After being naked for some time … finally I got my X-Pro1 ‘dressed up’. It took almost 2 weeks for this Funper leather half case to arrive from Hong Kong. There are 101 choices (of half cases) out there but I find this one pretty neat and price is reasonable. Didn’t wanna spend more on a JnK case like the one I have for the X-100, so I placed an order and was told it would take almost 10 days for the factory to make it. Huh? Made on demand? Anyway I waited almost a week and was told by the eBay seller that it was sent out by Hong Kong registered parcel. It was since that day that Hong Kong seemed to be a country a million miles away from Singapore … because it took probably over a week for it to arrive here!
The eBay sales thread doesn’t mention it but from the case (printed below) … the brand is FUNPER. I dropped a note to the seller wanting the olive green version but somehow he/she made a mistake (duh!) and I got the black one instead. I find the black one pretty neat too … and decided to keep it. What surprised me was that it came with a matching leather strap! It is made from the same leather material as the case. The leather is soft, smells like leather, feels like leather and tastes like leather too.
The only problem I had was putting on the strap while the half case is in place. No … not because of design fault but because the strap came with 2 pieces of thin leather at the end near the rings to prevent the rings from rubbing against the camera body … and these 2 pieces of leather were in the way. I promptly removed them (you have to cut them off) and now everything fits nicely!
The case is pretty well made and every part seems to fit nicely. Now with the case, holding the camera with one hand seems easier without the need of the addition (optional) grip.
Nevermind the patch in the middle of the LCD. That’s just the hard screen protector touching the middle of the LCD when I pressed a little to hard on it. It will go away after a while. Anyway … the back of the case … the cutouts are nicely done too.
Cheap ventilated hood I got from eBay.
I fell in love with the EF-X20 flash before I fell in love with the X-Pro1. Really! 😀
My soft release with the dragon design from Match Technical … ‘died’ during my trip to Taiwan. Not that it broke or anything … but the black ‘paint’ on it started to come off and I ended up with a plain shiny gold/brass looking button. Hahha! I replaced it with this one from Gariz.
If you wanna check out this half case too … you can find it on eBay or etsy. Price wise … both are pretty close but you get DHL shipping from the seller on etsy! No painful wait like I went through. Well … I found the one on etsy later … so I had no choice.
Thanks for the review of the Funper leather case. How are you finding it? Is the leather quality and fit as good as the JnK? I’m doing a bit of a toss up between the JnK, Funper, and Ciesta cases. Any opinions after having owned two of them? 🙂
@Leo : Comparing the Funper and the JnK … I must say the JnK one is the one to go for. Overall the quality and workmanship … the JnK is definitely better. For example … I find the snap on buttons on the Funper one are of lower quality and it comes gets ‘unlocked’ easily whereas the JnK one stays real steady. I also find the cuttings on the JnK cases more precise and neat. I’ve not got the chance to own a Ciesta product (pretty costly huh!) but I am using a JnK case for my X1 now.
@ndroo: Ciesta’s limited edition ones seem quite dear, but as for their normally line up, it’s similar in price to the Funper case. I heard from another source that JnK wasn’t too great as their buttons were loose and low quality (like plastic or cheap metal apparently). They also mentioned that the fit was quite loose. I guessing yours wasn’t like this?
@Leo : That’s strange. The one on JnK sure seems good to me. Both the X100 and X1 versions.
You mentioned you fell in love with the XF-20 before falling in love with the X-Pro1. Care to elaborate?
(I’m planning to get an X-E1).
@Amnon Govrin : I was at this X-Pro1 launch for the press here in Singapore and the moment I saw the XF-20 flash … I went ‘Whoa! Sexy!’. 😀 Honestly my first impression of the X-Pro1 (physical) wasn’t too good. I was expecting something heavier and solid like those good old rangefinder cameras. Maybe I was expecting too much. So when are you getting the X-E1? I read that it is available in stores now.
Not available in the US as far as I can tell (only in about a month).
Only question is silver or black, though I like the silver (as insignificant as that is LOL).
@Amnon Govrin : Oh … so it ain’t out yet over there. We do have limited units in the market here and I’m sure they are selling like hotcakes. Thank God the XPro1 didn’t come in 2 colors … and it was real easy to decide. 😛 Anyway … for now I’ve ‘blacked out’ all the white letters/numbers on my Xpro1 and it is in stealth mode. Lol.
I’m not clear on the materials yet – is the entire top metal, i.e. silver would wear out better than black? How about the bottom?
If you look at this picture – http://content.reviewed.com/products/21412/specs/2868/fuji-x-e1-evf.jpg
(taken from here – http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/content/Fujifilm-X-E1-First-Impressions-Review.htm) it almost looks like it is made of black plastic and it has a scratch.
Maybe I’m putting too much into it, I wish it were available here with the new zoom kit lens…
@Amnon Govrin : Yeah I’ve read about some people complaining about the silver part’s paint coming off. For me … I actually don’t mind having some of those ‘battle scars’. Hahaha! Sometimes I even get tempted to sandpaper bits and pieces of my black X-Pro1 to make it look old. Okay … maybe I am a little crazy but I sure love those old black SLRs with brassing all over. I’m sure it won’t be long til the XE1 hits the stores there. Do share your review on the cam once you try it ok?