Had a play with the X-T2, XPro2 & the XT-20

Willie Garvin

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Me & the missus spent the day in Sheffield yesterday, she was shopping & I was wandering around with my camera.

Having parked our car at Meadowhall we caught the tram in, we find it a lot easier this way & of course being 'old gits' we can use our bus passes!!   

Anyway after having breakfast/brunch (it was 11.15am) from one of the many eateries in the market we parted & went our separate ways, as we always do as I don't do shopping, no way.

So after several hours we met back up for a coffee & a catch up, then we went our seperate ways again.

For me it was a great day to be out with a camera, albeit a tad too bright on this glorious sunny day, summer is here for the weekend!!

Again a few hours passed & we met up again this time for a sarnie & another drink plus the obligatory visit to the toilet, which is a fact of life when you are in your mid sixties & a bummer too (excuse the pun)!! 

From this last pit stop we set off back to Meadowhall & the car to drop any shopping off & deposit my now heavy camera bag.

Then we went into Meadowhall for a quick visit, I totally hate shopping malls, plus you cannot use your camera, not that there is anything worth snapping in these places!!

Again we said our goodbyes & said we would meet up in an hour outside the M&S stores exit to the carpark & off we went.

Apologies for this long intro which has very little to do with this posts title.

I knew where I wanted to go whilst here at Meadowhall, I was going to Jessops whilst I had the chance.

Because so many people here on the Wam use Fuji mirrorless cameras I have wanted for a long time to try out the X-T2, XPro2 & the XT-20 & see what I thought of them.

So I found Jessops, I should mention whilst I remember that I had left my camera stuff in the car, I entered Jessops & straight away thought that it must be some sort of Jessops gathering of shop floor staff, the small shop was wall to wall Jessops assistants, way way to many IMHO.

I was approached by a young girl & I explained that I wanted to try out these three cameras & was then passed on to a seemingly more experienced male assistant.

So eventually I get to try all three of them out & I loved the XT-2 & the XPro2 but the XT-20 was a bit small for my hands.

In brief then because these cameras although removed from their security stalks were still tethered by a short security cable so I couldn't really handle them that well

XT-2

  1. Chunky well made feel to it, as the XPro1 has.
  2. Larger control buttons.
  3. Toggle switch
  4. Adjustable dioptric
  5. Better specs etc (although I didn't get to see/use these because of lack of time etc).
  6. Loud clunky sound when pressing the shutter release button (not there on the XPro1).
  7. Other stuff probably but not enough time or freedom of movement to discover. 
XT-20

  1. Doesn't have that chunky well made feel to it, as the XPro1 or the other two have.
  2. Small control buttons.
  3. Toggle switch
  4. Adjustable dioptric (although I found it harder to adjust because the dial is so close to the viewfinder).
  5. Better specs etc (although I didn't get to see/use these because of lack of time etc). 
  6. Too small in the hand for me.
  7. Loud clunky sound when pressing the shutter release button (not there on the XPro1).
  8. Other stuff probably but not enough time or freedom of movement to discover. 
XPro2

  1. Chunky well made feel to it, as the XPro1 has.
  2. Larger control buttons.
  3. Toggle switch
  4. Adjustable dioptric
  5. Better specs etc (although I didn't get to see/use these because of lack of time etc).  
  6. View finder more to my liking being closer to the XPro1.
  7. Loud clunky sound when pressing the shutter release button (not there on the XPro1).
  8. Other stuff probably but not enough time or freedom of movement to discover. 
So for me not a lot of difference between these three based on the short time on each & the very limited movement. The XT-20 is definitely too small for me & the XPro2 is probably the one that I would choose based on this short try out, but not until the price drops dramatically!!

I came away from Jessops not liking the Jessops experience at all & will probably repeat this try out at Dales Photographic in Leeds asap.

I also came away thinking that if the XPro1 had an adjustable dioptric I would be a happy bunny & probably wouldn't think about upgrading my Fuji XPro1 at all!

Also aware that this was a very limited try out, really need to have the XT-2 & XPro2 for a day or two to really put them through there paces.

But having done this very limited 'try out' I can truly appreciate just how good this 2012 XPro1 is & even though I might think of upgrading to another Fuji mirrorless I know for sure that this XPro1 of mine is a keeper as long as it is working. On that note I have just had a thought, do Fuji have cameras in & do a refurb or is that just wishful thinking on my part!!  

Now I need to find out what dioptric I need so that I can replace the one in my faithful old XPro1.

Apologies for this lengthy tale.

Cheers,

willie g 

 
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HectorHughMunro

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You're right about the price. 

You can kill the shutter sound entirely.  The electronic shutter is good enough to use.  I have the button on the front set to toggle between mechanical and electronic shutter. 

Electronic shutter is terrific for street photography. 

 

Gromit

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Thanks for the write-up, Mick. :^

It's very interesting to get your slant on this (especially as I've recently moved my Pro2 on). This is of course my entirely subjective opinion, but as a tool for taking photos, the Pro2 wasn't that much of a jump over the Pro1. Yes it's a heck of a lot faster in terms of AF (but only really with the later, WR lenses) and it's nice to be able to assign functions to separate buttons. However for what I used it for I should've probably stayed with the Pro1.

