FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (37.4mm, f/3.6, 1/30 sec, ISO200)

When I got the Fuji XF 14/2.8 I stopped using the optical viewfinder of my X-Pro 1. Last week in India with my new  X-Pro 2 I re-discovered it.

The optical viewfinder has a lot of disadvantages. It is not very precise, there is a parallax error in close range and it is not clearly visible if the camera focused correctly on your subject. But the biggest issue is that it doesn’t work for lenses wider than 18mm and that it isn’t very useful for lenses longer than 60mm either. And on top of that it’s the main reason why the X-Pro 2 is more expensive than the X-T1 or its successor even though it lacks the tilt screen. It seems that this thing doesn’t make a lot of sense beside to make some hipsters happy.

FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (35.8mm, f/4.5, 1/125 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (26.5mm, f/4.5, 1/125 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (37.4mm, f/8, 1/125 sec, ISO1000)

But that’s not true. Here is why it still makes a lot of sense that the camera has an optical viewfinder.

• Nothing beats to look through pure glass
• Fluent panning
• It lets you see what’s outside of the frame

To look through an optical viewfinder is like looking through an extremely bright lens on a full frame DSLR. The image is as bright as in real life. Even the best EVF doesn’t come close. But the OVF of the X-Pro 2 is not just a stupid piece of glass. It gives you all the information you need like aperture, shutter speed, ISO, … and most of all it gives you bright frame lines.

FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (28.9mm, f/8, 1/125 sec, ISO1000)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (20.5mm, f/8, 1/125 sec, ISO3200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (21.4mm, f/8, 1/125 sec, ISO3200)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (24.3mm, f/3.2, 1/125 sec, ISO640)

The EVF of the X-Pro 2 is really fantastic. It is smaller than the one in the X-T1 but it has a better frame rate and it is much brighter in bright conditions. It is still not as good as to look through a “window.”

The OVF works from 18mm onwards but it works best for all focal lengths in between 23mm to 56mm. One of the lenses that I can’t wait to try with the OVF is the great little 27mm. The super slim pancake lens that looks a little stupid on the X-Pro 2 but it gives very sharp images when stopped down a little and it would be perfect for this kind of shooting as it would not block the view. Unfortunately I didn’t take it with me to India this time. I only took the 14mm as always and the kit lens because I was able to visit the Taj Mahal again.

That’s why I used the kit lens for these panning shots. It was great fun and it seems that the people in Bangalore are as tolerant as the ones in HCMC, Vietnam (my favorite place for this kind of shooting).

The kit lens blocks a small portion of the OVF in the lower right corner but it is not that much and the advantage to have a wider view and to see the scene as it is really makes a difference. Tight framing is simpler, you just need to remember to “Think inside the box (frame lines)”.

FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (24.3mm, f/3.2, 1/125 sec, ISO800)
FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (32.9mm, f/6.4, 1/60 sec, ISO1250)

Fuji’s X cameras have made me a prime shooter. On my trips to Asia I prefer to shoot with the 14 and the 27 because I stay in the big cities. Time to take pictures is also very limited during the week because the sun sets early here even during summer. Those shots I took very close to the hotel right after my business meeting. I changed clothes fast but it was too late to go somewhere by car so I decided to practice panning shots. Even though I was tired I needed to go out because I haven’t seen anything beside meeting rooms, hotels and airports for the last two days.

Because photography has to play the second fiddle on my business trips I try to keep my gear as small as possible and you can’t get smaller than with the 14 and 27 combo. In all my trips to Asia this is just the second time I decided to bring the kit lens. There is nothing wrong with the kit lens. The opposite is true. It is a great lens. It’s size and weight is perfect and image quality is impressive. It even shares the same lens hood with the 14mm lens which is a great idea to save weight and space. I only wish it would start at 16mm like the XC lens.

And it works great with the OVF of my X-Pro 2. I guess I will use both (the kit lens and the OVF) more often in the future.

FUJIFILM X-Pro2 (39mm, f/5.6, 1/125 sec, ISO1250)