RADOJUVA

Fujifilm X-T1 review specifically for Radozhiva prepared Misha mieshcherinov.

Fujifilm X-T1 is the flagship APS-C type mirrorless camera, introduced in January 2014. The camera is the older brother of Fujifilm x-t10 (the differences will be described in this review) and Fujifilm x-e2 (which outwardly practically does not differ from x-e1 and x-pro1). These three cameras form the second generation of Fujifilm's mirrorless cameras and have the same sensor (X-Trans II) and processor (EXR II). All subsequent models have a different processor and a different matrix.

First impression

Lightweight, stylish, durable metal body leaves a pleasant impression. There are two color options for the camera - black and metallic. Externally, this camera is indistinguishable from the classic film rangefinder. The body is made of magnesium alloy with the addition of rubber pads. The case is very well made: nothing creaks, plays, bends or wobbles. In general, at first glance it is clear that this is the flagship of its series. The screen is located under a protective tempered glass. The grip of this camera is not very large, so it will be difficult for fans of huge DSLRs to get used to it. I really liked this grip and, despite the long fingers, I do not feel any inconvenience in using this camera. It is also worth mentioning that the x-t1 / x-t2 / x-t3 / x-t4 series have the largest grip, all other models have a much smaller grip (except for the x-h1, which looks like a hybrid between a DSLR and the standard Fujifilm design). The disadvantage of this model is that the rubber pads turned out to be fragile and very quickly swell and peel off, like the old Nikons. Interestingly, only this model suffers from this. The rest of the models use soft plastic instead of rubber. Fujifilm officially acknowledged that it was their fault and for everyone it is carrying out a free replacement of rubber inserts at official service centers, the main thing is that the warranty does not end. My copy was bought a long time ago and I got it already with slightly swollen rubber bands. Unfortunately, replacing the rubber bands at an authorized service center would cost half the cost of the camera. You can order rubber bands from aliexpress, but even there they cost a quarter of the cost of the camera, so I only have to tighten it with gasoline, which I will do soon.

Fujifilm x-t1 has dust and moisture protection (which is not the case with the younger model), of course, subject to the normal condition of the rubber pads. Another difference from x-t10 is the presence of a separate slot for a memory card on the right side panel of the device (for x-t10, the slot for a memory card is located in the battery compartment). In addition, x-t1 supports uhs u2 cards, while the younger model is limited to uhs u1. The x-t1, as before, uses one connector for the remote control and an external microphone (2.5 mm jack). If you want to shoot video with an external microphone, then you will have to look for a 3.5 mm jack adapter (from my own experience I will say that the cheapest Chinese adapter purchased on the radio market performs this task perfectly). The next generation of cameras already has a separate microphone jack. Also, the camera has Micro USB and mini HDMI connectors.

Buttons and control levers.

First of all, it is worth mentioning that this camera has 9 programmable buttons (yes, exactly 9). It's hard for me to remember a camera where you can adjust the interface so flexibly for use. This solution makes life much easier and speeds up changing important settings during shooting, completely eliminating the need to go even to the quick menu, not to mention the main settings menu. Unlike the x-t10, this camera has two new wheels - controlling the ISO parameter and setting the exposure meter operation mode. Also in this generation there is a separate button for recording video (in the first generation it was not there, and starting with the next generation, video recording is a separate operation mode).

Screen and viewfinder.

On board this model comes with a 3-inch LCD display that can be tilted 45 degrees down and 90 degrees up. A nice bonus is the screen resolution - 1.04 megapixels, in contrast to the previous generation, where it was only 0.46, and x-t10, where it was 0.9 megapixels. The picture on the screen is bright, during the day under the bright sun you can see the photos well. With this screen, I practically stopped using the viewfinder.

