Tomorrow is the deadline to accept an x-pro2 with the 35mm f1.4 lens for a good price (nothing super special). My other option here is to put the money on more lenses instead. I already own the Fuji X-E5 with the 23mm f2.8, but I would need an 18mm and a portrait lenses and maybe some voigtlander too.
The question is, x-pro or lenses? Is the x-e5 so different from the x-pro?
Nov 16, 2025 at 12:01 PM
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JMPerona wrote:
Tomorrow is the deadline to accept an x-pro2 with the 35mm f1.4 lens for a good price (nothing super special). My other option here is to put the money on more lenses instead. I already own the Fuji X-E5 with the 23mm f2.8, but I would need an 18mm and a portrait lenses and maybe some voigtlander too.
The question is, x-pro or lenses? Is the x-e5 so different from the x-pro?
Tough questions and it is going to come down to your personal preferences. I like the viewfinder of the X-Pro cameras quite a bit more than the X-E5 viewfinder, but I like the sensor and the IBIS in the X-E5 and would miss those if I had and X-Pro. Personally, I went with the X-T5 as the best balance of a little better EVF, the nice 40 MP sensor, and really good IBIS, but reasonable people could have different priorities and make different choices.
JMPerona wrote:
Tomorrow is the deadline to accept an x-pro2 with the 35mm f1.4 lens for a good price (nothing super special). My other option here is to put the money on more lenses instead. I already own the Fuji X-E5 with the 23mm f2.8, but I would need an 18mm and a portrait lenses and maybe some voigtlander too.
The question is, x-pro or lenses? Is the x-e5 so different from the x-pro?
I had (and loved) the XPro2 for perhaps five years or so. (I’d have to look it up for certain. I got it when it was released and replaced it when the XT5 came out.)
I think that it is definitive model in the XPro line. It had the benefits of improvements on its predecessor while retaining its pluses, and it have 24MP (only 2MP short of the XPro3) while eschewing the XPro3 gimmicks and other downgrades.
The hybrid viewfinder design was brilliant when it first came out. Back then EVFs (electronic viewfinders) were pretty crude by today’s standards. In particularly they had slow refresh rates and tended to glitch. So the EVF/OVF design let us choose the best option depending upon the situation.
However…
Since that time almost all camera manufacturers have moved to EVF designs, and today’s EVFs are excellent. I do not miss the OVF when I use my XT5 — not at all.
So while the XPro2 WAS positioned higher in the Fujifilm line-up when it was released, you won’t gain much over the XE5 if you get it. Nothing you write here suggests that you _need_ what the XPro2 would arguably provide, yet you are specific about your need for the additional lenses.
Since you already have the XE5, my recommendation based on what you tell us is to forego the second camera body and instead get those lenses you need. Your 23mm f/2.8 is already a good general purpose lens. I think I’d look first to the longer prime in your case and then think of a wider prime as a second priority. (If you are trying to keep your kit small and light, look at the 50mm f/2. It is a really good lens and a good price.)
I have to agree with gdanmitchell. You have an excellent camera in the X-E5 -- the 40mp sensor provides outstanding image quality. Having shot with the X Pro 2 bodies since they came out, I much prefer my X-T5 for the sensor, the EVF, and the modern autofocus. I'd get the lenses. The original 18mm f/2 is one of my favorites in the Fuji system, and the original 56mm f/1.2 is also outstanding. (But let me put in a plug for the 50mm f/2 as a much more compact portrait and travel lens.)
Is the X-Pro 2 capable of making excellent images? Absolutely. Is it more capable than the XE5? No, it's not. If you consider nothing else, the XE5 has IBIS and that alone is worth the price for anybody who shoots hand-held a lot of the time. Next, the 40mp sensor is a slight plus over the 24, having about the same net ISO noise floor and offering more pixels which in addition to more potential detail with capable lenses, will offer smoother tonal transitions with any lens. Are those difference worth whatever price difference you're looking at? No way to say for certain for you, but they definitely would be for me...
As much as I like to use my X-Pro3 - the X-E5 is the better camera. Paired with small primes (in my case 16f2.8, 23f2 and 50f29 you cover 24 to 150mm FF equiv with a very small footprint, yet excellent IQ and technology.
A lot of good opinions here.
I really don’t “need” the x-pro, and that’s why I asked. It’s seems that I can do whatever the x-pro can do but better with the X-E5 and the logic response here is to go with the lenses.
I don’t want to lie to myself and think that I would take more and better photos adding a second body, specially a $1000 9 years old body. If I could get one for around $500 then.. sure, why not? But you all know the Fujifilm inflation.
I thought that the X-pro would be the “professional” camera and the X-E 5 would be the “fun” camera.l, but maybe the X-E5 is as capable to be professional as the X-Pro. Maybe in the future I could get the X-T5 with some of the 1.4 lenses.
The Xpro has a bit more leverage over larger lenses due to its size and added grip, and dual card slots is nothing to sneeze at if you are shooting gigs. I really like that era sensor too.
