That X-trans sensor...

[gavinlg]

Well I've had the x-pro1 for a week now on a short loan from Fujifilm, and I have immensely enjoyed using it. Such an addictive camera to use. Something that has really surprised me though is how much I like the X-Trans sensor in the thing. It seems to me for some reason that I can't explain, the sensor really really makes the IQ of this little camera punch above it's weight (and sensor size). It's not necessarily a quantifiable point, but the files are punchy, sharp without being digital looking or without the need for sharpening, full of detail, and the high iso really does look like film grain. It's almost as if the files look like they came from a camera with a bigger sensor.

It become especially apparent when I picked up my x100 for a few shots after a week with the x-pro1 - the x100 files just look very different - like they're from a smaller sensor camera, and that camera has a very well regarded bayer sensor.

I'm interested to hear your experience with (specifically) the X-trans sensor... I'm sure I'm not the only one seeing this!

 

[willie_901]

My experience is similar.

I was suprised at how well the raw files compared with raw files from my D700. The highlight recovery is wonderful. While the shadows in D700 files pull up better, the difference is small in practice because My guess is the X-Trans sesnor let you over expose by at least 1/2 a stop compared to the D700. I see no purple fringing either. The luminance noise overall seems to have a more natural appearance. It is rare that the color noise ever needs filtering. The detail and definition with the 35/1.4 is excellent. Why can't Nikon make a fast prime with as low a level of lateral chromatic aberation? I really prefer the look of the 35/1.4 on the Fuji to the new 50/1.8 G on the D700.

The X-Trans approach does have a fundamental disadvantage. The demosaicing is not reducible to a 2x2 problem, it is a 6x6 case and it is more computationally intensive. Fuji seems to have a dedicated chip to minimize the time for in-camera processing. The X-Trans raw do take longer to render in Lightroom.

 

[gavinlg]

ach does have a fundamental disadvantage. The demosaicing is not reducible to a 2x2 problem, it is a 6x6 case and it is more computationally intensive. Fuji seems to have a dedicated chip to minimize the time for in-camera processing. The X-Trans raw do take longer to render in Lightroom.

I've definitely noticed this - hopefully they can speed it up with future versions of lightroom.