Hands on with Fujifilm X-Pro2 - The FIRST Review

James Gilbert from our Chelmsford Store, is a bit of dab-hand when it comes to taking a camera through it's paces.  Here, he was given a chance to preview the FUJIFILM X-PRO2 and give it a thoroughly good run down...

In the interests of full disclosure I should tell you all I absolutely loved the X-Pro1. For me it came at a time when Compact System Cameras (or Mirrorless as they are also known) were just starting out and it showed exactly what was possible both in design and build quality. I’ll always remember sitting in the stock room of our stand at the Focus on Imaging show (now The Photography Show) playing with a pre-production model of the X-Pro1 and a 35mm f/1.4 XF realizing that this was the camera; this was the system, that would finally get me to move from film to digital. With that in mind the X-Pro2 has an awful lot to live up to, especially when the other outstanding models in the range are considered. Thankfully it not only doesn’t disappoint, but it actually exceeds all the hopes I had for it.

Fujifilm have, since 2012, focused on building premium mirrorless cameras and the X-Pro2 continues to build upon the foundations of the highly successful Fujifilm X-Series cameras and lenses, though this body is a departure from the hugely capable 16MP X-Trans Sensor. It now features a 24.3MP X-Trans CMOS III Sensor giving even greater resolution whilst still maintaining the outstanding dynamic range and colour rendition that is the party piece of the Fujifilm X System. For those of you who have read my review of the X-T10 you can skip this next bit, but for those who haven’t this is what makes the X-Trans Sensor so wonderful:

“A standard Bayer Pattern sensor has a checkerboard type layout with the lines of pixels alternating between red and green, and blue and green. This means that all three colours are not recorded on each line so when (for example) a landscape scene is photographed the graduation of blue in the sky can sometimes be not quite as smooth as it is seen by our eyes. With the X-Trans CMOS III sensor Fuji changed the pattern of the pixels on the sensor; instead of working in lines they worked in blocks of nine pixels giving each line of the sensor the ability to record all three colours both horizontally and vertically. As this pattern doesn’t have as much of a repeating pattern as a standard Bayer Pattern sensor there is no need to have an Anti-Aliasing filter to stop moiré which allows the high quality of the Fujinon lenses to really shine through.” - Lifted from my X-T10 Review

The amount of data coming out of the X-Pro2 is huge, with the RAW files averaging at 50.5MB per photo, which to give you a comparison is about 50% larger than the RAW files that you would have from a Canon 5D Mark III are about 33MB per file, and the Leica SL is about 42MB per photo. Considering the 5D Mark III and the Leica SL are both full-frame cameras the results are astonishing! For those who would like to streamline their workflow can set the X-Pro2 to shoot in a compressed RAW file, giving reduced file sizes without compressing the data to the same extent that a JPEG does.

The Hybrid Viewfinder that was such a key (and much loved) feature of the X-Pro1 has been retained and updated. The optical viewfinder with the bright lines have been kept but upgraded, allowing the photographer the freedom to see outside of the edges of the image. This is particularly useful for timing shots when doing street photography as the subject can be seen walking into the edge of the shot.

The X-Pro2 improves itself over the first version for the professional shooter by offering two SD card slots.  This gives the professional the safety net of being able to duplicate the images onto both cards should one fail, or if you’re like me and like to use JPEG’s as a kind of ‘contact sheet’ you can shoot one card with RAW and one with JPEG.  This allows the photographer to go through the JPEG’s and quickly choose which are for keeping and which are not, and then uploading the full size RAW’s so play with on Lightroom.  The card layout on the X-Pro2 is ingenious, keeping the overall size of the body slim like it’s predecessor.

