Additional 4% Off at B&H and Crazy Fuji and Olympus Rebates

As you may already know, B&H currently has some amazing incentives to buy cameras and lenses (see below on additional 4% discount). First, there is a heavy discounted program from Nikon called “the more you buy the more you save” (see the link for details of the program), where you can potentially save thousands of dollars on lenses if you buy a camera body. Canon has had discounts on its camera bodies for a while now.

Nikon Incentives

Fuji Rebates

Fuji also recently joined the rebate program and this one is perhaps the most aggressive with them all. It is hard to say what is making Fuji push these incentives, perhaps they want to capture more of the mirrorless market share and expand their reach beyond professionals and enthusiasts. Or perhaps the company is threatened by the new Zeiss Touit lenses, so they want to sell those Fuji lenses as fast as they can now. Either way, if you purchase the already discounted Fuji X-Pro1 (dropped to $1199 from $1699) or X-E1 (dropped to $799 from $999), you can buy any of the Fuji lenses with discounts from $200 and $300 on each lens. So if you buy the four lenses currently made by Fuji, you can save a total of $1000 on lenses alone:

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Fuji X-Pro1 Camera Comparisons

I have just updated the Fuji X-Pro1 Review with detailed camera comparisons with the Canon 5D Mark III and Nikon D800. RAW support has finally become available with the latest updates from Adobe for both Lightroom and Photoshop, so I was able to extract RAW files from all cameras to do a comprehensive analysis. My findings? The Fuji X-Pro1 RAW images look as impressive as the JPEG images. Despite the fact that I down-sampled the Nikon D800 and Canon 5D Mark III images, which should give them an advantage in terms of handling noise, the pixel level quality of the Fuji X-Pro1 sensor is still superior at low ISOs! At first, I thought that I did something wrong in Lightroom – maybe accidentally applied noise reduction to Fuji X-Pro1 images. However, after looking through the images in detail and resetting to RAW file defaults, I was surprised to find out that the Fuji X-Pro1 RAW files indeed looked cleaner. Here is an example comparison at ISO 200 between the Fuji X-Pro1 and the Canon 5D Mark III:

Fuji X-Pro1 ISO 200 RAW Canon 5D Mark III ISO 200

Take a look at noise levels on both crops and compare noise levels on the second DVD from the bottom. The output from the X-Pro1 looks cleaner!

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Fuji X-Pro1 Update

While working with the Fujifilm X-Pro1, I noticed one very strange phenomenon – the camera’s autofocus system makes babies cry! It is strange, but when I would hand the X-Pro1 to a baby and turn the camera on, they would be very happy until they half-pressed the shutter button, which would cause autofocus to start its painfully slow and inaccurate process of acquiring focus, ultimately making the baby upset:

Fuji X-Pro1 Autofocus Makes Babies Cry

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Fuji X-Pro1 Review

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This is an in-depth review of the Fuji X-Pro1, a highly anticipated mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera. Built on the success of the Fuji X100 and aimed at pros and photo enthusiasts that need a lightweight camera alternative to a DSLR with amazing image quality, the Fuji X-Pro1 is the first mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera from Fuji. Along with the X-Pro1, Fuji simultaneously introduced three prime lenses – Fujinon 18mm f/2.0 XF R, Fujinon 35mm f/1.4 XF R and Fujinon 60mm f/2.4 XF Macro, all specifically designed to be used for the new Fuji X mount. In this Fuji X-Pro1 review, I will not only provide detailed information about the camera, but will also try to answer the many questions that we have gotten so far on the camera from our readers, along with comparisons to Nikon and Canon DSLRs.

Fuji X-Pro1

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Fuji X-Pro1 Image Samples

I am currently working on the Fuji X-Pro1 review, although I will be honest that I have been delaying the review for quite a while now, since I am still waiting for Adobe to release a version of Camera RAW / Lightroom 4 that will support X-Pro1 RAW files. While the JPEG images produced by the X-Pro1 are superb, I know that I can get much more from each image if I use a good RAW image processor. The RAW converter that Fuji has for the X-Pro1 is definitely not my thing…

Here are some sample images from the camera that I will be using in my upcoming review, all taken in England. As always, EXIF data is embedded to each image with exposure, lens and other information.

