21 October, 2012 - Fuji X-E1 Review

21 October, 2012 - Fuji X-E1 Review:
Fuji continues on a roll with a new entry in its exciting X series of cameras, the X-E1 which Nick Devlin has been working with and testing for the past little while.
Nick's review is now online.

         

"You and Jeff did it again!  A great series of videos.

I've watched the earlier Camera to Print series as well as the LR 2 & 3 videos and as usual, I learned

new technique and ideas even though I've been behind a camera for 45 years.

Additionally, the rapport you two have is most engaging, enjoyable, and totally different than the sterile video tutorials from others (I'm afflicted with being a visual learner). 

Again, a great series of videos that have helped me grow once again." 

...

Found this nice great review on:   overclock.net  while i was looking for a new Monitor, kudos for djriful

[ Review & Tests ] Crossover 27Q LED-P Pivot Edition & Gallery with Apple Cinema Display

Crossover 27Q LED-P Pivot Edition
Review + Gallery + Downloads

I've been hearing about 27" 2560 x 1440 monitors from Korea. These monitors have the same manufacturer brand LG as for Apple and Dell monitors. The well known Apple Cinema Display and Dell U2711. Myself I have the Apple Cinema Display for some time and always wanted to have a second screen at the same specification but it was too much to afford a second $1100 screen.

There are several brand from Korea: Yamakasi, Crossover, PCbank, Shimian, Davi, First Semiconductor & MOTV. There might be more...

I've chose the Crossover 27Q LED-P Pivot and I ordered from the seller Green-sum on eBay last week, it took them 2 days to confirm and ship out at their door and the actual DHL shipping was very efficient ship over the weekends at an incredible speed.

Crossover 27Q LED-P Specification:






The Package
So, I received my package on Monday afternoon and the condition of the box has no damages.






First Look
The monitor weigh about 7kg which is way lighter than my Apple Cinema Display (11kg) to my measurement. It's very light for a 27" and it is much easier to find VESA desk / wall mount without worrying about its weigh limitation.





Crossover Logo
I'm not too fond of the logo but as long the monitor quality is perfect, I'm all good.





The OSD Buttons
From left to right - Decrease Brightness, Increase Brightness & Power On/Off & Power LED. These buttons are located at the back and the RED LED indicated sleep or standby mode and the BLUE LED means actively running.





The Rear
The whole monitor including the front are made in metal there are no plastic except the stand. The frame is painted with black gloss and white gloss color.





Bottom Stand
Metal bottom house in plastic. Look & feel solid to me.





Swirl Left & Right
Both side max is about 40' degree you can turn.







Height Adjustment
Lowest is about 12.8cm from the desk to the bottom of the viewable display. Full extended height is about 21.2cm from the desk to the bottom of the viewable display. When I said viewable display means skip / not to count the frame. Just the viewable area where the bottom of the TFT is, so this give an idea for those with different monitor side by side.





Maximum Height
Full 90 degree tilt... well not exactly, I think it's about 86-87 degree tilt and I believe the mechanic in there has a tiny flaw.

Warning: Please make sure you tilt your monitor upward for room before rotating it vertically otherwise you will hit the bottom stand.







The Sticker
The model serial number is marked: 201207000079: I assume this is the year 2012, month 07 (July) and 79th produced model.





Connections
Top to bottom - Power connector & DVI-D input.





DVI-D
DVI-D Cable close up view. There are good nice quality cable unlike cheapest cable I've seen.




Power Brick
This power brick is huge as a house red brick. Heat wise is about 35-40'C when touched after running for hours. Nothing serious and it is about the same temp like laptop power brick temperature. This brick has the standard connector that I can switch easily without needing to buy an adapter.






Power Cable for Korea
No comment.





Ghetto US/CAN Power Cable from HP Desktop
So I dug up an old cable for my HP desktop PSU and it works perfectly but looks ugly. BUT it will be under my desk...






Crossover Side by Side with Apple
Oh... Apple is jealous here.






