The rumors look pretty solid: the Fujifilm X-Pro2, long-awaited successor to the hybrid rangefinder X-Pro1, will be arriving on January 15th, 2016.

The confirmation came from an unusual source. Magnum Photos mistakenly released two photos taken with the X-Pro2 on its website. In removing them, Magnum explained itself by saying that the photos are embargoed until January 15th. Ipso facto.

Still technically a rumor, though, n.b.

A friend's Fuji X-Pro1, with the 23mm ƒ/1.4 lens. The new 35mm ƒ/2 seems made for this camera, though.



If you are after the X-Pro1 on closeout and want the following two lenses in particular, Adorama has a package with the 23mm ƒ/1.4 and the 27mm ƒ/2.8 pancake for $1,249. Even with the current sale prices of the lenses ($700 and $300 respectively), that's like getting the body for $250, which is a very good bargain. Of course, people looking for very good bargains and willing to settle for older cameras might perhaps not have $1,249 sitting around waiting to be spent, but then I'm just passing along the news.

The X-Pro1 was the interchangeable-lens version of the hugely popular X100, now in its third iteration (and on sale for $200 off) and still very successful. The X-Pro1 was one of the most innovative cameras of the entire digital era when it came out and is still very pleasant to shoot with. Its special feature, which it shares with the X100[x] family, is that it offers effortless flick-of-a-lever switching between optical rangefinder-style viewing and an electronic viewfinder through the same eyepiece.

Although its relatively relaxed responsiveness was the most damning criticism leveled at the X-Pro1, it's actually quite pleasant to shoot with for general shooting. It's not the right camera for concerted action or low-light shooting, but I wouldn't say it's terrible at those tasks either. Quite a fun camera to use. Chris Gampat said of it, "The Fujifilm X-Pro1 is still an excellent camera—in fact, it’s still one that I use often. Its autofocus performance isn’t much slower...than that of the X-T1 and the image quality it delivers [...] in my opinion still rivals that of full frame 35mm sensor cameras from a couple of years ago. Even today, ISO 6400 on the X-Pro1 is the cleanest I’ve seen from a camera with an APS-C sensor."

The new camera—rumors, mind—will have a 24-MP sensor (big news in Fuji-land), 200 AF points, dual SD card slots, and be markedly quicker than the X-Pro1. In fact much of the nuts-and-bolts functionality can be expected to show the usual incremental improvements—not just focusing speed but the resolution of the EVF and so on. (For the best new scuttlebutt, always check the latest from fujirumors.com.)

Something to look forward to in January.

Mike

(Thanks to Adam Lanigan, jim, Dave, Patrick, and others)

Original contents copyright 2015 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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