Can This Photographer Find Happiness With A Fujifilm X-T1?

Amtrak, Lee Hall Virginia, 79mph; Fujifilm Test (click to enlarge)
X-T1, RAW File, 18-55mm lens @ 22.3mm (33.5mm ~e); 1/1000th sec. @ f/5;
Pro Neg S simulation, edited in Lightroom 5.7

Interesting headline.  As a reader, you can interpret that headline in two ways.  First, will a Fujifilm X-T1 make me a happier person and second, could I now be happy with a Fujifilm X-T1 for my photography after a negative experience almost a year ago?

Personally, I've never been happier in my life than I am now!  Alternatively, can I be happy using and making images with a Fujifilm X-T1?  Time will tell.  Read on.

Let's go back about a year.  Fujifilm first introduced the X-T1 and it was an instant sensation. Falling under the Fuji spell from what I read and saw, I bought one the first week of March, 2014.  Actually, I bought three.  When testing the first kit, I found the image stabilization on the 18-55mm lens was not properly working.  Back it went.  I ordered another.  The second had several dead pixels on the sensor.  Back it went.  Third time is the charm, as the saying goes.  I bought a third.

In the mean time, I read extensively about the camera and the X-Trans sensor in general. Some users liked it and some had issues.  I started to extensively test mine.

Immediately, I really liked how the camera handled, the controls and the ease of changing them on the fly.  But also, I found a couple of really problematic issues.  First, I'm an Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop (with some plug-ins) entrenched user.  Adobe Camera Raw and the Develop Module in Lightroom made a mess in trying to convert the raw Fujifilm files.  Greens, like grass and foliage, looked like mush.  Small details, such as individual pieces of gravel and small branches, looked as though they had outlines drawn around them.  Many of the files appeared to have been painted by a watercolorist.  Not good.

After some time and not at all being satisfied with my images, I sent the entire kit back to where I purchased it.  I was disappointed.  You can read about my previous experiences here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.  The last link is a bit of a comparison between the X-T1 and Olympus E-M1.  Yes, I wrote quite a bit about my experiences with the camera.

X-T1, 18-55mm lens @ 55mm (82.5mm ~e); ISO 200, 1/480th sec. @ f/5.6
(click to enlarge)

Now, about 10 months have passed and I've been keenly keeping up with what has been happening with Fujifilm, firmware updates, raw converters and techniques developed by users to mitigate the issues I just mentioned. Some interesting things seem to have happened to improve the files, as the bloggers and users have written.  Some say that Adobe has solved the ACR/Lightroom raw converter issue while others say not yet. Some say that there are some terrific third party raw converters that do what ACR and Lightroom can't with X-Trans files.  

However, reading a lot of published literature on the Fujifilm cameras, I have found a dichotomy of opinions on the X-Trans sensor.  On one hand, Fujifilm has developed a large, loyal, almost rabid following of users.  Lots and lots of them.  On the other hand, many had the same experience as I had, tried the X-T1 and didn't find it to their liking, either in camera handling or raw conversion of the files, and moved on.  Since I like using the camera itself, I wanted to find out for myself what has happened over the past 12 months.

Since then, there has been lots and lots of reviews, usage reports, etc. published on the Internet. There is no lack of information on this or Fujifilm X-cameras in general.  I don't plan on repeating what others have written.

In a previous post, I wrote I wanted to do something different this year, so I thought I, again, would try a Fujifilm X-T1 as I thought the camera's handling and operation felt really good.  Additionally, Fujifilm has created some terrific lenses, if everyone who owns one can be believed, and I think they can as well as some really interesting lenses.

All is not lost, M4/3 fans. I am not selling my Olympus E-M1 and lenses in favor of the X-T1.  I'm waiting to see what next in M4/3.  Olympus and Panasonic have been very innovative and I'm sure they will have some interesting developments in the future.  No, this is an experiment and I plan on using the two cameras side by side for several months and report my findings.  I think it will be fun.  Also, I will accomplish two things.  I will be evaluating a new camera with a different format and I'll be out making images, which is the most important thing.

I took delivery of the X-T1 about 3 weeks ago.  I bought it with the kit lens.  The first thing I did was put the camera and through their paces to ensure they both are working properly.  Good news, all is perfect.  I've included a few preliminary images in this post that I made when first going out with the camera.  All of these were processed in Lightroom 5.7.

X-T1, 18-55mm lens @ 55mm; ISO 200, 1/950th sec. @ f/4 (click to enlarge)

I plan on taking the camera out extensively and getting a good feel for its EVF. Additionally, I plan on not only using the RAW format, but JPEG with the in-camera film simulations as well.  I will go through all of the settings for highlight tone, shadow tone, sharpening, color, contrast, etc. with each of the simulations to get a feel for what suits my style of photographing as well as what I can judge to be the settings that best mimic a fully edited raw image.  Finally, I want to determine, after all of these tests and setting the camera JPEG's settings to most closely resemble a finished image, I want to find out if those camera's JPEGS can substitute for RAW files in a good percentage of images. 

As far as editing the images, I want to do two things.  First, I want to go back and re-edit those images I made 10 months ago and see the difference between the older version of Lightroom and the current one.  Also, I will try various settings and maybe even some alternative raw processing software to see how I can make the best images from the X-Trans sensor's alternative sensor structure.

I'll be regularly writing about what I find and if I can find happiness with this gear.  So, stay tuned and come back for updates.

I'm really looking forward to playing with this camera and seeing what I can get out of it and how it compares to my M4/3 gear.


Thanks for looking.  Enjoy!

Dennis Mook

Many of my images can be found at www.dennismook.com.  Please pay it a visit.  I add new images regularly.  Thank you.


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