X-Pro1 - Knew I'd seen that shape before...

[Chris Dodkin]

It's been bugging me, I knew I'd seen the X-Pro1 body before, long before the Fuji announcement - but where?

Yep, it's the good old Blad X-Pan!

Built by Fuji, and sold in Japan under the Fuji TX-1 & TX-2 name (they like their X's in Japan it seems)

Looks like the X-Pro1s older wider brother.

I guess a well proven design, so why re-invent the wheel

 

[Hamish Gill]

Certainly some similarities there isn't there!

 

[Pete Askew]

Interestingly Paul at CC commented before the release that the choice of lenses looked a bit like what had been designed for the X-Pan. I wonder!

 

[Larry Bolch]

A Contax G2 bedded an X-Pan and the X-Pro1 was the result.

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Looks like we could be onto something chaps - although it's a little racy in Larry's mind

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Pete - the lenses do look very familiar

They made a 30mm, 45mm and 90mm for the X-Pan/TX

And of course they shot panoramic - which has now been duplicated on the X-Pro1 with it's Motion Panorama mode.

Just sweep the camera across the scene, and X-Pro1 captures multiple images and seamlessly stitches them together into a single panorama photo. Even when enlarged to an A3-size print, there is virtually no loss of resolution. Holding the camera horizontally or vertically or horizontally, Motion Panorama lets you shoot the scene with an “S” or “L” angle of view.

So they've replicated the X-Pan all these years later (X100 has the same feature)

 

[Pete Askew]

I have a feeling that the video of that is probably on a pay-site somewhere on the internet - 'young Japanese beauty in hot action with older German hunk'!!

 

[Dave Moss]

Motion panoramic is on most Fuji cameras My S4000 has it

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Dave - can you hold the camera vertically, i.e. portrait orientation, and still sweep left to right and do a Pano that way?

 

[Dave Moss]

No might be a nice idea though. There again my S4000 is a third of the price of the cheapest X series

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Dave - just read this on the Fuji UK website

Sweep the X-Pro1 through an angle of up to 180 and create stunning panoramic photographs without the need for post processing on your PC or Mac. Even when printed at A3 size there is no drop in image quality. Hold the camera vertically to include more top-to-bottom in the scene.

So looks like the X-Pro1 can be held in portrait orientation to do the pans - will try tomorrow.

 

[Dave Moss]

could be fun question is does the frame count go up to get the 180 degrees or does it still just take 3 pictures and thinking about it would the frame count be dependant on the lens fitted?