A year ago, I was walking the streets of Hanoi's Old Quarter during my Vietnam North of the 16th Parallel Photo Expedition-Workshop, carrying my street photography gear: a Leica m9 and a Fuji X Pro-1. Hanoi's streets are replete with extraordinary life moments, ready for the taking by anyone with an interest to do so.
My group and I were there in late September just before the Mid Autumn Festival, which is known in Vietnam as Tết Trung Thu festival. Traditionally, this festival celebrates harvest and is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar. In recent years, it’s an occasion for young women (and men) to walk the streets of Hanoi’s Old Quarter to show off new clothes, and to wear over-sized fake eyeglasses, and Minnie Mouse ears or antlers on their heads.
I thought it would be timely to feature a gallery of photographs showing the youthful, fun and innocent exuberance that envelops this time of year in Hanoi. The Girls of Tết Trung Thuwas just added to my The Leica File (& X Pro-1) website, and is one of many featuring my work out of Vietnam.
The adorable young women parading the street were very keen to be photographed, and seeing my cameras, asked to be photographed, making the well known Asian ‘V’ sign and tilting their heads in a sweet way.
Having some time off on Los Angeles' Rodeo Drive, I decided to test whether the city of angels's legendary shopping mecca was as conducive to street photography as is New York City. I only had a brief window of opportunity and it opened between 2-3 pm; a period of time not surprisingly accompanied by a dazzling sunshine...but with hordes of Japanese tourists. Rodeo Drive of Beverly Hills, California is a 4 block stretch of road north of Wilshire Boulevard and south of S. Santa Monica Boulevard, known for its luxury-goods stores. The street is home to some of the most sought-after stores including Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermès, Burberry, and Coach....and others that I don't know. These stores must spend serious money for rent, and their air conditioning bills must be astronomical.
The Nihon-Jin of Rodeo Drive is a gallery of photographs all made with the Fuji X Pro-1 and a Fujinon 18mm, and all were shot from the hip (except one). I wanted to be as unobtrusive as possible, and shooting from the hip allowed me to capture candid expressions I may not have been able to otherwise. As women engaged in shopping for luxury goods are normally extraordinarily focused, I could've photographed them at point-blank range, and they wouldn't have noticed me.
However, as I learned many years ago not to interfere with, or distract, a woman on a shopping spree, I thought the shooting from the hip option to be the safest for my well-being.
A Japanese guide told me that these buses carrying these shoppers are a daily occurrence, who are greeted by the Rodeo Drive merchants with open arms. I was also told that 92% of the shoppers on these buses were women, and the rest were men...presumably the very patient kind.
The photographs are not listed in any particular order, but most of them show the intensity of this activity reflected in the expressions of these women. The Japanese shoppers must've a specific window of time to do their shopping and to enter as many luxury stores as possible...and it's serious business.
A Facebook "conversation" touching on the merits (or lack thereof) of the Leica Monochrom with my friend Pierre Claquin triggered many thoughts in my mind. First off, the ephemeral thought of selling some or all of our photo gear to acquire the $8000 Monochrom crossed our minds...but after pushing away the temptation, I reflected on the reasons behind my recent interest in making monochrome photographs.
It started off during my Kolkata's Cult of Durga Photo~Expedition & Workshop™ in October 2011 during which I asked all its participants to produce their projects in black and white in order to bast capture the grittiness of Kolkata's Durga Puja.
I started to dabble with the various techniques in Photoshop or Lightroom; sometimes using presets in some cases. I also tried shooting in black and white with my M9 and the X Pro-1. The latter was used quite a lot in that mode in Sa Pa and Hanoi during my North of the 16th Parallel Photo-Expedition/Workshop, resulting in The Indigo People, and Hanoi Streets among others.
More recently, I caught myself converting some of my most colorful photographs (such as the one of the Rajasthani shepherd and the Kathakali performer) to black and white, and was glad in seeing that these were equally powerful and pleasing to my eyes. I continued this trend over the past weeks, and started sending some of my conversions to be printed at Adorama.
In my office, I have about two dozen of some of my Cibachrome photographs made about a decade ago, already framed and mounted, and I've now decided to replace them with more recent photographs in monochrome. I already have switched 3 or 4 and these adorn one of my walls.