The viewfinder of this model has also improved. Firstly, it is now at 2.36 megapixels (unlike the first generation, where it was only 1 megapixel). Also, the viewfinder of this model has a large size (like the sony a7), a 0.77x extension, which makes the viewing process a complete pleasure. EVI made by OLED technology, has good color rendering (the picture on it is juicier than on the main screen). A nice bonus is that EVI you can consider the footage (which will help on a sunny day). The x-t10 has a much smaller viewfinder (for which they sacrificed the presence of a built-in flash. Instead, it comes with a simple external flash).

Screen refresh rate and EVI is 60 fps (which is a nice bonus after 20fps of past models). The second generation is much less likely to catch the strobe from poor lighting, but, nevertheless, sometimes the strobe is visible. The mirrorless feature is that in the electronic shutter mode (which I use in 80% of cases), the matrix reads the information line by line, while catching the entire strobe of poor lighting. In 95% of cases, this is corrected by switching to the mechanical shutter mode, the main thing is to notice the strobe in the photos in time. Also in the electronic shutter mode, a rolling shutter is noticeable, and quite strong (the wind blows, or pull your hand, and your photo will float right away). It also corrects the transition to a mechanical shutter.

The technical component

Matrix and brains

Inside this unit is a second-generation X-Trans matrix and an EXR II processor. A feature of this matrix is ​​the use of a non-traditional Bayer filter (a filter on the matrix, thanks to which modern cameras receive a color photograph), and instead a filter developed by fujifilm stands.

The company says that this filter allows you to get rid of the moire effect and remove the low-pass filter (which degrades the sharpness of the picture). It is also claimed that thanks to this technology, the camera gives a less noisy picture at high ISO values ​​and the similarity of noise to the film grain (instead of traditional color noise). What gives such a mechanism to ordinary users:

1. The picture is really sharp. True, the sharpness is also affected by the quality of the lenses, which, however, is high on the Fijifilm.
2. Noises really look like grain. Color noise appears only with strong post-processing captured on high ISO photographs. If you correctly expose the photo, and initially set the color options that you want, then you can forget about color noise.
3. On this camera you can easily work on ISO 3200. This is a very good result. The grain is visible, but the picture does not lose much in quality. On ISO from 200 to 1000, the difference in the quality of the photo and the amount of noise is almost not noticeable. The camera is noisier than modern full-frame cameras (2014 or later). At the same time, if you compare Fujifilm x-t1 with all the DSLRs and mirrorless lenses of different companies (Nikon, Canon, Sony, Panasonic, Olympus), it’s out of competition (I’ll just add this to the photo. I’ll mention separately for the video). In this segment, the Fujifilm surpassed everyone, and in a fairly short time. Especially when you consider that now this camera on a used market costs $ 250-300 (which is equal to the price of a used Nikon d5400 / d7000 and Canon 750d / 70d), which show significantly worse noise results.
4. Colour. Many people remember fujifilm for the unrivaled colors of Finepix s3pro and s5pro. And the new mirrorless ones retained these juicy, tasty colors. Personally, I, first of all, chose Fujifilm for this. Also, on-camera jpeg files give an excellent result, preserving all the charm and variety of colors. So if you are looking for a camera with a good jeep - this is your option.

ISO range: 200-6400 standard, 100-51200 advanced. At the same time, the extended range is available only for shooting in jpeg format and only with a mechanical shutter. Such a high minimum ISO is not always practical, and often you have to cover the aperture (removing blur), but, over time, you get used to it (or buy an nd filter).

Burst shooting and clipboard

Regardless of the physical or mechanical shutter, there are two options for burst shooting: CL (3 frames per second) and CH (8 frames per second). The clipboard contains 22-23 RAW files (raw Fujifilm format is designated .raf), 21 RAW + JPG. The write speed to the card directly depends on the card, the slot for memory cards in this model is high-speed.

