Fuji at Photokina this year has some really nice releases, even though they are missing what most Fuji fans have been waiting for since the system was introduced: a new X-Pro. While the X-Pro 2 will have to wait, there were a few very interesting items at the Fuji booth, so let’s dive in.
X100T
This relatively minor refresh of the X100s includes some really nice features, especially when it comes to the viewfinder. The rest of the camera is very similar in operation and appearance to the X100s that came before it.
The X100T feels great in the hand and the focus ring on the front has a new knurled finish that I quite like. Operation was quick and snappy, though there’s not much to distinguish it from the S that came before it. So what is improved? The viewfinder. Fuji improved both the EVF and the optical finder on the X100T.
The Electronic viewfinder sees improvement in magnification and responsiveness, falling somewhere between the X-E2 and the X-T1 as far as how it looks. Overall, the EVF looks quite nice, but the star of the show is the improved optical finder. The OVF is bright and clear, and it shows a wider field of view than the lens captures. Because the viewfinder is offset from the lens, the exact framing of the image will change depending on how close you are focusing. To account for this, a white digital frame appears when you’ve focused, showing you exactly where the cut will be for the final image.
However the coolest thing is the small EVF patch that can be superimposed on the optical finder to give you an enlarged view of the focus point, which appears in the lower right corner of the finder. This digital view makes manually focusing with the optical finder work brilliantly (the split-prism focus aid can also be put in this corner, though I though the full color view was easier to see and nail focus). This is a really brilliant bit of engineering which brings one of the best things about EVFs to a very nice optical finder. This patch can be brought up seamlessly by using the viewfinder toggle switch on the front of the camera, and pushing it away from you to bring up the overlay patch. See below for how it looks through the OVF with the overlay on (taken with my iPhone pressed to the viewfinder, so pardon the quality.
The X100T may be simply a refinement of what came before, but it’s a camera that is really reaching full maturity at this time.
Silver Graphite X-T1
The Silver Graphite X-T1 was on display, and it looks as good in person as it does in pictures. They’ve done a beautiful job with this finish. It looks almost creamy, which is an odd term to use to describe a camera body, but it’s the best I can do.
The new firmware features were on display and the electronic shutter is truly completely silent. The new, much higher 1/32,000 maximum shutter speed is accessed by selecting 1/4000s on the dial and using the front command dial to adjust the shutter speed higher from there. Overall, that’s fairly well implemented.
The Fuji representative I spoke to confirmed the new firmware bringing the silver X-T1 features to the black X-T1 will be arriving in November.
Leave a Reply