So is this infatuation with monochrome a function of a maturing phase in my photography timeline...or is it just an aesthetic phase that will subside? I don't know, but I wager that I'm not the only one who's passing (or has passed) through it.
It might also be a partial consequence of having downloaded the Nik Collection with its Silver Efex 2 software. The ease to use this software, and its results are really worth its $150 price tag.
In fact, its suggested workflow is what I use...not necessarily on all my conversions, but with a little tweaking, I found it works for me:
1. Apply Raw Presharpener using Sharpener Pro 3.0. 2. Apply noise reduction using Dfine 2.0. 3. Control color and light using Viveza 2. 4. Apply filter enhancements using Color Efex Pro 4. 5. Convert to black and white using Silver Efex Pro 2. 6. Apply output sharpening using Sharpener Pro 3.0.
Finally, will I desert color photography for monochrome? No...how can I when there are many instances where color photography is just perfect for the scene?
I've just added The Veneration of Gharib Nawaz, a gallery of monochrome images to my website which were made during the annual Urs of the Sufi saint Moin'Uddin Chisti in Ajmer, Rajasthan, a few weeks ago.
As I wrote earlier in a blog post, the shrine of the Sufi saint Moin'Uddin Chisti welcomes pious pilgrims, vagabonds and charlatans, sightseers, mendicants and beggars, fakirs, shoppers, established and opportunistic vendors, pickpockets and thieves, the poor, the wealthy, the venal and the innocent and all the rest of them who come here during the Urs to seek spiritual salvation, riddance of 'jinns', money and entertainment.
For those interested in the gear side of photography, most of the images were made using a Canon 5D II and the 17-40 L f 4.0, while others were made with the Fuji X Pro1 and a Fujinon 18mm f 2.0.
As for the post processing, I converted the color images to monochrome using Alien Skin Exposure 4 software.
You may also want to view an audio-slideshow of color photographs of the annual event.
And the most popular post of 2012 on The Travel Photographer's blog is:
POV: Fuji X1-Pro1: Is It A Threat To Leica?in which I replied that the answer might well be a qualified yes. I also predicted (wrongly so far) that Leica would come up with a mirrorless iteration at some point soon.
That said, Leica did come up with the new Leica M-E, a "bare-bones entry level" version of the M9 priced at $5500 or so. To my mind, this was Leica's attempt to dull the competition from camera manufacturers such as Fuji and others, to widen its target market, and to expand its accessibility to more photographers.
If there’s anywhere that lives life on the street, it’s Hanoi. So here is a gallery of 12 monochrome photographs made in its streets. For these I used my Fuji X Pro-1 and the Fujinon 18mm f2.0 lens and most were shot from the hip.
I didn't know this while on my last month's photo expedition-workshop, but it's said that Hanoi's Old Quarter consists of 36 streets (in reality, there's almost twice that number), each originally named for a traditional trade, and those eventually forming guilds. For instance, Hàng Muối (salt) Street was where the salt traders converged to sell their ware. Not surprising, since Hanoi's Old Quarter has a history that spans 2,000 years.
This has now changed to a great extent, with some exceptions such as Hang Bac street (which I walked up and down many times) and that was and still is where goldsmiths and silversmiths plied their craft/trade. Most street names in the Old Quarter start with the word Hàng. Hàng means merchandise or shop.
In Vietnamese, the formal term for street is đường phố; the latter word not be confused with its delicious signature soup, but which is a staple of its streets.
One of the cultural highlights during my Viet Photo Expedition-Workshop was the Hát Tuồng performance we attended at the Vietnam National Tuồng Theatre in Hanoi.
The Hát Tuồng theatre came from China in the 13th Century when Vietnam was warring against the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. It's said that a famous actor named was imprisoned by the Vietnamese, and the imperial court asked him to spread his knowledge of Chinese theatre to the children of the elite, thus its origins were in the royal court. It was subsequently adapted to travelling troupes who entertained commoners and farmers.
