Conclusion
Pros
- Ruggedly built body is weather-sealed against dust and moisture and feels incredibly solid in the hand
- Hand grip is extremely comfortable to both hold the camera and shoot
- Outstanding manual control dials provide direct access to all major shooting parameters without turning the camera on
- The X-T1 is a responsive camera with quick startup and speedy card writing speeds, along with short shutter lag
- Autofocus is quite good in single shot mode, providing very fast AF in good light and decent speed indoors (though still a step behind some other mirrorless cameras)
- Continuous Autofocus is the best on any mirrorless camera I’ve used, providing accurate predictive AF during 8 frame per second burst shooting
- Simply gorgeous Electronic Viewfinder provides an absolutely huge view with good clarity and extremely low lag.
- Image quality is excellent: outstanding color and dynamic range and very good noise control
- Tilting rear screen is bright and clear and the tilting mechanism is very solidly built
- WiFi implementation is the best yet on a Fuji camera, offering the same image transfer functions but adding very well done remote control capabilities
- Built-in intervalometer provides easy setup and outstanding power management by shutting down between exposures
- Excellent manual focus aids including focus peaking, digital split image and the new Dual View feature that allows you to view the full scene and an enlarged crop simultaneously
- A deep buffer allows nearly 3 full seconds of burst shooting at 8 frames per second in RAW
Cons
- Some of the buttons, especially the four-way controller buttons, provide poor tactile feedback and feel mushy to the touch
- The rear command dial is recessed too far and is difficult to turn
- The front and top programmable function buttons are poorly placed. The front button is too easy to activate accidentally and the top button is hard to reach in between the shutter speed and exposure compensation dials
- Bracketing is still limited to a paltry 3 frames one stop apart
- Video mode is severely lacking in control and settings
- Can’t assign certain controls to the programmable function buttons, such as Flash Exposure Compensation
- ISOs above 6400 and below 200 are still only available in JPEG
The X-T1 has received more hype than any other Fujifilm camera release. While it certainly isn’t the end-all-be-all of cameras, it is definitely the most complete camera Fuji has put out, and it deserves to be in the conversation with other similarly well executed cameras such as the Olympus OM-D E-M1. In the past year, Fuji has made incredible strides in bringing the X-Series into maturity, and the X-T1 is really the culmination of those efforts.
It’s not a perfect camera by any means. Some of the dials and buttons are fiddly to operate, and some features are still woefully underpowered, such as auto-exposure bracketing. It also still trails many of its competitors in single shot autofocus speed in many circumstances. Still, the camera gets far more right than it gets wrong.
The X-T1 is an immensely enjoyable camera to shoot with. The grip is comfortable, the major exposure controls are all easily accessed and constantly visible. The EVF is, in my opinion, the best on the market currently (though the one in the Olympus E-M1 is close). Fuji has also made the X-T1 a responsive camera. Everything reacts quickly, write speeds are blazing and all the delays that plagued early X-series cameras are now gone. The X-T1’s continuous autofocus is something for Fuji to be proud of.
Overall, the X-T1 is an excellent camera that competes well with any of the other top-tier mirrorless cameras on the market. It’s a joy to use and provides image quality that is outstanding. While there are still some improvements that can be made, Fuji has created a mature and eminently capable camera with the X-T1. It’s easily the best X-Series camera to date.
Image Samples
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