The Fuji X-H1: Opinions and Impressions

Still Pond, Fuji X-H1 and XF 35mm ƒ/2

The culture of objects seems obsessed with excess these days. On one of the auto channels I watch, More Doug DeMuro, Doug answered the viewer question "what is the best car?" by proposing the "Bugatti" Chiron (I use the scare quotes because I know what real Bugattis were, and they weren't hypercars for oil sheiks built by Volkswagen). The Chiron is a two-door, two-seat mid-engined "sports" coupé with a 1,479-horsepower V-16 engine.

Really? Is it fun on on-ramps? Whatever.

Compare a "Bugatti" Chiron to the car in this video. I get that things move on, but doesn't it seem like maybe the world's gone a little nuts? I bet the Chiron'll be made "irrelevant" by a car with a 2,022-HP V-24 engine any day now. Then, mere Chirons will be for the weak. Like those poor passed-by girly-men driving Veyrons now.

Well, Doug likes supercars, so that's his business. They bore me stiff. Give me Scotty and his beaters any day.

(Fun fact—Scotty's grandfather's real name was Elmer Kilmer. Made me laugh.)

Or, take exhibit two. As the numbers of homeless climbs, both worldwide and in the once-democratic USA—we don't bother to count them here, nationally, because of course they do not matter, but officials in Los Angeles estimate that there are approximately 70,000 people living without roofs over their heads on any given night in Los Angeles County—New Yorkers are complaining that the new "needle-thin" super-skyscrapers south of Central Park are robbing the park of daytime sunlight. One such skyscraper has only 50 palatial residences in it that cost up to $100,000,000 each.

Which doesn't seem so bad until you consider that most of the people who buy them won't live there. They will just be New York City pieds-à-terre for people who have multiple other residences around the globe. So people who use the park are being deprived of their sunlight by massively expensive buildings that will remain, on any given day, mostly empty.

Enter the X-cessive Fuji
The "H" in X-H1 stands for "hyper," according to Fuji, and the X-H1 is the "hyper X camera." Though X-cessive, I don't actually think it's a bad name. This is hearsay, so take it for what it's worth: years ago, when Fuji's involvement in camera marketing could be described by the word "dabbling," an industry insider who had warm 'n' friendly ties with Canon told me that a high-up official at Canon had confided to him that there was only one company that Canon was afraid of, and that it wasn't Nikon—nor was it Leica or or Sony or any of the other usual suspects. It was Fuji. Fuji is a formidable technology company with impressive competencies and capabilities, and the X-H1 reads to me like an attempt by Fuji to engineer and manufacture an X-mount camera that represents some semblance of the best it can do. Hyper X indeed.

I tried the Fuji X-H1 for seven days courtesy of Lensrentals. Lensrentals very smoothly and efficiently rents a full range of cameras and lenses so that you too can do exactly what I did and try out any camera or lens for yourself. If you've never tried it, you ought to. It's potentially useful, and usually fun. I certainly enjoyed my time with the X-H1, even though it rained for five days out of the seven.

I used the 35mm ƒ/2, 23mm ƒ/1.4, and 14mm ƒ/2.8 lenses with the X-H1, all of which belong to me (I have an X-T1). Seven days is not long enough to get to know a camera. So these are my impressions and my opinions of its various quirks and features (as Doug DeMuro would say).

Bias
But first, my prejudices, because a reviewer ought to always be honest with his prejudices: I kinda fell in love with this camera. I liked it much better when it went out the door than when it came in. It was tough to part with it, and I miss it. So read this review with that rosy glow, and whatever level of caution it triggers in your skeptical self, in mind.

Size
I'm a bit weird in that I like small cameras but I have big hands so I prefer a big grip. Years ago, Canon made a film camera with a pellicle mirror that had several exchangeable handgrips, one of which was oversized and extended below the base of the camera (you can see it here). I loved that. It also had a soft leather padded hand strap that went over your knuckles. That's one of the downsides of reviewing cameras for decades, something the late Burt Keppler, revered guru of Popular Photography magazine, once wrote a column about: sooner or later you see every single facet of a camera done perfectly, so you always remember the one camera that really got that one thing right according to your own taste—and no camera gets everything right. (The X-H1 does get one thing perfect according to my taste, and I'll mention that.)

The X-H1 is a wee bit on the large side. With a bigger X lens like the 23mm ƒ/1.4 it's what you'd call a full-sized camera—not huge, but not compact or light by any stretch. It's helped by mating it with a Fujicron, even if it then looks a little odd and unbalanced.

I ended up liking it, though, because it handles so well. The large grip is perfect for my largish hands, and I didn't find it too heavy. I like cameras that allow you to let the camera hang by inserting your fingers between the grip and the lens with your hand open, like this...

(Here demonstrated with a GX8 and Panaleica
45mm Macro. I sent the Fuji back already.)