Regrettably, there were only 12 or 13 spectators during the hour-long performance, out of which 10 were the photographers in my expedition-workshop. It's rather sad that Hát Tuồng, which is certainly an important part of Vietnam's rich cultural heritage, is not more popular amongst the Vietnamese themselves, as well as tourists. The performers are all proud professionals, and I believe are employed by the state which wants to retain this culture alive. That said, its music is somewhat of an acquired taste.
In any event, I had a ball photographing some of the troupe members using my Fuji X Pro-1/Fujinon 18mm f2.0 whose low-light capabilities are really astounding.
All the photographs were made without flash, at f2.0 and the iso set at 3200.
There's no question in my mind that I am very fond of my Fuji X Pro-1 and satisfied with its performance, as I've used it quite a lot during my just completed Vietnam Photo Expedition-Workshop, especially in situations which warranted candid photography (aka shooting from the hip, for me) such as during the crowded Sunday market in Bac Ha.
Many photographs on my recently completed audio slideshow Hill Tribes In The Mist and The Indigo People were made with the X Pro-1...and I'm quite happy at the results.
However, not all is rosy. While viewing some of my image files at the market, I noticed that perhaps 50 or so of my images (out of probably 1000) were really blurry. Since these images were consecutive on the "roll", it meant I made an error and it happened accidentally.
I can't recall now how I rectified this, but I think it was by reverting the focus mode lever to Single AF which had somehow slipped to Continuous. Being on the latter setting meant that the camera's focus was continually adjusted according to the scene, and with the constant movement of people in front of the lens, it may have been this that resulted in blurry images...remember, I shoot from the hip (or from the waist).
Not good that. And irritating.
The other issues I have with the X Pro-1 are these: the Exposure Compensation Dial and the lens aperture ring can easily and inadvertently be knocked off my preferred settings without me noticing it until I look at the LCD monitor and view my images. By that time, I've missed my shots.
My Preferred Settings (Aperture & Exp Comp Dial)
I suppose a piece of black tape would keep the focus mode lever and the Exposure Compensation dial where I like it. But I would've hoped that the Fuji engineers had made these less prone to inadvertent movement.
Another peeve: I carried three batteries, and inserting them the right way took some head scratching. Should they go in this way or that? An easy fix would be to use some nail polish to mark the batteries in a way that eliminates the guesswork.
Through the PetaPixel blog, I viewed the video of Chris Niccolls from the Canadian camera shop The Camera Store who was able to test a pre-release Leica Monochrome M, and which shares his thoughts on the camera. He also reveals a new feature in the Leica MM which delays the shutter sound camera for stealthier street photography.
This gives me the opportunity to share brief thoughts on the monochrome capabilities of the Fuji X Pro-1, and compare these to the Leica M9's color photographs converted to black and white. As the Leica M is rumored to be released at the end of this month, I don't know how the monochrome photographs generated by the Leica MM will compare to those altered by the traditional post processing, nor to those made in-camera by the Fuji X Pro-1...but I thought I'd post two monochrome photographs made during my recent trip to Chiang Mai.
One of these photographs (the top one) was made with my Leica M9, and post processed in monochrome in Photoshop, while the bottom one was made using the Fuji X Pro-1, and using its B&W film simulation setting, then sharpened (with some added contrast) in Photoshop. Click on the photographs to enlarge.
I pass no judgement at this stage on the merits of the Leica Monochrome, and whether its $8000 price tag is justified or not. For a few photographers, it will be...for the majority of us, it certainly isn't.
However what I can say is that I'm extremely pleased with the Fuji X Pro-1's film simulation settings, as I am pleased with the Leica M9's images when converted to monochrome. I found shooting monochrome with the X Pro-1 to be a cinch, and enjoyed every moment I used that setting. I didn't think I would before doing so in Chiang Mai's streets. But seeing the monochrome images on the X Pro-1's screen helped my visualization process, and reassured me that my camera settings were correct.
Before going to Chiang Mai for the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop, I researched locations and venues for muay thai (the Thai kickboxing), and the most prominent ones were unappealing for what I had in mind.
Despite its ancient history as a self-defense martial art akin to kickboxing, I had read that muay thai had gone through a rough patch. It was revived some years ago as a popular glitzy sport activity and held in large modern arenas...but it wasn't what I wanted. I wanted the bouts that had been relegated to seedy areas, surrounded by gambling and other nefarious activities. It was this side of muay thai that I had in mind.
