Is the XP-1 good for night street photography?

[JamesFromSydney]

I'm looking at either the XP-1 or OM-D for shooting street at night. Has anyone tried using the XP-1 for this?

I'm especially interested to know how well the AF works in low light out in the real world. Does it hunt for long, or fail to focus often?

(I had a Contax G1 for a while but sold it because the AF was too slow. I've been using a CL or M2 since, but have less time these days for processing & printing 35mm negs, as I'm doing a lot of LF, too).

Any help appreciated.

 

[david.elliott]

If you have contrasty stuff to focus on, it is fine. Otherwise, it hunts / fails.

Can always manual focus at night using the evf. It works fine for me although a lot of people seem to not care much for manual focus (with the x pro 1) or the evf.

 

[olelovold]

I find it very good for this. The autofocus may struggle in some situations, in others it will work fine. Either way, prefocusing is better.

With the 18mm:

I really liked how the X100 rendered night scenes. It seems this attribute has been transferred to the XP1 as well.

 

[furcafe]

The X-Pro1 AF works in low light, but is slower than a comparably-priced dSLR. More like the Kyocera Contax G2 than the G1, but YMMV. In my experience here in DC, the AF is fine in street lighting @ night, but I've encountered some problems in dark nightclub/restaurant/bar environments (e.g., places lit primarily w/candles & low-wattage incandescent).

Unfortunately, there is no alternative to trying 1 out, preferably for a week or so to get used to the system. Since you already had the G1, you're already ahead of those who have only used RFs & AF SLRs.

I'm looking at either the XP-1 or OM-D for shooting street at night. Has anyone tried using the XP-1 for this?

I'm especially interested to know how well the AF works in low light out in the real world. Does it hunt for long, or fail to focus often?

(I had a Contax G1 for a while but sold it because the AF was too slow. I've been using a CL or M2 since, but have less time these days for processing & printing 35mm negs, as I'm doing a lot of LF, too).

Any help appreciated.

 

[jsrockit]

X-Pro1: If you are using the camera for fast moving people in the streets at night, it will fail. If you are using it for still life, posed people, and street scenes, it's fine.