...while you change a card, and the X-H1 does this nicely.

If you go to camerasize.com and call up the Panasonic G9 (Micro 4/3), this camera (APS-C), and the Sony A7 III (FF), you might be surprised by how close in size they all are. So you might argue that this camera's size basically just embodies the contemporary Japanese idea of how big a camera ought to be.

At any rate, with the camera in hand, actively shooting, everything falls into place. Feels great, handles great. Very comfortable camera to shoot with, at least for me.

Controls and configuration
Excellent. I love the way this camera is laid out. Absolutely nothing has that feel of "this is here because it's the only place we could fit it in" as you'll find on so many smaller digital cameras (or digital cameras crudded up with too many buttons and wheels and so forth). The layout of this camera is nice and clean. Everything is thoughtfully placed. You have all the controls and flexibility you need, but it's not overdone. If you need to customize any of them, you can do that, but I think you'll find this camera both easy to get to know and then easy and intuitive to operate once you get the "feel of the wheel" and start doing things by muscle memory. I realize I might feel this way partly because I'm already familiar with Fuji cameras and controls. While that's true, I really liked the control layout and the camera's handling, and I believe most people will like it too once they learn it.

Controversial features (EC)
There are only two controversial aspects of the controls and configuration, so I'll mention those in detail: the top-plate LCD and the missing exposure compensation dial.

Top plate LCD: One is  the presence of the top-plate LCD or "sub-monitor" as it's sometimes being called. I had a little trouble getting used to this, because it's always on. I'd glance at the camera, see the readout on the top-plate, and reflexively assume I'd left the camera switched on. After years of finding out at the wrong time that digital camera batteries are depleted, I'm a tad sensitized to that, so it would give me a start for half a second before I remembered. But that's the kind of thing you'd get used to after a while. Personally, I liked the top-plate readout. I like to know in my head exactly how the camera is set while I'm looking at the world, and I'm in the habit of checking this by looking down at the camera and taking note of the settings—which is no doubt why I tend to like Fuji's knobs 'n' dials layouts. The top plate readout helps with this, and I found it handy. I liked it.

No exposure compensation dial: The other aspect of the camera that has given Fujistas pause is the flip side of the above, namely, the absence of the exposure-compensation (EC) dial, that being one of the things that most of us have liked about our Fujis since the X-100. It had to be done away with to make room for the top-plate readout LCD. To activate EC, you either press a little button and turn the rear wheel while holding the button in, or you can set the button to lock on with one press and lock off with another. So set it how you want it. The top-plate readout when the camera is off tells you by default how many exposures you have left at your current camera settings and the state of your exposure compensation. Being able to see where you have the exposure compensation set is one of the main advantages of a dial for me, because I can check it at a glance even when the camera's off. I can do the same thing with the top plate LCD on the X-H1 as well, so the absence of the EC dial is moot for me.

On balance: the top-plate readout LCD is a win, even though the EC dial had to go. There's a nice upside and no appreciable downside.

Viewing screen
This is the thing that the X-H1 just gets absolutely right. I know this depends on personal preference, but I find flip-up viewing screens preferable to the flip-out articulated type that for some reason are preferred in the video world (I don't know why but I assume there's a reason). I suspect it largely depends on what each of us got used to, although my own first digicam had the flip-out style. The Fuji's viewing screen can be flipped up fully in landscape orientation, angled downward helpfully for above-the-head shots, and flipped up partially but quite adequately in vertical/portrait orientation. It's very easy to use and really works a treat. No idea how it will last over a decade of hard use. The only thing it won't do is turn the viewing screen all the way around to face the body for people who don't like to use, or see, the viewing screen at all. While I get the argument for that, I've never needed it, so that's not an issue for me.

My opinion? YMMV, but for me, this is perfect, and dare I say...un-improvable? All cameramakers could adopt exactly this mechanism, and Fuji could use it for the rest of its history, and I'd be all for it. A+++. But just my opinion.

Eye-level viewfinder
The VF is really good. Big, clean, smooth, and easy to see. It has none of the harshness of early EVFs, which could look like old TV screens. It  looks like a FF-camera EVF for the most part, and you can of course customize it in various ways to show different information.

The only negative thing I noted was that sometimes it doesn't give a very accurate report to the eye of the subtleties of colors in the scene, or of the subtleties of the light—something we take for granted with an OVF. Of course, I didn't mess with the EVF custom settings, so it's quite possible that that could be improved over the default. This is a strength of Fujis: the EVF of the X-T1 was a revelation when it came out, and the X-H1's is a whole 'nuther level better. It's so good you don't really notice it.

Battery life
The Internet says it's not the greatest, but of course I didn't get a feel for it in seven days. Might be something for you to consider, though.

(As you do so, a tiny mini-Mike will be sitting on your left shoulder whispering in your ear, "no camera's perfect.")