It wasn't difficult to find what I wanted...the area known as Loi Kroh Road was the setting: a rundown gym with a decrepit ring amidst a "mall" of girlie and ladyboy bars, the boxing ring patched up with duct tape and tarted up with adverts for Jack Daniels Whisky, play-acting fights, the actual smell of sweat and the ambience of the sex for hire, ...and of course, shady nak muay, as the sport's pugilists are known.
I bought a front seat row for my first evening there, and subsequently discovered I could have a drink at one of the bars instead, walk a few steps to the ring and photograph at will. At some point, I wasn't very popular with a half-sober and rather beefy European spectator, who (rightly) claimed I was in his (and his -possibly underage- girlfriend's) line of vision, but the tense moment soon passed.
So here's The Art Of Eight Limbs, a collection of monochrome photographs made at the Loi Kroh arena, and made with the Fuji X Pro-1.
I've said it earlier, but I'm very pleased with the Fuji X Pro-1's performance, especially under the conditions I was shooting under. As one can imagine, photographing a fast-paced sports such as muay thai in dim conditions and under uneven lights is tough for any camera, but the X Pro-1 didn't let me down, except for an occasional slip with its slow focusing or because its auto-focus was fooled by the action.
Whilst teaching at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop the past week or so, I've also managed to set aside some time to fit some of my favorite style of photography, and shooting from the hip with the Fuji X Pro-1 has been high on my list to do, especially at night.
Here's LK Road, a collection of street photography scenes made in one of the grittiest mainstream streets in Chiang Mai; Loi Kroh Road. The photographs are grouped under the title page of Katoey Or Not?, but I chose not to title this post with that particular name to avoid having visitors being referred to it by search engines for purposes other than photography.
Loi Kroh in Thai means "washing one's troubles away", and it's one of Chiang Mai haunts for tourists principally for the preponderance of girlie bars on its approximately one-mile length...some of these bars are staffed by young women, and/or ladyboys known as katoeys.
Apart from the bars, Loi Kroh Road hosts some restaurants, massage parlors for tourists with aching legs and feet, and tattoo shops. That said, I found its ambiance a little sad and melancholic despite the blaring large screen television sets then showing some Olympics sport event, the occasional clicks of billiard balls, the forced laughter of the young women (or ladyboys) working the bars and the ubiquitous and hopeful "sawasadee...massage?" yells at every corner.
The areas seemed to me to be way past its prime...perhaps it was the off-season as well...but the bars were less than half-empty, even when there were muay thai fights held at the seedy boxing ring. Most of the fights seemed (at least to me) to be staged, with spectators generally consisting of drunken middle-aged European men.
I was asked why I chose to shoot from the hip on Loi Kroh Road, and if it was because it was risky. Not at all...although I imagine some of the bar clients wouldn't relish being photographed. The real reason is the same as whenever I choose to shoot from the hip: it allows me to capture the subjects unawares with natural expressions.
Lastly, the ladyboy in the above photograph, extroverted and very "sociable", reminded me of Ru Paul. I was super prompt in buying her a drink to get rid of her unwanted and rather heavy-handed attentions.
Finally, the Fuji X Pro1 performed extremely well at night, and I have nothing but praise for its performance. Its auto-focus let me down a few times, but its overall performance at high and very high iso is nothing short of spectacular.
Loi Kroh Road is an interesting byway in the Old City of Chiang Mai, and a section of it in particular has been a magnet for the type of street photography I do.
Lined with girlie bars with television screens and billiard tables, it also has its shares of tattoo parlors, Texas-style saloons, and fortune tellers. It's also where I met Thom who's a bartender/bouncer at one of the girlie bars in an alley that leads to a grubby Muay Thai boxing ring.
I also meeting Tia, a little person, who supposedly is a Muay Thai fighter but is more of a clown (as I discovered later on). He is a very effective poser...and looks fierce in his outsized gloves.
As for the lovely young woman who was tending bar at one of the many establishments, I assured her that by placing her photograph on my blog would bring her not only luck, but many suitors.
