Lazy blogger: The Fujifilm X-Pro2 rollout is scheduled for the middle of the night tonight, so you're not going to hear from me about it until tomorrow morning, because, tonight, when the event takes place, I'm going to be in bed, reading. (Fujifilm Australia spilled the beans, if you must know now, but I don't like thinking of the sad fate of the Fujifilm Australia employee who's responsible for the SNAFU. He or she is not a happy camper right at this moment, is my guess.)
It's not that I don't think the rollout is important. I do think it's important. But I didn't even stay up to watch the ball drop on New Year's Eve on TV. (That's how extroverts can tell they're not young any more, by the way. When being in Times Square for New Year's Moment no longer sounds at all appealing, that's it: you're old. You have to be under the spell of the happy idiocy of youth for that to sound like fun. And if it never sounded like fun to you, at any age? That's how you know you're an introvert.
But I digress.)
In the meantime, here's this: the purpose of the new XF 35mm ƒ/2 lens (above) is so it can go on the X-Pro2 (or -1) without blocking the optical finder. Which you may not know if you have never shot with a traditional rangefinder camera. Big, bulky lenses on traditional rangefinders like film Leicas would block off some portion of the lower right-hand area inside the framelines. That's why rangefinder lens hoods sometimes had that funky inward-sloping profile with "vent" holes...to allow you to see through the hood when you're looking through the finder.
A rangefinder lens hood
Similarly, lenses that are smaller and slope inwards toward the objective (outermost element) are better suited for rangefinders. The XF 35mm ƒ/2 will work perfectly on an X-Pro2 when using the optical viewfinder.
An old rangefinder lens. The "pointy," vaguely "conical" shape is no accident.
My late friend Arthur's Fuji X-Pro1, with my relatively bulky XF 23mm ƒ/1.4 mounted on it. (The camera is evidently earmarked to go to Art's nephew, which I think would have pleased Art.)
This shows how much of the optical viewfinder is blocked by the 23mm.
You don't need a rangefinder-shaped lens for the X-Pro2 (or -1), of course. If you're using a lens that blocks the optical finder you can just switch to the EVF and see exactly what the lens sees. But if you want to take full advantage of the OVF aspect of Fuji's amazing hybrid finder, you'll find the XF 35mm ƒ/2 to be the ideal partner for the camera. In case you want to be a digital-era Cartier-Bresson.
Oh, and by the way, the new X-Pro2 will be available in silver as well as black, so it goes with the silver 35mm.
Tune in tomorrow for more lazy-blogger comments about the new Fujis.
Mike
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The new Fuji 35mm f/2 is also very well suited for the compact Fuji X-T10.
Posted by: Stephen Scharf | Thursday, 14 January 2016 at 03:23 PM
I still want to see a no frills Fuji without the deep files...just a simple auto focus (cuz I too am getting old), A/A, manual, retro kind of, straight camera that just takes pictures. No video.
A simple (dare I say it) CAMERA!
Just my dos pesos.
Posted by: Hugh Smith | Thursday, 14 January 2016 at 03:52 PM
Liked this short little write up.
Quickly going to the 35mm f/2, I wouldn't mind if they refreshed or added compact f2 versions like this to the Fuji line up.. I think a 23mm f/2 would make sense as well as updating the other old XF lens such as the 18mm.. yes, it's an f/2 already, but it could certainly use updating in getting the optics and AF speed up to par.. adding the weather sealing and keeping it compact like the 35mm f2 could be a nice update.
I'm personally looking forward to the imminent release of the X-Pro2.
Curious, how do you know for certain there will be both a black and silver version?.. I agree there should be (and I really want there to be) to match the silver and black versions of the new 35mm f2.
Posted by: Wing | Thursday, 14 January 2016 at 03:55 PM
It may look bulky, but that 23mm 1.4 is much lighter than most comparable options. I've handled one in the store and it just feels great on a gripped X-T1.
Posted by: Ash | Thursday, 14 January 2016 at 04:48 PM
So far it looks like a small upgrade to the XPro1, not exciting at all...
I think Fuji should just let this line go, they've obviously not put a lot of R&D into it.
Aaron
Posted by: aaronL | Thursday, 14 January 2016 at 05:26 PM
Hopefully Fuji will price their new cameras a bit more realistically. Or should that be, more reasonably. Currently, Amazon (UK) is selling new X-Pro1's for £287.17. A bit of research reveals that the original UK price at their launch four years ago, was... gulp, £1,429. Secondhand value for anyone moving to a newer one isn't going to be great. Perhaps more worthwhile for current owners to just keep them as a second body.
