Chris Cochran (@cochranphotos) invited Juan Martinez (@juanny6pac) to Nelson's Photo Supplies in San Diego, Ca. for a special hands-on experience with the Fujifilm XT-2. Chris' excellent blog post can be read here.
As a current Fujifilm XPro-2 owner I was interested in what autofocus improvements have been made. There's no question it is there, but it wasn't really obvious in single shot mode or during our well lit conditions. Furthermore the XT-2 felt just like the original XT-1. Which is to say, smallish, well built and with an EVF that forced my nose to bury into the screen. The dial lock buttons were a nice feature, as was the tilt / flip-out screen. I do admit, that swivel screen is something I wish the XPro-2 offered. More than anything I came away yearning for 4K and F-Log... even if you can't record 4K F-Log in body just yet. And very excited for October's XPro-2 firmware update giving current owners the improved AF performance the new XT-2 will receive.
We did get confirmation the XT-2 will shoot 4K with the original series batteries, and will do up to 29 minutes of max record time (temperature dependent). The optional battery grip made handling the XT-2 with the XF1655 LM WR lens we had on hand, superior than the same lens on the XPro-2. And the 14fps sounds marvelous in person!
Pros:
- 4K Video
- Improved AutoFocus
- Optional Grip (3 batteries and over 1,000 shots!)
- Nice build
- EVF is marvelous as ever with a faster frame rate than the XPro-2's current firmware provides
- $100 Cheaper than the XPro2
Cons:
- Feels and looks a LOT like the original XT-1, which means fairly small for bigger hands
- LCD resolution isn't as good as the one on the XPro2 but it does swivel and flip
- Doesn't record in body F-Log in 4K video
- Requires optional grip for 4K video recording times longer than 10 minutes
We shot some quick clips during the short hands-on, and the video can be seen here and below. Incidentally this was shot on the XPro-2, and it looks quite alright. Enjoy and comment below!
Left: XPro-2 Right: XT-2 with optional battery grip
Both are wonderful for different reasons, but the XT-2 is a better package
Chris Cochran falling in love
Me getting some touchy-feely hands-on with the XT-2