But you can grip out the X-E5 and grab the original 56/1.2 and 16/1.4 for the price of the 2nd body. Both lenses that I love and are an incredible value proposition these days.
I've also become one of those guys that has to have IBIS now.
JMPerona wrote:
But aren’t the 56mm f1.2 and the 18mm f1.4 too big for the x-e5 body? (I already have the grip and love it)
They are big, but you can use larger lenses on smaller bodies. (I use the 100-400mm zoom on my XT5, and that a far larger lens to body ratio.)
Are you sure you need the 56mm f/1.2? Unless your need is somewhat specialized, and unless you don’t care about size and weight, the 50mm f/2 can work quite well for portraits. f/2 at 50mm provides pretty decent bokeh unless you really need the very narrowest DOF.
There are also smaller wide angle options that work well.
I don’t think I need 56mm, so most likely I will get the 50mm f2.
These are the ones I will get ( I already have the 23mm f2.8):
18mm f2
35mm f1.4
50mm f2
And then I have the budget to add 1 more lens, but here I have a problem: I could add one 1.4 lens for more “premium” job, or one Voigtlander lens for “fun”. I was thinking about the 27mm f2.
I bought my X-Pro2 as a clearance deal from an official Fujifilm dealer in India in 2023, just before moving here — it was actually the last X-Pro2 Fujifilm sold in India ! But if I had to pay today’s hyped prices, I wouldn’t buy it. Paying around $1,000 for a camera from 2016 just doesn’t make sense when the newer Fujifilm bodies are much more refined.
That said, if you truly love the look of the older X-Trans sensors, then your only option is to buy those cameras at whatever price they are currently going for.
JMPerona wrote:
But aren’t the 56mm f1.2 and the 18mm f1.4 too big for the x-e5 body? (I already have the grip and love it)
The old f1.4s are not too big - though I rather use mine with the X-T3 for better balace. The new f1.4s are much bigger. I wouldn't use them on a small body, even though one could in principle. The larger f1.4 lenses also don't go along well with the X-Pro's OVF: Except for the 24f1.4, they tend to block a bit of the OVF, the new ones even more so.
The X-E5 seems to be a model that is on its way to become the new X-EPro. It is larger, feels better, and has the latest tech. The EVF allows to emulate a lot of what the OVF of the X-Pro is so loved for.
I never liked the X Pro bodies when I rented them to try them out. Can't put my finger on it, but it just didn't gel with me.
I do kind of like my X-E5, though I like the X-E4 with grip better ergonomically. Still, the 4 will go and the 5 will stay. I do think it's the new X Pro in terms of where it fits in Fuji's lineup.
Ok, so following people’s tips and my own necessity I think that the best thing right now, and the most logical, is to get lenses instead of a new body. I can definitely wait until a new X-pro. I can continue using my X-E5.
so, what I did is to get a few lenses in a trade a did for my Nikon Zf. These are the lenses I chose:
JMPerona wrote:
I don’t think I need 56mm, so most likely I will get the 50mm f2.
These are the ones I will get ( I already have the 23mm f2.8):
18mm f2
35mm f1.4
50mm f2
And then I have the budget to add 1 more lens, but here I have a problem: I could add one 1.4 lens for more “premium” job, or one Voigtlander lens for “fun”. I was thinking about the 27mm f2.
What do you think?
I think that’s a viable set of three lenses. (I usually use a similar but slightly different three lens set for street and travel photography.)
To some extent these things come down to personal preferences and your individual use case, but the one potential weakness with that trio is that the difference between 35mm and 50mm is not all that huge.
My personal approach is to try to get approximately a 2:1 ratio between focal lengths with a three lens set. The ratio between your 18mm and the 35mm is in that range, but not between the 35mm and the 50mm. The challenge is that there isn’t really a lens in that (35 x 2) range from Fujifilm. The 56mm f/1.2 gets a little closer, but it is also a rather large lens — fine if you really need f/1.2 but not so swell if you don’t. The closest lens is the little 60mm f/2.8 macro, which can work, but I doubt you want to go that route.
My solution, which evolved over a dozen or more years shooting Fujifilm, uses the 14mm f/2.8, the 27mm f/2.8, and the 50mm f/2. I like the fact that I get the wider coverage of the 14mm, which is one of Fujifilm’s best lenses. I also very much like the tiny 27mm pancake for street and travel photography. (I can photography urban night scenes with it.) And the 50mm f/2 works as a twice-as-long lens and as a portrait lens.
I’m not suggesting that you mimic what I do, but you might want to look at other possible combinations before you decide if this one is ideal for you. It might be, but good to make sure.
The thing is that I’m in love with the 18mm f2 and the 35mm 1.4. I had them before. And the 50 is just for portraits, in my case. The Voigtlander is just for fun. I always wanted to try Voigtlander on Fuji x. They were my favorite lenses on my Leicas and Nikon zf.
! But if I had to pay today’s hyped prices, I wouldn’t buy it. Paying around $1,000 for a camera from 2016 just doesn’t make sense when the newer Fujifilm bodies are much more refined.