Fujifilm X-Pro1 - first impressions and real world use

Following huge expectations, hype and some great initial reports floating around the internet, I have been assessing a Fuji X-Pro1 as a potential replacement - or more likely supplement - to my usual cameras.

I'll save the full review for when I've given it more time and used for wedding photography, but now wanted to share these images from my first day with the X-Pro1 and 18mm lens. Combining camera use with a toddler and two dogs is always going to be challenging and not something I often choose to do with a hulking DSLR hanging from me. That alone is one of the major appealing strengths of the X-Pro1. I can think of few better testimonies to the camera, that in this scenario, I was able to use it quickly, accurately and produce some pleasing images. Here's a few.

f/2, 1/35, ISO800

f/2.8, 1/30, ISO1000 (auto)

f/2.8, 1/30, ISO640 (auto)

f/2, 1/35, ISO800

f/2, 1/1800, ISO200

f/5.6, 1/250, ISO400

f/5.6, 1/900, ISO400

f/5.6, 1/600, ISO400

f/2, 1/40, ISO6400

There's no RAW converters available at the moment - at least not in Adobe world (thanks for that) - so all of these are straight out of camera JPEGs with no additional processing whatsoever other than resizing for the web. All shot with Auto White Balance - which is excellent - and Aperture Priority.

Other than some autofocus preferences, I've not changed much in the camera setup. Film emulations are factory defaults: Black & White + Yellow filter for the monos, Neg Hi (Fuji Pro 400H emulation) for the colours. I'm sure if I get to know the camera and files better, there may be further tweaks here. As it goes, these work very well. Pro 400H is one of my two favourite colour films, and a yellow filtered black and white works great for portraits.

In use, the camera is quiet and very unobtrusive - perfect for the reportage or photojournalism style. The autofocus needs adapting to. It's a different technique to SLRs but still works well. I've shot tens of thousands of frames on my D700s and know them inside out. I've shot about 100 on the X-Pro1 so I'm certainly still getting used to it.

Talking of the D700, you may have noticed the last image above is at ISO6400. Compared to a D700 at 6400, this is in a different league.

It's early days so whether the X-Pro becomes a permanent fixture or not, I'm still deciding. Will be interesting to see what can be done with the RAW files. From this initial brief test, I'm impressed. Very impressed.

A Day In Our Lives - Family Documentary Photography

People often comment to me that as a family photographer, I must have thousands of images of my own little clan. Well, whilst I have the ability to make high quality photos of them, I don't always have the opportunity. It's not just the time to capture the photos, but the post-processing, editing and then deciding what to do with them (it's too easy to leave or forget about photos sat on hard drives so I always like to print and frame my favourites).

One of the reasons I don't always take a camera on family events is the practicality of lugging my main digital SLRs around with me. The camera bodies and fast prime lenses I use are capable of producing exceptionally high quality files (in the right hands of course) but are heavy and bulky. In fact for personal work, I love to use film cameras but that's a whole other blog post which I'll save for another time.

At the tail end of Summer and after a fair few dropped hints, I took one of my work cameras on a walk over Hengistbury Head with Eve, Willoughby and the dogs. I kept it simple: one camera body and one fixed lens. 35mm is my favourite focal length and offers a really pleasing perspective that I love. It's quite wide so that you need to get nice and close for portraits, but not too wide that it distorts.

The practicalities of walking a toddler and two dogs meant that this wasn't a typical portrait shoot as I might have with a client, but it was enough to get a set of family images I am very pleased with and - importantly - make my client (wife) happy.

It's not often I'm in photos - for good reason - and I don't have many of me with Willoughby so full credit to Eve for taking this one.

I love this 'in action' shot. It now has pride of place, framed on a wall in my office.

The bench climb could have ended in tears. But didn't. So we wave at an aeroplane.

Bailey always manages to sneak into a shot somewhere. I use him as a subject quite often so he's used to posing.

Quick snooze on the way home. I'm fairly sure the graze wasn't there at the start of the walk.

Home in time for lunch and some goofing around from Mummy gets some laughs.

Fresh air, running around and now a full tummy equals a toddler ready for another nap.

Lovely light, a nice walk and some great photos we are both very happy with. I'm pleased that I gave into Eve's nagging suggestion. And the frame really does look good on my wall.