REAL WORLD RESULTS: PERFORMANCE
Because of the inadequacy of the LCD monitor in terms of display quality, it can sometimes be surprising when you actually see your photos on the computer—in most conditions, they turn up crisp, sharp, and full of color.
Whether RAW or JPEG (yes, the X-E1 can record both), photos come out impressively crisp and detailed. At lower sensitivity, JPEGs and RAWs are almost squarely matched, but as the ISO level goes up, JPEGs become noticeably finer because of the camera’s built-in noise reduction system, which luckily, you can set the values for.
ISO 100 (Click photo for full resolution)
ISO 200 (Click photo for full resolution)
ISO 400 (Open link in new tab for full resolution)
ISO 800 (Open link in new tab for full resolution)
ISO 1600 (Open link in new tab for full resolution)
ISO 3200 (Open link in new tab for full resolution)
ISO 6400 (Open link in new tab for full resolution)
ISO 12800 (Open link in new tab for full resolution)
ISO 25600 (Open link in new tab for full resolution)
Images shot in low-light conditions still look good in ISO 3200, where single-toned areas like the sky or a wall exhibit minimal noise that you will only notice if you print them out on a medium-to-large scale. Shooting normal lighting conditions in ISO 400 gives you comparably finer photos with almost unnoticeable noise even when you blow up the image to the same scale. Of course, photos at ISO 100 and 200 showed the best results, but if you can’t use these sensitivity levels in dimmer conditions and you’re only posting photos on a web portfolio, ISO 400 and 800 will give you enough detail.
Colors are generally rich and punchy, even in standard picture quality (Provia), although in such case, greens are rather subdued. There are also times when pictures taken with AWB came out too cool, so it’s best to use your good judgment and set the appropriate white balance (manually, if possible) for better output. With default settings, the images also display just the right amount of contrast.
Like I said, the OLPF or AA filter that usually solves the problem of moiré is absent in the sensor of the X-E1. However, the absence of the filter did not result in any noticeable moiré in most test images on stripes, and that’s a plus point for picture quality.