The Jessops experience

[Hamish Gill]

Darren, I've merged your thread with this one as I think it gives a bit of balance ...
I also find it interesting that thanks to a freindly member of staff, you didn't have any issue with not being able to use the camera ... That said, I wasn't even offered a glove!

 

[Darren Turner]

I am buying one, well my boss is for xmas from the fuji refurb site with the discount code. they was buying me the new x100 but i suggested i pay difference to the X pro 1 & i buy lens so could have the X pro 1 instead, being refurbed doesn't bother me as its massive saving over new. so no i wont be paying full jessops price for it

Daz

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Those refurbs do disappear fairly quickly, so don't hang around too long. They just put up one when they have it.

 

[Darren Turner]

cheers mate will get it ordered

 

[Larry Bolch]

I am buying one, well my boss is for xmas from the fuji refurb site with the discount code. they was buying me the new x100 but i suggested i pay difference to the X pro 1 & i buy lens so could have the X pro 1 instead, being refurbed doesn't bother me as its massive saving over new. so no i wont be paying full jessops price for it

Daz

Both incredible cameras that do look similar, but are very different in character. Both are very comfortable in the hand, but the X100 is significantly smaller. It is my carry-everwhere camera. When I have something specifically in mind to photograph, most of the time I will shoot the X-Pro1. When I have absolutely nothing in mind, but want to have a camera for the unexpected, the X100 is in the pocket. Both are nice cameras for people-photography, but the X100 is silent, while the focal plane shutter of the XP1 is audible—quiet by audible.

The focal plane shutter enables interchangeable lenses, but means that the camera will only sync flash at 1/180. It also requires an external flash unit. This pretty much limits it to flash indoors. The X100 has a built-in flash as close as physically possible to the optical axis. As the primary source of light, you can't find any uglier light in the universe. However, it will sync at any shutter speed all the way to 1/2000th at full power. As a fill flash under all conditions, there simply has never been a better solution. Shadow detail opens up without killing the feeling of ambient light, and set at -2/3EV, the secondary shadow is almost undetectable. With the high-ISO performance of the XP1, for me, flash is not in any way contemplated. It will always be shot with ambient light only. I have no hesitation to shoot either camera at ISO6400.

I and pretty much everyone who buys them are stunned at the image quality, considering it is an APS-C sensor. I shot with industrial-grade Fujinons with large format film cameras, and these lenses are every bit their equal. Out of curiosity, I ran the numbers to see which lens I favored in the first months of ownership.

• 18mm-28%
• 35mm-33%
• 60mm-39%

I was slightly surprised—I have generally favored shorter lenses. This may change over time, and only reflect the shoots I have done so far. The role of one is that of a pocket camera that allows me to work very close to my subjects with highly personal results, and the other to provide a system for a classic photojournalist style of shooting. Both fulfill their role to my total satisfaction. My D700 does get lonely at times.

 

[Darren Turner]

Thanks for that write up Larry, greatly appreciated.

Well i ordered the camera this afternoon, it should be here tomorrow, the lens however is on back order so will be around 7 days.

This aint a problem as i cant have camera as its going to father xmas :-( LOL

Daz

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Congratulations! Dead jealous [devil]

 

[Darren Turner]

so am i Rob, what the hell am i gonna do with myslef for next 24 days waiting to be able to play with it.............

 

[Larry Bolch]

Download the manual and study it. If you have an iPad, there is an excellent illustrated guide to the camera.

If all else fails, exclaim an appropriate expletive, and open the camera early. After all, holiday photographs will be expected and you can not be held responsible unless you have had a few weeks to practice with the camera, now can you?

;-D

 

[Darren Turner]

BRILLIANT IDEA Larry hahaah will try that................ do you have a link or name of this ipad guide by any chance ??

I been watching youtube reviews & vids on the cam all day my eyes have totally gone LOL

cheers

Daz

 

[Larry Bolch]

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/x-pro1-guide-en/id547461659?mt=8

...And it is free! A big download however.

Upon further thought, it would be highly irresponsible on your part to wait for Christmas to open the camera. With a couple of weeks practice, the shots would be far more excellent, so everyone benefits. It could be re-wrapped at the last minute and opened to extravagant squeals of glee—as if it was a surprise. After all, within every photographer there is a nascent actor. Once the cheering, toasting and general hullabaloo has abated somewhat, you can remount the lens and leave everyone breathless with the brilliance of your photographs and the grace and assurance with which you operate the camera.

If you need further lame excuses, don't hesitate to ask. It is a god-given talent, so I feel obligated to unselfishly share in my blessing. :-D

 

[Pat Reehal]

If you need further lame excuses, don't hesitate to ask. It is a god-given talent, so I feel obligated to unselfishly share in my blessing. :-D

That is the most heart warming, puppy cuddling and downright tear jerking advice I have ever seen and I am gobsmacked that a quick perusal of the Papal Registry reveals no Saint Larry's.

As the founding member of the "How to open and replace wrapping and Sellotape in the exact position Society" I am humbled to know that there is another, albeit on a different Continent, whose kindness to fellow man knows no bounds.

As for Darren, were I as kind as Larry I would congratulate you on your impending arrival and send my heartiest best wishes. But I am not.[devil]

Signed,
Jealous of the Valley.

 

[Larry Bolch]

This is a camera I planned on buying decades back—before digital was even invented. It has proved to be even better than I had hoped. I love photography, but camera operation less. My D700 is an amazingly versatile instrument, but big, loud and totally lacking in stealth. While the occasional landscape is captured, chronicling people as their lives are lived—not posed—is my ultimate theme. Decisive moment photojournalism. I skipped dumping the Leica stuff for the Contax G2 because digital had arrived. The X-Pro1 hits every G2 target, and adds the decades of refinements since then.

While I love the empowerment of the D700—it is a tool—a labor to use. With the XP1, I rediscover the joy of the doing of photography—without sacrificing anything. It truly becomes an extension of my optical nerve and the buzz I get while shooting is pure pleasure.

 

[Pat Reehal]

I would be most grateful if you would desist from posting such glowing testimonies and revert back to "Moose Milk for the Infirm" reviews.

Your constant posting on this vastly overrated Kodak Box Brownie lookalike is causing my wallet to tremble and my pump-action Visa card to disengage the safety catch.

 

[Larry Bolch]

But yet, I would not recommend it to most people. If you have had a history of shooting with rangefinder film cameras, this is the logical choice to replace them—specially if you know the Contax G2. If you expect it to behave as a dSLR, you will find it fights you every step of the way. The operating system is not like CaNikons, so you have to learn it. Only if you truly understand what you are buying, and are willing to fully learn a new camera system to the point of fluency, should you spend your money on a Fuji X-camera.

As I said, this is the camera that I have wanted since before digital began, but I have been shooting rangefinder-type cameras from the beginning. The first camera an employer put in my hands was a Leica IIIg. Horrible camera, but it did the job. Vastly better rangefinder/viewfinder cameras followed over the succeeding decades.