Video
I do stills, yo.

Menus
I'm comfortable here, no doubt because I'm already pretty accustomed to Fuji menu choices. There was only one time I got flummoxed, and that was when I tried to reset the bracketing intervals. I was way out in the country and it was raining, and I couldn't find the right menu item anywhere. In one of those surreal moments we all find ourselves in once in a while, I soon found myself sheltering in my car, on a wet road deep in the country, Mennonite farm silos over the crest of the hill, listening, on my phone, to a YouTube video of a guy from England giving a tutorial explaining how to set the bracketing on the camera I held in my hands. Weird.

I guess the experience just struck me as being a world away from using an old manual Leica or Pentax and finding it natural to be alone when I'm alone. Back then I would have found it incredible that there could be a control on a camera I was holding in my hands that I didn't know about. Times have changed. Anyway, the item is in a focusing submenu [Correction: the Drive menu], not an exposure submenu, which is why I couldn't find it.

But of course you get this sort of stuff settled relatively quickly—it's no big deal. For the most part, I found the menus logical and comprehensible.

IBIS (in-body image stabilization)
This is a big deal to me, as I'm sure regular readers are tired of hearing. I already told you about my initial impressions of the IBIS, here, and that didn't waver for the short time the camera was here chez TOP—using normal/wide lenses, I found it relatively easy and remarkably reliable to handhold the camera down to shutter speeds of 1/6 sec. with no problem, and often as slow as 1/3 sec. Given that my own comfort/ability level with the unstabilized X-T1 is 1/30th with the same lenses, that's...great.

Keeping in mind the context of my general comments about the controls above—love 'em, but maybe because they feel familiar to me—here are three highlights: the joystick, the AF-ON button, and the shutter button.

Joystick
I've become agnostic about joysticks. I used to like them, no doubt because I got used to one on a long-ago camera I owned. But I know a lot of people strongly prefer them. It was a nice addition to the X-T2, and it's the same here—the feel is good and it's ideally positioned. I just didn't use this camera long enough to really know whether I would become attached to the joystick again. It's entirely possible. If you have an X-T2 or X-T3 you already know what you think of it (but in that case you're probably not thinking of getting an X-H1).

AF-ON
A change from the X-T[1/2/3] is the addition of an AF-start button next to the AE hold/lock. It might be tied to the shutter button's unusual feel and operation, I don't know. This is another thing people who get used to it tend to like, and on the X-H1 it falls so easily to hand that I found myself using it. I don't know, but I think if I owned this camera I'd turn off the shutter focusing (I assume you can do that, though I don't actually know) and go with the AF-ON button for a while, just to see how I felt about it set up that way. Nice addition, IMO.

Shutter button
The feel of the shutter button is very unusual. I've tried a lot of cameras in my time, but I'm not sure I've owned a digital camera with a shutter release this light, responsive, and fluttery-feeling. It's very responsive, and probably works a treat when shooting video, but it lacks the distinct half press / full press stages that most stills camera shutter buttons have. The two stages are there, they're just very light and not very distinct.

I don't know though...I ended up really liking the shutter button on the X-H1 quite a lot. Rumor has it that you can send your body to Fuji to get them to reset the shutter feel to more a more conventional level, but I'm pretty sure I'd leave mine the way it came out of the box. I liked it. It helps give the camera its character, like steering feel does on a car.

The shutter mechanism (see picture at right), which Fuji calls "feather touch," is very purposeful—it's part of a holistic design solution that includes the large handgrip for a firm grip, the high-precision IBIS system, and isolation bushings for the shutter assembly, all of which are intended to contribute to steadiness and the elimination of mechanical shock and movement.

But the stock shutter-button feel is certainly different and quirky, so it's something you're going to need to try in person before deciding on this camera for good, however you manage that.

Personal impressions
And talking about character is a nice lead-in to discuss my impressions of the X-H1.
Usually, it takes me a long time to get used to a new digital camera. The early stages are almost embarrassing—I particularly dislike three things: one, needing to change a setting and not knowing how to do it; two, screwing up the setup by accident and not knowing how to get back to the way I had it set before; and three, finding a control or feature to be placed somewhere I don't expect it to be and/or finding it awkward to use. An example of this last includes the card slot in my Panasonic GX8—it's in the battery compartment, and I can almost not grip the card with my clumsy fingers.

Anyway, I was surprised by how quickly the X-H1 became a friend. I got used to it, and started to trust it, within days. With three cameras in the rotation, it was the one I would grab in preference to the others just to take a quick shot of something interesting.

Coming soon at some point in the future*: Mike's verdict of the X-H1. At that point I'll explain why I opened this post talking about Bugattis and New York skyscrapers.

