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08-30-2017, 04:56 PM   #1
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Fuji XT-2 vs Pentax K3II for Portraits

So I am working on expanding my landscape photography to FF K-1 and need to get rid of one of my APS-C systems to finance my FF line up. I've got Pentax K3II and Fuji XT-2 that I have been using for my portrait in the past and now that I've got more Fuji lenses for my widelife photography, I was thinking of downsizing my Pentax crop sensor area. So here are my current lenses:

Pentax : 16-50 DA*, 50-140 , 55 DA*, 17-70 DA - 85 Sigma, FA 77 and few more but I found myself mostly using 16-50 and 50-140 ( will keep DA* 55, Sigma 85, FA 77 ) with K-1 for portrait

Fuji : 16-50, 50-140 , 56 , 35 I started with 56 and now their equivalent to Pentax zoom lens

my lighting set up: cactus v6II and godox AD360 works great in HSS mode on both, very easy to swap.

to me, pentax has a better grip and I am very familiar with it's menu system, on the other side, Fuji has face/eye detection which I found great for portrait and the colors are, especially jpeg, lot closer to actual color. Pentax specially in Red/Pink area tends to over saturate. Also we Fuji and 100-400 and their great AF tracking, I can use that system for my widelife. which compared to Pentax 150-560, is lot lighter.

So what do you guys think? thanks

08-30-2017, 05:34 PM - 1 Like   #2
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I think once you get the K-1 you won't need either the K-3II or the Fuji XT-2.
08-30-2017, 10:34 PM   #3
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QuoteOriginally posted by Winder Quote
I think once you get the K-1 you won't need either the K-3II or the Fuji XT-2.
I tested a K1 in the past and honestly, the color of Fuji was so much more real that Pentax. K1 was superior when I heavily cropped the image which I don't normally do in portrait anyway. But I like to hear other people's opinions.
08-30-2017, 11:17 PM - 1 Like   #4
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QuoteOriginally posted by Pentax_WA Quote
So I am working on expanding my landscape photography to FF K-1 and need to get rid of one of my APS-C systems to finance my FF line up. I've got Pentax K3II and Fuji XT-2 that I have been using for my portrait in the past and now that I've got more Fuji lenses for my widelife photography, I was thinking of downsizing my Pentax crop sensor area. So here are my current lenses:

Pentax : 16-50 DA*, 50-140 , 55 DA*, 17-70 DA - 85 Sigma, FA 77 and few more but I found myself mostly using 16-50 and 50-140 ( will keep DA* 55, Sigma 85, FA 77 ) with K-1 for portrait

Fuji : 16-50, 50-140 , 56 , 35 I started with 56 and now their equivalent to Pentax zoom lens

my lighting set up: cactus v6II and godox AD360 works great in HSS mode on both, very easy to swap.

to me, pentax has a better grip and I am very familiar with it's menu system, on the other side, Fuji has face/eye detection which I found great for portrait and the colors are, especially jpeg, lot closer to actual color. Pentax specially in Red/Pink area tends to over saturate. Also we Fuji and 100-400 and their great AF tracking, I can use that system for my widelife. which compared to Pentax 150-560, is lot lighter.

So what do you guys think? thanks
I think since you specifically mention portraits, you would be downright foolish to let the 56/1.2 go. It is one of the best lenses I have used.
Having said that, if you do get a K1, and can find an A*85/1.4 to go with it, you will have a better combination, more because of the increased sensor size and the advantages that go along with it than anything about the lenses.
Fuji prime lenses are head and shoulders better than ANY of the Pentax lenses I own, and I own a heck of a lot of Pentax lenses.

08-31-2017, 02:30 AM - 1 Like   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by Pentax_WA Quote
I tested a K1 in the past and honestly, the color of Fuji was so much more real that Pentax. K1 was superior when I heavily cropped the image which I don't normally do in portrait anyway. But I like to hear other people's opinions.
Are you shooting out of camera jpegs? Because regardless of the camera you are using, you should be able to get similar colors. I know Fuji has a really good jpeg engine, but the K-1 RAW files are pretty amazing to work with as well.

In general, I would prefer having two cameras that share the same mount, but if you like the Fuji better, then it would make sense to keep that and your favorite of the Fuji lenses.
08-31-2017, 04:20 AM - 1 Like   #6
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If you intend to shoot JPG only, I would keep the Fuji.
Otherwise, i would get the K1 and keep the K3 as backup and cheep tele converter for wildlife.
I get perfect colors out of my K1 RAW's all the time.

No use investing in more than one mount.

Rgds,
Gerd.
08-31-2017, 07:06 AM   #7
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If I were to sell any one of the APS-C cameras to fund the Pentax Full frame, then I would sell the one that doesn't have a k-mount. The xt2 is a great camera, but in today's world most cameras are great cameras. Good enough to not fail you, that is. You might find it far more enjoyable to just have a fully loaded Pentax system, than 2 different systems that each need their own funding. You might be shooting something more than portraits one day, maybe events or a wedding. 2 different cameras that can share the same lenses would sound like the preferred way to go.

08-31-2017, 07:38 AM - 1 Like   #8
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QuoteOriginally posted by Pentax_WA Quote
I tested a K1 in the past and honestly, the color of Fuji was so much more real that Pentax. K1 was superior when I heavily cropped the image which I don't normally do in portrait anyway. But I like to hear other people's opinions.
Unless you are just shooting straight out of camera JPEGs, that is not the case. If you are shooting straight out of camera JPEGs then the K-1 still has an advantage in that the JPEG color profile can be customized.

