Ok, now that I've had an evening and a morning with it, I have preliminary thoughts. First, the sensor IS different than the X100, but I think I can work with it. Better detail, as has been documented, but also a little less dreamy right out of the gate. But now that I know what to tweak, I'm getting the presets (7 of them, thank god, not 3 like the X100 but WHY CAN'T WE NAME THEM DAMMIT) all dialed in. Nice to finally have Pro Neg Lo and Hi options, and hell I really dig several of the goofy "advanced" filters. I dig them a LOT.
First, the 14 is truly a wonderful lens. It focuses VERY quickly, it feels wonderful, it doesn't have a flaw to find, and that length is so incredibly wonderful... it really brings the entire scene into play without distorting too much. We're gonna be good friends. Couple it with a tilting rear screen, and I can take this shot in 2 seconds (right as the couple was about to kiss) and nobody really notices me.. I'm just a dude on a bike who paused for a second to look down at his camera. This was warmed up, tone mapped, and cropped ever so slightly.
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The tracking autofocus, as I mentioed, is pretty damned wonderful. Handles a 4 yr old on a bike perfectly. This is the 35 1.4 lens, which is also pretty damned wonderful. I did manage to get some chromatic aberrations in bright sunlight yesterday, sunlight glinting off my silver brake levers had red on one edge and blue on the other... I feel like the X100 wouldn't have done that. Still, it's a great length, it focuses plenty quick, it's not huge, and that lens hood is actually perfect for storing it without a lens cap. I just put a UV on it, then the filter, and I don't see it ever coming off. This was taken on 3 frames per second. All of the shots were focused dead on. SOOC.
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Put the 35 on 1.4, allow the camera to go to 6400, and especially put it in b&w, and you can do whatever you want in a dim room. I didn't think I'd really notice the extra stop over the X100, but I absolutely did. And I love the extra bokeh, to be honest. As you can see, Nico the blue heeler is staying with us again. As Stillshunter said, "G'day, bluey!" This had a touch of tone mapping, no other tweaks.
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The detail from the 35 and the camera sensor even at 6400 is very, very effing good. I can count the threads on the camera bag patch on the fullsize version of this. SOOC.
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The filters... I really like them. So far the Toy filter and the Pop Color (shown here) seem to be actually pretty useful. This was ISO 800, 1/8 second, hand held, SOOC. Also here's my pelican case. You can see the slot for the X-T1 body, then below it the extra batteries and the flash. Then the X100 with its hood, and its extra battery below it. Then 2 holes for the 2 lenses that have come in (56 is still on back order). Topping it all off is the remnants of a pretty good home brewed black IPA.
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The two very high ISO settings are problematic. Here's 25,600: Note the bad coloring at the bottom of the shot.
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Here's 12,800. Less of the problem, but it doesn't vanish until 6400.
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And finally, a quick snap from this morning. I didn't tweak this one, it's SOOC. Normally I would brighten her up a bit. The thing I like about this is that I was able to EASILY shoot this (and 3 or 4 others) one handed as I pushed my own bike right in front of her. It was easy because the camera has a good grip, isn't too big or heavy, focuses quickly, has a big rear LCD, and fits into a smallish bag on my shoulder. This is a minimum requirement for me, this form factor. I don't care how much better any other camera is, if I can't have it on me and use it quickly and easily, I ain't buying it.
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