Mike
(Thanks to Nico Maijer)

*"Don't hold your breath or you'll turn blue and die." <—as my friend used to say on the playground in 4th grade

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Ramón Acosta: "If you would shoot any kind of event on video you would understand why the flip-out screen is more useful for video. With video there is no stitching images or switching to portrait orientation, so sometimes you have to place the camera against the back wall and stand next to it, making sure your subject remains in the frame. Sometimes you are directly underneath your camera and those extra degrees vs. a screen that can only tilt can save your shot. Sometimes you need to show the person in front what the framing is so they know how much they can move around, and of course, they are a lot more useful for selfies and for one man band vloggers."

Miserere: "'Volkswagen are now into speed and luxury and all that nonsense.' Scotty made me laugh outright with that statement.  :-D  The video put a big smile on my face. Thanks for linking to it, Mike; I think I agree with Scotty and I've started the day with some chuckles."

Mike replies: He's a hoot.

Michael: "Thank you very much for that, Mike. I use both X-T3 and X-H1, but often find myself grabbing the X-H1, especially late in the day. If I only could have one, then...umm...probably the X-H1, just for the IBIS."

Curt Gerston: "There are four things about the X-H1 that make me keep picking it up in preference to the X-T3, and it's all about feel (much like your review): the grip, which is so comfortable; the top screen + rear dial, which I prefer to the EC dial; the IBIS, which helps with my favorite primes; and that lovely shutter.... Oh how I love that shutter. The X-T3 is a very good camera; the X-H1 is a very delightful camera."

Michael Bulbenko: "Actually, on the X-H1, if you do want EC on the rear command wheel and have it toggle, simply reassign the Rear Command press action to be 'Exposure Compensation' and that will do what the top EC button does by default: activate EC. Then without moving your thumb you can dial in plus or minus comp, press it again to take it out of EC to prevent accidental bumps. Then, you can re-assign that top EC to something else, like Focus Check."

Mike replies: Excellent idea.

Comments

[Hank]

Your photo of the wet road would look fantastic in B&W.

[Thomas Mc Cann]

Yes I once spent a frustrating few minutes trying to find the pan command in the menues and ended up downloading the manual on my phone.
One other thought occured to me. Wouldn't it be nice if cameras had a back button as found on internet browsers, or ctrl 'Z' in Windows, to allow one step back to where one was before messing up the settings

[Steve Jacob]

'Best' is ephemeral. It changes all the time.

I have always been a fan of things that eschew superfluous excess but manage to be more than the sum of their parts. To me, that is a sign of genius, and makes them 'classics'. The original Mini and Mk1 Golf were good examples. Both minimalist but practical and fun to drive.

Is the X-H1 a future classic? Somehow I doubt it. I think very few digital cameras ever will be, but the original Fuji X-100 may be an exception.

Nevertheless, it is a very competent camera.

[Speed]

No one uses more than ten percent of the features but everyone uses a different ten percent. A much repeated idea that I first heard applied to Microsoft Office which now covers automobiles, microwave ovens and cameras.

One solution is (was?) programmable controls -- a feature developed so that product managers never had to say, "I'm sorry, my camera can't do that."

The only people who look at the feature set in depth are reviewers. I'm joking. Sort of.

[Nigli]

Hi Mike, thanks for publishing your thoughts on this camera. That's more detail than I expected.
I hope you're finally feeling better.

[Gordon Lewis]

I probably won't be the first or the last to mention this, but the reason some people like screens that flip out to the side is because they can then rotate the screen to point in the same direction as the lens. This is a benefit for the selfie-set and video bloggers who want to be able to see themselves during image capture without having to add an external monitor.

One drawback is that they increase the effective size of the camera; another is that if the I/O ports are on the same side as the monitor hinge, anything you attach may get in the way of the monitor. Generally speaking, I prefer a side-swinging screen when I'm shooting video and a flip-up screen when I'm shooting stills, but I can make do with either. (Nice job on the review, BTW.)

[psu]

> No exposure compensation dial

Good riddance. Those dials are fiddly and slow compared to just spinning the giant back control dial. I never missed it on my Nikons or the Olympus.

[Peter Baglole]

Hi Mike,

I have been using Fuji cameras since the X-E1 and I can truthfully say I have never used an exposure compensation dial. I always shoot manual exposure so if I want to compensate for exposure, I just need to change aperture or shutter speed.

The only time I have ever touched the dial on the X-T1 was to change it back to zero after changing it by accident.

The X-H1 solved that problem and the screen is nice to quickly view settings, battery life.

[Mike Plews]

Modern super cars don't do much for me. I'm more of a "slow car fast" kind of person.
Have no idea what you would do with a super car in the states but this may betray a lack of imagination on my part.
According to the web (so it must be true) in 2003 some genius in Texas got pinched for driving a Konigsegg 243mph in a 75mph zone. I wonder how many points that puts on your license?

