We all live in the same world but we all see it differently. Sights and sounds effect us all differently too. We create things in order to explain how we feel, to explain our reactions as the world goes around us. Some people sing, some people draw, some people dance and some people create images. Those who uses cameras are called photographers.
X-Pro1
The first time I used the XPro, I knew I loved it. I loved the look and the style – back then I wanted a camera that looked good. I was fed up of not having a cool camera to use. I didn’t want to be that photographer who used their iPhone when out and about and I still don’t for that matter. I remember wanting a camera to take on a few trips I had planned to North Africa, Washington & New York. It was very important for me at the time to be able to document the trip. The X100 was out at the time but, I really liked the idea of being able to take the 3 lenses that came with the XPro at the time. There was the 18mm the 60mm and the lens I still use every day, to this very day – the 35mm f1.4. As pretty much all photographers did back then, I over packed. I took a D800 set up & a spare body, then a whole extra bag of lenses had been arranged and shipped across ahead of me. Personally I thought I would never use the Fuji aside from on the plane or out and about – snaps here or there. It turned out it that to this very day – I use my cameras every day – for work and pleasure. The thing is – it was not the image quality that did anything – it was the form of the body. The camera style changed the way I shot. It let me relax and have fun.
X-T1
The next few years passed. I was shooting with the Fuji XPro1, then mixing it up with the XT1 from time to time. The XT1 is a stunning camera but, it’s not an XPro camera. I remember when the XT1 came out, I remember when I first held it & I remember thinking… ‘I really like this camera, but I love my XPro1’. I used my d800 along with my Fuji cameras side by side up until I met up with Richard Wan outside a train station, he handed me a black box with an XPro2 inside. Since then I have only used the XPro2. My Nikon camera has not taken a single frame since October.
At the heart of the XPro2, there is the same idea as with the X-Pro1 and all XSeries for that matter, it seems to me that Fujifilm have wanted to empower the photographer – not create a barrier into the process of image making. The XPro2 is a continuation of this process giving even more range & scope for a working professional to have a small lightweight system that can deliver for all needs. In so many ways this new camera is a step forward – but I love the links and ties with the heritage of the past too. In Fujifilm, many people like me have found a company that is not a faceless brand. Maybe it is the UK team that is part of that, but, when you speak to photographers all over the world there is something more – shooting Fuji can make you feel good – I have no idea what that extra magic is, I really don’t – but maybe that is why it’s magic.
