Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsThis camera makes taking photos fun!
Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2018
This entire review could just be "it does everything," but that feels like a cop out.
First off, and what most people are interested in, the image quality is fantastic. The film simulations render beautiful JPEGs, and the camera saves enough detail and dynamic range into the raw files that you can accomplish just about anything if the JPEGs aren't doing it for you. Most cameras can take beautiful photos though, and the ability to do so isn't what makes this one special.
Unlike most digital cameras, this one feels like a mechanical masterpiece to use. Much like older film cameras, all exposure settings are given their own dedicated external controls. No more holding a button while scrolling a dial to change ISO or exposure comp as each have their own dials. For everything else, there are a huge amount of programmable function buttons to map to whatever functions you need quick access to.
The main attraction of the X-Pro cameras is the EVF/OVF hybrid viewfinder. Admittedly I use the OVF less than I had expected, but it is an excellent option to have for street or event photographers who can appreciate being able to keep an eye on what's happening just outside of the shot. The EVF meanwhile is fantastic. It's sharp, vibrant, and refreshes so fast that in all but the worst lighting you forget that you're looking at a screen. My only gripe is that the auto brightness is almost always either too bright or too dim in the viewfinder, so I usually leave it set manually.
Fuji's flawless implementation of focus peaking means that manual focus lenses that used to be a hassle for DSLRs are now a viable option for most work. Manually focusing with peaking enabled is quick and easy in the majority of situations, and the abundance of adapters for this system means that you can use almost any vintage lens. Have a collection of old Minolta lenses from your film days? They can all be put to use again with a $30 adapter.
Prior to buying this camera I shot exclusively with Nikon for almost ten years. For the past three years I'd been using a D610, along with a full lineup of full frame lenses. Image quality was fantastic, but I found myself often leaving my camera at home because it was just too big and bulky. Enter the X-Pro2, and I can have the same fantastic image quality for about half the weight.
While this camera is often overlooked for action or sport photography, it is actually quite snappy with the newest firmware. The continuous AF is about what I'd expect from most DSLRs, and when paired with a professional grade lens such as the XF50-140 the tracking is spot on and almost instantaneous. Add an 8FPS shooting speed to that and you have a seriously capable camera.
This has quickly become my favorite camera, and it's small size and light weight means it goes more places and takes more great photos. I can't recommend it enough.
To summarize my thoughts:
Pros-
-Same or better image quality as most DSLRs for a fraction of the weight
-Mechanical controls for all exposure settings
-Programmable controls for everything else
-OVF/EVF viewfinder gives you lots of options to fit your shooting style
-Weather resistance means no more going inside when the rain starts
-Film sims render beautiful JPEGs that require minimum post production
-Professional X-mount lenses are almost all less expensive than their full frame counterparts
-Built like a tank
-Ability to use just about any other lens with an adapter thanks to the super short flange distance
-ISO Invariance allows a ton of detail to be pulled out of the shadows when shooting at lower ISOs
Cons-
-EVF auto brightness is usually wrong
-Diopter is REALLY easy to bump out of place
-RAW files can look "wormy" when opening with lightroom (Check out X-Transformer for an easy way to resolve this)