Got a pair of lovely Samyang MF lenses here which I'm trying to sell (well...I haven't tried that hard!) and giving thought to spending a couple of hundred quid on a Pro1 body, just to get them back in occasional use.

 

Willie Garvin

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Thanks for the write-up, Mick. :^

It's very interesting to get your slant on this (especially as I've recently moved my Pro2 on). This is of course my entirely subjective opinion, but as a tool for taking photos, the Pro2 wasn't that much of a jump over the Pro1. Yes it's a heck of a lot faster in terms of AF (but only really with the later, WR lenses) and it's nice to be able to assign functions to separate buttons. However for what I used it for I should've probably stayed with the Pro1.

Got a pair of lovely Samyang MF lenses here which I'm trying to sell (well...I haven't tried that hard!) and giving thought to spending a couple of hundred quid on a Pro1 body, just to get them back in occasional use.
Richard thanks for being generous with my 'basic' write up on my limited 'try out', kind of you.

But I did come away thinking what would be my real gains in either getting the XT-2 or the XPro2 & I came to the conclusion that apart from the missing adjustable dioptric my XPro1 is a keeper & it is a forgotten gem as far as I am concerned. So much so that I don't leave the house without mine, except when I put the bins out of course!!

My XPro1 is the dogs bollocks, sorry Canon/Nikon & the rest, although your new Oly is looking remarkably good Richard (I'm a bit jealous of just how good their images look).

Too be honest this visit to Jessops has made me realise just how good the XPro1 is for a camera that came out in 2012!!

So if I can find out which dioptric I require I will buy one & fit it & carry on using my XPro1.

With regards to you getting another XPro1 DigitalRev are selling new XPro1 bodies for €655/£560      https://store.digitalrev.com/product/fujifilm-x-pro1/MTAwMDI1NA_A_A

Cheers,

Mick

 

Bolts

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Thanks Mick for putting the time into that write up, a good read.

I think you're really questioning why you need all the bells and whistles when the X Pro1 is so good - and I'd agree, if you don't, stick with the X Pro1.  I bought the X Pro2 having had, and not really loved, the X T1. I like the form factor of the X Pro series and for my fun, do-it-all camera the X Pro2 lacks very little.  Look at how one of my sons Sam, cradles his X Pro 1 - he loves it - it'll be with him in Nepal for his 2018 gap year ;)

Sam's cam.jpg by -DaveBailey1-

 

HectorHughMunro

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I think you know it when you need to upgrade. It's probably not the right time yet. The X-Pro 1 has charm and its faults probably contribute rather than detract from it as a camera.

The 35mm 1.4 impresses me more every day. 

 

Sumdumgi

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I was never interested in the X-Pro2 but handled the X-T2 and the X-T20 a few times over a few months before buying the X-T2.

The T20 was too small for me but if it's ergonomics suit it's a fantastic buy, most of the T2s specs for a significantly lower price.

I loved the T1 and still do but I'm quickly coming to love the T2 more. It's focussing is way ahead of it's predecessor, the bigger sensor produces quite fabulous jpegs.

It's pricey but I bought with double trade in bonus and got £220 for a Nikon D70 which had been in a cupboard for several years !  Additionally I had a couple of older lenses to trade so all in all picked up the T2 for £920. I considered putting in the T1 but ended up keeping it and will carry it as a spare body for my Fuji lenses.

Looking at Mick's Flickr account he's producing some excellent stuff with the XPro1 - how much better would it be with an upgrade I don't know- if any. Upgrading may give more flexibility, speed, resolution and ease of use - facilitating grabbing a shot that may have been missed. Valuing these improvements is difficult, it's very personal.

 

rockmeister

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I also had half an hour with those three recently, and an Olympus 10, 5 and pen F.

I pref'd the Fuji operating system, but the lens bulk (comparative) made no sense on the 20 or Pen....cameras for prime lenses only really, and the T2 was wonderful in every way, but at that size, not a technically better solution than Mrs rock's Nikon D5400. The olympus system made more sense for what we wanted, and especially because of rosie's wildlife shooting hobby...sudenly, 600mm lenses are portable, cheap and sharp. No brainer for us. 

 

HectorHughMunro

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I also had half an hour with those three recently, and an Olympus 10, 5 and pen F.

I pref'd the Fuji operating system, but the lens bulk (comparative) made no sense on the 20 or Pen....cameras for prime lenses only really, and the T2 was wonderful in every way, but at that size, not a technically better solution than Mrs rock's Nikon D5400. The olympus system made more sense for what we wanted, and especially because of rosie's wildlife shooting hobby...sudenly, 600mm lenses are portable, cheap and sharp. No brainer for us. 
It's correct that a 5400 or 7200 is competitive with with the current generation of >£1200 mirrorless cameras. I wouldn't go back to DSLR but for someone starting, the price difference and lens choice is persuasive. 

At some point, Fuji is going to have to get sensible with body pricing. 

 

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