[Manuel]

Hi Mike, long time no comment.
I confess I don't care about the Fuji; not because I think it's a bad camera, or something, but you pose a more interesting question in this entry. You see, I wholeheartedly subscribe your words on the Bugatti Chiron.
One of the most beautiful cars ever conceived is the Bugatti 64. I think only one or two cars were assembled, but even so the 64 is an accomplishment. It is the superlative Bugatti, it embodies the values the marque stood for.
Comparing the 64 - or the 57, or just about any ancient Bugatti - to the Chiron is like comparing an original work of art to a pastiche. Bugattis - I mean the real Bugattis - were all about beauty and aesthetics: there is this anecdote that Ettore Bugatti's son, Jean, wanted to build independent front suspensions into a certain Bugatti model, but Ettore rejected it on the grounds that the live axle was more beautiful.
There's no beauty in either the Veyron or the Chiron. Contemporary Bugattis are ludicrous. Worse still, they're ugly.

And now the aforementioned 64 (HTML analphabet here, sorry):
https://myautoworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/1939-Bugatti-Type-64.jpg
Now THIS is a Bugatti. The Chiron is an overinflated, overpriced Audi R8.

[John McMillin]

So you have to set autobracketing through the Focusing submenu? That's odd and bothersome, but not surprising. Fuji always messes up this feature. My XE2 sets bracketing through the Drive button, as it should, but my selections are limited to one stop either way, two thirds or one third. Does anybody really bracket by one third of a stop? On a cloudy day?

On a stray point, the current Pentax KP also comes with removable grips in three sizes. What an excellent idea!

Thanks for a great example of an ergonomic review. Now that all cameras (and most cars) have passed the point of performance sufficiency (if not efficiency), this review covers all the factors that really matter.

[DB]

I like flip-out screens because I can turn them around toward the camera and never see them again.

[Another phil]

California should pay you to move to their state and then do camera tests to solve their lack of rain problems...

[David Dyer-Bennet]

All those things that Ramón mentioned as video uses for the articulating screen also apply to still photos, for me (and I'm so glad to finally have a camera with it; for so long the major manufacturers who used to consider viewfinder flexibility as a distinguishing feature on their "pro" cameras refused to put articulated viewing screens on their pro cameras).

[James Bullard]

Although I don't do video I prefer an articulated LCD to a flipping one because of age. I'm 74 and like to shoot things closer to the ground than eye level. Getting down low enough to see a non-articulating screen and back up after shooting is literally a pain.

[John Camp]

Re: removing GX8 Card.

You need at least one-sixteenth of open fingernail. Anything longer is fine. Open the cover of the battery/card compartment, push down on the card with a thumbnail so it pops up, slide your middle finger, fingernail down, across the top of the battery into the side of the card. The card will have a small lip. With your fingernail under that edge, lift straight up. No problem.

The camera is also wifi enabled and the advanced user manual, available as a PDF from Panasonic, will tell you how to transfer the photos to a computer wirelessly, which would eliminate the need to remove the card at all. I've not done that since I have a card reader and a fingernail that is at least 1/16 open.

[JG]

Good riddance. Those dials are fiddly and slow compared to just spinning the giant back control dial. I never missed it on my Nikons or the Olympus.

Your opinion might change if you photograph mostly at night, in the dark, and operate the camera by feel alone, as I very often do.

Being able to make changes via dedicated knobs and dials instead of virtual or universal ones works much, much better for me.

Which just goes to show every stupid decision a camera designer makes is probably considered a great one by some photographer, somewhere.

[Stephen Scharf]

Really good Part 1 review on the X-H1, Mike! Fully agree with your assessments.

I've made my thoughts on using the XH1 here a number of times since buying mine at the end of March, but I really love this camera. I recently used mine, for the first time on a real estate photo shoot instead of my X-T2, and loved using it; its a real pro workhorse.

I'll my comments on its image quality for (hopefully) when you post your verdict, but regarding the body, controls and operation, I have come to really prefer the top-deck display and command dial mode of setting exposure compensation. I was just using it yesterday, and I could simply glance down and see what setting the aperture for my 18-55 (which has no markings for its aperture ring) was set to. And, when I shoot real estate interiors or landscape in manual mode, its very nice for know where your settings for the exposure triangle are at a glance. I used to think I preferred the physical exposure compensation knob on the X-T series until I did a commercial shoot at Sonoma Raceway last March and found that while I quickly running from place to place around the facility, my comp dial was constantly getting changed from getting bumped. It turned out to be a real a PITA. Not a prob anymore with the X-H1.

Regarding the "back-button autofocus" button: this button is MUCH better shaped, sized and placed than the X-T2/X-T3's button for sports/action photography, and I use it all the time for motor racing photography:

Can you set it up separately from the shutter button: Yes, you can toggle the shutter button from activating the AF to OFf by going to the Menu:Settings >Button/Dial>Shutter AF (page 2 of 3)>Shutter OFF. This way the AF point will be selected only when holding down the rear AF button.

