I definitely was not going to buy this camera. But the GAS ( Gear Acquisition Syndrome ) kept gnawing away at me. Luckily in the UK its still extremely hard to get hold of one of these cameras. Unluckily for my bank account, I managed to find somewhere that had one. I got it with the grip, as that was one of the major draws for me. So..the reasons I’ve decided to roll with one XT-2 and and one XPro-2 instead of two XPro-2’s…
- buffer on the T2 is better, as is the EVF blackout. This comes into play during the processional, confetti and dance shots.
- the pro-2 will be more useful when I want to be discreet, the T-2 with grip looks like a small DSLR and is far more conspicuous
- I do shoot quite a lot of sport ( mostly my kids soccer matches ), and the T-2 is clearly the better camera for that, although the pro2 does a fine job, especially with the new firmware.
- I’m looking to do a lot more video over the next year, as well as landscapes ( flippy screen )
- I’m weak.
Initial thoughts on the look and feel..build quality is much better than the XT-1, although I feel there are more things to come off/break than on the Pro-2, which is just a tank. I love the new dials, I’ve gotten used to the ISO mechanism on the Pro-2 and actually quite like it now, but the T-2 setup is better. Yeah the EVF is nice, but it doesn’t bother me switching between the T-2 and Pro-2.
In terms of speed, this thing is an absolute beast. I shot a soccer game at the weekend with it, and it was just like shooting with a DSLR, I didn’t notice the EVF blackout with the grip on and power boost mode on. I shot 1200 shots and one battery was at 50%. In terms of keeper rate, it was something like 95%, and thats bearing in mind I’m unfamiliar with the autofocus settings. I used option 2 for the first half and then switched to the default. The default actually seemed to work better but that could also have been me getting more familiar with the camera. Further testing is needed. Overall it just feels like a powerful, sure footed, mini-beast of a camera and for me it beats the D750 I used to use in almost every aspect ( ok I get its not full frame ). Up against the D500, it is much closer and I’m sure in terms of raw power the D500 will edge it ( although not for video ). But such comparisons are pointless, I own 7 X-mount lenses, there is no way I’m ever going back to Nikon, the differences are minimal between all these cameras now and I’d rather spend my time getting better with the ones I own than doing endless comparisons.
Here are some images from the soccer game ( my daughter was playing ).