I am so taken by the capabilities of the Fuji X Pro-1 that I created a new 'page' on my street photography website The Leica File (And X Pro-1) for my most recent project involving the LGTB Hip Hop gathering during the Gay Pride of 2012 in New York City.
Most of the images I've chosen were made by shooting from the hip, and by pre-visualizing the composition in my mind's eye...not quite a Hail Mary per se, but a sort of "eyeless" photography as I call it in my Is Shooting From The Hip...Photography? post of over a year ago.
I'm quite impressed by the quality of these images, especially as I've decided to quit using RAW with the Fuji X Pro-1 until such time there's adequate software support for its conversion. The Fuji RAW convertor is so clunky that it's laughable, and the Adobe Lightroom seems to have issues with it (I am also considering switching from Lightroom to Aperture....but that's another story).
All the photographs were shot in JPEG (Velvia film simulation setting), and sharpened a touch in Photoshop.
Many years ago, I was told that to be really successful, a street photograph should have no one in it looking at the camera or the photographer, essentially a candid moment. In the dense crowds of the LGBT Hip Hop crowd, that was impossible. However, by shooting from the hip, I did manage to capture such candid moments. The photograph (cropped) that I chose to accompany this post is one of those. A tender moment between two young people whose lives are just starting. Where will they be in 20 years' time?
In other photographs, I wasn't as successful...simply because I stood out like a sore thumb in that type of crowd, and just by being there attracted some stares (and in one instance, given the finger....but I had the camera to my face then).
I realize that I have already shown these photographs on this blog in a short Vimeo audio slideshow, but it didn't show them off in the best light...so these are now on my street photography blog.
Having spent most of the late morning and early afternoon on Fifth Avenue photographing the Gay Pride Parade, I felt rather bored by the commercialization of the parade with the incessant floats carrying some form of corporate logo and, although having found a nice shady spot, being unable to penetrate the phalanxes of barricades, I decided to switch gears...and walk down to the West Village and get some street photography going.
From the West Village, I followed the young crowds along Christopher Street to the Hudson River Park, and once there, started the shoot from the hip.
Within an hour of my return home, I put together an audio slideshow of some of the photographs I made with the Fuji X Pro-1. Most of the photographs were shot from the hip...some were Hail Marys...and a few were composed through the viewfinder. I used the Vivid film simulation setting, and I'm very pleased with the results. None of the photographs were processed beyond a little sharpening.
With this month's credit card statement settled, I can now claim complete ownership of my Fujifilm X Pro-1 and the Fujinon 18mm lens that I bought last month, so feel I've earned the right to update my impressions having used it in the streets of New York as frequently as I could.
Let me start by saying that looks can be deceiving. Operating the Fujifilm X Pro-1's various options can be quite complex, and took longer than I expected, especially as I have the unfortunate habit of not reading manuals, preferring to learn on the fly.
Much has been written (and continues to be written) on the X Pro-1's performance, strong and weak points, quirks (some infuriating and others not so much) and superlative image quality...so I won't repeat them here, apart from saying this:
1. As I do much of my street photography in the streets of NYC by shooting from the hip, I rely on the X Pro-1's auto focus. Its auto focus is not infallible, but even my Canon 5D Mark II and 7D are not, so that's an issue I can easily live with. The main gripe I have with the X Pro-1 is that it occasionally goes to sleep, and it takes a few jabs at its shutter to wake it up. By that time of course, the subject of my attention has walked on by, or the moment I wanted to capture passed.
And to me, that's the main negative of the X Pro-1 insofar as shooting from the hip is concerned.
2. I tried a couple of color film settings, and I'm occasionally disappointed in the rendition of the Velvia (or vivid) setting. The color photograph above was made using the Vivid film simulation setting, and I just don't like it. While the whole scene is more or less fine, the color of the man's jeans (as an example) is unnatural, and seems too over-saturated.
3. The battery life of the X Pro-1 sucks. As I mentioned in previous posts, I manage to get about 300 images on one charge (that includes a bit of chimping). On the other hand, it recharges quite rapidly. So on my shopping list, is another battery. For an all day kind of shooting, 2 batteries (and perhaps 3) are the minimum.