Regarding your comments about the EVF: "The only negative thing I noted was that sometimes it doesn't give a very accurate report to the eye of the subtleties of colors in the scene, or of the subtleties of the light." That's easily adjusted; you just have to configure the EVF to your tastes/need (without sounding like a wag, it does help to read the manual). You can adjust the EVF for a number of different parameters: At Settings Menu>Screen, you can set EVF Brightness, Color, Color Temperature (you can actually create a custom EVF color temp "map"), and, if you want a view comparable to an OVF as you mentioned as a "negative" above, go to Settings Menu and and set Screen>Nutural Live View>ON. This will give you the "classic" OVF view, and not a preview of the exposure. You can also fine tune this even further with the EVF Shadow and Highlight settings, if desired.

Cheers,
Stephen

[Jay Burleson]

I moved from a very complete Leica M system to the Fuji X-H1 early this year, due to eye related focus difficulties with the M's and I am very happy. There was a bit of a learning curve as I have never used an auto-focus camera in the past 35+ years, but that is a different story.
The only thing that I am still struggling with is the color. I was very enamored of the "house color" of Leica and now I'm faced with a dozen + choices. It seems like having an a bag full of every kind of Fuji film stocks would be a good thing, but to me it ends up being a time-wasting game of "pick one" in processing. Maybe I'm just set in my ways. ;-)

[Clayton]

Elmer Kilmer was lucky to avoid Mr. Bean. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl0HqlbX7dc

[Earl Dunbar]

"screwing up the setup by accident and not knowing how to get back" ... that was one of the things that really bugged me about the XPro-1, even though overall I really liked the camera. I was always getting into some mode by total accident. Then I could not remember or figure out what the hell was going on and how to get back to Oz. Or Kansas.

The X100F is much better in this regard, along with all the other improvements which are, to me at least, huge.

[David]

I’d love an X-H1. Unfortunately I can’t mount any of my M43 lenses on it.

[Stephen Scharf]

@John McMillin: The autobracketing is set on the X-H1 through the Drive menu, just as it is on the X-E2, X-T2/3, etc. You can set it up to bracket in a nice range of 9 steps in as small as 1/3 stop increments.

For my real estate interiors, I shoot an ambient light "base image" shot at "0", then ±7 brackets at 2/3 stop increments, for a total of ±2 stops around 0.

You access AE Brackets from CAMERA>DRIVE SETTNG>BKT SETTING>AE BKT>FRAME/STEP SETTING

Once you have it set up the way you like it, you can forget it. The X-H1 (and X-T2/3) have a drive mode ring under the ISO dial; you simply turn it to Bracket Mode, press the shutter once, and it rips off all 7 frames in about 1 second. Pretty cool, saves time on a shoot.

I think where Mike ended up was in the Focus Bracketing submenu, pehaps.
Cheers,
Stephen

[David Raboin]

This was worth the wait. Brilliant review. Looking forward to part 2.

[subroto mukerji]

Not a case of sour grapes, but this camera is mostly overkill. Will it take better pictures than Margaret Bourke-White's / Weegee's Speed Graphic? Or even HCB's Leica, for that matter? In fact, in skilled hands, I am confident that an RX100 will match it shot for shot at lower ISO's. Ditto for many of its features.
The day may come when the most popular and most efficient sensor will be an 1"-type, duly supported by computational imaging. Nikon D850 power in one's shirt-pocket.

[Jack Stivers]

Dagnabbit! I wanted to read how the XH1 had a host of negative features among which I could create a collective deal breaker.

Even though your final verdict is not yet in, I'm feeling a bit let down because I'm still interested in the big lug (emphasis on "big").

I escaped "big" some years ago when I embraced m4/3s. But I gradually crept back up in size to an X-T2 and it felt great. I could hold it and not bump a buttons inadvertently.

However, I really like IBIS and the dang XH1 is the only FUJI body with that feature. What's a shaky character to do?

[Jim Arthur]

I couldn’t do without back-button auto-focus.

Scotty is a hoot! It took a minute to adjust to his high pitched shouting. All his VW talk reminded me of a Jalopnick video I saw recently where it was stated that the Karmann-Ghia was based on a 1952 Chrysler show car named the D’Elegance (Virgil Exner). I’ve never driven a Ghia but they are interesting and probably fun to drive. I hadn’t realized they have no body panels/seams. While it looked sporty, an early VW ad featured a Ghia (60 HP?) sporting a racing stripe and door number and the tag line read, “You’d lose”.

