Dark room trained in the early 1990s, college graduated having majored in photography, accepted to study photography at degree level.
British born but now residing in Portugal.
Primarily a street and urban documentary photographer
Has photographed professionally for corporate clients, including web content and comercial events. has also provided private documentary services to social gatherings and weddings.
Has had work hard and soft copy magazine and book featured, along with both solo and collaborative gallery exhibitions, has also placed well in competitions.
Enjoys a close working relationship with Fujifilm and has many years experience with their products, but is not tied too, nor employed by Fujifilm and all opinions offered here are his own.
Author of My Love Affair with the X-Pro1
Also shoots with other brands of camera.
You can connect with Adam on the links below.
Although not currently offering a standardised portfolio of services, he is available for:
- Event Coverage
- Environmental Portraiture
- Exhibitions and Shows
- Photography Tuition
- Project Collaboration
He can be reached at adam.bonn@bonncl.com
Adam Bonn
Two things go without saying, yet need to be said:
- Unless indicated otherwise, all work featured, this includes both images and text, is my own
- All work featured, this includes both images and text is subject to copyright, and may not be duplicated, copied or used without prior written consent.
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Adam Bonn Fotografia 
Enjoyed your blog. Recently bought a Fuji XPro 1 (at a great price) as a backup body to my XE-2 and thus far – we have had a somewhat dysfunctional relationship. I have made notes from your blog on how to get along with my ‘bargain’ new camera body — and hope that all will improve with time. Thanks!
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Thank you very much Naomi, I appreciate you telling me!
What aspect is proving to be troublesome? Perhaps I can give you specific advice?
If it’s operational speed, then I’m afraid that the X-E2 is a much faster camera…
The X-Pro1 best works like a film camera.. slowly and methodically.
But let me know if I can give any advice
Regards
Adam
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Hey Adam,
Greatly enjoyed your articles on the X Pro1. I have an XE2 and X100T having come from an XE1 and X100 for each camera respectively.
(My daughter now uses the XE1).
Lens wise I have the XF14, XF35 and XF56.
I really like the XE2 (for its speed and features and better battery life) but there is a somewhat different IQ from the older X-Trans 1 when I compare with the XE1. The XE1 does seem to hold more details in the shadows though I do notice that consistently it tends to expose somewhat brighter than the XE2 and maybe that accounts for what I was seeing. It is pretty subtle though. Though from other comments I have read maybe the IQ difference is a even more pronounced for the XPro1 (for some reason).
I’m wondering whether I should give the XPro1 a go.
Guess I’m intrigued by the fact that so many people are passionate about this camera even today despite its quirks / faults.
Can you elaborate on your comment that sometimes you prefer the older sensor XPro1 and sometimes your XT1 but sometimes not from an IQ perspective?
Very useful article many thanks 🙂
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Hi Andy,
I think/suspect that those who really enjoy the X-Pro1 have a nostalgic appreciation for film cameras..
But I don’t speak for everyone!
For me… the Pro1 works best treated as a camera, it’s not about knowing when to use wide/point/track AF mode or what the electronic shutter is best used for.
The Pro1 doesn’t have these things! It’s about understanding what it can do and working with it.
I think this is the appeal…
The best analogy I can think of (and it’s not great) is to do a race track day in a sports car… for many drivers, they will lap quicker with the traction control turned on, for some drivers, they want the traction control off, because even if they go a bit slower, they want the feeling that the lap time is all their own work!
OK on to your question!
Sincerely, it’s win some, lose some when you compare X-Trans 1 & 2 !!
1 (to my eye) is more gritty and organic.. but it’s also 12bit RAW compared to 14 for the 2 sensor
So 2 does better with high dynamic range, 2 does better with clean looking shots. But 1 does better with dilapidation/wabi stuff like that!
For example, 2 uses lots more NR than 1. So if I shoot my daughter at high ISO, I really don’t want her looking like plastic! But if I shoot a car at high ISO, then the NR can really help to keep the image looking good, as the colour noise will be less and there’s not a lot of fine detail to be lost.
It’s tricky to explain… hopefully I’ve done an OK job… anything else just ask
Thanks very much for your kind words
Adam
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Hi Adam,
I’ve read your X-Pro1 Focus more than several times and each time I find another gem – the most recent DOF and EVF via the Fn button. Really a slick and quick way to experience the best of both worlds.
Curious if you could address something that puzzles me – why hang a zoom lens on an X-Pro1 (or 2)? I just do not see any utility in that.
Going one step further, have you an opinion on the Fuji 16-50mm f/2.8 vs 18-55mm (OIS)? Platform – X-T1; the range is already covered by primes.
