On 07/03/2014 5:21 AM, Steve Cottrell wrote:
On 6/3/14, Bill, discombobulated, unleashed:
The official release date is tomorrow. I guess I just have to wait until
then.
Would be VERY interested in your observations, initial or otherwise.
I will most likely having one in January.
Well, at least I can talk about it now. My pusher got a couple of them
in on Wednesday and immediately called me to tell me the news, and of
course, I wend down and picked the thing up. Unfortunately, they jumped
the gun, and weren't supposed to release them until today. I got a call
from them that afternoon asking me to keep quiet about it because my
camera was not officially released yet.
Such is life.
Anyway, the thing is really small. It is slightly taller than an MX,
about the same width and significantly less thick. The build is solid,
but not to the point of making the camera overly heavy.
Robust is the best word I can come up with right now.
The menus are typical Fuji, no surprises there, and coming from Pentax,
very easy to understand. The camera is very customizable, including six
(yes, you read that right) buttons that are customizable for function.
All four buttons on the four way controller can be customized, as well
as the Fn button (it defaults to WiFi, and is marked as such) and a
button on the front, eerily placed like as if it is a depth of field
button (and that is what I use it for). There is an instant movie button
just to the right of the shutter, which I would prefer to be
customizable as well since I don't use the video function often.
Perhaps I'll start shooting internet porn and get more use from it, but
that isn't likely.
Fuji has dome a great job of placing the major functions onto buttons,
so dumpster diving into the menus doesn't seem like something that will
be all that necessary. There are a number of custom functions, so the
camera can be set up to cover a variety of specialized scenarios, which
the user can get to very quickly.
On the subject of WiFi, the Fuji seems to be happier about it than the
Pentax emulation. It is easier to get a connection, though with both
systems, it seems very easy to drop the connection as well. The Fuji
WiFi is definitely faster, and I prefer the interface with the Fuji.
It's not that the Pentax is bad, but the Fuji definitely has an edge. I
suspect they are close enough that someone else might very well prefer
the Pentax version.
The rear tilting screen is wonderful. It's something I have missed from
the couple of P&S digitals I have owned. In some ways I would still
prefer a full articulating screen, but this, combined with the ability
to use my smart phone as an external viewfinder will work well.
The EVF is a very nice EVF. I like the size of it (it is quite lovely
that way), and the image is very clean and bright. I don't think a
person will have problems with viewfinder lag in general shooting
situations, though if you are into motorsports or BIF images, it might
be an issue. I have a K3 for those times, so it isn't a big deal. What
is a big deal is the viewfinder.
I am pretty much an EVF convert. I can still see where they can improve,
but in this camera, it is definitely good enough. It is really nice to
not be looking through an amputated viewfinder again.
Regarding manual focus (this camera is definitely meant to be used as a
full manual camera), the use has the choice of a plain screen with no
focusing aids, a decent focus peaking in a variety of designer colours
(the focus peaking on the Olympus OM-D is better), a digital split
image, or an extreme magnification, looking at just the area the focus
point is looking at.
The focus point can be moved pretty much anywhere on the screen, though
not right to the edges. The focus choice area is much larger than on the K3.
The AF does seem to hunt a bit, but it is very quick.
I am still figuring out what a few of the buttons are for. At some point
I will need to read the owners manual. There are a couple of things in
the menus that are more than a little inscrutable.
So far, the only way to do a RAW conversion seems to be with the built
in software. Adobe hasn't released an update for the camera yet. I
suspect I will have to update Lightroom from version 4. Hopefully they
will catch camera raw up soon.
I miss Pentax's native DNG. Moving from camera to camera with Pentax has
been very painless for the past few years because of their use of the
DNG format. It's really a pity that more manufacturers don't get on board.
The Fuji lenses are charming. They are very nicely built, and very, very
good quality. Their lens coating isn't quite up to Pentax standards, but
the glass is really sharp, and they have lots of aperture leaves. These
lenses appear to be designed for bokeh. They have a lot of the three
dimensionality that the older Pentax Limited lenses have (the 77mm comes
to mind), but I do think they are slightly sharper, especially wide
open. This might just be because I am really lax about dialing in the AF
on my Pentax lenses though.
The lenses seem like a really good complement to the Pentax lenses. I
really think that someone at Fuji looked at what Pentax was making and
decided to fill in the blanks in the Pentax system. While the Pentax
Limiteds are very good, and compact, they are also quite slow. The Fuji
glass is a stop or more faster than the Pentax glass (though also a lot
larger). I bought into Fuji to have access to the 35/1.4, which is a
gem, I bought the X-T1 with the 23/1.4 (2.5 stops faster than the 21
Ltd) and enabled myself into the 14/2.8 yesterday (a stop faster than
the Pentax). I have the 56/1.2 on the way, they should be in Canadian
release by the end of this month. I expect that will round out my Fuji
system for me, though I will probably also pick up the 60mm macro as
well. Apparently it is superb, and should give a working distance that
is comfortable.
More when I start taking pictures with the thing.
bill
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