Ten Tools That Reshaped Photography In 2012

Everyone who saw it went gaga over last year’s Fujifilm X100, whose viewfinder switches seamlessly from an optical bright-frame finder to a full-coverage electronic viewfinder. But this year’s X-Pro1 tops it by combining a similarly luscious finder with interchangeable lenses and a 16.3-megapixel APS-C-size sensor. Unabashedly mimicking the look and feel of Leica M rangefinders, the X-Pro1 enhances the optical viewfinder experience with full information readouts (including histogram) superimposed on the frame. Flip to the EVF and you might not miss the direct optical view, given the clarity and fine grain of this LCD.

Fujifilm’s major innovation in the X-Pro1, though, is its X-Trans imaging sensor, which eliminates a low-pass filter and forgoes the traditional Bayer pattern for a more randomized sensor array. While imaging proves sharp, we think there is room for improvement in this technology. But the shooting experience with the X-Pro1 (dials! knobs! rings!) is, in a word, sweet. $1,700 (body only), fujifilmusa.com