I’ve been asked to do informal shots at a low-key wedding (“no” was not an acceptable response) and doubt I can efficiently swap primes. I could carry several cameras but would rather remain discrete and off the radar.
Kit – 2x X-Pro1; X-T1, 14mm, 23mm, 35mm/1.4, 56mm/1.2
I must admit if flash becomes necessary, I’ll need to resort to a Nikon D7200. I am not comfortable enough to trust my X-T1 skills in dodgy light. I have never successfully used a flash on X-Pro1.
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Hi Bob,
Thank you very much for your kind words. Another advantage of the preview DOF setting is that it cuts out a bit of shutter lag because the Fuji cameras like to stay wide open to help the EVF stay bright, then stop down when you press the shutter. Preview DOF sets the working aperture before you hit the shutter. I’m playing with a X-Pro2 at the moment, and Fuji have changed how this works on that camera… Anyway I digress!
I VERY occasionally use the XC50-230 I have on my X-Pro, but only if I need the reach. Normally I’m a prime guy…
The main reason not to use a zoom on the X-Pro series, is that the OVF won’t automatically switch between the 2 magnification as you zoom.
I guess people like the perceived flexibility of the zoom lenses, and if it works for them, great – but for me… Well I’m a prime guy!
I’ve never used the 16/50 zoom, but I did own the 18/55. It’s a good lens, gets a bit soft wide open, after about 35mm, but nothing that going down a stop doesn’t fix.. I liked it, but I didn’t love it. I’ve since sold it.
RE your assignment, I think if possible I’d be tempted to bring as much kit as I can, and aim to use as little of it as possible. (assuming you can keep it somewhere safe at the venue)
If the venue is physically big enough.. I suspect the 56 will be your friend, it lets in lots of light wide open, renders very well and is a superb portrait lens. If the venue is too small for that FL, then the 23 or 35 might be a good second choice.
Personally, even with the XT1, I’d probably use manual focus, set a BW film profile and red focus peaking low, and set sharpness and NR to -2.
This will make the SOOC Jpegs look fairly flat… but will help the manual focusing, you can always make nicer SOOC jpegs afterwards using the in camera or an external raw convertor. (I’m assuming you shoot raw)
Unless you’re planning any wide shots with no people in them (eg the venue itself), I’d leave the 14 alone.. it’s a great lens, but a funny length to use for any group shots, as the people on each side of the frame will look a bit funny, because of the wide angle nature of that FL, this would be accentuated if you had a ‘line’ (sic) of people standing in a horse shoe shape for example. (the wide angle would mean the people nearest look bigger than those at the back)
Flash and Fuji does seem to be a bit of black art (or is it just me?!!) but fundamentally flash works best off camera, with softboxes etc and on camera flash can SOMETIMES make more problems than it solves… (red eyes, ‘double chins’ and blacked out necks from the shadow etc)
I think I might personally favour the XT1 for this… it’s a little cleaner at ISO6400 (than the XP1) and of course far faster to use and shoot with. I too wouldn’t want to take multiple cameras, but just possibly the XP1 and the 23, plus the XT1 with the 56, could cover the lot, and have no real need for flash. The XP1/23 combo for the context and multi people shots where you’re in the thick of it, the XT1/56 for the ceremony, speeches, first dance etc where you’ll want to hang back a bit and single out the people you need to shoot.
Obviously without me seeing the venue, the light, the colour choices of the décor etc I’m offering pretty generic advice.
The best overall advice I can give you, is use the camera you feel most comfortable with, that you find easiest to use and most understand the limitations of…. Generally these types of things (in my opinion anyway) go a lot smoother when we understand the limitations and what we should avoid trying to do, rather than accepting compromises and hoping it still turns out ok..
…Which is a very long winded way of saying, don’t be shy to say to people, can you go stand over there for this shot please, here the light’s bad and you’re too close to the camera 🙂
Good luck, sincerely – let me know how it goes
Adam
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Adam,
Thanks very much for your most helpful response. I’ll let you know how things go!
Bob
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No problem Bob, helpful is largely what I hope my little corner of the internet is all about!
Adam
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Ok avec vous, personnellement, j’utilise le Xpro1 de manière simpliste comme un réflex des années 70 avec un objectif fixe, 35 ou 50mm. Le zoom c’est mes jambes! Et, voyant les résultats, je n’ai aucun besoin d’un Xpro 2 ou 3 car je ne ferait pas mieux avec mes modestes connaissances photographiques. Par contre, j’éprouve beaucoup de plaisir.
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I’m a big believer in prime lens, I think it forces one to frame the photograph in a certain way to play to the strengths of each lens.
In my opinion the newer Fuji cameras make images with more dynamic range and detail, but the original X-Pro1 pictures have more charm
Thanks again Alain, have a great weekend
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