Trying Mirrorless Fuji X-T1 For Wedding Photographs (plus X-PRO 2 preview! ) – ipadguides

This is my first time taking a picture wedding using camera mirrorless, in particular Fuji XT1. The last time I took a picture wedding, I’m still using the old classic full frame Canon 5d. I was a bit skeptical of mirrorless AF capabilities until I tried the Olympus EM5 a few years ago.

For Fuji itself, I just feel the XT1 is a Fuji camera that can really rely on its AF. Generations before that, like the XPro1, XE1, I couldn’t believe it because the AF capability was below my standard. Although I prefer Fuji colors over other cameras, but the AF capabilities, handling speed, can’t make me switch from micro 4/3.

To photograph my friend’s wedding, I had the opportunity to use the Fuji X-T1 with 16 1.4 and 35 1.4 lenses. My Olympus EM10 camera uses a 40-150 telephoto lens for moments where I can’t get close. My colleague, Uncle Bolang, also uses a micro 4/3 Panasonic GX7 camera to take videos. I really hope Fuji improves the video quality because I really like Fuji’s color output. It sure looks really good in the video. For now, you must be joking if you use Fuji for videos hehe.

I started when the bride and groom made up in the hotel room. Here I just use 16 mm only. This lens is very beautiful. 16 mm in Fuji is equivalent to 24 mm in full frame. However, the 1.4 diaphragm still allows this lens to separate objects from the background.

Okay, let’s look at the photos first.

The 16 1.4 lens is very fast AF and accurate. It’s a different story with the 35 1.4, this lens feels a bit of motor movement and the AF is slower than 16mm. Seems to have been fixed in the new 35 f/2 lens.

Especially if you focus when the subject is in backlight. Good luck if you use a 35 1.4 lens.

Maybe because he was in the slide and film negative business for analog cameras in the past, Fuji became aware of crisp colors. The thing is, the color of fuji does not represent reality. But somehow, nice to see. Fuji Provia, just the standard settings…ah, how do you explain it, all the photos here use Provia without any adjustments.

I’m also happy with the classic chrome setting, similar to the Ricoh GR’s “positive film” color tone which I also have. Classic, low saturation, high contrast delivers great color subtle. But if it’s a high-iso jpeg, I feel that the dynamic range drops dramatically so that the micro-contrast (eg hair details turn black, loses detail) decreases.

Look at these healthy skin tone directly out of camera :

Om mister’s photo is really the original jpeg from the camera. Film simulation fuji provia. Joss.

Conclusion

1. The 16 1.4 lens is one of fuji’s best lenses. A wide lens with a high aperture makes the photos unique. Very suitable for documentary photos. Maybe if I had to choose just one lens to use, I would choose this lens. There are no other mirrorless brands that have lenses like this (except DSLRs, there are lots of them). Olympus has 12 f/2 which is also good but still because this 16 mm has 1.4 the results are still more “3d”
2. The 35 1.4 lens is optically excellent. However, AF still sucks if the backlight or low light conditions.
3. The XT1 is already very capable of shooting at a high pace such as photographing a wedding. Although I haven’t tried the C-AF yet. I still don’t believe there is a mirrorless with C-AF that can be used professionally.
4. The battery from full to empty I counted around 250 frames using the EVF. Bring around 3-5 pieces for a day’s shoot.
5. The jpeg fuji color for skin tones is very solid. That’s it.
6. But I find it difficult to emulate the jpeg fuji colors when using RAW. So more yellow. I’m using Adobe lightroom btw.

Overallonly this time I did not say “meh” to Fuji. I even tried the newest camera, the latest Fuji X-Pro 2 and I feel like this camera is really new in that the technology standards match other brands. For example, when accessing the menu and selecting an option, for example choosing photo quality — the camera will take about 2 seconds to load to change the settings. On the X-Pro 2 everything is fast paced. Handling is greatly improved, especially with the addition of a joystick to directly select the autofocus point (such as the Canon 5d/1d series). Autofocus is very different in low light, the EVF no longer lags. It’s just that I regret that the LCD is fixed and can’t move, and the ISO dial, which has a very good design, but is completely impractical because you have to lift the shutter speed dial before you can rotate it.

The high ISO is also very good. The ISO 12800 is native and not pushed. Here’s an example. But this is a jpeg, I can’t open the RAW file which is 50 mb in one photo (uncompressed):

I am quite interested in this Fuji X-Pro 2, if there is a chance I will immediately write a review about this camera.

Thank You!

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Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored by anyone except those who have recently retired above.