2x Fuji X T2 with a grip, the perfectly fitting SmallRig cage, Peak Design straps, the
56mm 1.2 and still one of my fav’s, the 1st gen 35mm 1.4

Hi there my friends, it has been awhile,

you might remember my posts about the Fuji X100s and X E2, digging the analog feel and heritage, to make a long story short, at the end of the day, I went with two Sony A7rII’s, mainly because -at that time- Fuji’s frustrating af performance and lack of quality video. This is a rolling work report/review, don’t hesitate to ask questions in the comment section.

Tooling around with the Fuji X T2, SmallRig cage and PROMEDIAGEAR Sony A7ii cage, and the wonderful 27mm 2.8 pancake

Probably the biggest surprise aside AF performance is the very capable video mode, especially in 4k. Very low rolling shutter, descent af performance – with the right lenses, Fuji’s fantastic film simulations and F-log when recording to an external recorder. More on that in an upcoming post.

X T2 and 10 24mm wide open

This is huge for photographers who mainly shoot stills, love the analog feel and ergonomics but also need the option to shoot pro looking video from time to time.

from the hip, X-T2, 23mm f2

With the help of the newly introduced AF tracking presets, autofocus performance, Fuji’s Achilles heel from the past has been largely eliminated. To find just the right presets, I spent hours fiddling and fine tuning it, I highly recommend you take the time and familiarize yourself with how these presets behave-in your specific shooting environment(s).

Washington Square Park, performance kid stretching, fly by shot with the
X T2 and the 10-24mm f4, wide open

When compared to Fuji’s af performance in the past, this is a totally new experience and in good light, it is right up there with the best in its class. Af performance can slow down significantly in low light, however, in my experience, still pretty good with the 16mm 1.4, 23mm f2, the 16 55mm 2.8, the 50-140mm and the 56mm 1.2.
Fuji’s image stabilization on the 50-140mm and 100 400mm is nothing short of phenomenal, but you know that already.

and for those days when the pancake just isn’t enough, I bring this case along

China town, New Year’s parade, X T2 with 10 24mm f4

The fantastic lens line up really comes to life on the X-T2 and this puts Fuji further ahead when compared to the competition, remembering my Sony days, although some amazing lenses were available and more are being added, I wasn’t able to get the lens I needed or wanted with closely matching optical color DNA. There are noticeable differences between Sony’s Zeiss, G, GM and Zeiss Batis‘ lenses, potentially a real problem on high volume shoots when one needs to maintain color consistency and no time to tweak hue/color to match different lens signatures. Having all primes and zooms designed by Fuji, with similar characteristics greatly minimizes this problem and we now also get a real world modern day M Leica-esque experience with their addition of new 2nd gen f2 primes. Fast af, very good optical performance and even bokeh in some cases.

X T2 with the 100-400mm lens

X-T2 with the 90mm f2, wide open, AF-C mode

X-T2, 90mm f2 wide open

X T2, 90mm f2 wide open

A few remarks on weather sealing: Over the last few month, I have shot every WR lens I own in the rain and snow, for the most part everything worked as it should, however, the rubber ring
around the lens mount is not very effective. Zeiss Batis lenses do have a substantially thicker rubber ring and you really have to press the lens into the mount, this ensures proper contact with the metal. Unfortunately this isn’t the case with the Fuji lenses and one has to be careful when removing the lens, pay close attention to the lens mount and wipe it dry.


New Year’s Polar bear swim, both shots with X T2, 100-400mm wide open

X T2, 16mm 1.4

So did I stop using Sony completely? No, however, I did sell my Sony A7rII’s and am currently renting, mainly Sony FS7 and occasionally the FS5.

recent commercial shoot with 2x Sony FS7, all the still shots with 2x Fuji X T2 and 16 55mm 2.8 lens, this snap 16mm 1.4 wide open.

Do I miss the A7rII? Not really, since I found myself in crop mode for approx 70% during photo assignments over the past 2 years. High volume, multi day catalog shoots at 42mp was not practical nor necessary.

Overall, I am very happy with the current Fuji system, image quality, af speed, lens line up and the recent introduction of the Fuji Cine lenses-which I will be renting for shoots
like the one above and hopefully we will get the X mount version soon.

I am also looking forward to get my hands on the new Fuji GFX 50S, especially interested in the 110mm f2, when it becomes available later this year. Although I don’t think I will be getting one since the X T2 meets most of my shooting needs for assignments, personal work and video and I love having one system to shoot everything that comes my way.

Whats missing?
Some of my requests could be addressed via firmware upgrade.

1) The biggest gripe and request is to allow push button af during video shooting. AF-C works well, the ability to move the focus point around via thumb stick is very nice, however, one has to be in afc mode. It would be fantastic to be in mf mode and activate af by pressing the af button, just like in still mode. There should be enough processing power to also get
a slow motion option in 1080, 120 or 90p? Please?

2) F-log while recording to internal SDHC

3) Although there are workarounds for tethering with Capture Pro 10, it would be fantastic
if Fuji and C1 put their heads together and allow straight forward tethering and while they are at it, please add compressed raw as well

4) Weather sealing: Lens rubber gasket needs to be re-designed. Ineffective.

5) Af joystick operation feels laggy when initiating movement and I would much prefer if it stops at the end of the af area rather then doing a 360 and suddenly you see the af point on top of the frame when you really need it at the bottom.

All photos shot raw and processed to taste with Capture One 10.
Check out my Instagram feed mostly shot with the Fuji X system.

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