Image compression

Fujifilm x-t1 has a 14-bit rav with quite gentle compression (the ravas from a 16-megapixel matrix weigh 31-34 megabytes). Interestingly, the Sony a7 II, with a 24 megapixel sensor, and without compression, files weigh approximately 48 megabytes. If you reduce the reading area of ​​Sony to 16 megapixels (which is 34% less than that of Fuj), then the ravs weighed 32 megabytes (although they seem to be without compression). Perhaps due to such weak compression, the ravines of x-t1 are quite easy to edit, and the shadows can be edited by more than 3 stops. In general, the dynamic range of x-t1 seemed to me the same as that of the aforementioned Sony a7 II (and somewhere on the expanses of the English-speaking Internet I saw confirmation of this), though if we compare the value to ISO 1600.

Jpeg files retain all the taste and richness of colors. When photographing "for myself" I sometimes leave only the on-camera jpeg. True, it is worth mentioning that the camera has a noise reduction function that starts soaping the jeep from the ISO 3200 level. Although the settings have the ability to adjust the power of noise reduction algorithms, it seems to me that there isn’t much difference when changing this parameter. In raw format this problem is absent.

Color profiles

Instead of the usual “landscape, portrait, room” styles and adjusting contrast, saturation and color tone, the Fujifilm company inserted color profiles of the company's most famous and popular films, such as provia, astia, velvia classic chrome, etc. into their devices. In total, Fujifilm x-t1 has 11 film profiles, each of which gives its own unique color reproduction. It is also possible to adjust four parameters: all the usual sharpness, then color saturation, and, in a way, unique brightness settings for light and dark portions of the image. This way you can smooth out the difference between the contrasting areas of the image.

Another feature of Fujifilm cameras is the dynamic range function, with the ability to set to 100%, 200% and 400%. In fact, it is familiar to all active d-lighting, but, unlike all other manufacturers, in fuji this function also works in raw mode. With its help, shadows and highlights of the image are better processed, and also the difference in the image itself is less. With this function turned on, when shooting up to 400 ISOs, there will be standard 100%, 400% can be put on ISOs over 200%, and 800% can be put on ISOs over 400.

White balance

When shooting outdoors, I use automatic white balancebecause it is almost always accurate. Whatever lens I use (natively with a chip, or the old manual through an adapter without chips), for the year of using this unit I very rarely noticed a miss on white balance. In the room, of course, there are already mistakes (interestingly, the other day I shot one scene on my native 27mm and on Soviet Jupiter 8m, and there was a miss on my native lens bband with jupiter an exact hit. Usually for cameras with native glasses bb taken much more accurately, but Fujik and broke this rule). Indoors, of course, it is better to use manual tuning. bb, although personally, I still often take pictures on the machine. Fortunately, even with a miss in 2000-3000 K, and even at high ISO, the ravs can be easily corrected without loss of details, colors and with minimal added noise (I somehow missed 3200K at ISO 3000, and, surprisingly, upon amendment white balance in lightroom, the photo has not deteriorated in quality. Perhaps this opportunity is provided due to weak compression of photos). It is also worth mentioning that when setting the capture mode white balance, it is possible to adjust the color tone, including for automatic mode. The Japanese even thought up such a trifle.

Auto focus

Fujifilm x-t1 has 77 contrast AF points and 15 phase (located in the center of the frame). Autofocus has two modes of operation: tracking and single. It is also possible to use all AF points, autofocus zones (7x7 grid selection), or one AF point. It is worth mentioning that when using phase autofocus points, focusing is many times faster and quieter. I almost always use either zonal autofocus or point by point. In poor lighting conditions, even when choosing a central area where there are phase sensors, contrast AF points are used in 85%. After some updates in this camera, autofocus appeared on the faces and eyes (yes, initially there was no such option). Autofocus on faces works well, with it the number of frames with a defocus will decrease dramatically. In good light, it almost always catches faces, in poor light it catches less often, and is more sensitive to turning and tilting the face. Focus on the eyes is possible in three ways: on the right, on the left, or on both eyes. It is worth noting that the camera sees the eyes only at larger sizes than the pectoral one, and not always (this was the first Fujifilm experiment with autofocus on the eyes. Autofocus has improved significantly in subsequent generations). Also, sometimes autofocus sees faces where they are not (but it is literally for a moment, and then the face detection is removed). Most likely, this is due to incomplete mechanisms for determining persons. In tracking focus mode, face tracking is possible (which makes life much easier). There is also a tracking focus function on each frame in the series, but this feature is only available in the mechanical shutter mode. I would not say that there is a focus on all frames, but I succeeded in shooting tricks with jumping on bicycles, and I received a series of sharp frames of cyclists in flight, and this is enough for me from my camera.

