FujiFilm X-Pro 1 Pro Reviews

The Fujifilm X-Pro1 is a top-notch mirrorless camera that is sure to appeal to optical viewfinder fans that are put off by the high price of Leica rangefinders.

Whether the X-Pro1 is worth the real money needed to buy it you will need to weigh up for yourself. If faster and better autofocus, more silent operation and speedy performance are important to you, save your cash and resist the charm of the X-Pro1’s cool retro looks, as you would be seriously disappointed. That said, if visual excellence is what you are really looking for, then I would just say that this is a unique and amazing camera that, in its class, can deliver unbeatable image quality that is worth every penny.

The X-Pro1 is a camera that's hard not to like - the retro rangefinder look is cool, controls are nicely placed and materials, build quality and overall fit and finish are quite nice. Auto focus and shutter lag performance are good, as is image quality - combine this with ISO performance that, frankly, sets a new standard for APS-C sensor cameras to my eye and it's clear Fuji has done a lot of things right with their latest mirrorless, interchangeable lens offering. I just can't get over that ISO performance, and the minimal range of shooting options actually makes this a fun camera to shoot. So why am I just a bit ambivalent over the X-Pro1? It has a lot to do with that $1700 price tag for the body and lenses at $600 a pop. Your $1700 will buy camera bodies like Nikon's D300S or Canon's 7D, and while both of these cameras are older models and due for replacement, in most performance parameters they will outdo the X-Pro1: shutter lag, AF acquisition time, burst shooting with continuous autofocus, power up time, single shot to shot time, burst write times, diopter viewfinder adjustment - the list goes on.

The X-Pro1 is a logical evolution from the fixed-lens FinePix X100, and it shares many of that camera's best attributes. The traditional dial-based control layout makes it a very engaging camera to use, and the clever hybrid optical-electronic viewfinder gives an immersive view of the world while providing as much or little exposure information as you like. Perhaps most importantly, the X-Trans CMOS sensor gives truly excellent image quality, particularly in combination with the stellar XF 35mm F1.4 R lens. The X-Pro1 marks Fujifilm's entry into the high-end mirrorless interchangeable-lens market, and combines excellent image quality with fluid handling. The hybrid optical/electronic viewfinder is excellent, but autofocus is relatively slow and manual focus doesn't work very well.

Shooting with the Fujifilm X-Pro1 is really a kick. It took me back to the days when all I had were prime lenses, and my senses were tuned to the world around me such that I could anticipate which lens I needed before the action happened, and swiftly reach into my bag for the right lens. Naturally, though, I occasionally watched helplessly as moments passed with the wrong lens mounted, being since spoiled by the zoom. Five police officers on Segways snuck up on me when I had just mounted the 60mm lens, while the 18mm would have been perfect to capture them all with their near-identical inquisitive expressions. It's a pitfall of shooting only primes, but the rewards are worthwhile. Though it only has a simple grip, its relative thickness makes holding the Fujifilm X-Pro1 feel natural. Its analog controls are a joy to use. If they're a little wayward now and then, a quick glance at the top of the camera tells the story quickly enough, a strategy I recommend.

Since its announcement at the begnning of 2012, the Fujifilm X-Pro1 has been awaited with anticipation by enthusiast photographers eager to witness the evolution of the company's earlier fixed lens X100. With a groundbreaking new 16 Megapixel sensor, an innovative hybrid optical/electronic viewfinder, traditional retro styling with analogue exposure controls, and a launch range of three quality prime lenses the X-Pro1 combines quality construction, traditional features and cutting edge technologies. There truly isn't another camera like it. Rather than trying to compete by packing more features into a compact system camera format already established by its competitors, Fujifilm has gone back to its roots to recreate the rangefinder models of its heyday in a modern digital context. And it has largely succeeded. The X-Pro1 is a delight to use and produces images of amazing quality.

The Fujifilm X-Pro1 is a work of art, and like any masterpiece there'll be some who hate it and others who get into heated bidding wars. If you're sensible and price-conscious, then by rights you should be waiting for the auctioneer to bring out the Olympus OM-D E-M5. Or you should be looking at the X100, or even considering a DSLR, before investing this amount of money. But if the retro form factor befits your personality, you have an abundance of cash and you care about the subtleties of the sensor's output, a powerful viewfinder and great controls, then there's every reason to buy in.

