Fujifilm X-E1 Mirrorless Compact Gets Official

Retro shutterbugs rejoice! Fujifilm has outed its latest interchangeable lens compact camera, and if your life is buoyed by knurled dials and classic aluminum style, the X-E1 may be the model for you. Packing a custom 16.3-megapixel APS-C X-Trans CMOS sensor and compatible with Fujifilm's X-Mount lens system from the X-Pro1 rangefinder, the Fujifilm X-E1 comes in at 30-percent smaller than its chunky sibling while still, the company insists, producing stills and video that can rival full-frame DSLRs.

Stills are captured with an ISO range of 100 – 25600, and Fujifilm has implemented a special color filter array that does without the typical optical low pass filter while still ridding shots of moiré and false colors. The distance between the sensor and the lens mount has been shaved away, too, down to just 17.7mm.

Video, meanwhile, is recorded at up to 1920 x 1080 Full HD, at 24fps, and there's an external stereo microphone input and support for the integrated Monochrome and Film Simulation modes. Photography can also use a multiple exposures mode, shooting two images at once while showing them both for review.

On the back, there's a 2.36m dot OLED viewfinder and a 2.8-inch 460k dot LCD for framing and reviewing shots. The X-E1 also gets a pop-up flash and a battery good for 350 shots on a charge, while the whole camera weighs in at 12.35oz.

As for lenses, there are two which Fujifilm is pushing: the new XF14mm (21mm) F2.8 single focal length lens and XF18mm-55mm (27-84mm) F2.8-4 lens. The former is an ultra-wide angle lens with particular strengths in low-light photography, while the latter is the same bokeh-happy model with optical image stabilization we've seen before.

The Fujifilm X-E1 will go on sale in November, priced at $999.95 for the body only. It will be offered as a kit with the XF18mm-55mm lens for $1,399.95, while that lens alone will be $699.95. The new XF14mm lens will be $899.95 alone.