Bezel Thickness
Crossover (LEFT) & Apple (RIGHT) I actually love the bezel thickness from Crossover. It makes the TFT display looks a lot bigger than Apple.





Test: Brightness
This is the lowest brightness I can go on these two monitors; Apple has can go even lower and one more notch it just turn off the LED light.



This is the max brightness, both looks essentially same now.





Test: Light Bleed
Crossover has no light bleed but in this picture you see some odd color or some odd uneven pattern. Well most monitors are like this.



This is the Apple; it has a huge light bleed at the bottom right and left in which I am quite disappointed for paying this much. Crossover kills it.





Test: Reflectiveness
Crossover (LEFT) & Apple (RIGHT) has more reflectivity due to the tempered glass.





Test: Input Lag
Crossover is 6ms GtG and Apple one is 12ms GtG. The reason below both shows the exact same due it is not GtG test. I'll will retest this again later.

Crossover on the LEFT & Apple on the RIGHT.



Updates #1: Apparently, the input lag on Apple Cinema Display is better than the Crossover for a margin. And there are frame shuttering on the Crossover which I am not sure if it is my GPU or the Cable.

The following images are shot in high speed DSLR; it shows more ghosting on the Crossover vs Apple.







Updates #2: I had both monitors mirrored and ran Mass Effect 3 due it gives exceptional stable framerate to test. This was filmed on iPhone 4 and I pick out one of the frame with ghosting on. Here is the result; both monitor perform the same ghosting effect and secondly I prefer the Crossover due it has less reflective in dark area of the game.




Test: On & Off Delay
This is a really a short video to test the power on and off delay time between Crossover (LEFT) and Apple (RIGHT).

Conclusion
Crossover 27Q Pivot is a $350-$400 (July 2012) range monitor and Apple/Dell are $999 mark. To pay $999 price tag doesn't mean you can get a perfect monitor. Even through they said guarantee no dead pixel from Apple and Dell. There are still issue with light bleed. Apple and Dell monitors are calibrated but you can do it yourself as well with Catleap and Crossover.

I managed to tweak my Crossover to the same profile as my Apple. Just take 10-20min to calibrate. If you know how.

In this review, my Crossover has 1 dead pixel and 3 stuck but those stuck can be fixed and I am not picky about the dead pixel unless it is very visible.

This is a 1440p monitor at a 110 PPI. 1 dead pixel in 110 PPI screen is barely visible unless you put your head 20-30cm to the screen.

These 27" monitors are meant to view at 60cm or 2 feet.

I'll say these monitors worth at its price and not more. If you're lucky to get a near perfect one but from the result it is about 85%+ to get a good one vs a DOA or many dead pixel.

Suitable for photo / video / graphic editing? Yes, due you can calibrate the monitor by yourself.


Monitor Comparison Chart
Coming soon... I need a break.


Screen Test & Fix
http://www.flexcode.org/lcd2.html


Calibrated ICC Color Profile Download for Crossover 27Q

CalibratedDisplayProfile-2.zip 3k .zip file

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UPDATE – Adobe and Fuji working together for a native RAW-files support of the X-Trans sensor?

UPDATE – Adobe and Fuji working together for a native RAW-files support of the X-Trans sensor?:

We received a new rumor, that seems to confirm what we have written in our previous post (click here). Fuji really seems to collaborate with Adobe to develop the software-programs and make them compatible with the X-Trans technology.

Our source had a conversation with Fuji staff at the Photo Plus Pro in NYC. Fuji told him that the X-E1 system has been delivered to Adobe, Apple and DXO and is now working with them towards tweaking the RAW file processing from the new Fuji X-Trans sensor. According to this new rumor we can be confident that Fuji is really moving to solve this problem.

He also told us that at the Photo Plus Pro there was a really big interest of photographers to check out the X-E1 (stealing the show to other cameras). He checked out the camera with the new zoom lens, and enjoyed this “sweet package“.

Thanks T.