[Rob de Loe]

I just spent an enjoyable evening reading Gerry Badger's book about Eugène Atget. Here's a photographer who worked his whole life with an 18x24 cm view camera, and maybe a couple or three lenses (nobody knows for sure). And he stuck with glass plates long after it made no sense to do so because film was lighter and easier to use.

Atget's photography is terrific and really enjoyable. However, what also amazed me was the sharpness, tone and detail of the photographs he was able to make with this antique equipment. We're talking about pictures that were made around a century ago. Of course these are reproduced from big plates, but if the lens was horrible then the image would be horrible too.

The point of this little history lesson is simply to say that "we" -- photographers who fuss about gear -- need to step back and give ourselves a collective shake! Is there a camera today that isn't more than good enough?

P.S. I did enjoy your review Mike! I have an X-H1 and think you're on point with your observations. It's a terrific camera. If someone can't make good photographs with this camera, it's not the camera.

[David Keenan]

I love the X-H1.

The LACK of the totally useless (IMHO) exposure compensation dial on this camera is a huge plus.

I've never understood why such a thing is necessary. Just use the light meter the way is meant to be used -- viola! Correct exposure! AMAZING!

Such a waste of valuable top plate real estate. The X-H1 got it right.

[SteveW]

The X-H1 looks like a great camera. I use a Nikon D750 that weighs maybe 77g (0.17 lb.) more than the X-H1, has the Top Plate display, and a nice grip as well. It's interesting to hear the enthusiasm for what to me is a basic DSLR body type and style. (That said, the D750 is by far the best camera I've owned for how it feels in my hands, and for ease of use). The D750 does not have IBIS (but Nikon does have VR in a variety of lenses. I would not own a zoom lens without VR, I don't miss VR with my prime lenses of which the longest is 58mm).

As an aside, I use the D750's "PV" button on the front of the camera for AF-ON. Works pretty slick. To me, AF-ON is a common sense way to shoot, separating acquiring focus from taking the photo. I have the shutter button set to lock exposure on a half press.

[Mats]

Size is important, no matter what anyone says.
I like a small total camera kit, but think that a lot of the new mirrorless cameras sacrifice usability and comfort trying to get as small a body size as possible, and then stick gigantic lenses in front of them in order to maximize quality (yes Sony, I'm looking at you).
I prefer a comfortable camera body that fits my hands (slightly larger than normal) and balances with a range of lenses.
I made the mistake of picking up an X-H1 the other day in a camera store and I have to say that the ergonomics fit my hand perfectly. I sort of wish that I hadn't picked it up as the last thing I want at the moment is to buy yet another camera in the never-ending search for "the perfect fit".
An X-H1 with a selection of fujicrons would make both a comfortable and usable carry camera and yet still not become too large.
I more and more come to the conclusion that aps-c sensor cameras are the current sweet spot, especially when paired with small, fast primes.
Now I just have to try to forget how good the X-H1 felt in my hands....

[Robert Harshman]

Mike, hope your feeling better! On your comment about NYC 57th street needle thin or super skinny new towers just south of Central Park I'm not aware of the one you said had only 50 units at 100 million. The reason I'm commenting here is the team I work with shot the views from these towers, all of them, before they were built. Because of the 360 work that I do on these in post, I pretty much always get floor plans for these towers and I'm not aware of any of these that only have 50 units. Most have way north of 500 units, some over 1,000. But it is correct to say that most owners of these condo's may not ever live there let alone visit them. It's the world of 1% of the 1%. The buyers of these live in a world most of us can't even imagine. In one project long completed I found floor plans for studios, 200-350 feet studios on some lower floors. I was shocked as the top penthouse floors were over 100 million. So I called the marketing manager to ask about these, he just laughs and told me you have to buy a "real" unit before you could buy one of the studios. The studios were for servants. They cost at least 3 million. Do the math on the middle ground, that's about $12,000 per Sq. Ft. - only in NYC or other billionaire preferred locations around the world.

[I have a bad memory for numbers, and it's getting worse as I get older. Sorry if I missed the mark on the specifics. I don't always fact-check every assertion I make any more. I used to. But if middle age is 45-65, then I'm getting more and more middle aged every day! --Mike]

[Rand]

Mike,

Nice report of your impressions. The more I read of how you think and feel about photography (and life in general) the more I think we’re alike in a lot of way. Kinda weird, actually. Even down to the “hold your breath, turn blue” comment. That could have been me in the 4th grade. Still a (probably too often) used expression of mine when talking to folk about having “expectations.”

I have an X-H1 and too many Fuji lenses. Your sense of it it pretty much right on target. It really is a well thought out, well sorted out, camera. I’ve owned the T-1, Pro-2, and T-2 and liked them all very much, but the H-1 just talks to me in a way the others don’t. One of the things I told my wife before we married a dozen years ago was that if she had objections to my “chasing the technology” in digital photography, she might want to say no to my proposal. It is getting to the point now, where I think the coming H-2 might be the end of the chase (assuming it retains all the goodness of the H-1, plus some of the things the more powerful processors in the T-3 bring to the table).

