Fuji The Lord works in VERY mysterious ways....

Ray Sachs

Legend
Location
Not too far from Philly
Name
you should be able to figure it out...
I'm not a religious man. Never have been. But IF there's a god of photography, he or she definitely seems to have a plan in mind for me.... So I'm in NYC, camera shop capital of the Western World. I stopped into both Adorama and B&H just to have a look around. In both shops I asked if they might have a floor sample of the X-Pro 1 that I could take a look at. The guy at Adorama was all but rude - a few cameras have trickled in and gone right out in pre-orders and its gonna be a while before they have one on the floor. Same story at B&H but they haven't gotten any in yet (as of yesterday) and he was at least good natured with me. OK, good. I don't want one. I have an EM5 on pre-order and all logic suggests its the better camera for me. And I know that if one of those shops happened to have one available, I'd probably buy it ANYWAY. Figuring I could sell it if I didn't really like it. I think there will be a pretty active market for these for a while. So, I'd been saved from my foolishness. Right?

So this morning I took a walk through the Village and Washington Square Park and then Uniion Square Park and then my feet were kind of aching from walking forever yesterday, so I hung a left on 17th to start heading back to my place on 19th. And there, within a block of making that left, there I see 17th St. Photo. I've bought a couple of things from them I think so I stopped in to take a short break, if nothing else. I saw their Fuji display - they had an X100, and X10, an XS1, and a bunch of point and shoots, but no X-Pro, as I fully expected. So I hung out and checked out some of their other stuff briefly and the as I was about to walk out the door, the sales guy said "hey, sorry we're so busy - can I help you with anything". Then he spied the GXR hanging around my neck and asked a couple of questions about it. Anyway, then I mentioned that I was half hoping they might have a floor model of the X-Pro 1 just to take a look at. He laughed and said, that they'd just gotten their first one this morning and it was already gone - a guy who'd been wanting one and called them daily and came in and snapped it up literally as soon as it showed up. And then he said, "let me go see when we're expecting more" and disappeared. He was gone for a few minutes and I was about to take off when he shows up with a big box in his hands. And in it was an X-Pro 1, and a 35 and 18mm lens. "I was wrong - we got two". And I said, "WHOA, youre kidding - this one is spoken for by a pre-order, right"? We don't do formal pre-orders he says, we just sort of keep an informal list, and since you're standing here, you're first in that line today.

So, you know the rest. I dug out the plastic. I had almost enough in my camera slush fund to cover it and put the last few hundred on plastic. And I walked out of 17th St. Photo with an X-Pro 1. Figuring, as before, that if I was right and its really not the right camera for me, I'll be able to sell it pretty easily for little or no loss. He even had extra batteries for it, so I grabbed one of those too. So, I've had a quick play now and it feels about like I expcted. The first time I picked it up it felt big. The second time it didn't. The AF seems fine - not EP3 / EPL3 fine, but fine. The menus and quick menu are really nice compared to the X-100. The auto ISO options are right there on the ISO menu where they belong! And the diopter works fine with my glasses so I don't have to go hunt down a lens for it. In fact I took the rear lens off which allows me to get my glasses right up to it, a bit closer.

Needless to say, I cancelled my EM5 pre-order as soon as I got back to my place. And I guess I'll be shooting a lot with the X-Pro 1 for this New York April... As I was reminded yesterday, the EPL3 is all the street camera I could ever want from m43 and I'll still have it for shooting in decent light. And in low light, as good as the EM5 will be, it isn't gonna be as good as the X-Pro. See, I'm rationalizing it already!

This was not supposed to happen. But it seems as though it WAS supposed to happen because it did. And now I'm just kind of shaking my head in minor disbelief. So now I'll be turning even BETTER files into grainy B&W at the first opportunity! :D

-Ray
 
I sort of knew that would happen :tongue: Have a lot of fun with your new toy! You bought both the 18mm and 35mm?

I'm looking forward to your pics.
 
whahaha great story, not good for your bank balance though! ;) Although I usually prefer beautiful colour shots to grainy B&W, I'm looking forward to see what you'll be making with it! Enjoy!
 
Cool Ray! Now I can use you to enjoy a camera I'm never going to afford to buy. Please post LOTS of photos :)
 
I sort of knew that would happen :tongue: Have a lot of fun with your new toy! You bought both the 18mm and 35mm?

I'm looking forward to your pics.

I actually didn't know it would happen. I knew that if one smacked me in the face it would probably happen, but figured it the EM5 showed up before supplies of the X-Pro caught up with demand, that I wouldn't have looked at the X-Pro 1 again. But, it DID rise up and smack me in the face. And so it happened. I really wasn't expecting it too....

-Ray
 
A camera slush fund .... I gotta get myself one of those!

Great story Ray, your trip to NY was always going to be an interesting thread to follow but with this new toy of yours, even more so. Enjoy your time in NY, I hope the new camera exceeds your expectations.
 
What an exciting way to end up with the camera! Great story Ray. Reminds me of when the X100 was new and unobtanum. One day I walked into a local camera shop to buy a strap and they had the X100 on display. And 7 in stock! And I did not even know they carried Fuji!

Naturally we expect pictures... :D
 
I'm so jealous!!! I've had the XP1 in and out, in and out, in and out of the shopping cart so many times today!!! And then was about to click on the "confirm" order thing at least 3-4 times today.

Photos please!!!
 
Ray, I was browsing via my phone and saw your thread and just had to come on to the board logged in here on my 'puter! I so wish I could have been there with you - except I would have been insanely jealous!:D

My slush fund is all going towards buying a new place to live...if it's in the cards.

I can't wait to see and hear more - and I'm thrilled for you about that Auto ISO, too!:rofl: Seriously, I am!:friends:

P.S. Steve, I am glad you spoke to Amazon...it would have been a real shame to have given up your order. Now you can try her out and make an informed decision - can't wait to hear what you think, too!
 
I'm so jealous!!! I've had the XP1 in and out, in and out, in and out of the shopping cart so many times today!!! And then was about to click on the "confirm" order thing at least 3-4 times today.

Photos please!!!

TOO FUNNY!!!!
Armanius, I did exactly the same thing for weeks, in fact I have shopping carts all over the web that are just waiting for me to "check out".

Congrats on your purchase, Ray!!!!!
 
Lost the enthusiasm Stanley? With all these nice photos that Flysurfer and Lee have been bombarding us with!! Looks like I may have to drive up to Taylor after all and relieve you of the goods!

ps: On second thought, that is kinda far from Houston! I suppose I can swing by Round Rock and pick up some donuts!
 
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