Mathieu

A System That Aims for Perfection: A Fuji X-Pro-1 Review

22/08/2013 By Mathieu

Yes, I know. The Fujifilm X-Pro 1 is far from new. But as the old saying goes, better late than never. 🙂 A couple of months ago, I wrote up a first impressions article after spending a weekend with the camera in the city of Genova. Since then, the camera has continued to intrigue me, and I knew I wanted to spend more quality time with it. Then, in July, I had the chance to take a deeper look at the X-Pro 1 thanks to the generosity of the Fujifilm Italia team who kindly sent me one to test for two weeks.

Will the new Olympus OM-D E-M1 be the best MFT camera ever?

19/08/2013 By Mathieu

Update: 43rumors has posted some new pictures of the E-M1 with the new 12-40mm f/2.8 lens attached. I have to say that I like the design more now that I can see the body+lens combo. It looks very solid and well-built. We can clearly see now two Fn buttons in addition to the toggle on the rear. There is also a burst/HDR button and an AF area mode button on the top left of the camera. I can’t help but wonder if Olympus will release a black/silver version as well. The tech geek dreamer inside of me would have preferred a new version of the two f/2 constant aperture zoom lenses Olympus had for the Four Thirds DSLR system. It would have been a much more interesting alternative to the two f/2.8 Lumix zoom lenses and would also have attracted more professionals. It is probably something to do with Olympus trying to keep the lenses small enough for the body. Not only, but they are probably harder to design for the MFT system as well.

I wasn’t planning to write about the rumored OM-D E-M1 until the release became official, but then something unexpected happened yesterday. A video about a pre-production model of the new E-M1 that wasn’t supposed to be published was leaked from the Engadget website. In the video, an American representative from Olympus explains in great detail some of the new features and gives us an up-close look at the new camera.

Fuji X100s vs. Sony RX100M2: An “unfair” High ISO comparison!

17/08/2013 By Mathieu

For more than one week, I have been using the new Sony RX100M2 as my holiday camera and I am enjoying it far more than I had ever dreamed. In fact, my Fuji X100s, who has been trapped in my bag more than she’s used to, is getting quite jealous and upset. So, to prove to her that she’s still my main muse, I decided to let the two cameras fight it out on the field with a focus on one of the aspects I care about the most: high ISO performance.

Scaling Bird Rock: A Sony RX100M2 Gallery

15/08/2013 By Mathieu

On Sunday we went on a walk up to the top of Bird Rock, a miniature mountain close to the town of Tywyn where we are staying in Wales. It was my second day with the camera, after beginning to test it the day before in Colwyn Bay (you can check out my first impressions review here). It is a short yet very beautiful walk amidst wonderful scenery; a great opportunity to have better a look at the lens performance, colour reproduction and dynamic range of the Sony RX100MII.

OM-D E-M5 vs. Pen E-P5: Two Olympus flagships go head-to-head

14/08/2013 By Mathieu

The Olympus Pen series has always sat one notch below the OM-D E-M5 in terms of quality. Never would we have expected that out of the middle-end Pen series, a serious competitor for the OM-D would be born – that is, until the Pen E-P5 came onto the scene. Now, like Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps and teammate Ryan Lochte, the OM-D finds itself with a formidable rival on its own team. Which is better? And more importantly, which is more suited to you as a photographer? Well, you’ll have to read this comparison to find out!