I will not argue that here is the most tenacious and accurate autofocus that I have seen. At the same time, autofocus copes with all 100 tasks in performing in its price category, in principle, there are no competitors in performing ordinary tasks (individual photo shoots, shooting weddings, sequential shooting of non-sports events and shooting of non-high-speed sports events).

Other features

1. This model has a 2.5mm jack input, while it can be used for both a microphone and a remote control. Its operation mode is regulated in the settings menu, in the video settings tab
2. In a mechanical shutter, the shutter speed range is from 30s to 1 / 4000s + bulb, in the electronic shutter, from 1s to 1 / 32000s.
3. This model can use flash from any manufacturer and under any system, the main thing is that the central sync contact is. I used on it canon speedlight of various versions, Nikon sb700, copies of yongnuo and make for different systems, and even an incomprehensible flash from the nineties. But there are two features. The first is that in order for the flash to work, it requires you to turn on the mechanical shutter and turn off silent mode (in general settings, on the first page). At the same time, you can muffle system sounds to 0 so that nothing distracts you with unnecessary barking. If the mechanical shutter can still be understood, then the second thing I am not destined to understand.
4. You cannot listen to the sound from the video in silent mode. At the same time, it is written, and there is sound on the video.
5. This model has a booster (the x-t10 does not have it). In Ukraine, only the original is sold (with a price of $ 180), on ali express I found copies. This booster makes it possible to use an additional one battery, and has a shutter button and bracketing autofocus. And that’s it. For x-t2, for example, a turbo mode opens with a booster (the camera accelerates, the video recording length is extended), a headphone jack, and two batteries can already be accommodated in the booster. Another feature of the boosters is that you do not need to remove the battery from the camera, and the booster is connected to additional contacts on the bottom panel. Thus, xt1 with a booster has two batteries, xt2 has three. Also, the booster battery is used first, then the camera, and there is the possibility of replacing the battery in the booster without turning off the camera.
6. I have an original Japanese battery with an autofocus lens withstanding 900 frames raw + jpeg. Chinese counterparts, of course, live much less.
7. Through adapters, it becomes any optics. Kenon, Nikon, m42, m39 - everything can be attached. It works with rangefinder lenses. For example, I have Jupiter 8m from the rangefinder Kiev 4, which I calmly use on my Fujifilm.
8. Guaranteed shutter life - 250 thousand shots. This is enough for a very long use. That and, in general, you would rather break the case, drown the camera, break all the keys, kill the matrix, than wait for the shutter to die.
9. The thread for the tripod is not located under the center of the mount, as is usually done in cameras, but near the battery compartment. If you want to change the battery while the camera is attached to a tripod, you have to remove the tripod stand.
10. Fujifilm has applications for mobile devices (android, ios) and computers (windows, mac os), which allows Wi-Fi to transfer materials from the camera and provides full remote access to the camera, with the ability to change all the basic camera settings. I used remote access when photographing stars (to remove possible shaking from pressing the shutter button). By default, photos from the camera are transmitted in reduced quality. This is easy to change in the remote connection settings. But there is one limitation - only jpeg files are transferred through the application to mobile devices. Perhaps this is due to the low data transfer rate, and it takes several minutes to transfer a 34-megabyte rav. Also, the data transfer speed greatly depends on the distance between the camera and the phone (even an extra couple of centimeters can affect the transfer speed).
11. In addition to wireless control, and a 2.5mm jack, on the front of the camera there is a slot for a remote shutter release. This socket is tightly closed with a plastic plug.
12. A sloppy user (whom I must admit to being) can easily damage the decorative metal coating of the case (thanks to which it gets its black color). At the same time, the last owner of this camera (I took it on the secondary market) for five years of operation has kept it in an almost perfect appearance.
13. There is no built-in flash in the camera. Instead, it comes with a small external flash, which, however, is 60% more powerful than the x-t10's built-in flash.

