Just over a year ago I bought a Fuji X-Pro2. At the time I was looking for a camera that was smaller and lighter than the Canon EOS 5D mkIII for days when I was not specifically hunting down trains or doing some macro photography. I tried it out on the trains anyway as part of getting to know the camera. I was so pleased with the results from the Fuji X-Pro2 that I haven’t taken the Canon out trainspotting since! I was using just the 35mm f1.4 lens to start with but in the autumn I added a 55-200mm zoom to the kitbag. You will have seen some of the results from the X-Pro2 in my railway posts.
It’s now Fuji’s Spring Sale and I decided that I would splash some cash on another of Fuji’s cameras. This time it’s the X-100F. This is a smaller camera than the X-Pro2 and is more suited to street photography. It has the same internal sensor and processor as the ‘Pro2 but has a fixed 23mm pancake lens which gives a view equivalent to a 35mm lens on a full frame camera. Today I took it out for a test run. Initial impressions are good although I did notice that there is quite a sharp drop off in depth of field compared with the X-Pro2 even at f8. That’s something I will no doubt get used to and I can see it being a distinct advantage for street work 🙂 Here’s some examples from the first day out – all shots resized for publication.
Using Fuji’s Acros B&W Film Simulation setting in Marylebone Cemetery, this shot has only been slightly cropped and sharpened…
This was a contrajour shot that I’ve cropped significantly to focus the viewer’s attention on the gardener amongst the tombstones…
The camera, like the X-Pro2, has several film simulation settings aimed at digitally recreating the various films that Fujifilm make. This flower bed was shot simulating Velvia which is popular with landscape photographers because of its vibrant colours. I’ve only applied some sharpening to this shot…
In contrast I was lucky to catch one of Southgate Finchley Coaches out on a school run. This time the film simulation is the standard setting which mimics Fujifilm’s Provia stock. It’s a pretty good rendition of the primrose yellow livery…
Finally a quick pop into my church’s graveyard to photo these overgrown tombstones once again on the Acros setting…
Not a bad first few shots, especially with the very harsh lighting. Looking forward to doing some in town photography with the camera later on. Epi had a quick feel of the camera when she came home from work and I think she quite liked it. Might be easier for her to use than the X-E1 that I’ve loaned her 😉
These look nice, particularly considering the lighting. I have been eyeballing the Fuji x-pro2 as a possible replacement for my Canon 50D, when it dies, as I am thinking I would like to have something lighter.
I’m very pleased with the X-Pro2. But if you’re used to the Canon where you can just leave it on AWB and expect good results what ever the light is doing then be aware that the Fuji’s work best if you select the correct White Balance for the conditions. It’s a bit quirky like that! You may also feel initially that the camera is underexposing because it doesn’t add any punch to the image like the Canon’s and Nikon’s do. The grain (noise) structure is very different too – because Fuji use a unique layout of receptors on their sensor rather than the standard Bayer one. It’s certainly worth a look, especially if you want to go back to the days of setting up the camera before taking a shot – thinking time I call it 😉 If you’re looking for a lighter camera it’s worth looking at the Olympus range too.
Thank you for this thoughtful reply. I do often use the awb, as I find it works well. Interesting what you said about the grain as well.
My Canon 7D mkII is on AWB all the time but it’s only used for football where the colour of the floodlights can vary from one area of the pitch to another – I tweak the images after the game to make the results more even in appearance 🙂
Yes, while I sometimes shoot on something other than AWB, I find that generally, AWB works well enough and that Lightroom can handle any adjustment after the fact. I use to set the WB manually when shooting ice hockey games though. In that case, is was actually easier to adjust in camera and same some work later.
I’ve never looked at the Fuji cameras, although I certainly went through a lot of their film in my 35mm days. I used to love the vivid greens and blues.
I used to like their ISO100 color slide film 🙂 I also once owned a Fujifilm ST705 camera back in the late 1970’s. It was replaced by the all conquering Canon AE-1 when that came out. Since then I have been a Canon stalwart – until a couple of years ago when I started to feel that I needed something lighter and I remembered how good the lens on the Fuji was! Their lenses are still excellent 🙂
Images from Finchley 
These look nice, particularly considering the lighting. I have been eyeballing the Fuji x-pro2 as a possible replacement for my Canon 50D, when it dies, as I am thinking I would like to have something lighter.
I’m very pleased with the X-Pro2. But if you’re used to the Canon where you can just leave it on AWB and expect good results what ever the light is doing then be aware that the Fuji’s work best if you select the correct White Balance for the conditions. It’s a bit quirky like that! You may also feel initially that the camera is underexposing because it doesn’t add any punch to the image like the Canon’s and Nikon’s do. The grain (noise) structure is very different too – because Fuji use a unique layout of receptors on their sensor rather than the standard Bayer one. It’s certainly worth a look, especially if you want to go back to the days of setting up the camera before taking a shot – thinking time I call it 😉 If you’re looking for a lighter camera it’s worth looking at the Olympus range too.
Thank you for this thoughtful reply. I do often use the awb, as I find it works well. Interesting what you said about the grain as well.
My Canon 7D mkII is on AWB all the time but it’s only used for football where the colour of the floodlights can vary from one area of the pitch to another – I tweak the images after the game to make the results more even in appearance 🙂
Yes, while I sometimes shoot on something other than AWB, I find that generally, AWB works well enough and that Lightroom can handle any adjustment after the fact. I use to set the WB manually when shooting ice hockey games though. In that case, is was actually easier to adjust in camera and same some work later.
I’ve never looked at the Fuji cameras, although I certainly went through a lot of their film in my 35mm days. I used to love the vivid greens and blues.
I used to like their ISO100 color slide film 🙂 I also once owned a Fujifilm ST705 camera back in the late 1970’s. It was replaced by the all conquering Canon AE-1 when that came out. Since then I have been a Canon stalwart – until a couple of years ago when I started to feel that I needed something lighter and I remembered how good the lens on the Fuji was! Their lenses are still excellent 🙂