If you are shooting RAW you need to get an X-Rite Passport Color Checker and setup custom color profiles. You should do this regardless of the brand of camera you shoot if you are processing RAW files. How to Use the X-Rite ColorChecker Passport to Obtain Perfect Color

You also need to make sure you are getting white balance correct.

I love the Fuji gear. I have several friends who shoot with it and I use it from time to time. I also own the K-3, K-1, and the Sony A7II. The K-1 gives me the best RAW files of any of them. Fuji does have some great film emulations, but the RAW files are not any better than the K-3. I actually like the XT-1 RAW files better than the XT-2.
08-31-2017, 08:09 AM - 1 Like   #9
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Funnily enough, the much-vaunted Fuji (default) color rendering doesn't fare so well in this comparo (neither does Pentax):


Of course, the whole color thing is entirely subjective, and eminently tweakable.
08-31-2017, 09:10 AM - 1 Like   #10
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QuoteOriginally posted by luftfluss Quote
Funnily enough, the much-vaunted Fuji (default) color rendering doesn't fare so well in this comparo (neither does Pentax):

The Great JPEG Shootout! (Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fuji, iPhone, Pentax, Olympus, Panasonic) - YouTube

Of course, the whole color thing is entirely subjective, and eminently tweakable.
Thanks for the video. Fuji #4, Pentax #7. I tend to agree with him, Pentax JPEG engine is just awful. RAW files are great but even testing K1, JPEG are just not so pleasing. My samsung S8+ color are so much better. And no I don't shoot just jpeg, I shoot RAW+, but sometimes you just want to share the jpeg right out of camera. It saddens me to come up with this conclusion because I have heavily invested in pentax system for over the past ten years and got used to the menu, settings etc..;(
08-31-2017, 10:27 AM   #11
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Here are my shots I selected. same settings. JPEG no editing. Pentax on AWB with Portrait setting same as Fuji. I took about 20 pics with each camera including using Liveview on Pentax with Facedetection to make sure images are sharp.
K-1 background is just terrible. Both Pentax color are super cold. They blouse is also over saturated in Pentax. ;(


08-31-2017, 11:26 AM   #12
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Fuji's settings feel awfully warm to me. It would be pretty easy to do that with Pentax files if you like that look. K-1 is maybe a bit under exposed.
08-31-2017, 02:41 PM - 2 Likes   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by Pentax_WA Quote
Here are my shots I selected. same settings. JPEG no editing. Pentax on AWB with Portrait setting same as Fuji. I took about 20 pics with each camera including using Liveview on Pentax with Facedetection to make sure images are sharp.
K-1 background is just terrible. Both Pentax color are super cold. They blouse is also over saturated in Pentax. ;(
Auto WB is going to set the temp based on the ambient light and that is significantly different between the Fuji sample and the Pentax sample. You have the sun directly striking the background in the Fuji sample but in shade in the Pentax sample. The auto WB is setting for warm daylight in the Fuji shot and you fill light should be close to that temperature so you are getting more accurate colors. The Pentax sample the auto WB is setting for the cooler shade that dominates the scene and then you flash is firing throwing out a different temperature of light. You need to select the WB for flash if you are using a flash and not set it for Auto WB.

Fuji makes great cameras. If they came out with a FF line I would seriously consider ditching my Sony and maybe even my K-1. That said, I can setup the JPEG controls in the K-1 to easily beat my friends Fuji XT-2. Out of the box, the Fuji is better. The factory setting on the K-1 are simply bad. The NR is too strong and the color saturation is off, but all of that is adjustable if you want to take the time.

Last edited by Winder; 08-31-2017 at 03:44 PM.
08-31-2017, 03:37 PM   #14
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yep... i think you are a big fuji fan and want us to join.

I also think fuji builds/built great cameras.
I like the fine film(analogue) compacts from fuji.

But shooting the fuji in a more sunlit situation (with that shiny highly exposed bushes in the background ) and the Pentax in the dark... well that seems a bit unfair to me.

It reminds me of some guy doin advertising for Canon cameras in here on Pentaxforums... LOL (same person now got contracted by Fuji?-User "Pentax_WA" joined July 2017...)
(he played with the white balancing and said, canon would do so much better... whilst it actually was a totally different lighting situation and 100% touched outputs)

furthermore:
I totally agree with Winder... calibrate the K-1 to your likings.. and it will win as high as a house... there are so many options to calibrate the color output...as well as the sharpening factor....
-that option is altering what you could adjust(or is adjusted automatically by the App) if you would refine a RAW in photoshop, but it does apply that directly to every photo that you shoot as JPG
many people dont even know that you can choose:

A)Sharpness
B)Fine Sharpness
C)Extra Sharpness
... and adjust the value either to the left or to the right.

BTW: For sure there are some Fuji lenses that are real sharp, but still there are equivalent sharp K-Mount lenses.

I am pretty sure the DFA 100mm F:2.8 WR stands pretty good against ANY fuji lens.
Dont get me wrong, i didnt test THAT much fuji lenses...
But even a comparison at dpreview(admitted i dont know what lenses they use), will not show a sharper picture on the fuji side, when you compare
... for instance.. XT-2 to K-3II

BTW... (only interesting for studio IMHO but the feature is very welcome)... Pentax has pixelshift. :P

P.S.: This is a situation where i want to remind every reader to read my signature and think about it.
08-31-2017, 04:36 PM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by Pentax_WA Quote
Here are my shots I selected. same settings.
Pentax_WA, you understand that you chose shots with two different backgrounds? You haven't controlled variables, and that's what you need to do if you want to make a comparison.

Here are two still lives from Imaging Resource properly comparing the XT-2 and K-1 JPEGs.

Comments?

https://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/fuji-x-t2/XT2OUTBMP0.HTM

https://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/pentax-k1/K1OUTBMP0.HTM
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