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M38A1
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FujiFilm XT-2 pics at the end of the post....
[Edit to add] And some D4s comparison shots after that in subsequent posts.
This past Friday I had the opportunity to attend a seminar put on by FujiFilm at COTA (Circuit Of The Americas). They were in town with the WEC LeMans races held at the track. One of the presenters was a FujiFilm shooter of the series and he travels globally covering the races. He uses the XT-2. As part of the seminar fee, we were reimbursed our $20 parking fee, received a 32GB SD card, a FujiFilm ballcap (which we needed to wear so we could gain free access to the 'tower'). We each also were provided a brand new XT-2 with the battery grip as well as the 100-400mm lens (150-600mm FF equivalent) There were about 10 of us in the 2pm seminar.
We all met at the gate and were led in by the FujiFilm rep. We gave them our drivers license, and were issued a neck hang badge, an access badge and a camera/lens/grip combo. The presenter told us of his work and began to go over the controls of the camera suggesting we set certain parameters to start with and venture from there. In a nutshell, continuous focus/multiple points, floating ISO, .jpg format, burst shooting mode, matrix metering and 1/500th sec shutter speed to get us started.
We were invited to bring along our own gear for a comparison if we so chose of which I did. Carrying my D4s with the 70-200 along with their XT2 and it's 100-400 was a handful.
We followed our presenter around the course to four or five locations where we could shoot as much or as little as we wanted. We then made our way to the tower and shot a bit from up there, then retreated to our last turn for the session some two hours later where we pulled the memory card to keep and turned in the camera to get our DL back. So for my $99, I got my parking ($20) paid for, a trip to the top of the tower ($20), a 32GB FujiFilm SD card ($35), AND the opportunity to try a new 4/3 mirrorless camera setup which seems to be all the rage now for sports and action.
My observations include:
PROS
1. The thing is light, light, light....
The weight (or lack thereof) was VERY nice. I've developed a little tendon issue carrying around the big rig, and this setup was considerably lighter. Lighter equals better comfort for all day shoots.
2. The 600mm equivalent FF lens makes me want that sort of focal reach.
Man was 600mm nice. I had 200mm available with my Nikkor and it simply didn't cut the mustard so to speak. With 600mm, you can reach several hundred yards out and fill the frame with a vehicle. Can't do that with a 200.
3. The layout was fairly intuitive.
Think of an old SLR film body. This XP2 was that simple, and the menu system was pretty straight forward with things where one would think they should be.
4. The Velvia mode was pretty cool.
Since this is digital and FujiFilm was the master of color processing, they've incorporated several color modes. I chose Velvia and it did not disappoint. It might not be for everybody, but I kind of like it.
5. The 'stealth' factor was high.
This would be a perfect street/documentary or travel camera solution. It's small, compact and certainly does not scream "Guy with Camera" or "Professional".
CONS
1. The mirrorless lag time was annoying.
This is something that probably one could get used to. Since a DSLR uses a mirror, you always see instantly through the lens then the mirror locks up for the shot. With the mirrorless cameras, you're seeing what the sensor sees, so there's a little time lag between firing it up and if it goes to sleep being able to fire off shots or see exactly what is being recorded.
2. There was no 'lock out' on the back of the camera body for turning on the menu function while carrying the camera.
The Menu buttons were on the right back side about where your palm would be if you carried the body without a strap. So I was continually hitting the Menu button carrying it this way.
3. The light weight seemed to be a drawback when panning.
As light as it was I sometimes felt like the lighter mass was a drawback for smooth panning. The 70-200 is a beast and is not prone to jerky movements. This 100-400 did the job, but seemed to 'bounce a bit' more.
4. The focus tracking is not close to my D4s for moving subjects
This is huge for me in Sports&Action. Panning across shots it seemed to do fine, and coming towards me was 'acceptable'. But shots going away were a total failure in spite of the setting that allows better focus tracking for those types of shots. I shot 862 with the Fuji and when all was said and done after the first cull for focus/framing I was down to 140. With the Nikon I shot 990 and after the first cull had 295. Granted, many of these for both were duplicates as I had high speed burst on for both. But the ones I tossed from the Nikon were all in focus whereas the Fuji I tossed due to lack of perfect focus.
6. The f/stop range on the wide open side won't cut it for me.
My 70-200 is an f/2.8 and I'm spoiled with that in low light as well as wanting a very shallow DOF at 200mm. The 100-400 was a variable f/4.5-5.6 and really would not have been adequate in low light situations as the evening races progressed. Even tossing on my 2.0x converter to get me to 400mm, I'd only lose a stop of light.
FINAL ASSESSMENT
Although nicely assembled and smooth to operate, I just don't see me getting rid of my existing system for this. I could sell my D4s and pretty much have the same exact setup I used for this event and have change left over. Then selling the rest of the glass I'd have a LOT of change left over. However, the focus tracking is critical path for what I do. I used the same settings the pro used, yet my 'hit ratio' was pretty poor for objects moving towards or more so - away - from me. I can't have that happen. I DO like the compact form of this setup, more specifically the body. I think paired with a 50mm and 24-70 or so equivalent, this would be an incredible personal and/or travel camera system.
So what can it do? Here's some shots with the FujiFilm XT2 and the 100-400mm lens along with the battery grip.
