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…help my decision process please 🙂
Long story short, I've been experimenting with a lot of (mostly old-ish) compact cameras recently and the Fujifilms have intrigued me more than most. (I've been playing with the XF1, the XQ1 and the XF10. All of which have several frustrating characteristics as well as appealing ones.)
What I can see from the progression of those cameras is that Fujifilm is likely to be a system I can get along with, but it's only once you're into the the X system proper that the frustrating limitations of the XF10 etc seem to be removed.
So I'm pondering one as a camera that I can take out on road/touring/etc rides as well as walks/hikes. Maybe for urban photography too, but I'm probably adequately covered with compacts there, and anyway since Covid I can't remember the last time I was in an urban environment 🙁
Only thing is, I'm not sure which body would suit me best. Budget would stretch to a T1, T10/20, T100, E1/2/2s/3, Pro 1, M1, or any of the A series (all used). I'd normally be drawn to the X100 series, but a fixed lens is not what I want in this case.
As far as the user interface is concerned:
- If my eyes were younger then a viewfinder, and the quality of it, would be right near the top of my list, but viewfinders and varifocals don't mix so well, so I'm ambivalent about them.
- I never move the AF point (I'm stuck in my ways from manual SLR days: my AF point is always small and precise and bang in the centre, and I instinctively focus-then-recompose) so a 4-way controller generally suits better than an AF joystick, particularly given the next point:
- I hate touchscreens. Rather, I hate touchscreens which are active while shooting. They're fine for menus, but I've yet to own a touchscreen camera where I don't accidentally activate it when walking around with the camera switched on (the XF10 is particularly bad because if the touchscreen is enabled then a number of options are unavoidably down the right edge of the screen, right where the heel of my hand often ends up). Plus I'm a left-eye shooter so nose contact is a problem. Unfortunately, with a number of Fujifilm cameras, turning the touchscreen off means losing four swipe-based function "keys", and they don't let you reconfigure the (unused by me) AF stick to get them back.
I've no need for video, and although fast AF is very welcome I don't have need for continuous/tracking AF or any other fancy features. As far as lenses go I'd be considering the 16-80 or 18-135 as a day lens for cycling/hiking (the 16-80 is pretty much the ideal range for me); or the 15-45 PZ if I wanted something more compact or as a cheaper starting point. And I'd probably be inevitably drawn towards the 27 at some point just because I like compact primes.
From a bit of reading of reviews etc I'd probably lean towards either the T1 or T20; maybe the E2 or E3. Pixel count doesn't overly bother me, but some bells and whistles afforded by newer sensors might, I guess.
Anyone got experience of any (ideally multiple) of these and able to offer some insights as to must-have features or (probably more importantly) things that are destined to be a continual annoyance? The devil is always in the detail, and often in details that don't crop up in reviews.
A major difference from 1st gen X series to the later 2nd and onwards, is the autofocus. Gen 1 was known for being a bit sluggish, which was fixed in gen 2.
I've a XT2 & XH1, the XH1 has a touchscreen but I've never had any need to use it, mapping what I need to just the buttons.
Things to have, if you have a longer heavier lens, then depending on the camera, some sort of hand grip might be worth getting. Spare batteries are worth getting, I've not had any probs with 3rd party batteries so far.
Can't comment on those lenses as I have the 18-55 f2.8-4 and 16-55 f2.8 (along with a pile of primes) but I guess depending on your body choice a lens with OIS might be appropriate if there's no IBIS.
A good place to keep an eye on is the Fuji UK refurb shop shop.fujifilm.co.uk as they can have some great deals on.
Like Russell96 said, if you're looking at those bigger lenses I'd Be looking at the bodies with the biggest handgrips.
I have an X-H1 (mostly as I shoot alot of video) and love the handgrip but it's slightly too big to take on a ride without a decent bag. I'm on the lookout for an XE3 body for this reason.
My dream combination would be the X-Pro 3 an updated version of the 35mm F1.4 with useable autofocus! I love that lens but the AF is abysmal.
I've got the 35 f1.4 and the 35 f2. The f2 has great autofocus, is weather sealed, small and cheap for a prime, but you have got to love the f1.4 for the colours it produces. I have the f2 for a compact street/rain lens. Yes an updated 35 f1.4 with the focus ring of the 23 f1.4 and weather sealing would end up glued to one of my Fuji's.
X-e2 all the way. It has the right number of buttons, the right sensor, enough film sims to keep you happy and is a bit of a chameleon. Paired with a pancake 27 or cheap 7artisans 35 it's a compact street camera but give it an aftermarket grip, tripod and a longer focal length it can do macro or landscape. Obviously it has many limitations like slow af and no video to speak of but its 200 quid!
If money was no object I'd probably have an 100v and a t4 but back in the real world the e2 is an absolute bargain. The e2s is pointless as its no better and the e3 is too small and has a touchscreen, no flash and may be 24mpx but many photographers rate the 16mpx sensor in the e2 as a classic. Personally I can't tell the difference.
The only issue is weatherproofing but that is only a problem if your lenses are also weatherproof and that adds substantially to the cost.
As an x100 user, I'm the limitation more than a fixed lens. But I get you may prefer to switch lenses, I love the simplicity and styling.
Not huge experience but I bought a second-hand X-T10 as a smaller, cheaper setup than my DSLRs for taking out kayaking. With the 18-135mm fitted it fits in a small-ish Peli case, with a spare memory card and battery. I got the pancake 27mm as well and as a combination I love it - the 35mm lenses look lovely but were over budget for what I wanted!
