Quick Autofocus Test: Fujifilm X Pro 1 (Firmware 2.0) vs Olympus OMD EM5

Fujifilm recently updated their X Pro 1 mirrorless interchangeable lens camera’s firmware to deliver blazing fast results. Indeed, the camera is much improved over its past performance. But to see just how far it has come, I decided to put it up against the current autofocusing king: the Olympus OMD EM5 with an MSC Fast AF system lens.

Check out the quick, informal video after the jump. Which one would you use?

Gear Used

Video

Conclusions

The Olympus OMD EM5 is a clear and undisputed winner in my opinion. Despite this being said, the Fujifilm X Pro 1 is now fast enough for the candid nature of street photography.

Now here’s the interesting part: in some situations, I still actually consider my Canon 5D Mk II to be faster than the X Pro 1′s focusing with my 35mm f1.4 L lens attached. And with a lighter and faster lens like Canon 85mm f1.8, the X Pro 1 is blown out of the water. To be fair, it still isn’t bad; but it cannot catch up to the rapid fire speeds of Olympus’s OMD, Sony’s NEX line of cameras, or higher end DSLRs.

At times though, the X Pro 1 can outperform the 5D Mk II.

But the X Pro 1 still beats many of these cameras in one particular category: and that is pure image quality. We put the X Pro 1 against the 5D Mk II and 5D Mk III in an image quality test, and many of you either were not able to tell the difference between the images or really favored the X Pro 1′s quality.

I’m going to do more tests with the X Pro 1 over time, but from today’s test it still seems that the company has some ground to cover.

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Tagged as: autofocus, EM5, fujifilm, image quality, olympus, OMD, street photography, test, video, x pro 1

RogerGW

> it cannot catch up to the rapid fire speeds of Olympus’s OMD, Sony’s NEX line of cameras, or higher end DSLRs.

How does it compare with the Nikon 1 V1?

Roger
- ChrisGampat
  
  The Nikon 1 series outperforms the Fujifilm X series.
  
  *-Chris Gampat*
  Editor in Chief, ThePhoBlographer.com
  Twitter.com/Phoblographer
  Facebook.com/ThePhoblographer
http://twitter.com/polarapfel Tobias Weisserth

Hi Chris, interesting comparison. Judging from the video, I think my old Panasonic GF1 with its 20mm lens is not slower to focus than the XPro1.

Should I ever consider to get into Fuji’s system (why should I, I am a pretty happy OM-D/GF1 owner), Fuji would need to improve auto-focus in a newer body. I think they may actually face the same problems Olympus had in the beginning. Remember the E-P1, E-P2 or E-PL1? Those were horribly slow cameras to focus.
miniTO

i think a fair comparison would require the new 18-55 and not the 35 1.4 which is obviously going to be slower then the OMD with a quick AF Zoom…

as such this is a good example of how improved the X-Pro is but thats about it.
- http://twitter.com/NickInLA Nick
  
  I agree, comparing the Fuji with a 35mm prime at f/1.4 vs a zoom at f/3.5 isn’t a good comparison.
- http://twitter.com/shigzeo shigzeo
  
  Indeed, this is a poor comparison.
  
  Zooms and primes can only be compared at exactly the same focal length (or equivalent focal length) and aperture. Still, zooms should be faster as generally they are made for fast focusing along all lengths.
  
  I’m sorry to say that this is a sad comparison that Phoblogger should have not posted.
  
  That said, I can’t imagine the Fuji ever comparing in focus speed and photo capture to the OM-D, especially considering its write speed and x-trans processing. It simply isn’t designed to be a fast-focusing camera, and its processor isn’t strong enough. I own neither, though I’ve considered both, the OM-D for sports (amazing telephoto compression possible) and the X series for studio/take around.
  
  Purchases who are worried about focus speed, please note that the comparison is bullocks: zooms and primes shouldn’t be compared. Then, if compared even so, they should be compared at similar/equivalent focal lengths, and at same apertures. This comparison, having met not a single requirement, is bunk.
  - http://news.kilibee.com Klaus Busse
    
    Well, it might be generally unfair to compare a zoom and a prime.
    
    However, the OM-D with the 45 mm prime feels as fast as with the kit zoom, if not faster. 60 mm macro is a tad slower, but just a little.
    
    However, does it really matter? The Fuji has better image quality, the OM-D better AF performance – both are great cameras. Isn’t is good to have choice?
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http://www.facebook.com/joenaiman Joe Naiman

Thanks for the feedback. As someone who hasn’t seen the Fuji in person, this was the first video/image where I realized how much physically larger it is than the OM-D. I own the OM-D and picked it for the combo of Size/IQ/Speed to focus. As someone with kids, focus speed is huge. Isn’t it wonderful we have so many great options today. It’s now all about your choice of compromises, rather than good versus bad.
Eric

This seems like a very unfair test for the Fuji. While I don’t expect the AF to be as fast as the Olympus under any circumstances, Fuji has stated that only their newer lenses such as their upcoming 18-55mm will be truly be able to take advantage of the 2.0 Firmware. Further, a small aperture zoom has an inherit advantage as it doesn’t have to deal with shallow DOF. It seems like you should mount the Panasonic 25mm onto the OM-D for the comparison until you can get your hands on the Fuji 18-55mm.
Jo

An utterly useless test that shows the author knows nothing about the relationship between af speed and aperture or focal length. Let alone the fact zooms are made with quicker focusing ability.

My take is this test was just a plug for Oly or some personal issue the author has with Fuji.