[Edit to add] And some D4s comparison shots after that in subsequent posts.
This past Friday I had the opportunity to attend a seminar put on by FujiFilm at COTA (Circuit Of The Americas). They were in town with the WEC LeMans races held at the track. One of the presenters was a FujiFilm shooter of the series and he travels globally covering the races. He uses the XT-2. As part of the seminar fee, we were reimbursed our $20 parking fee, received a 32GB SD card, a FujiFilm ballcap (which we needed to wear so we could gain free access to the 'tower'). We each also were provided a brand new XT-2 with the battery grip as well as the 100-400mm lens (150-600mm FF equivalent) There were about 10 of us in the 2pm seminar.
We all met at the gate and were led in by the FujiFilm rep. We gave them our drivers license, and were issued a neck hang badge, an access badge and a camera/lens/grip combo. The presenter told us of his work and began to go over the controls of the camera suggesting we set certain parameters to start with and venture from there. In a nutshell, continuous focus/multiple points, floating ISO, .jpg format, burst shooting mode, matrix metering and 1/500th sec shutter speed to get us started.
We were invited to bring along our own gear for a comparison if we so chose of which I did. Carrying my D4s with the 70-200 along with their XT2 and it's 100-400 was a handful.
We followed our presenter around the course to four or five locations where we could shoot as much or as little as we wanted. We then made our way to the tower and shot a bit from up there, then retreated to our last turn for the session some two hours later where we pulled the memory card to keep and turned in the camera to get our DL back. So for my $99, I got my parking ($20) paid for, a trip to the top of the tower ($20), a 32GB FujiFilm SD card ($35), AND the opportunity to try a new 4/3 mirrorless camera setup which seems to be all the rage now for sports and action.
My observations include:
PROS
1. The thing is light, light, light....
The weight (or lack thereof) was VERY nice. I've developed a little tendon issue carrying around the big rig, and this setup was considerably lighter. Lighter equals better comfort for all day shoots.
2. The 600mm equivalent FF lens makes me want that sort of focal reach.
Man was 600mm nice. I had 200mm available with my Nikkor and it simply didn't cut the mustard so to speak. With 600mm, you can reach several hundred yards out and fill the frame with a vehicle. Can't do that with a 200.
3. The layout was fairly intuitive.
Think of an old SLR film body. This XP2 was that simple, and the menu system was pretty straight forward with things where one would think they should be.
4. The Velvia mode was pretty cool.
Since this is digital and FujiFilm was the master of color processing, they've incorporated several color modes. I chose Velvia and it did not disappoint. It might not be for everybody, but I kind of like it.
5. The 'stealth' factor was high.
This would be a perfect street/documentary or travel camera solution. It's small, compact and certainly does not scream "Guy with Camera" or "Professional".
CONS
1. The mirrorless lag time was annoying.
This is something that probably one could get used to. Since a DSLR uses a mirror, you always see instantly through the lens then the mirror locks up for the shot. With the mirrorless cameras, you're seeing what the sensor sees, so there's a little time lag between firing it up and if it goes to sleep being able to fire off shots or see exactly what is being recorded.
2. There was no 'lock out' on the back of the camera body for turning on the menu function while carrying the camera.
The Menu buttons were on the right back side about where your palm would be if you carried the body without a strap. So I was continually hitting the Menu button carrying it this way.
3. The light weight seemed to be a drawback when panning.
As light as it was I sometimes felt like the lighter mass was a drawback for smooth panning. The 70-200 is a beast and is not prone to jerky movements. This 100-400 did the job, but seemed to 'bounce a bit' more.
4. The focus tracking is not close to my D4s for moving subjects
This is huge for me in Sports&Action. Panning across shots it seemed to do fine, and coming towards me was 'acceptable'. But shots going away were a total failure in spite of the setting that allows better focus tracking for those types of shots. I shot 862 with the Fuji and when all was said and done after the first cull for focus/framing I was down to 140. With the Nikon I shot 990 and after the first cull had 295. Granted, many of these for both were duplicates as I had high speed burst on for both. But the ones I tossed from the Nikon were all in focus whereas the Fuji I tossed due to lack of perfect focus.
6. The f/stop range on the wide open side won't cut it for me.
My 70-200 is an f/2.8 and I'm spoiled with that in low light as well as wanting a very shallow DOF at 200mm. The 100-400 was a variable f/4.5-5.6 and really would not have been adequate in low light situations as the evening races progressed. Even tossing on my 2.0x converter to get me to 400mm, I'd only lose a stop of light.
FINAL ASSESSMENT
Although nicely assembled and smooth to operate, I just don't see me getting rid of my existing system for this. I could sell my D4s and pretty much have the same exact setup I used for this event and have change left over. Then selling the rest of the glass I'd have a LOT of change left over. However, the focus tracking is critical path for what I do. I used the same settings the pro used, yet my 'hit ratio' was pretty poor for objects moving towards or more so - away - from me. I can't have that happen. I DO like the compact form of this setup, more specifically the body. I think paired with a 50mm and 24-70 or so equivalent, this would be an incredible personal and/or travel camera system.
So what can it do? Here's some shots with the FujiFilm XT2 and the 100-400mm lens along with the battery grip.
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