I also have a GFX 50s and the similarities in handling make using one or the other pretty much seamless.

As to the EC dial “issue,” you’re exactly correct. It is moot. With the button set to toggle on / off, the functionality is exactly the same. Wheel on the rear right, visible indicator of +/- on top “permanently.”

[Kenneth Tanaka]

Doh, getting here late. I second what Rand said, especially with respect to design equivalence with the GFX50s. Also the relocation of exposure compensation control (which is an essential control for me on all my cameras) is perfectly smooth. I don't miss a dedicated dial on (the GFX) at all.

I've been happily using the X-T3 for a few months and reluctant to grab an X-H1 mainly for three reasons.

1.Video: I really have no use for the apparently excellent newly enhanced video featured of the X-H1.

2.Sensor: I realize this may be a nit, but the X-T3's sensor is a newer generation than that of the X-H1, which uses the same sensor as the older X-T2.

3. Size/bulk: I enjoy the smaller package of the X-T3, which I use primarily for more casual "street"-type photography. The X-H1 just seems too honkin' big for a contemporary APS-C camera.

Still, your remarks and those of several commenters here are encouraging me to at least give the X-H1 a try.

Thanks for the notes, Mike!

Sensor:

[Stephen Scharf]

@Ken Tanaka:

You should at least give the X-H1 a try, Ken.

No one's really discussed it yet, and I'll reserve the larger context of my comments when, and if, Mike posts his verdict, but there is something about the image quality from the X-H1 that is...quite remarkable (there's more to image quality than just a sensor).

Personally, I prefer its image quality to that of both the X-T2 and X-T3 because it reminds me of...the GFX50S.

I'd recommend renting one for a week or so...

-Stephen

[Aaron C Greenman]

"I ended up liking it, though, because it handles so well. The large grip is perfect for my largish hands, and I didn't find it too heavy. I like cameras that allow you to let the camera hang by inserting your fingers between the grip and the lens with your hand open, like this..."

/Users/greenaa/Desktop/Hasselblad X1D vs. Fuji X-H1.jpg

It's exactly for the reasons above that I love the form factor and handling of the Hasselblad X1D with 45mm f/3.5 (35mm equivalent in 35mm). The size of the entire package is pretty much exactly that of the X-H1 and 23mm f/1.4, and its grip and balance are simply wonderful.

This suggests three things:

1 - Our preference for camera and lens size is pretty similar
2 - Hasselblad has done an amazing job (other operational quibbles not withstanding) of fitting a 44mmx33mm sensor in a compact body size, helped by the leaf shutters in the lenses.
3 - Your next rental/loaner should be the X1D, I'm pretty sure you'd enjoy the operation of it, save for the overall speed (AF, etc.) being a bit sluggish relative to the latest and greatest with APS-C and 24mmx36mm.

Best Regards,

ACG

[Graham Byrnes]

Ah, the Type 3 VW :-)
I had one for a year or two. On its debut drive, it caught fire. A little later, it pulled the cylinder-stud threads out of the crankcase. Still managed to drive it home (it would only start by rolling down a hill, due to the lost compression). Pulled the motor out and fixed it in my mother's driveway.
Later it failed an annual roadworthiness check when the fuel hose fell off...

I think I eventually sold it for about $200 less than I paid for it.

As for the Fuji... nah, already have a Pentax and lots of glass, so no interest.

[Rick Denney]

Fuji as dabbler--perfect.

As to weight, there are times I think photographers would benefit more from hitting the gym than asking for technology to accommodate their unwillingness to do so. Good thing IBIS--it compensates for the loss of stability attained the old-fashioned way, through mass. (And I suffer from essential tremor, too.)

We are supposed to like manipulating software through a menu system or touch screen instead of through physical controls, even though what motivates the relentless drive to software controls is reduced cost, which I don't see reflected in price. The same can be said for EVFs, which as a side benefit to reducing cost provide one additional separation between photographer and subject. I wish camera makers would adopt the principle of menus for rare configuration items and physical controls for real-time operation. But the ones that do are then considered too heavy and bulky.

[Rob Campbell]

Glad to meet you again, Graham!

Rob

[YS]

I don't get the love-in for EC dials, or even any kind of dedicated dials (or buttons). My ideal camera is a Nikon D5/D500 style setup, but with dials and buttons that are completely customisable. I wonder if it's an age thing too; I'm probably much younger than most of your readership.

[Steve Mason]

Your interest in Dougs fathers name oddly reminded me of Ralph Eugene Meatyard's propensity for collecting interesting names as he traveled. For some inexplicable reason I can never get, or at least I can always remember, Lumy Gene Licklighter. On of my gifts is to recall usless crap but forget anything important.