Fujifilm X-E1: First Look

The Fujifilm X-E1

Less than a year ago, Fujifilm introduced to us the Fuji X-Pro1 system camera in the now-famous X series of digital cameras. Unlike the rest of the X series, however, the X-Pro1 is a system camera, a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera, and is one of the most highly priced and ‘premium’ of its kind at the moment

Despite being a rather big success, the X-Pro1 was not without flaws.  Firmware fixes came and went, and these helped in some areas, but for a camera costing $1600+ for the body alone, this was not impressive. Not to mention that $1600 is out of reach for many people even if it’s the PERFECT camera!

Anyway, the point of today’s discussion here is the newest addition to the X series, and more importantly to the X system, i.e. another mirrorless interchangeable lens system camera, the X-E1! You can get yours here at Amazon, or check out B&H Photo too – great deals:

Image from Fujifilm

First Thoughts

The X-E1 is sort of like the little brother to the X-Pro1 (even the name sounds similar), a bit like how the X10 is to the X100 (well, maybe not quite). But you know what I mean – it’s smaller and cheaper, and doesn’t seem to have cut down on too many important features. In fact, for those of you (like myself) who thought the X-Pro1 was great but way overpriced, the X-E1 seems like the perfect alternative

The biggest difference that contributes to the lower price and smaller size would be the X-E1’s lack of the X-Pro1’s famous optical/electronic hybrid viewfinder. This is a wonderful feature that the X-Pro1 has but the X-E1 has replaced it with a regular electronic viewfinder – although this EVF has been improved to a far higher resolution than the X-Pro1’s. Apart from that, there’s nothing obvious that’s missing from the new X-E1 – the body design looks almost identical, just missing the optical finder…the controls and layout look the same (as do all cameras in the X series, for that matter), and even the 16MP X-Trans CMOS sensor is the same, as is the EXR processor. So, basically, if you have used an electronic viewfinder before, or you think you can live without it, go for the X-E1…there’s no other major difference. Oh, it comes in two colors…full black, and silver (or chrome, not sure what they call it)

Fujifilm X-E1: Specifications

• Body: Rangefinder, magnesium alloy
• Resolution: 16MP
• Sensor Size: APS-C (1.5x crop factor)

• Sensor Type: X-Trans CMOS
• Lens Mount: Fujifilm X-mount
• Image Stabilization: No

• Shutter speeds: 1/4000 sec maximum, 30 seconds minimum
• ISO Range: 100-25600 (with expansion)
• Video: 1920×1080 (24fps)

• Metering modes: Multi-zone, average, spot
• Exposure Modes: P, A, S, M
• Built in flash: Yes (range 7”)
• Hot-shoe: Yes

• Autofocus: Contrast detection
• AF modes: Multi area, center, single, continuous
• Manual focus: Yes

• Screen: 2.8” LCD (460k dot resolution) non-touch, non-articulated
• Optical Viewfinder: No
• Electronic Viewfinder: Yes – 2.36million-dot EVF

• Max Drive Speed: 6fps
• File Formats: JPEG, RAW

• Connections: USB 2.0, HDMI (mini)
• Memory Card Types: SD/SDHC/SDXC

• Dimensions: 129x75x38mm
• Weight: 350g (with battery)

So there you have it. And again, going by those, it seems like the only thing missing from the much higher-priced X-Pro1 is the optical viewfinder – and instead, the X-E1 has a much higher resolution electronic viewfinder (2.36million dots to the X-Pro1’s 1.44million dots), and adds a little built-in flash too! Not bad at all

Controls

The control layout looks very similar to the X-Pro1, and in fact almost identical to the Fuji X10 compact too. Let’s just have a quick look at the vast array of controls on this camera:

Image from digicame-info.com

The top panel features the power button, the shutter button, the customizable Fn button, an exposure compensation dial, and (just like the X-Pro1/X100) where most cameras these days have a Mode dial, the X-E1 has a shutter speed dial, just like a camera from the old days of manual film SLR/rangefinders. And in case you’re wondering, yes…the X-mount lenses include an aperture ring to control aperture directly too. Fantastic. The top also has the pop-up flash and the hot-shoe

Image from fujifilm.com

The back panel obviously has more controls and other stuff to talk of! Firstly, there’s the EVF, along with a diopter adjustment wheel. Besides that is a flash release button, not found on the X-Pro1 as that camera doesn’t have a pop-up flash. Then there are buttons for playback, Drive, AF and AE, on the left of the LCD. On the right, you find a command wheel, a 4-way directional control (with the Menu button in the middle) and a display/back button. Near the thumb grip is an AEL/AFL button, along with a customizable menu button found on the X-Pro1 as well, the Q button. On the X-E1, the view/mode button allows you to change between the EVF and the LCD

The front simply has the AF illuminator, the focus selector, and the lens release button. And the flash. That’s it

Image from digicame-info.com

So yeah, the controls are comprehensive, as they have been on all the X series cameras – and if you’ve used any of them, you’d be right at home with the X-E1, which is good to note

Performance

Performance is said to have been improved, especially in the autofocus department, where the X-Pro1 let down – Fuji claims the X-E1 gets AF lock at a speed of 0.1 seconds, which should be very impressive indeed – and although I can’t say for sure, early reviewers state that AF speed is excellent on the X-E1. Another reason to go for this beauty!

Apart from AF speed, everything else seems to be on par with the X-Pro1 – continuous shooting, write speeds, etc., and I don’t see any reason why general operation of the camera should be anything but the same or faster than the X-Pro1

X-Series Lenses

Along with this camera, Fuji released the first X-mount zoom lens, the 18-55mm f2.8-4, which comes with the X-E1 as a kit. It covers a nice focal length, and at f2.8-4, it’s faster than a standard DSLR kit lens. No idea yet on its performance though. However, going by the rest of the X series of lenses, it should be good! It also has a 4-stop image stabilization system, and a fast, super quiet AF motor

If you’re not familiar with the X-mount lens line-up, there’s currently a selection of three great Fujinon prime lenses: the 18mm f2.0 wide-angle, the 30mm f1.4 ‘standard’ prime, and the 60mm f2.4mm telephoto – good enough to cover most bases…and they’re generally solid performers

Conclusion

The Fuji X-E1 seems to be fantastic, so far. It’s got everything the X-Pro1 has, plus more (pop-up flash, supposedly better AF performance, smaller!) for a significantly lower price, the only drawback being the lack of an optical viewfinder. This maybe a huge drawback for some, a real deal-breaker…but if it’s not, this is a great camera for you – I know it’s definitely tempting me!

One point I need to make here, although it is due to my personal experience only, is to be a bit careful when buying Fuji products at the moment. Pretty much all their high-end gear that I’ve read about (namely the X series) have some sort of flaw – the X10 had the faulty sensor/dusty lens (the worst of the lot), the X100 had the sticky aperture that many complained about, the X-Pro1 had slow AF, although that was supposedly fixed in a firmware update…so I’d wait a bit more until there are plenty of reviews on the X-E1 before dumping $1000+ on it – but so far so good! I’m having high hopes for this one

I’d really like to do a full review on this beautiful camera – if Fuji were kind enough to give me a sample to test and review, wouldn’t that be fantastic?! Anyway, if you’d like to get yours, get it from B&H Photo or right here from Amazon - thanks!

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By Heshan Jayakody
All text content on this article is my own - images are from fujifilm.com and digicame-info.com

Technorati Tags: photography, fujifilm, digital-camera-review, x-e1, product-reviews, photo-gear, mirrorless-cameras, MILC, pixelogist

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