The camera experimentation continues. A few months ago I picked up an X-T3, which I still have (I need to blog about that one and make a video too soon) along with my X-H1 & X-T4. And last week I picked up a Fujifilm X-Pro2. I only plan on keeping 2 of these by years end. And since I want the X-T4 for video that one will stay. The X-H1, as of this writing, is still my favorite camera of any format or brand, so I doubt that is going anywhere.
If the X-H1 is my favorite, then “why the need to try anything else?” is I’m sure the question that comes to your mind just as it came to mine. Well the bottom line is I had to try the X-Pro line of cameras for myself at some point. It was inevitable. Either I was going to find out it was not for me and sell it or fall in love with using it and have 3 cameras permanently on my shelf. But I had to know. So I bought one.
The rangefinder style of camera is still new to me and I generally prefer an SLR style design. I enjoyed the X-E1 and X-E2 when I used those but they didn’t offer anything special for me personally that an X-T1 or X-T2 wouldn’t.
The X-Pro2 is different. It has the unique viewfinder design where you have the option of optical, electronic or hybrid view finder settings. The optical and hybrid options are a huge reason I have been extremely curious about this line of cameras. I’m the last person in the world to arrive at the X-Pro/X-T100 party I feel like. The original X-Series camera had a similar style and obviously the X-Pro1 is 10 years old now. I’m happy I’m able to finally give this a shot now and see how it goes.
On Sunday I took my new camera to one of my favorite places to shoot random urban landscape and street photography, Downtown Las Vegas.
Since I wanted to really get used to using the hybrid viewfinder I decided to use a lens I was very familar with, the XF 35mm f/2.0 R WR (still my overall favorite Fujifilm lens I’ve tried)
The weather was hot and humid (humid for the desert that is) I only shot for about an hour and a half but it was plenty of time for me to get some good practice in with the camera.
I shot with this recipe, yet another one based on Classic Chrome, called CHROME AURORA. The settings are at the bottom of this blog post.
That’s it for now. I’ll shoot with the X-Pro2 more before I make a dedicated video about it.
-Craig
“CHROME AURORA”
BASE FILM SIMULATION: Classic Chrome
DYNAMIC RANGE: DR100
HIGHLIGHT: -1
SHADOW: -1
COLOR: +2
WHITE BALANCE: AUTO
WB SHIFT: R:-2, B:-2
NOISE REDUCTION: -4
SHARPENING: +4
CLARITY: 0
GRAIN EFFECT: {OFF}
COLOR CHROME EFFECT:{OFF}
COLOR CHROME EFFECT BLUE:{OFF}
Craig Bergonzoni's Blog 
I’ve never tried the Pro series. Always been curious, but I wasn’t a fan of the X100 series and it didn’t seem like they were all that different, minus the interchangeable lens. I’ll be interested to hear your take.
Was there anything specific that bugged you about the X100 series? Overall I dig this camera but I did underestimate how different using the OVF would be. I love to shoot a lot of stuff at super close distances and that makes the parallax effect even worse. (again, rangefinder newbie here) I’m going to give it some time, hopefully a few months before I make any long term conclusions.
Well, firstly, the x100 series is just too expensive for what it is. But, cost aside, it’s not truly a compact camera, which was the main reason I bought it. The button layout, especially on the v, was not as intuitive as I had hoped. I didn’t like the OVF at all. Ultimately, I didn’t enjoy using it and would find myself picking up a different camera. I wanted to love it. I had the f for almost a year and I bought the v two separate times. I do feel I really gave it a fair shot. It just wasn’t for me.
All of that make sense. I totally understand. As I’m trying this X-Pro2 out my main question will continue to be “what features, convenience or user experience does the give me that my X-H1 or X-T3 doesn’t give me?”
The X-Pro2 is without doubt the best cameras Fujifilm has produced in the X-Pro series.
Indeed, as it has been said, what is at the heart of this series, what distinguishes it, is obviously the optical viewfinder (OVF). But it turns out that the OVF of the X-Pro2 is better than the X-Pro1 and much better than the X-Pro3 which is more surprising.
Compared to the X-Pro1, the OVF of the X-Pro2 offers a better correction of the parallax, and the hybrid mode which by inserting in the bottom right corner of the lens a small electronic image allowing to get an idea of the final image. However these two points are not too important.
On the other hand, compared to the OVF of the X-Pro2, the one of the X-Pro3 suffers from an important regression as it loses the second level of magnification. This may seem marginal, but it is not. On the contrary it is fundamental. The OVF of the X-Pro3 is adapted to a 23mm focal length. In fact, it is not even really adapted since, as on the X100, the OVF of the X-Pro3 does not offer at this focal length enough field of view outside the frame.
If Fujifilm ever produces an X-Pro4, it would do well to reverse the decision to remove the two levels of magnification. This seems to me to be essential if they want to seduce the current X-Pro2 owners who might otherwise sulk about a handicapped camera which would only offer slight improvements.