Last month I photographed an advertisement in Bangkok for an international food brand and I had a chance to shoot side by side with a Fuji X-T1 and the newer X-Pro 2. Besides the improved tech-specs, which you can read from one of the many reviews already on the web, I wanted to see how the two cameras handle and respond to the needs of a commercial shoot in real life. I’ve been using the Fuji system for 4 years, but this was the first time I didn’t bring a DSLR on a commercial photography gig.

The brief was to photograph two chefs finishing off some dishes, so it was a mix of food photography and lifestyle photography. To light the scene we used a combination of strobes and the existing Kino Flo set up by the film crew shooting the TVC.

So how does the X-Pro2 improve on the X-T1? As many have already pointed out the X-Pro2 is a better camera (faster AF, higher resolution, dual card slot etc…), but the biggest difference and for me the biggest improvement over the X-T1 is something I surprisingly haven’t found on the many reviews I’ve read so far: reduced shutter lag and a much improved responsiveness. While this might not improve the image quality in itself, the overall shooting experience is a lot smoother and less clunky. The camera shoots fast and the black-out time between shots is minimal, reminding of a DSLR. This might or might not result in better photos, but it definitely helps not to miss precious moments, and makes the job a lot more fun.

I am now curious to see how the newly launched X-T2 stands up to that, I think it will do great and set a new benchmark for Fuji.