Fujifilm X-E1 and XF 18-55mm Lens

I took a walk around town this week and shot some images with the X-E1.  The newest camera in the X series should ship around Nov 1 in the USA.  
One thing that I always look for is the way a digital camera captures sky blue.  I was a big fan of Velvia and miss the look of a landscape with the rich hues of Velvia since I don't shoot film that often.  So when I took a walk on the High Line with the X-E1 I wanted to see what kind of blues it would capture.  Needless to say I am overjoyed with its performance.  I hit the Quick menu button and flipped the X-E1 in Velvia mode and set off.  As expected the images are sharp and vivid and this is from a pre-production body and lens (it is not without faults because of this so it will only improve).

The XF18-55mm lens has a few new features for XF lenses. 
There is optical image stabilization, and you can see the switch on the bottom left of the lens image.  Then there is an aperture ring which communicates the F/ number to the body when the lens is switched from the Automatic to Aperture icon.  This lets you spin the ring closest to the body to adjust the aperture values.
The next ring is the zoom ring, followed by the smooth manual focusing ring.
http://www.fujifilmusa.com/products/digital_cameras/x/fujifilm_x_e1/ I messed up on earlier posts and left out the metadata - but these images should contain the exposure info.  I am also including some other images from last week which show some high ISO shooting.  Since this is the same sensor as the X-Pro1, image quality will be excellent when the camera ships at the end of the month.  The real excitement will be when the XF14mm hits the market as well.

Doesn't a bright blue sky make you feel good?  These images are not adjusted for hue and color - just imported with Aperture and exported.  I made very few tweaks for brightness since I clearly was shooting easy scenes to get the exposure correct (jpegs).  A polarizer filter also helps cut the glare down.

One major improvement which will be talked about once the reviews on the camera begin will be the amazing improvement in manual focus with the XF18-55mm lens.  The new linear focus motor makes the manual focus smooth and accurate.  It raises the performance the firmware 2.0 made to an even higher level.  So not to sound confusing - yes this LENS makes a difference on either body since it has a new focus motor system.  You'll see - you have to feel it to know.  As most have read - the new firmware has improved the overall performance of the X-Pro1 including the AF and manual focus, and this lens really kicks it up.

The new OLED 2.36MM EVF viewfinder is easy to work with and has a great viewing angle for use in all lighting situations (glasses on or off).  Having a pop up flash is a nice touch for quick fill outdoors (flash sync up to 1/180th).  More high ISO images coming soon - the X-Trans 16mp sensor puts out incredibly smooth high ISO image files.

 The new XF 18-55mm lens at 18mm then 55mm in the same scene.

 

 So here are the low light images from the concert in Radio City Hall.

Yellow lights at ISO 2500

Final Head at ISO 1250

Stage Head ISO 2000

 Magenta Star at ISO 2000

 Blue Crowd at ISO 1600

 ISO 2500

ISO 2500

ISO 2500

 Meatpacking Club ISO 3200

I am an employee of FUJIFILM North America Corporation.

The statements, comments and opinions expressed here represent my own, personal views and are not endorsed by, or affiliated in any way with, FUJIFILM North America Corporation or its affiliates.
bremler@fujifilm.com 

Weekly Email - 9-28-12 - Radio City Heads Up

This week I went to a DJ show at Radio City Music Hall.
Billed as the first time a DJ has headlined at the famous venue, I had never heard of Avicii when Todd called with the invite.

Doing a little research into this performer he is ranked #6 in the world by DJ Magazine - who knew!  Avicii has a few hits we've all probably heard at some point if you've been to Vegas or a club recently.  The mix called Levels had the house literally rockin
g when he "spun" it.  It has a nice chorus remix of Etta James's 1963 Somethings Got a Hold on Me.  The Who's Teenage Wasteland was a great mix.

I tried to take in the light show and he has an interesting stage look since he performs inside a large head which is painted with a myriad of lights.  Here is the before and after of how much can be triggered with color and light.
The images were shot with the Fujifilm X-E1 with the 18-55mm lens and Canon 5DIII with several lenses.  Most at ISO's 1250-2500.   

 

I am an employee of FUJIFILM North America Corporation.

The statements, comments and opinions expressed here represent my own, personal views and are not endorsed by, or affiliated in any way with, FUJIFILM North America Corporation or its affiliates.
bremler@fujifilm.com