Fujifilm X-E1… now would be a good time!

Earlier this year, I described the Fujifilm X-E1 as “the one“, as in the one among mirrorless cameras to get.  I was that impressed.  Click here to read my words of affection.

Is it perfect?  No, what is?  In a nutshell, the pros are:

• Elegant button and dial interface — a real shooter’s camera
• Excellent, sharp image capture using Fujifilm’s proprietary and much appreciated AA filterless design
• Beautiful prime and now zoom lenses; the kit 18-55 defies “ah, it’s just a kit lens” logic

Cons?

• Not a full range of lenses (e.g., fast telezoom) yet.  Repeat, yet
• Pricey
• A few quirks here and there (acceptable AF but no speed demon, poor battery life, limited AE bracketing range, unhelpful requirement that you press a button on the left in order to select focus point with the controller on the right) — but you can used to all these!

Regarding bullet #2 above in the cons list, Fujifilm has announced some amazing instant rebates.  For the camera plus kit zoom (recommended), it’s $200 off.  Then, it’s $200 or even $300 off the primes when you add them to your order.  If you’re going to go all in, make sure you buy them all at the same time in order to maximize savings.  There are links to B&H at the end of my review in the article referenced above.  B&H does a very nice job automatically stacking the rebates so you know you’re getting the biggest discounts.

If you’ve had your finger on the trigger of an X-E1 (also applies to the X-Pro1, which I liked a lot less) purchase, now’s the time to squeeze.  If you’re worried that this signifies that the X-E2 is coming, well… you know it’s coming.  But not for a while, initial availability won’t be great and it will cost you more.