Fuji X-Pro1 Sample (20)

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Nikon vs Canon vs Fuji in a Studio

I have been super busy working on a couple of big projects lately and this weekend I helped out Lola with her bridal work. While setting up the lights, I decided to try out and shoot with three different cameras – the Nikon D800 (see the recently published review of the Nikon D800), the Canon 5D Mark III (a full review is coming up in a couple of weeks) and the Fuji X-Pro 1 (also coming up for a review soon).

The Nikon and the Canon experience was very similar, both were stellar in terms of color, sharpness and autofocus accuracy. The Fuji X-Pro 1 produced beautiful images with great-looking skin tones, but was rather disappointing in terms of autofocus – it just could not seem to lock well to my subject in indoors environment. I will be writing about my overall impressions of the Fuji X-Pro 1 soon, but to give you a short version, I am rather disappointed by it. To be honest, I was more excited about the Fuji X-Pro 1 than I was with the Canon and Nikon cameras, because I was really hoping for a mirrorless camera that could be a great alternative to the higher-end APS-C sensor DSLRs. The Fuji X-Pro 1 just seemed to have so much potential… I guess it will be a while until we see something that good. Perhaps the second or third generation of the X-Pro? Or the upcoming Canon mirrorless?

Here is a fun game for you – all three of the below images were shot with either the Nikon D800, the Canon 5D Mark III or the Fuji X-Pro 1. Care to guess which one is which?

Nikon vs Canon vs Fuji #1

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Fuji X100 Review

To be honest, I was not planning on writing a review of the Fuji X100 camera. First, because the camera was sent to me in error. As I was preparing to send it back, I was asked if I wanted to try it out, so I agreed to check it out and ended up shooting with it for a week. Second, I did not have a chance to do a thorough analysis and comparison, because I was busy testing 35mm lenses. That’s why this is a “mini” review – I will just lay down my thoughts about the Fujifilm X100 and show you some image samples from the camera.

When I asked about the X100, I was told that “it was a hot, almost revolutionary camera”. I guess that’s why I decided to give it a try and see what it is capable of. Once I unboxed the camera, I immediately put the battery into it and started playing with it at home. It took me a couple of minutes to figure out the basics and once I put it in Aperture Priority mode and took some pictures, I was actually pleasantly surprised by what I was seeing.

Fuji X100

Positives

  1. The first thing that struck me was the optical/digital viewfinder/rangefinder that not only provides all the camera information, but also displays captured images. Now that is one cool thing I wish all DSLR cameras had! Being able to look at captured images in an enclosed space is great. With DSLRs, you either have to block the light hitting the rear LCD or you have to use third party tools such as Hoodman Loupe to be able to look at pictures in daylight. And the X100 does it in a smart way too – if you put your eye close to the viewfinder/rangerfinder, the image is shown there. Once you move the camera away from your eyes, the image gets transferred to the rear LCD.
  2. The second surprise was after I transferred the first images to my computer and started looking at them at 100% – the image quality was outstanding. Indoor images were shot at ISO 800 and above and the amount of noise present in the images was very low, at least when compared to APS-C sensors. Sharpness, colors and contrast looked good right out of the camera (first shots were taken as JPEGs).
  3. Third, the camera felt great in my hands and for the first time I felt like I could take this little camera with me everywhere I go. No matter how good images from my iPhone might look, I just do not like taking pictures with it. Sure, iPhone images might look great for the web, but you can’t print them large or use them in your portfolio. Lugging around a large DSLR is not an option either; I forget it at home most of the time anyway. It felt great when I was able to put the X100 into my jacket pocket before I left the house.
  4. Fourth, because of the 4 leaf shutter on the X100, the flash sync speed can be super fast (see the 1/2000s shot below).
  5. And lastly, people did not look intimidated by the camera when I took pictures of them. They seemed to think that it was just a point and shoot (which it kind of is), so it felt like this camera would get super popular among street photographers.

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