ought to be adjusted for currency appreciation, not to mention inflation.
No doubt, if the camera were made in Malaysia instead of Japan, that would lead some pundits to declare it "unreliable" and hence "unprofessional".
Finally, I just think Fuji kind of "gets it" in a way that Cosina Voigtlander does.
Fuji has a proven track record of continually making innovative cameras in multiple formats that all have one characteristic in common: they appeal to people who really love the experience and process of photography. They also, I might add, have maintained a link to rangefinders that few other manufacturers have. Just recently they participated in the design, production and marketing of the world's only medium format rangefinder folder with AE; several years before that, they released another innovative rangefinder, the XPan...
The fact that Fuji doesn't make state of the art $6-7000 flagship bodies only underscores the extent to which Fuji just gets it.
Now, just because Fuji "gets it" doesn't mean that you or I have to get the X-Pro1. But I really appreciate what Fuji is doing.
Fuji just gets it
Fuji has sort of adopted a feisty "bring it on" attitude in their marketing PR, so the apples to oranges comparisons are somewhat warranted, as long as people remember the whole equation.
As far as price goes, I think there are many people in North America for whom the reality of the yen's appreciation hasn't really sunk in. When I bought my ZI body in Japan five (or was it six?) years ago, the yen was at 140:1 with the US dollar. The yen has now appreciated to about half that level. The ZI I bought then in Japan was less than US$1000. With today's exchange rate, even if it were priced as before, it would be close to $2000. As it is, the current US price of the ZI is still lower than it ought to be adjusted for currency appreciation, not to mention inflation.
No doubt, if the camera were made in Malaysia instead of Japan, that would lead some pundits to declare it "unreliable" and hence "unprofessional".
Finally, I just think Fuji kind of "gets it" in a way that Cosina Voigtlander does.
Fuji has a proven track record of continually making innovative cameras in multiple formats that all have one characteristic in common: they appeal to people who really love the experience and process of photography. They also, I might add, have maintained a link to rangefinders that few other manufacturers have. Just recently they participated in the design, production and marketing of the world's only medium format rangefinder folder with AE; several years before that, they released another innovative rangefinder, the XPan...
The fact that Fuji doesn't make state of the art $6-7000 flagship bodies only underscores the extent to which Fuji just gets it.
Now, just because Fuji "gets it" doesn't mean that you or I have to get the X-Pro1. But I really appreciate what Fuji is doing.
******This.
celluloidprop
Well-known
I really don't get the hostility.
Thardy
Veteran
I agree. This news is a bit disappointing.
tbarker13
shooter of stuff
I guess you'd eliminate all rangefinders as professional tools.
They don't handle live action sports all that well. Or the type of nature photography that requires long lenses. And they're pretty weak at macro photography.That's quite a few conditions where you'd run the risk of missing shots.
Seriously, before we start dismissing something, we really ought to know more about it. Let's say you have a portrait or landscape photographer. Neither lives or dies by lightning fast auto focus. I doubt they'll care.
The camera may very well be perfect for the types of professionals Fuji is targeting. Or maybe they'll reject it out of hand if it proves incapable.
It does sound like there's a potential weakness (if the AF is sluggish) in the realm of wedding photography - particularly photojournalistic style.
tbarker13
shooter of stuff
tbarker13
shooter of stuff
Curious. Are you suggesting the M10 is going to be a lower priced model? Or just that its going to be markedly different?
I'm sort of guessing the M10 will hit the market somewhere around the $9,000 mark - just given Leica's track record of substantially raising the price of its digital rangefinder with each new version.
Dana B.
Well-known
This whole thread is mostly idle speculation. Go out and take some photographs, folks. Then return after the X-Pro's been released.
Juan Valdenebro
Truth is beauty
To me it's been the same for years: where's the fast reliable manual focus I like?
I could even accept -from time to time- all those disgusting things digicams make us do and carry, but AF with crappy manual focus again?
Anyway I hope Fuji (maybe) or someone else will make a real manual focus RF soon... I mean a small one that's not too expensive... It would sell well in the long term because it would mean to really curse the adventure of photography, so new shooters would be coming and coming to grab one... But all companies seem to feel AF is the safest and almost only way...
Cheers,
Juan
I could even accept -from time to time- all those disgusting things digicams make us do and carry, but AF with crappy manual focus again?
Anyway I hope Fuji (maybe) or someone else will make a real manual focus RF soon... I mean a small one that's not too expensive... It would sell well in the long term because it would mean to really curse the adventure of photography, so new shooters would be coming and coming to grab one... But all companies seem to feel AF is the safest and almost only way...
Cheers,
Juan
apodeictic
Established
What??? You do know you can see side-by-side photos with an M9 and they're almost identical in size (i.e. meaning SMALLER than an M5).
I'm taking a break from reading this thread. RFF has gone from playful speculation to outright condemnation and vilification based on what? Information we don't even have yet! That or our own goofy feelings because it doesn't live up to some bizarre abstract concept we have of the "perfect" camera.
I think a lot of people need to go to the top right of their screen and hit the "log out" button, pick up whatever camera they have and go take a walk.
I'm excited about the X-Pro1 because it means the digital photography industry is growing and able to explore more of the shooting experience instead of just the technological aspects. The cheap full-frame rangefinder is another step closer to existing, and who couldn't be glad for that?
Focal Plane Circus
Member
"The viewfinder is located on the top left corner, which can make it a little awkward for left-eyed shooters like myself to handle"
I could have said that myself anytime in the last 50 years! :bang:
f6andBthere
Well-known
First I'll deal with the autofocus situation you mentioned in your other post. I think a manual focus camera can still be regarded as a professional's tool provided that's what they want ... and you can still be a professional and never need to shoot sports or anything else that requires AF. It depends what area you work in I guess. I personally don't need AF but I do need high ISO capability so I use a D700 which I focus manually, always with primes. What I need is a camera that can be focused every time in poor light and the D700 covers this need albeit with a weight and size penalty.
If Leica can come up with a camera as user friendly and as unobtrusive as the M9 and also give it the ability to produce clean images at 3200 or better it will be one hell of a tool and even at the price you mentioned I would personally have to consider it. It's a lot of money yes ... but if it does the job you want done without fuss and it's going to earn your living for you ... the price is just what you have to pay.
christian.rudman
digital to analog convert
Well said! Unfotunately it is quite dark right now and I only have 100 loaded in the f1 right now, so I will have to wait.
The most exciting thing about this camera to me is the sensor! One step closer to figuring out how to make a sensor that replicated film's beauty, I'm way down for that. Once they can capture the exposure latitude offered by negative film I will be complete. Until then it's film only for me. Although I am going to have to get my hands on this camera for a minute at least to really see what it can do for photography as a tool.
New wave contax g2, here we come!