Every
so often a camera gets released that the photo community cannot seem
to stop talking about. It gets bashed by critics, praised by fanboys,
and floods forums faster than a Canon 1DX's single-point focus. As you,
dear readers, are well aware of, Fujifilm's new X-T1 is the latest of
these hype-mongers.
Context
is everything, and so before we dive into the nitty-gritty of all
that is Fuji, I think it's important to establish the perspective
that I'm reviewing this camera from. I've been a full-time
professional photographer for a little over four years now, and have
dabbled in quite a few different areas of photography. For some time
my sole income was from shooting weddings and portraits, but over the
past year I've moved into more commercial travel photography
(shooting mostly as a travel photojournalist for Life Without Limbs),
with weddings and lifestyle shoots sprinkled throughout.
I
entered photography as a Canon shooter, but quickly moved to Nikon
after going full-time. As my travel increased, I added Leica and Fuji
systems to my kit. My workhorse camera is my (mostly) trusty LeicaM9, with my Nikon D800 filling in the gaps left by the rangefinder
system. Up until this point (spoiler alert), my Fuji kit based around
the X-E1 has mostly been regulated to personal use. Needless to say,
the X-T1 going up against some very strong competitors in the fight
to find a place in my bag.
One
final note before we get into it: I've only had the X-T1 for a week,
and being on the tail end of tax season, I haven't had a chance to
really put it through its paces. So this will focus more on my first
impressions rather than on-location use. But fear not! I'm typing
this from a plane that's Hawaii-bound, where I'll be using the Fuji
extensively on this shoot over the next two and a half weeks. So come
back in a few weeks for my opinion on how it performs in the field.
By
this point, I'm sure you've read countless reviews, spec sheets, and
forum postings, but as a quick recap: The Fujifilm X-T1 is Fuji's
biggest, baddest mirrorless offering to date. It's extremely similar
to the Fuji X-E2 in that it uses the same 16 megapixel X-Trans II sensor,
hybrid focus system, LCD, and EVF, but everything has been tweaked to
be faster, bigger, and better built. The form factor is more
DSLR-like than the typical rangefinder-esque design of Fuji's past
offerings, but it's not noticeably bigger than them.
One
of the biggest surprises is how deceptively small the X-T1 is. It's
just about the same size as the X-E series, but with the "prism"
hump sticking out of the middle. It's certainly not small by
mirrorless standards, but it's a large step down in size from even an
entry level DSLR. As a guy with slightly short, stubby fingers, I've
found the X-E series and Leica M9 quite comfortable in my hands, with
my fingers falling naturally over the controls. With the viewfinder
now centered in the X-T1, everything feels slightly more cramped.
There's not quite as much real estate for your hand to sprawl out
across the camera. It's not uncomfortable by any means, and all of
the controls fall easily at hand (except perhaps the AF-L button),
but it takes a minute to adjust to it. It's a very different grip
than the rangefinder-style cameras or a traditional DSLR. I have
Fuji's handgrip (not to be confused with their battery grip) on
preorder, and I would image that all of my handling woes will be
solved by it.
