Fujifilm X-Pro 1 Field Test.

This weekend was the first opportunity i had to take out and field test the Fujifilm X-Pro 1 i got not too long ago with hopes in transitioning to this camera as my family and travel camera so i didn’t have to carry my 5D with me everywhere. Since Chloe had never been to the National Gallery of Art and we always wanted to see how she would react to the light bridge and the artwork in the museum we decided to go there for the field test. When i shoot with my 5D i’m always using full manual mode and i have been shooting like that for years. It definitely require more thought but the control is what i like about using full manual mode. The X-Pro 1 wasn’t intended to be shot in full manual mode so that was the first thing i had to get use to. I guess it’s nice to only have to think about composition and nothing else. The OVF, although great to have because it gives that immediate visual of what you are shooting, i still found myself switching to the EVF before actually releasing the shutter because i wanted to make sure the focus was set on the correct subject and that i was getting exactly the composition that i wanted. I found the low light performance pretty good for a compact camera but because the 5D performs so well in low light i’m a little spoiled when it comes to that standard. I think the Fujifilm RAW files generally have a little more grain then the Canon RAW files which is not a bad thing in my opinion and just gives that final exposure that extra bit of character. However, i found that when the ISO got up to 3200 or higher the grain level was a little too much for my tastes. Generally, the biggest complaint i keep reading about this camera is the slowness of the AF but i think the most recent firmware did a good job fixing that issue and i didn’t find it difficult to get proper focus. This was only the first time i got a chance to shoot with it but i’m actually enjoying using the camera and pretty pleased with the image quality so far.

FUJIFILM X-Pro1.

Most families will get a new camera and it’s usually something bigger like a DSLR but since that what i shoot with at work i have been looking for a more compact solution for a couple years now and i have never really been completely happy with the results. The newest member to my camera family is this beautiful FUJIFILM X-Pro 1. I have paired this body with the FUJINON XF35mmF1.4 R which effectively functions as a 50mm prime on this cropped sensor. I know i’m kinda late with this camera since it was released in 2012 but i honestly didn’t even consider it an option until the latest firmware update. I hope this will be our travel and baby camera so that i don’t lug my 5D with me everywhere we go.

The Impossible Instant Lab.

I think some of my fondest memories of taking pictures stemmed from using old Polaroid instant film. It was my first real exposure to taking pictures using my dad’s old classic 600 Polaroid camera. Ever since then i loved analog instant film. In fact, it was one of the only requests i had made for our wedding that we have real Polaroid analog instant film pictures taken of our guests for our guest book and i still have those pictures today. The problem is the film is expensive and rare. With Polaroid no longer producing the film and i have been keeping an eye on The Impossible Project as soon as i read their mission to bring back instant film. I became extremely excited to see the introduction of the instant lab because it gives me the ability to take the digital images i took with my iPhone and transform them into the analog instant film which is so awesome. I was one of the very first backers of this Kickstarter project when i saw it over a year ago and i’m so excited to finally have this as a part of our family of cameras.