That all said, I am quite satisfied with the performance of the X Pro-1 and I anticipate getting more comfortable with it during the next few weeks, and also expect that Fuji will come up with further firmware updates.
I added a monochrome version (processed via LR) which I much prefer to the color one. I suspect that if I claimed that it came from the new Leica MM, no one would guess otherwise.
Finally, for a website that aggregates all there is to know about the Fuji X Pro-1, drop by Thomas Menk's Scoop.it | Fuji X Pro 1 blog.
Fujifilm and British luxury luggage manufacturer Globe-Trotter have joined forces to create an exclusive travel case and X-Pro1 camera package that takes the "limited edition" tag to its extreme. It's restricted to Harrods, and only 12 are available for sale at £5,695 ($ 8800 or so). Since all of the camera hardware can be bought from B&H for about $3800, the travel case on its own probably costs in the vicinity of $3000 (adjusted for VAT).
Each travel case contains a Fujifilm X-Pro1, its three lenses, a flash and a filter. No mention of a handful of SD cards thrown in.
Since Britain is celebrating the Queen's Jubilee this week, here's another bit of useless trivia for you: Queen Elizabeth II purchased her Globe-Trotter suitcases for her honeymoon from Harrods. She probably still uses them.
This is a page out of Leica's playbook. Targeting the very wealthy who seek status symbols, while probably knowing very little of photography. I bet we'll be seeing more of this luxury "packaging" in the future for both Leica (as it usually does) and the upstart X-Pro1.
Serendipity was the reason I stumbled on New York City's 6th Annual Dance Parade yesterday.
Barricades and police presence around St. Marks Place can portend a lot of things these days, but when I was handed an announcement for United We Dance, I suspected I'd have a good time. This was corroborated by a woman standing besides me who predicted I'd also get fantastic photographs.
I only carried my Fuji X Pro-1 fitted with the Fujinon 18mm f2.0, and since the barricades had been erected along the route of the parade, I wasn't sure it'd work with such a short range lens. I was on the verge on hurrying back home and get my Canon 5D MarkII and the 70-200 f2.8 that serve me well in such events....but as the police seemed to not be in the mood to restrict photographers, press affiliated or not, I chose to stay and ignore the barricades.
It worked.
Naturally, I had to compete with other photographers who had the "appropriate" gear,...DSRLS mostly with long zoom lenses, but I had reasonable access to the dancers as they performed. I chose a spot on 8th Street that was in the shade (the other side of the street was very sunny), took a reading off the asphalt, and kept my camera's setting at 1/500 sec and an aperture of f2.0 (for a shallow DOF).
In a way, it was both frustrating and liberating to shoot with the X Pro-1. I was frustrated in not having the 70-200 lens (or even a 24-70mm) with me for some close portraiture of the gorgeous dancers...and frustrated that the X Pro-1 seemed to 'oversleep' sometimes. I probably missed about 4-5 photographs because the X Pro-1 didn't respond as quickly as I wanted. Its AF also seemed to be confused in some situations.
The liberating aspect of having the X Pro-1 is that it forced me to be close and personal with the dancers. Its size makes it so much easier to be unobtrusive, although the dancers were eager to be photographed, so stealth was a little difficult.
The JPEG photographs were processed (minimally) in Photoshop.
Chancing upon the Earth Celebration Hudson River Pageant on Saturday gave me the ample opportunity to try out my new Fujifilm X-Pro1 in a non-street shooting situation. As it was almost noon, the sun was really quite harsh, and I had to make do with intense glare off the concrete boardwalk, and rather deep shadows.
I had the only lens I have for the X Pro-1; the Fujinon18 mm f 2.0. Two of the four images were made at f16, and two others at f5.6...and all were at 200 iso. Oh, and I had neglected to bring the lens hood!
It was a pleasure to shoot with such a small unobtrusive camera, although I had to get really close in some cases to get the photograph I wanted. There were some other professional photographers there; some with the almost obligatory 70-200 lenses, who probably made some lovely close up portraits (I did too...later on when I trooped back to the Hudson River Park with my own Canon 5D Mark II and the 70-200 f 2.8.