Sample Photos

Shooting video

Fujifilm x-t1 allows you to shoot video in the quality of 1280x720 (hd) and 1920x1080 (full hd) with a frame rate of 24, 25, 30, 50 and 60 frames per second. The bitrate is 38 Mbps. One of the pluses is that to change the frame rate you just need to click on it in the menu. For other manufacturers, to switch between 25/50 to 30/60 fps, you must first change the profile from pal to ntsc, and often then the camera will need to format the memory card.

And now about the sick. The video codec that uses the Fujifilm x-t1 has striking disadvantages:

• A fairly small transition from light to overexposure, from shadows to disastrously black. And then it doesn’t correct in any way
• The minimum possible ISO value for shooting video is 400. It is impossible to shoot without a strong nd filter on a sunny day
• Loud noise at ISO above 800
• Strong contrast on the video, which can hardly be removed in the settings of the camera
• Low bitrate gives no chance for edits
• The picture is a bit soapy on the video.

Of the advantages, it is worth noting the presence of a built-in stereo microphone, and the presence of autofocus on the video, including the face tracking. In the video, the speed and tenacity of autofocus is not the same, but still - autofocus is there.

Shooting a video on it during the day is a very difficult task, which requires a lot of extra effort. At the same time, shooting indoors, with the presence of playing light (apartments, concerts), on the contrary, helps to reveal the corporate color of the fuji (and then you get great pleasure from shooting the video). But, despite this, Fujifilm x-t1 / x-t10 is a story about a photo, not about shooting a video. Starting with Fujifilm x-t2, the situation with video has changed dramatically, and now many bloggers and videographers have liked x-t3 / x-30 / x-t4 / x-h1.

All Fujifilm X APS-C Interchangeable Lens Digital Mirrorless Cameras

• X-Pro1, X-Pro2, X-Pro3
• X-T1, X-T2, X-T3, X-T4, X-T5
• X-T10, X-T20, X-T30, X-T30II
• X-S10, X-S20
• X-T100, X-T200
• X-E1, X-E2, X-E2s, X-E3, X-E4
• X-M1
• X-A1, X-A2, X-A3, X-A5, X-A7
• X-A20
• X-H1, X-H2S, X-H2

All Fujinon lenses for these cameras

Fixes:

1. 8mm 1:3.5XF R WR
2. 14 mm 1: 2.8 XF R
3. 16 mm 1: 1.4 XF R WR Nano-gi
4. 16 mm 1: 2.8 XF R WR
5. 18 mm 1: 1.4 XF R WR LM
6. 18 mm 1: 2 XF R
7. 23 mm 1: 1.4 XF R
8. 23 mm 1: 1.4 XF R WR LM
9. 23 mm 1: 2 XF R WR
10. 27 mm 1: 2.8 XF
11. 27 mm 1: 2.8 XF R WR
12. 30 mm 1: 2.8 XF R WR LM
13. 33 mm 1: 1.4 XF R WR LM
14. 35 mm 1:2 XC
15. 35 mm 1: 2 XF R WR
16. 35 mm 1: 1.4 XF R
17. 50 mm 1: 2 XF R WR
18. 50 mm 1: 1 XF R WR
19. 56 mm 1: 1.2 XF R .
    
20. 56 mm 1: 1.2 XF R APD (11/8)
21. 56 mm 1: 1.2 XF R WR .
    