Did consider that their X-T10 started at a much fairer price.
Personally I just tend to skip all the latest and greatest hyped models, and purchase either the previous models when they're near sellout prices, or barely used cameras e.g. an immaculate five year old Nikon D700 with 192 clicks. That one could be considered as costing the previous owner over £5 for each of those shots taken.
Perhaps a good to time to buy a new X-Pro1, or keep an eye out the forthcoming secondhand bargains!
Posted by: Dave Stewart | Thursday, 14 January 2016 at 06:29 PM
Regarding your New Year's Eve digression: we've solved the problem. For a couple of decades group of our friends have gathered for a pot-luck meal and musical evening every December 31st. With increasing grey hair we were all finding it a challenge to stay awake and enthusiastic until midnight, until someone realized that two members of our circle had moved to a time-zone east of us — we could phone them at 11:00 p.m. our time, wish them a boisterous happy new year, and then go home to bed. After a few years of this even 11:00 is getting to be a challenge (and the novelty was wearing thin with our relocated friends). But then inspiration struck! I have two brothers who live in England — so now we all drink their health at suppertime … and go home to bed whenever we choose.
Posted by: David Miller | Thursday, 14 January 2016 at 07:54 PM
Oh, a new Fuji X-Pro! The question is: Will it achieve focus on the same day that it starts focusing?
[That's the hope. --Mike]
Posted by: D. Hufford. | Thursday, 14 January 2016 at 09:09 PM
I do not think you should do the camera rumor role IMHO.
You know even it is in Chinese but the camera X-Pro2 announcement was not even a news two days ago (13 Jan) as was leaked last Dec 29. In fact the news article in Chinese ignored it and concentrated on less aware XE2 ;-p
http://www.dcfever.com/news/readnews.php?id=15390
Dec 29: http://www.dcfever.com/news/readnews.php?id=15264
...
Posted by: Dennis Ng | Thursday, 14 January 2016 at 09:38 PM
SBOOI with eye recognition. I'm told this works well by a friend though I haven't tried it myself.
What's a SBOOI, some of you ask?
Why, it's a clear, 1.0x, brightline optical viewfinder for 50mm Leica lenses that slides into the hotshoe of a camera. In time, you learn to parallax compensate unconsciously. Here's a latter day adaptation.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4049/4385294424_750cb26104.jpg
Do look through an old-timey optical auxiliary 1.0x viewfinder sometime, if you are unacquainted with it. It's a revelation.
Posted by: Alan Carmody | Thursday, 14 January 2016 at 09:57 PM
Speaking of "just a camera", I personally would love it if Fuji (or someone else other than Leica, who could do it but it would be priced so that it wouldn't really be accessible) made an X100-type camera with no EVF, simply a very good OVF, small fixed 35mm (or equivalent) f2 pancake lens, and power management that would let it run for days on a single battery charge. In their thirst to provide everything for everyone, camera makers have failed to give us a good, small digital camera that we can just have with us, always ready, without constantly checking the battery level or wondering if it will run out of juice before the next shot instead of wondering what the next shot will be.
Posted by: TC | Thursday, 14 January 2016 at 10:10 PM
"When being in Times Square for New Year's Moment no longer sounds at all appealing, that's it: you're old. You have to be under the spell of the happy idiocy of youth for that to sound like fun. And if it never sounded like fun to you, at any age? That's how you know you're an introvert."
A better definition than many I run across. A lot of people, including another web based test I just took, seem to confuse non-shy behavior with extraversion.
Jung's definitions are more subtle and useful than popular conceptions. Oops, you could say that about so many things ....
Posted by: Moose | Friday, 15 January 2016 at 03:50 AM
On the issue of rangefinders' viewfinder blockage, while it bothered me when I first used the Leica M6, it does not do so now. Somehow, the brain learns to either disregard that portion or it is capable of "seeing beyond the obstruction".
Posted by: Dan Khong | Friday, 15 January 2016 at 04:20 PM
That 90/2.8 Tele-Elmarit-M that you showed... mine blocked the viewfinder of my Leicas the least of all the 90mm lenses I owned, and somehow was an absolute flare monster (although fine in front light).
The most disappointing 'quality' lens i've ever owned. There are worse things than blocking a small part of the view.
Posted by: Mark Sampson | Wednesday, 20 January 2016 at 10:21 PM