But back to the Fujifilm X Pro-1...these were made by choosing the Velvia Film Simulation setting, and Auto White Balance. I intended to get an overly saturated result for all these colored costumes, and I think I chose right.
By the way, Thomas Menk's Fuji X-Pro1/Scoop Itwebsite is one of the best ways to keep track of various reviews for this camera, and for its rumor, samples and news. If you're interested in the X Pro-1 or thinking of buying one, follow it.
And for those ecologically minded, the Hudson River Pageant was part of Earth Celebration’s fourth annual events to restore the native species and habitats of the Hudson River.
The results are (at the time of writing this post) 139 voted for image A to have been made with the Fuji X Pro-1, while 114 voted for it to have been made with the Leica M9.
I think the point of the poll's question is to demonstrate that, to me at least, both cameras are very close in terms of quality of images...in my experience, the Leica M9's images have a little greenish tint to them (probably depending on the light source?), while the X Pro-1's images are warmer (again perhaps of the light source).
Naturally, the images I used were JPEG's 'out of the box' so to speak...and perhaps I should've used the RAW files from each camera instead. As I always maintain and say, cameras are nothing but tools. A carpenter needs a claw and a ball-peen hammer in his/her tool box. Brand loyalty taken to unreasonable partisan levels is always silly and unproductive. Both the M9 and the X Pro-1 have their weak and strong points...as mostly everything else in life. and that's all there is to it.
Yesterday I went to the Occupy Wall Street protest in Union Square with both the M9 and X Pro-1. Some of the images I made using both cameras can be viewed on The Leica File in a slideshow. I used the X Pro-1 when I needed the speed because of its AF, and used the M9 when I had the luxury of time to focus.
I was accosted by a number of photographers who were curious as to what I thought of the X Pro-1.
Here are JPEG #A and JPEG #B; one is made with a Leica M9 at 200 iso with a Leica Elmarit 28mm at f2.8, while the other was made with a Fuji X Pro-1 at 200 iso with a Fujinon 18mm (equivalent of 27mm) at f2.0. The photographs were made within a few seconds from each other under the same lighting conditions, and using an automatic shutter speed.
The lower two are the same images after using Auto Fix in Photoshop. No other processing was done to either of them.
So what's your call? Which image was made with the M9, and which with the X Pro-1?
After having handled the M9 for about 15 months and the X Pro-1 for just over a week, I feel that both have a place in my tool box. It took me a few hours to understand the ins and outs of the X Pro-1, and I haven't had frustrations to speak of once I ironed out its quirks. In contrast, the Leica M9 is a difficult camera with which I had considerable frustrations (and some pleasures) so far.
I am neither a Leica cheerleader nor a X Pro-1 groupie, and as I imply earlier, I consider them both to be useful tools for different jobs. That said, while the M9's build is better (more solid) than the X Pro-1, its many shortcomings (lack of AF, abysmal display, image quality issues at ISOs higher than 640, etc) are difficult to tolerate with the appearance of the X Pro-1 that is also well-built, has reasonable quality glass, has good image quality to 6400 iso, and a lovely display, apart from its many other technical advantages, such as its revolutionary hybrid viewfinder as one of numerous examples.
"Will the FujiFilm X Pro-1 dethrone the Leica M9? "
Sure, the Leica M9 not only has a mystique, but more tangibly, also provides a special 'feel' to the photographs it produces...but the X Pro-1 image quality is excellent. Does it have the Leica "feel"? No it doesn't. The M9 is a full frame camera, and the X Pro-1 isn't. However, it has an APS-C sized sensor, which produces images that are said to be equal, if not superior, to those of full-frame cameras.
Will the FujiFilm X Pro-1 dethrone the Leica M9? I doubt it...but it's a very serious contender, and fills a niche for photographers who seek to add a digital rangefinder-like camera to their gear, and do not want to spend upwards of $7000 for a body to do it.
And for those who have voted in the previous poll in which I ask for the readers preference between photographs made with a Leica M9, a Fujifilm X Pro-1, a Canon 7D, a Canon 5D Mark II and a Panasonic GF1, the results favored the Leica M9 which got 38.5% of the votes, then the X Pro-1 which got about 33%.
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