Hong Kong and the Fuji X Pro2 System

So having shot exclusively on the Sony RX1Rii during the middle leg of my recent month long holiday, I thought I would try the same trick and learn the in's and out's of the Fuji system by shooting exclusively on this during the final Hong Kong leg of our trip.

For the purposes of this evaluation my system comprised the Fuji XPro2, together with the "kit" lens 18-55MM (2.8-4.0) and the 16mm F1.4 lens.

At the risk of stating the obvious, the Fuji system differs from the Sony in that it allows for interchangeable lenses, and this interchangeability, in theory, allows for greater flexibility in shot composition etc.

And that is exactly the case. 

I have to say however, whilst I was very pleased with the Fuji, for a weary traveller, the Sony was much more pleasant to use, simply because it is smaller, lighter and less cumbersome because there is no need to carry round extra lenses. I know I could have carried the Fuji with just one lens, but then that kind of defeats the point of an ILS system!

I found myself using the kit Zoom lens most of the time during the day time, and as the light fell, my evening/nighttime shots were almost exclusively with the 16mm.

And with this, the first conundrum surfaced!

The Fuji XPro2 body does not have IBIS (In Body Image Stabilisation) and the 16mm lens equally does not have OIS (Optical Image Stabilisation), so my preferred low light shooting kit had no image stabilisation at all, and yet low light shooting is generally the very shooting style for which image stabilisation would be a benefit!

I know I could have carried around a tripod to overcome this...but to be frank, in this day and age I don't want to carry tripods or Gorrilapods around. I don't want to add more weight and bulk to my carry around bag!

So it was handheld, low light shooting as best I could!

The shot above was taken from "The Mount" with the 16mm lens at F1.4 (obviously) an ISO of 200 (which I set manually, to keep the file as clean and noise free as possible) and a shutter speed of 1/5 second. Quite frankly, that shutter speed was far too slow for a non stabilised hand held shooting situation, and the camera shake is evident in the photo. I reckon 1/60th is about the slowest shutter speed my old hands can manage without evident camera shake. If I had taken this shot at 1/60th second I would have needed an IOS setting of 1000 plus, and on the Fuji APS-C system, the grain would have been very evident.

The irony of this is I was stood next to Jill who was shooting with her Lumix GX9 ( which does feature IBIS) and with her Sigma 30mm F1.4 on her micro 4/3 sensor she was able to get sharper shots than me, because of the benefits of the Lumix IBIS!

Having said that, the picture quality from the Fuji was extremely good, especially in good lighting, and of course in good lighting I was using the OIS stabilised 18-55 zoom!

Maybe in hindsight, I should have gone for the Fuji 16-55 F2.8 zoom lens, and used this as the ONLY lens on the Fuji system. Whilst not stabilised, this lens would give me the benefit of the fast(ish) constant F2.8 aperture, negating the need to carry around two lenses. I might even have been able to find room in my bag, for a small gorillapod to help with the low light shots!

This is the paradox of choice...

With the Sony, I would have none of these decisions to worry about. One camera, a single 35mm lens, and a non stabilised aperture of F2.0. The better low light capability of the full frame Sony (as opposed to APS-C on the Fuji) would have encouraged me to shoot at higher ISO's thus facilitating higher shutter speeds, and negating the need for stabilisation!

"You poor thing!" I hear myself thinking to myself!!

Oh the perils of having to choose between the Sony and the Fuji!!!

When in reality, both are excellent systems, which most people would be extremely happy with..

So on that note, I will sign off on this post and just be thankful I have both systems to choose from!

Our entire Hong Kong photo gallery, including shots from Jill's Lumix can be seen HERE.