The image above was taken with the Fujifilm X-E1. The camera was set to Aperture priority mode and the aperture set to f5.6. The unextended ISO sensitivity range of the X-E1 is 200-6400 so the camera was set to its unextended base sensitivity of 200 ISO at which it metered a shutter speed of 1/950. The EOS M metered 1/500 at f5.6 at 100 ISO. As usual for this test both cameras were otherwise left on their default settings.

Conditions on the day were fairly demanding, both for myself and the cameras, with partial cloud coverage and strong winds resulting in rapidly changing lighting conditions. With parts of the scene illuminated by bright sunlight and other areas in shadow it was a challenge to achieve similar exposures with both cameras. Despite the conditions however, the Fujifilm X-E1 has made a good job of the exposure here with a histogram right in the middle of the chart.

The first crop shows an excellent level of detail in the chapel with the crosses at either end of the roof crisply defined. Even though this part of the scene is in shade the perimeter stone wall and rocky foreground show a high level of detail too.

The second crop is also very impressive with the lighhouse a clearly defined cylinder with the detail of the lamphouse easy to make out. The window frames of the foreground buildings are crisply defined and you’d probably see more detail in the roofs were it not for the flat and subdued lighting here. The detail from the edge of the frame in the third crop is also looking good. It might be a little softer here, but if it is the difference is marginal. There’s also little evidence of chromatic abberation; all-in-all, the 18-55mm zoom performs very well with consistence from the centre ot the edge at this slightly zoomed in focal length.

The final crop from the centre of the frame holds no surprises given what we’ve already seen. Edge detail is crisp and clear with good resolution of the finer detail. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen results from this sensor which is the same as in the X-Pro 1, which I tested with the 18mm f2 lens against the Canon EOS 7D and Sony NEX 7. The only difference here is the new kit lens and quality looks to be very respectable indeed – it’s far from a poor cousin of the primes as you might have expected.

In my earlier tests I found the X-trans CMOS sensor used in the X-Pro 1 and X-E1 outperformed the conventional CMOS sensor and Bayer filter setup used in the 7D and NEX-7 and to that I’ll now add the Canon EOS M. The EOS M shares the same sensor as the T4i / 650D and in terms of processing the crops look typical of those from a Canon consumer model, which is to say that they’ve been processed for a ‘consumer-friendly’ look, nice and contrasty with crisp edge detail. But I don’t see quite the same level of detail in the EOS M crops as in those from the X-E1.

My Fujifilm X-E1 RAW quality results on the next page will provide evidence of how much, if any, of the difference is due to processing. Alternatively, see how these models compare at higher sensitivities in my Fujifilm X-E1 Noise results.

The image above was taken with the Fujifilm X-E1. The camera was set to Aperture priority mode and the aperture set to f5.6. The sensitivity was set to 200 ISO at which the X-E1 metered a shutter speed of 1/450.

For this test I’ve compared the X-E1’s in-camera JPEG with the the RAW file processed in Adobe Camera RAW, first using the default settings, then a second time with the following settings: Sharpening at 70 / 0.5 / 36 / 10, Luminance and Colour Noise Reduction both set to zero, and the Process to 2012 with the Adobe Standard profile. These settings were chosen to reveal the sensor quality characteristics and isolate them from in-camera processing. The high degree of sharpening with a small radius enhances the finest details without causing undesirable artefacts, while the zero noise reduction unveils what’s really going on behind the scenes.

Because of the novel construction of the X-trans CMOS sensor in the X-E1, RAW processing varies from that required for the majority of digital sensors which use a Bayer colour filter array. For some time after the X-Pro 1 was launched the only RAW processing application that would handle the files was the the Silkypix-powered RAW File Converter EX application supplied with the camera. Adobe was one of the first to provide support for X-trans sensors and others, like Capture One have followed suite, so owners of models with X-trans sensors now have a wider degree of choice.

As for the crops, the default processing in ACR produces a somewhat softer result than the in-camera JPEG which reveals less of the fine detail. The ACR processing looks also to have provided a slighly more saturated result. One other thing that’s clear is that the 18mm lens suffers from a degree of chromatic aberration that has been automatically corrected on the in-camera JPEGs.

The third column of crops with exaggerated sharpening and no noise reduction show that there is a good deal more detail recorded by the sensor that could probably be coaxed out, particularly given the very low levels of noise in these crops despite the absence of noise reduction.

One other thing worth noting is that I produced these crops in ACR 7.3; Adobe Photoshop Camera RAW 7.4 release candidate includes improved demosaic algorithms for Fujifilm cameras with the X-Trans sensor and also adds support for the X100S and X20.

Now see how these models compare at higher sensitivities in my Fujifilm X-E1 Noise results.

To compare RAW noise levels under real-life conditions, I shot this scene with the Fujifilm X-E1 and the Canon EOS M, within a few moments of each other using their RAW modes at each of their ISO sensitivity settings.

The Fujifilm X-E1 was fitted with the 18-55mm f2.8-4 kit lens and the Canon EOS M with the 22mm f2 pancake prime. To match the Canon 22mm lens’ field of view the Fujinon lens was zoomed in to 23mm

Image stabilisation was disabled for this tripod-mounted test and all other settings were left on the defaults.

To compare noise levels under real-life conditions, I shot this scene with the Fujifilm X-E1 and the Canon EOS M, within a few moments of each other using their best quality JPEG settings at each of their ISO sensitivity settings.

The Fujifilm X-E1 was fitted with the 18-55mm f2.8-4 kit lens and the Canon EOS M with the 22mm f2 pancake prime. To match the Canon 22mm lens’ field of view the Fujinon lens was zoomed in to 23mm

Image stabilisation was disabled for this tripod-mounted test and all other settings were left on the defaults.