Fuji Fuji XT-1 - new top dog Fuji X or over-festooned retro?

Many will have followed the Fuji rumours around the just-announced Fuji XT-1, and I'm curious to see what the Fuji shooters on SC think of this new direction for Fuji.

On first glance, it looks like it offers the manual control many claim to prefer, with what seems like a killer EVF. Guess someone here will be shooting with it soon enough...
 
Looks very interesting. What I don't get is why all these new "high-end" DSLR-shaped mirrorless cameras omit the built in flash. Currently only Samsung and Panasonic have one, but the OM-D series, the a7(r) and the XT don't, and it makes the cameras a lot less attractive to me. Add-on flashes just ruin any kind of pocketability the camera might have...

Other than that, I really like what I'm seeing. Only things missing, beyond the flash, are IBIS and/or a (stabilized) fast wide angle prime (16/2 or faster/wider).

Style wise... not as pretty as the X-Pro/E/M/A/X100 series, but not as awkward as the Nikon DF either (which is just too large IMO). But I don't really care about a camera's looks anyway (even though I do really enjoy looking at my X100 :) but if it'd been ugly I'd have bought it just the same).
 
I prefer the faux-slr design to the faux-rangefinder design, so it's a winner on that front, and on first appearances this looks like 'retro' done right (yes I'm looking at you Nikon Df)...

Nice to see an ISO-dial :)

One thing that puzzles me (as it did with Olympus/Panasonic) - what's with weather sealing and the complete lack of product foresite? Presumably Oly/Pana/Fuji had at least reasonably solid plans to release a weather sealed body at some point. Why then were so few, if any, of the earlier 'premium' lenses unsealed?
 
On paper this is a very impressive looking camera and I like that you can re-assign key exposure parameters to the front dial instead of having to use the aperture ring or shutter speed dial, but their continued refusal to employ a touchscreen panel is either commendable for it's unwavering resolve or just extreme bloodymindedness at the expense of functionality...
 
I was skeptical at first because I really have fallen in love with the rangefinder design but after seeing that huge EVF, I dunno it's growing on me and I don't think I will wait for the X-Pro2.

Of course I want to use one in person before I decide, I really enjoyed shooting with the Nikon Df despite my nose hitting the back screen.
Either way, you really cannot ignore Fuji now especially if they give it a cracker of a advertising campaign.
 
I'd be real into it if I was still shooting with Fuji gear. The first Fuji with both a built in viewfinder (and evidently one as nice or nicer than the one on the EM1, which is already pretty amazing) AND a tilting screen, which is damn near a minimum requirement for me in a system camera these days. The auto-ISO is up to the same level as the XE2, there are now SIX programmable function buttons - the one or two on previous Fujis had been a real weak point IMHO. 1/8000 shutter speed would have been nice (which I never fully appreciated until I had it on my m43 gear - it's VERY useful on cameras without a built-in ND), but that can easily be worked around. And I guess the AF, face detection, etc remains to be seen. It sounds like it's probably pretty similar to the XE2 / X100s, but probably still well short of m43??

With the new 10-24, 23, and 56mm lenses, Fuji is getting pretty formidable for everything from ultra-wide up to a short portrait length. For anything longer than 90mm equivalent, I'd still favor m43 for lens selection, size, and performance, but two of those three should improve with time...

-Ray
 
I'd rather have an X-Pro body with those new improvements. I like bigger bodies....they're easier to hold. I also prefer the faux rangefinder design to the faux SLR design. But I'm certain that if one knows how to use any camera, they'll take great photos with it.
 
I think I like the technical advancements more than the actual form factor. So far I'd still rather have an XE-2. But I'm very happy they're doing this. Trickle down tech, and all. New viewfinder looks excellent.
 
This is the first Fuji "X" camera after the X100 that I'm really excited about. I like how they got rid of the buttons to the left of the rear LCD and like how they built the control system around the right thumb and forefinger.

I can control all my settings, including ISO, without having to turn the camera on! Lovely, just lovely. I like second guessing myself as to what the correct exposure should be. This plays right into that personality quirk.

