Comments on: Quick look: Fuji X Pro1, Sony Nex-7, Olympus OM-D E-M5

By: mike.kobal

mike.kobal — Sun, 08 Dec 2013 22:01:24 +0000

Hi Gabe, I haven’t played with the X-pro1 in a long time, however, I had the chance to try the 35mm 1.4 on the X-E1 and noticed serious af speed improvement, the same can be said for the Xpro1. Since you already have the x100s I think you would like the X-PRo1 very much. However, I do know from my days with the Nex 5n, Nex 7 and Nex 6 that af speed is very fast compared to Fuji’s – at least in good light.
The 35mm is a fantastic lens and probably the crown jewel in Fuji’s line up if you like shallow depth of field. The 1.2 56mm will top it but won’t be as versatile.
Now keep in mind af speed has been improved and can be snappy, however, it still isn’t as fast as the lenses you have for your nex cams. The results however, are worth the trade off, if you can live with a few misses and slightly slower af you will be rewarded with stunning results. The 35mm 1.4 will not focus as fast as the X100s the 18mm however, will come very close to that. For now, those are my favorite lenses for the Fuji, 18mm, 27mm pancake and the 35mm 1.4. The magnesium body/finish on the Nex lenses is quite nice, esp the primes, the fuji fx lenses are a little better,but not by much.

As for Sony’s focus on ff, I am not holding my breath, I am almost certain their lens line up won’t be much better then what they ended up doing with the Nex line.
I got the A7 primarily as a small ff video body to come along on photo shoots and am using it with my Nikkor lenses. Love it so far, the image quality is also there in case a disaster happens somewhere on location -I could comfortably finish the job shooting with that thing.
Hope this helps!

By: Gabe

Gabe — Sun, 08 Dec 2013 21:15:53 +0000

Mike-
With the looming release of the x-pro1 replacement, I see the current x-pro1 is now selling for just $1100. I’ve also watched videos of the firmware 2.00 on it, and it seems the AF is almost as quick as my X100S. Have you used the x-pro1 with the new firmware and how would you compare it to your NEX cameras? I have an NEX-5N and NEX-6, but as of late have not enjoying shooting with them as much as my X100S. I only used them when I want a closer focal length than the 23mm offered by my X100S. I do find myself using my NEX-6 far more than my old DSLR (which I would sell, except it has no value on the used market with Canon’s recent price drops of several year old models).

Curious how you would compare the performance of the x-pro1 with new firmware to say the NEX-6. It seems from all the reviews, the build quality of the x lenses exceeds that of the Sony lenses. Furthermore, I have started to notice that the focus peaking implemented by Fuji on the X100S is more accurate than my NEX-6. I’m not sure exactly why, but I get almost 100% keepers using MF and peaking on my X100S, whereas I would say my keeper rate on my NEX-6 is probably ~85%. My biggest reason for moving away from the NEX system is it seems Sony is now focused on their FF lineup and I’m honestly annoyed that Sony has never been able to really get their lineup solid on the E-mount. I loved my NEX cameras to death for some time, and do plan to keep my 5N regardless (super compact and my EDC camera), but as a system I’m feeling Sony never focused enough on building the ecosystem and has now totally shifted to FF lenses.

My thought is sell my NEX-6 with kit 16-50PZ. Keep the 16, 35, and 50mm lenses for my 5N, then possible grab the x-pro1 with the 35mm, since I already have 23mm covered by my X100S. If I fall in love with the x-pro1, I can also sell the 50mm and 16mm E-mounts and just keep the 5N and 35mm as my “EDC camera”, as it is tiny. Take money from 16mm and 50mm and grab the 18mm f/2.

Thoughts? Sorry for the overly long comment. Just thinking out loud so to speak.

By: sonyalpharumors | Blog | New Sony NEX reviews roundup...(fstoppers tests the FS700)

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 09:57:47 +0000

[…] with LA-EA2 at SonyAlphaLab. NEX-F3 tested by the french Uebergizmodo. XPRO1 vs E-M5 vs NEX-7 by Mike Kobal. A new Doda-E battery grip for the NEX-7 at Itmedia. A real battery grip is already in Stock via […]

By: mike.kobal

mike.kobal — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 12:47:28 +0000

thanks REP96st. OMD and 20mm would make a nice package (once Oly fixes the high ISO banding related to this particular lens)

By: mike.kobal

mike.kobal — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 12:45:06 +0000

thanks Al. true, smaller sensor is a compromise, you can get nice shallow DOF with the Voigtlander 25mm f0.95, however it does add substantial size and weight

By: REP96st

REP96st — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 16:06:19 +0000

Nice review. I’m shooting with a GF-2/20mm combo, so I’m not invested really. The OM-D is really tempting….

By: Al Power

Al Power — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 10:04:46 +0000

Really nice overview mike – I’ve tried a friend’s X-Pro1, and totally agree on the AF issues – if they could get those sorted they would be onto a real winner, considering the output it produces when it gets it right, but until then on the fence. I’m a FF shooter, and looking for the nice DOF in a smaller package as a walk around, but unsure that M4/3 can produce that. At the end of the day when you go smaller it’s all about compromises in one area or another!

By: mike.kobal

mike.kobal — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:28:20 +0000

Anytime! Thank You, Mike!

By: Mike P

Mike P — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:25:06 +0000

Thanks Mike, I appreciate your help/thoughts. Lunch is on me tomorrow (check you paypal).

By: mike.kobal

mike.kobal — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:21:17 +0000

Exactly, m43 lacks dynamic range and color depth. If you can def compare the two. still have the Gh2, keeping it for video, got rid of the Gx1