Night photography with the X-T1, is it possible? — Jeroen ter Lingen

At this moment in time, the Fujifilm X-T1 is almost 7 years old. “Why are you still shooting with it?” I hear you ask. Well, because it’s still an amazing camera. It’s still my go-to camera when going on trips and hikes. Although my Sony A7R2 (also already at 5+ years old) is technically a better camera, the X-T1 is a lot more fun to use.

I mostly take pictures during the day. So, I wondered how good the X-T1 is at taking (handheld) night images. Street photography at night, is it possible with the X-T1?

I took two of my fastest Fujinon lenses out on two nights to try it out; the XF 56 f/1.2 and the XF 35 f/1.4.

Disclaimer: I’m by no means a street photographer, I’m just experimenting new things.

Those were the better shots I took yesterday, out of about 100 shots. I created a high contrast high saturated custom profile, but I ended up editing the raw files, since the profile didn’t work out very well.

Tonight I switched the 56/1.2 for the 35/1.4. Again, it was tough, but I took some ok images. With one or two keepers.

In the end the Fuji X-T1 is not the best low-light performer (it’s 7 years old). Although it can still produce some good images in low light if you know what you’re doing and know the limits.

I still love the X-T1. Just like any other device, you need to know the limits. Not selling it soon.