Few mirrorless cameras develop as strong a fanbase as Fuji’s X-Pro1,
and even fewer manage to appeal to as wide a demographic as it
eventually did. With its classic styling and manual controls, it
immediately attracted seasoned photographers who may have started out
with similarly styled rangefinders, while its fine image quality and a
steady line of well-regarded optics slowly released alongside meant that
it fast became the camera everyone else wanted to own too.
True, as the first interchangeable-lens model in the X-series it
arrived with a handful of quirks and idiosyncrasies that weren’t to
everyone’s taste. Its focusing system, for example, wasn’t particularly
adept at capturing moving subjects, while the unique X-Trans sensor
technology proved problematic when it came to video quality. Firmware
updates were issued to address some of these concerns, but four years is
a long time in camera technology and the appetite for a refresh was
very obvious.
And here it is, the X-Pro. It retains its predecessor’s winning
formula while rejuvenating the core feature set. With a new sensor and
processor on board, together with a fresh focusing system and an updated
hybrid viewfinder, it appears as both a significant upgrade and
potentially a camera to win over those unconvinced by the X-Pro1.
Key features
Fuji has given the X-Pro2 joint flagship status alongside the more
DSLR-like X-T1, and has aimed it towards the enthusiast/professional end
of the market. It’s likely to be considered alongside the similarly
priced Sony A7 II, as well as the Panasonic Lumix GX8 and Olympus’s
well-received OM-D E-M5 II – and indeed, potentially the X-T1 too.
Up until the X-Pro2, all of Fuji’s interchangeable-lens X-series
models employed some form of 16MP APS-C sensor, but the X-Pro2 breaks
tradition by offering a new 24.3MP alternative. This is perhaps the most
common pixel count across budget, enthusiasts and professional cameras
alike, and this compares well against its direct rivals.
Now on the third generation of Fuji’s X-Trans CMOS technology, the
sensor has once again been designed with a more random colour filter
array than conventional Bayer GRBG sensors. Despite being more densely
populated than the X-Pro1’s sensor, Fuji has broadened the camera’s
sensitivity range from the same base of ISO 200 up to a maximum ISO
12,800 – one stop higher than the previous ISO 6400 limit. As is fairly
standard on such a model, you can use extension settings that broaden
this range, stretching to ISO 100 and 51,200-equivalent settings at
lower and higher ends respectively. Sadly, the ISO 100 setting is JPEG
only, but the upper values can be used when shooting raw files.
0 comments:
Post a Comment