Bill,
As many others have said, not many of us decided on the Fuji system purely because of the X-Trans sensor itself. The compact size, price point, and glass have also persuaded many of us to invest in Fuji X gear.
I've used X-Trans based cameras (XE-2, X-Pro, X-T1) and the 14mm, 18mm, 23mm, 35mm, and 56mm almost exclusively in my freelance work the past two years, and can tell you that personally, it's been a great experience.
The X-Trans seems to yield a touch better sharpness than my Canon gear (my last Canon cameras were a 5D mk2, 1DS III and 1D mk IV), even though I can't be sure if that's attributable to purely sensor performance because Fuji's glass has been, in my opinion, EXCELLENT. I also prefer the high ISO look of Fuji X files because they get "grainy" but not "splotchy" the way my Canon files used to look at ISO 3200+ especially in the shadow areas...my personal opinion is that high-ISO shots from the Fuji X print better, in the sense that they are as grainy as their competition, but that grain looks more "natural." Most importantly for me...the Fuji family's COLOR is far superior. Less color correction in post especially when shooting under artificial or mixed light saves me a few minutes an image in post...which translates into hours or even days of time saved per year. Also, Canon and Nikon were never in the film business, and I assume that the color's better because Fuji "gets" color in a way that Canon and Nikon do not, given the three companies' pedigrees. My only real complaint about Fuji's color output has occurred in really messed up lighting conditions, like a portrait lit only by red neon or some other terrible lighting situation...and I think all the digital gear I've ever used hasn't reacted very well to such situations.
One last point regarding the X-Trans: Moire. In all my time using the X-system, I've only managed to provoke one glaring example of Moire:
See the first segment of the walkway after the railing ends. This was taken with an X-Pro and 18mm lens stopped down to f/8 I believe.
I've shot portraits of people wearing thick and fine-woven cloth semi frequently, and haven't managed to coax moire artifacting from the sensor; the only time it seems to rear it's head is when I shoot a horizontally-repeating pattern, usually from an angle (the only other instance I saw a hint of moire was in a vented AC duct on the outside of a building, and that was not as severe as this example).
As for the rest of the system, it's evolved from something slow (X-Pro 1 +35mm lens) to something quite fast (X-T1 +23mm lens) in every sense of the word, from AF speeds to AF tracking to framerate. Sure, it's got drawbacks but so does everything else on the market if you squint hard enough. I think that we live in an amazing era where most of the new cameras on the market are capable of being quite good, and this generation of standard APS-C systems are on par with each other, Bayer or not.
When I considered all of the X-systems factors together holistically, it was just the right package for my shooting style, needs, and preferences, and I've been extremely happy with my results. With every camera system being capable of producing good or even great results, for me the X-systems size, form factor, and performance has been just the right fit.
It's pretty killer having all the options we have these days, isn't it?
🙂