Dang, I think I might just have to pick one up. And get the 56mm 1.2 lens. I don't need another camera. Sigh.
 
It just so happens that over the weekend I worked on clearing out some of my imports-to-be-processed and ran across some older Fuji files. Having not seen them in a long time I opened them in Iridient Developer (these were Xtrans files) and was mightily impressed. The timing of the XT-1 may be unfortunate in my circumstance. I had declared 2014 a no-new-gear year (excepting anything interesting from Ricoh) and instead I would focus on deepening my photographic and post processing education (which I have been doing and I've made good strides) and on creating simple photobooks for personal consumption.

But I have been frustrated by the RAW files from the Olympus E-M1, which I cannot seem to dial in the way I like; they simply don't seem to have the processing latitude that APS and above files do. Very nice files, don't get me wrong, but I tend to push files quite a bit and appreciate some flexibility in post processing depending on what I want to do with them. The XT-1 looks like a nice option to the E-M1, and frankly the lens lineup really appeals to me: 21mm, 50mm, macro and several useful zooms. The XT-1 EVF sounds very appealing too.

In any case, I'll patiently wait and see how the XT-1 pans out. It's clear that Fuji is all out and working hard to design and build a great system. Go Fuji!
 
... What I don't get is why all these new "high-end" DSLR-shaped mirrorless cameras omit the built in flash. ...

Thank the great Lord Barnack that they do. I hate built-in flash with a passion; too weak and small, too close to the lens axis to be useful, and a compromise in body integrity...

...what's with weather sealing and the complete lack of product foresite? Presumably Oly/Pana/Fuji had at least reasonably solid plans to release a weather sealed body at some point. Why then were so few, if any, of the earlier 'premium' lenses unsealed?

Cost, I suspect, plus the neverending internet clamour for a weathersealed body to match those lenses from day one...

...their continued refusal to employ a touchscreen panel is either commendable for it's unwavering resolve or just extreme bloodymindedness at the expense of functionality...

Well, personally I absolutely wouldn't be buying it if it had one - to me it is, like a built-in flash, a weak point - something to go wrong. It's bad enough that it is tilty...I shall be experimenting with velcro dots at least, if not superglue...

And there's the rub. This is the body that is likely to take me to 80% Fuji, selling off my remaining Nikon kit. This with long and macro lenses, an X-E1 or 2 for standard and long, and I am where I want to be. Back in the day I had Contax SLR and G, then Leica R and M. Fuji are now giving me "all in one" lens compatibility with both SLR and rangefinder form factors. What's not to like, particularly at the price?

My comments above, by the way, are to demonstrate that you can't please everyone all the time. I, with the exception of that damned tilty screen, am as happy as a sand-boy with the spec and just waiting for the call to say that my dealer has mine to give me. :)
 
Thank the great Lord Barnack that they do. I hate built-in flash with a passion; too weak and small, too close to the lens axis to be useful, and a compromise in body integrity...

So long as there's a hot shoe, you can always add a dedicated flash if the built-in flash isn't good enough for you - no one's forcing you to use it as your only flash. I find built-in flash very useful for a bit of fill flash. Regarding the body integrity, that's a fair point, although I think it should be possible to design a flash that's weathersealerd (Pentax has been doing so for years), and the risk of the flash breaking could be reduced by making the flash slightly recessed from the surrounding bodywork.
 
Well, personally I absolutely wouldn't be buying it if it had one - to me it is, like a built-in flash, a weak point - something to go wrong. It's bad enough that it is tilty...I shall be experimenting with velcro dots at least, if not superglue...

But where do you draw the line? Failure points exist everywhere, write down to the globs of solder on the circuit board. I've had an EVF go wrong and need replacement so there is another weak point. I've had an SD card get stuck inside on a camera on it's lock tab and mangle the memory card release mechanism; ditto. On the other hand, I have a good amount of faith in touchscreens given that I have seen many of them still working perfectly well when the screen itself has suffered an impact and looks like a spiderweb.
 
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