Fuji Officially Debuts the Weather-Resistant X-T1, Boasts Fastest AutoFocus in Its Class

It’s finally here! About one bazillion (official statistic) leaks and one teaser later, Fujifilm has finally announced the much-longed-for X-T1. With a weather-resistant body, a large and powerful OLED EVF and the fastest autofocus in its class, Fuji promises that this camera will make for a “truly remarkable photographic experience.”

Of course, that’s just press release lingo for, “it’s our camera and we’ll boast if we want to,” so let’s get down to the nitty gritty.

Inside the X-T1’s retrotastic body you’ll find the newest generation 16-megapixel APS-C X-Trans CMOS II sensor, an EXR Processor II, built-in WiFi, a 1.04 million dot high-precision 3-inch tempered glass tilting LCD and a wide-angle 2.36M-dot OLED EVF with the world’s highest magnification for a digital camera (0.77x) and an insanely short lag-time of only 0.005 seconds.

And quickness is the name of the X-T1 game. Other speedy features include 0.5 second start-up time, phase detection AF that delivers a response time of only 0.08 seconds, 0.05 second shutter lag and a 0.5 second shooting interval.

Finally, to top it all off, the X-T1 can shoot at 8 frames per second with tracking AF, and is compatible with SDXC UHS-II memory cards that boast write speeds that are about twice as fast as those of a standard SD card.

Coming in a close second in the order of importance behind speed for the X-T1 is weather sealing. It’s the first weather-resistant X-series camera, and Fuji was determined to do it right. With 75 points of weather-sealing, the X-T1 manages to be dust-resistant, water-resistant (we’ve seen that term can be pretty substantial in the past) and freezeproof to -14°F.

Other notable features include four different EVF display modes — Full (shooting info doesn’t obstruct the view), Dual (split-screen to help nail focus), Normal and Portrait (rotates shooting info when shooting vertically) — digital split image and focus peaking capabilities, ISO 100-25600, a built-in interval timer and in-camera RAW conversion.

Of course, a weather-resistant camera needs weather resistant accessories, so alongside the camera, we’re getting a weather-resistant battery grip (the VG-XT1) and three new weather-resistant zoom lenses: the XF 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 R OIS WR, the XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R OIS WR and the XF 50-140mm f/2.8 R OIS WR.

The X-T1 ships next month for $1,300 for the body only, and $1,700 for the camera and the XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 lens (pre-order by following those links). The weather-resistant lenses will arrive sometime this year, but no specific pricing and availability info has been released yet. Until they arrive, you can, of course, use the X-T1 with any of the current X-Series lenses (you just won’t be weather-resistant).

To learn more about the camera, head over to Fuji’s press room to read the release for yourself.