We did manage to take some lovely, creamily ‘filmic’ results with this Fuji, but with a slightly slow auto focus that encourages manual use, this is a complex beast that requires persistence and perseverance to achieve the stunning results it’s capable of.

The Fujifilm X-Pro1 is a staggering camera. It's not going to suit all tastes and is far from a mainstream consumer camera, but those seeking a digital rangefinder will find very little to moan about. The camera's images are exceptional, delivering on the claims that it can match up to existing full-frame sensor's abilities (in many, though not all respects). The hybrid multi viewfinder is also a joy to use and a real unique feature to Fujifilm - though adjusting for the parallax and 90% field of view EVF crop marks can take a little getting used to. There are downsides though: the focus speed is ok but hardly great, battery life ought to be longer, and there are only three lenses available at launch. However, we anticipate growth in the range to deliver other classic focal length lenses of equally good quality. For the target audience the X-Pro1 delivers in droves. It's image quality that's the real winner for a sensor of this size, but add great build quality, decent manual focus control, an exceptional HD-quality LCD screen, so much potential when considering the Leica lens adaptor and there's little more we could ask for. The X-Pro1's a knockout for demanding users those in the know.

For charm alone the luxurious, premium-feel Fuji X-Pro1 is the most exciting and interesting release in the Compact System Camera world since Olympus’ original E-P1 digital Pen of 2012. Like that camera, the Fuji is not a mass-market product. The period of familiarisation required, the attention to detail that has been put into the build and the serious price tag all see to that. What the Fuji X-Pro1 does offer, as well as an enticing alternative to anyone who has ever lusted after a Leica camera before. It's an opportunity to leave that bulky enthusiast digital SLR at home and still be able to achieve impressive image quality. We found that, because of the X-Pro1’s size and features set, it worked well as a shoot-from-the-hip camera for street photography and reportage.

The Fujifilm X-Pro1 feels like the natural interchangeable lens evolution of the incredibly popular X-100 camera, offering similarly refined, intuitive handling, fantastic image quality, premium build quality and three high-quality lenses on launch. Unfortunately like the X-100 it also suffers from slightly sluggish auto-focusing, awkward manual focusing, slow write speeds and merely average video mode, and the hybrid viewfinder doesn't lend itself so well to interchangeable lenses as the fixed lens on the X100. An eye-watering price-tag of almost double the X-100's current price without a lens also doesn't help the X-Pro1's cause. All that said, this is still a great compact system camera that offers something genuinely different to the competition.

If you are an experienced photographer who's not concerned about having scene modes and ultra-fast autofocusing, there's lots to like about the Fuji X-Pro1. Setting the exposure via an aperture ring and a shutter speed dial seems to come naturally, and the combination of excellent noise control and fast lenses mean that you can shoot with the sensitivity set to automatic without any serious concerns. Fuji's Quick menu system is one of the best and fastest to use that we have come across. If it could be made customisable, it would be just about perfect. The hybrid viewfinder is also excellent, although it doesn't work as well as we might hope when focusing manually. Most importantly, however, the images from the Fuji X-Pro1 are superb. They may not have quite the detail that some full-frame cameras are capable of capturing, but they can beat these bigger beasts for dynamic range and noise control.

The Fujifilm X-Pro1 is a fantastic camera, in every area it produces the results expected from a premium quality camera. The image quality is stunning, with excellent, and I really mean excellent pixel level detail, with excellent colour reproduction, great dynamic range, excellent high ISO noise results and excellent JPEG output straight from the camera. The lenses are excellent with great handling from the all-metal construction and the bright apertures help render beautiful bokeh. Handling of the camera is very good and although the camera is larger than most other mirrorless cameras, the solid metal construction, premium feel and numerous external controls with the hybrid optical / electronic viewfinder make it well worth the added weight. The price of the camera and lenses are somewhat high compared to the competition, particularly the 18mm f/2.0 (compared to the 20mm f/1.7 Panasonic), yet the 35mm f/1.4 and 60mm f/2.4 seem like good value for money compared to some lenses. One thing that the X-Pro1 has in it's favour regarding price is that the camera feels like a premium camera that will last 5+ years and still be capable of delivering excellent image quality.

The Fujifilm X-Pro1 digital camera not only promises to carve out a distinct position in the premium camera category, but it also promises to reward X-Series loyalists with a camera system which surpasses their expectations.