For critical composition the optical viewfinder can be switched to an electronic viewfinder which has been upgraded from 1,440,000 pixels at 54 frames per second to 2,360,000 pixels at 85 frames per second. When I took this camera out for a test I found myself using the electronic viewfinder almost exclusively; something I’ve not done before as regardless of how good electronic viewfinders are I can usually tell the difference from an SLR, and I’m used to the bright lines on my trusty Leica M2. With the X-Pro2 however the quality of the electronic viewfinder was so good that I forgot I was using it! That may not sound like high praise, but it definitely is! Regardless of which mode the viewfinder is being used in the menus will show in the viewfinder when brought up to the eye, meaning the photographer can change the settings the camera rapidly, and once the shot has been taken review it all without taking the eye away from the camera. The rear screen stays the same size at 3 inches (I prefer this; a larger screen usually means a larger camera), however the resolution has been upgraded from 1,230,000 pixels to 1,620,000 pixels giving greater clarity to review and compose images. For those without perfect 20/20 eyesight (that includes me!) you’ll be happy to know there is now a diopter adjustment which is between -4 to +2.

The controls of the X-Pro2 will be familiar to anyone who has used an X-Pro1, and anyone who has used a ‘traditional’ camera. The shutter speed dial is in the familiar place on the top plate next to the exposure compensation dial. In a change from the previous model the ISO selection is now done by lifting and rotating the shutter speed dial. This is a bit of a throwback to the ‘classic’ way of doing things, however after two or three changes this became as natural as it always was and I preferred not having to move my hand away from its natural shooting position on the right side of the camera.

The body maintains the solid build quality that the X-Pro1 was known for with a four piece magnesium alloy body bolted together with 61 seals making it dust and splash resistant. This is an upgrade over the previous generation which was solidly built but wasn’t suitable for wet or dusty environments. A nice touch that I particularly appreciated was the inclusion of the screw thread on the shutter button which was removed on other models that are weather resistant. There is now a front control wheel which will make choosing the aperture on the XC lenses easier, especially when using the rear dial to control the shutter speed between the full stops on the top dial. A new addition to the back of the camera is the joystick which allows for extremely rapid positioning of the AF point, and when you click it in the AF point is centred. It’s a nice little touch that makes the X-Pro2 even faster to use than the already rapid X-Pro1.

The performance of the camera has been upgraded over the previous model as is to be expected, and it takes its place at the head of the Fujifilm lineup. The shutter has been upgraded to be able to shoot mechanically at 1/8000sec over the 1/4000sec of the X-Pro1 and the ISO performance in RAW has been improved to 12,800 up from 6400. The flash sync speed has been sped up to 1/250sec which brings is into line with most professional DSLR’s and makes it the fastest in the X-Series cameras with interchangeable lenses (the X100T has a leaf shutter so can sync at any speed), and the traditional flash sync port has been retained as well as the hotshoe with full TTL compatibility. One of the joys of the Fujifilm system are the film simulation modes which are wonderful for those of use that have shot Fujifilm film. My personal favourite black and white film is Acros 100 and with the X-Pro2 that film is now added to the list. For those that like a little more grain in their images the X-Pro2 now has the option to dial in some film grain to replicate analogue photography.

Whilst testing this camera the autofocus was something that really surprised me, both with the accuracy and the speed. I was able to take shots on subject closing at oblique angles and get them sharp in one motion an in a fraction of a second. The new X-Processor Pro focusses in 0.06sec with a shutter lag of 0.05sec, and when twinned with very fast lenses such as the XF 35mm f/2R this upgrade is obvious. I would be more than happy to use the X-Pro2 for any sports work as the 77 phase detection autofocus points allow the camera to accurately shoot at 8 frames per second.

All in all I love this camera. It was perfectly at home on the streets of London, and it will be totally at home taking pictures of the cars racing at Le Mans as well as anything in between. Using this for street work it was quiet and unobtrusive, though as a suggestion I would turn the autofocus confirmation tone off for when you’re trying to be discreet as for such a compact system Fujifilm have managed to somehow fit the loudest speaker I have come across. On the plus side though with the tone turned on there can never be any doubt that the camera is focused. Twinned with the outstanding quality of the Fujinon lenses and the supreme performance of the new X-Trans III sensor I will be getting an X-Pro2, and I can’t recommend something more than using it myself.

Yet again Fujifilm have made a wonderful camera for the Enthusiast and the Pro alike. The only tough choice I have now will be which lenses to get for it!