22. 60 mm 1: 2.4 XF Macro R
23. 80 mm 1: 2.8 XF R LM OIS WR MACRO
24. 90 mm 1: 2 XF R LM WR
25. 200 mm 1: 2 XF R LM OIS WR

Zuma:

1. 8-16 mm 1: 2.8 XF R LM WR Nano-gi
2. 10-24 mm 1: 4 XF R OIS
3. 10-24 mm 1: 4 XF R OIS WR
4. 15-45 mm 1: 3.5-5.6 XC OIS PZ
5. 16-50 1: 3.5-5.6 XC OIS
6. 16-50 1: 3.5-5.6 XC OIS II
7. 16-55 mm 1: 2.8 XF R LM WR Nano-gi
8. 16-80 mm 1: 4 XF R OIS WR
9. 18-55 mm 1: 2.8-4 XF R LM OIS
10. 18-55 mm T2.9 MKX Cinema
11. 18-120 mm 1: 4 XF LM PZ WR
12. 18-135 mm 1: 3.5-5.6 XF R LM OIS WR
13. 50-140 mm 1: 2.8 XF R LM OIS WR Nano-gi
14. 50-135 mm T2.9 MKX Cinema
15. 50-230 mm 1: 4.5-6.7 XC OIS
16. 50-230 mm 1: 4.5-6.7 XC OIS II
17. 55-200 mm 1: 3.5-4.8 XF R LM OIS
18. 70-300 mm 1: 4-5.6 XF R LM OIS WR
19. 100-400 mm 1: 4.5-5.6 XF R LM OIS WR
20. 150-600 mm 1: 5.6-8 XF R LM OIS WR

Legend:

• XF - Advanced Fujifilm X Lenses
• XC - budget, lightweight and compact lenses for Fujifilm X mount
• SUPER EBC (Electron Beam Coating) - Electron Beam Coating Optics
• Nano-GI (Nano Gradient Index) - a special nano-enlightenment optics that changes the refractive index at the junction of glass and air
• OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) - built-in optical image stabilization
• R (Ring) - a separate ring for iris control
• LM (Linear Motor) - linear focusing motor
• WR (Weather Resistant) - all-weather lens type
• Ashperical - aspherical elements in the optical scheme of the lens
• Macro - Macro Lenses
• APD(Apodization) - lens with internal non-removable gradient filter
• PZ (Power Zoom) - electronic zoom
• Cinema - lenses designed for movie shooting
• II - the second version of the lens

For Fujifilm X there are also autofocus lenses from third-party manufacturers:

• Zeiss Touit 12 / 2.8 | Zeiss Touit 32 / 1.8 | Zeiss Touit 50 / 2.8 Macro
• Viltrox 13 / 1.4 | Viltrox 23/1.4 | Viltrox 33/1.4 | Viltrox 56 / 1.4 | Viltrox 75 / 1.2 | Viltrox 85/1.8 | Viltrox 85 / 1.8 Mark II
• Tokina 23 / 1.4 | Tokina 33 / 1.4 | Tokina 56 / 1.4
• Sigma C 16/1.4| Sigma C 30 / 1.4 | Sigma C 56/1.4 | Sigma C 18-50 / 2.8
• Tamron 11-20 / 2.8 | Tamron 17-70 / 2.8 VC | Tamron 18-300 / 3.5-6.3 VC  | Tamron 150-500 / 5-6.7 VC
• Samyang 12 / 2, Samyang 75/1.8
• TTArtisan 27 / 2.8, TTArtisan 32 / 2.8
• Meike 85 / 1.8

Conclusion

Fujifilm x-t1 - a camera with which hands themselves reach out to take photos. Good autofocus, tasty colors, a huge number of small options that facilitate the shooting process - all this forces you to make another masterpiece in your collection. This camera is suitable for beginners and experienced amateurs who want to get great colors, as well as professionals who want to simplify the process of creating good photos as much as possible. And the low price of the device in the secondary market makes it affordable for anyone.

You will find more reviews from readers of Radozhiva here.