Since it might be fun to hear some first thoughts on encountering the X1D, here goes. I am using the X1D and the 90mm, as regards how it relates to my personal workflow, which is all about close-ups, stacking, and mini-dioramas/landscapes. At first feel, I can say that the haptics are better than any camera I have ever used. Indeed, it is very elegant. It’s not too heavy and not too light, not too big and not too tiny. And it looks smaller than it feels when you pick it up.
I have been using Nikon digitals pretty much since the beginning. I still have my first DSLR, the mighty 6 Mpx Nikon D1x, which cost me $5K. And all these years I have always had to tweak the color for this or that color cast. There are a lot of reasons why I find the X1D just the camera I need, but right up there near the tip of the top is the color. Right now I am shooting raw (of course) and developing using Adobe ACR with a sensor profile custom-created by Ming Thein. Even without his profile, the color is almost good-to-go. If I add the profile, there is just a gentle settling into even more delicate color. This makes the image color superb as far as I can see and much better than what I’m used to. What a treat after years of tweaking!
Although the lens I am using (90mm XCD) is not as sharp as my Otus lenses, it is quite sharp enough. Moreover, the total style or impact of the combination of color, sharpness, delicateness of color, etc. is better than what I can achieve with my beloved Nikon D810.
As mentioned, I am not used to being treated to such pure corrected color, much less not having the guess work or attempts to remember what a particular shoot was supposed to look like. This alone would endear me to any camera.
I have taken enough close-up photos at this point to confirm to myself that getting the X1D was a great decision on my part. There is no doubt in my mind that the color that comes out of this camera is much closer to reality than I get from my Nikon D810. Much better.
I am amazed at how little post color-work has to be done with the X1D images.
And I (thanks to some help here) managed to wrestle myself into being able to get a little of what I want out of the camera today. I did some focus-stacking with the X1D and results are very promising, especially what I call “short stacks, stacks of.4-5 layers. But shining through that is the simple fact that with the X1D, a single shot, with some preparation on my part, is so good that I may not need to stack all that much. I wonder what I will do with all the time I’ll save.
The BLACKS are not as good IMO as those in the D810 (ISO 64), but they are just fine. What so far is most amazing to me is the roll-off for the WHITES/highlights. There is (much like a long focus-throw, to use an analogy) a very wide bandwidth to pull down the highlights, much better than the D810, IMO. Much better. This is good news because harsh highlights are hard to “make pretty.” In fact, this is VERY good news for my work.
And the sharpness (90mm lens) is fine, good enough to satisfy my demands, which was a big worry for me. And the color is as I like it, gentle, not too saturated and with no trace of the HDR look about it.
In short, I have satisfied my worst fears and doubt that I will be sending it back, as I have many other systems, except the Nikon D810. It has some quirks and some things that I just can’t like at all (like the lack of a 4-way controller), but I tell myself to be grateful and heaven knows I am used to suffering all kinds of bad design for the sake of a good image. And the X1D has that, and even better than I could have hoped.
I will perhaps have more notes in a few days.
Just a quick shot with the X1D and the 90mm. The background variation is just a wrinkled black velvet drape, so ignore that. Hopefully more images soon. I returned my Fuji GFX.
