Good Bye X-Pro 1 — Eddie Ruiz Photography

Apr 5

Apr 5 Good Bye X-Pro 1

To my Fujifilm X-Pro 1… you did good to me. I'll always keep you in my heart.

Letting go of my X-Pro 1 was unexpected. I was not looking to sell such a great camera. I was happy to use it, and use it I did. The X-Pro 1 was my favorite camera to bring to the streets, coupled with either my XF 18mm f2, or my XF 35mm f1.4, or both, I just loved carrying that camera on my street walks. Being old and bought at a bargain (compared to today's prices), I felt free to roam anywhere with it. It was not a perfect camera, it was slow to focus, and even slower to shoot, but images just looked great with good colors that let themselves be edited every which way. I love the camera, even though is now gone and sold.

Let me share the specifics of my affection to the X-Pro 1:

The built. It has the right size, the right weight, a strong built, not the plastic carbonated feel of many other cameras. The grip was textured and worn out, just a bit sticky, and I didn't mind, it just made the experience of using it more joyful.
The look and feel. The worn out look made it feel more vintage, hipster, like an artistic tool. It felt good using it too.
The sensor. The X-Pro 1 has the first generation X-Trans sensor, and many people raved how filmic images looked using it. Personally, I did not find any such thing, everything is so subjective nowadays (including this blog), but I did notice RAW files would let themselves be edited whichever way you feel like. In fact, it was the one camera that let itself replicate the color feeling of the Canon 5D Classic, a camera I have been intrigued for some time. And having a 16MP is that size I feel it's the perfect size, to allow some cropping to make some adjustments without sacrificing much image quality.
The speed, oh yes, the speed! It is purposely slow. The speed of the X-Pro 1 made me a much better photographer. It's one of many technical limitations that forced me to slow down, absorb the surroundings, and let myself be in the zone. And this camera welcomed my idea of using 1GB SD cards that could store about 36 images, like a little roll of film.
The optical viewfinder. Using the OVF, and the LCD turned off, and you could think the X-Pro 1 was an analogue camera. It gave a little boost of speed to the shooting process, but more importantly was the fact that you could just shoot without the interference of digital interpretations.

The Fujifilm X-Pro 1 helped me improve my street photography. Why selling it?

Simple answer is: I don't longer need it. It taught me what I needed to learn, it freed me from fears I had, it molded me for the photographer I want to become. And for that I am grateful.

The fact is I was hoping for the X-Pro 1 to become my everyday camera (EDC), my analogue camera, my travel camera of choice, and I couldn't. The camera did its thing, helped me find my way, find my voice, find my confidence. I am better because of it. It was time to let go, graduate and move on to my other Fujifilm camera, a real workhorse, a skilled tool, it is time to endeavor the streets with my Fujifilm X-Pro 2, which has been collecting dust because of the process I was going through with the X-Pro1.

Letting go of the X-Pro 1 has given my mind permission to be more open, more curious, more pragmatic of what I am looking in cameras. I am becoming little by little more brand agnostic, owning several brands for several reasons, different challenges. Fujifilm is my camera brand of choice for the experience of street photography, family, travel, and landscape. I have a few other camera models from other brands for other reasons, and that's OK for me too.

For the past two years, owning the X-Pro 1 made me a better photographer for the reasons I have outlined before. Letting go of it; however, as difficult as it was, forced me to become the photographer I want to be.

Feel free to review my other blogs regarding my experience with the X-Pro 1. You can also join my instagram accounts @eruizmiro and @panamastreetshooter.