I'm a bit like you with the focus point, and it's easy to set it up for back-button focus if that's how you work. I do manage to knock the 4-way buttons every now and again and then spend a while trying to work out what I've done, but by-and-large I like it. Only thing I'd like to improve is the autofocus, think a T20 would improve that, but it's not a huge priority.
I guess I should probably narrow the shortlist to the X-T1, X-T10 and X-E2. The E2 makes a lot of sense and would do the job fine, but the weather sealing of the X-T1 would be a useful thing to have (as would the dials for metering and ISO, with a caveat below), and the X-T10 is a nice price without sacrificing essential features.
One thing I can't quite figure out is whether the X-T1 gives easy access to multiple Auto ISO configurations (eg a different one per custom settings bank on the Q menu). Seems the E2 is fine from this point of view but I can't find anything definitive on how this works on the T1, with its ISO dial (which I like, but not if it means it only supports a single Auto ISO configuration for all film settings). I think that's the only thing that might be a fly in the T1's ointment; it looks kind of perfect if it's not too big.
(And on the X100: it really appeals, but I've already got a Ricoh GR, a GXR and an XF10, as well as a GF1 and 20mm that I'm thinking I should offload, so I'm already over-equipped for wide/normal primes 🙂 and the recent versions are pretty spendy, too.)
I got a deal on an XT1 with 18-135 just before the XT2 came out & it's still a pretty decent combo. Weather sealing was a big selling point for taking out on the bike, no issues & I've treated it a bit rough sometimes.
First thing I did was add a grip extension with arca swiss mount & the larger eyecup.
Only other lens I have is the 23mm f1.4. Great lens if a bit sluggish on the auto focus.
I wouldn't mind the joystick or IBIS of the XS10, but it lacks weather sealing.
Lenses I would like are the 16mm f1.4 for auroras & the 10-24mm for landscapes.
I have the x-t1 and love it. I only bought it secondhand as a second camera thinking that if I didn’t like it I could just sell it on. I ended up keeping it and selling all my Canon gear instead It feels so good to use and the results are stunning. The autofocus is no slower than my old 750d but it can’t keep up with fast moving children. I don’t take photos all the time and with the Canon, you had to use the menus a lot so I’d forget how to do certain things. Most things I need are now on labelled dials. The viewfinder is fantastic and huge. My wife has varifocals and manages fine. It feels bombproof too.
As for downsides, there is no getting away from the fact that the lenses aren’t cheap. If anything, they feel more expensive than they are if that makes sense. I used to love my old Tamron 18-200 and Fuji don’t do anything like that. I tend to leave the 35mm f2 on all the time now. The cheaper xc range get a bad press but the results are great. I have both the 16-50 and the 50-230. It is very easy to use old manual lenses though due to the focusing aids such as peaking.
Another downside is that the battery life is nowhere near as good with mirrorless. It will last more than a day out though. I just carry an extra battery.
I bought all my stuff from London Camera Exchange who were great.
Check out Omar Gonzalez on YouTube. He is a pro who uses Sony for pro work but Fuji for personal stuff. He has just released a video on the X-e2. It’ll make you want one though.
Right then. Just ordered a used X-T20 and a new XC 35 f/2 to get started with. There are a lot of very fishy-looking Fujifilm listings on eBay and few if any bargains, so I ended up sticking to reputable retailers. Missed out on a couple of corkers along the way (including an E1 in great condition for £120, crumbs) but a T10 that I missed ended up landing me the T20 for a decent price. It has a few features that appeal, including Acros and the ability to use the touchscreen to navigate the Q menu. More than I’d set out to spend but ain’t that always the way? 🙂
So, will see where this takes me… probably time to start selling off my Panasonic gear and all the compacts I’ve been playing with over the past few months, I guess…
Fuji user here and XT20, you should be very happy with your purchase. I've still not saw anything that would have me 'upgrade' particularly. I can recommend the Meke hand grip, finish is similar to the finish on the body. I'd also recommend the 27mm pancake lens, without hand grip this makes a very pocketable camera.
The 27 is tempting, but given that I have the 35 plus the GXR, GR and XF10 it feels a bit niche to have a 40 equivalent as well as two 50s and two 28s. More likely I’d head towards a zoom, I’ve been using mostly primes for years but I’ve been playing with a bunch of zoom compacts on bike rides lately and I’m liking a 24~135 sort of range. Early days, anyway… the priority might even end up being to upgrade my Macbook and move (back) to Lightroom Classic; I still haven’t quite got my head round how all the cloud plans pan out when you want local storage/backup as well.
I bought an X-T20 and an XC16-50 refurb direct from Fuji last year and although I've not used it as much as I'd anticipated due to lockdowns etc I'm really happy with it.
I picked up a copy of the Samyang 12mm F2 last summer as I'd like to have a go at astrophotography and have been impressed by the image quality. It's manual focus but focus peaking makes this easy to live with. I'd like to pick up the 35mm F2 at some point, but I need to get out and use what I have more before before I buy anything else.
Overall I'm really pleased with the X-T20, the only thing I'd like to have is IBIS as I don't have steady hands, but I'm not planning to upgrade for a long time.
I shoot with an XE1, prime only with the 35mm 1.4. Really like this system for its small format, relative affordability for the build and image quality - and the lenses especially primes are first rate. The early bodies are great for static subjects, the autofocus is poor/average...the later bodies are fine. I find the viewfinder on the XE1 quite poor in bright light but tend to compose a lot on the screen so not such a problem.
My father has an XT20 so I have been able to directly compare image quality in a studio setting where I shoot artwork for archival purposes where colour rendition is paramount. I concluded that there was no reason to upgrade to a later generation body for image quality alone, the prime vs zoom made as much of a differentiator....though was mighty tempted a few months ago when I saw ParkCameras had the XE3 body only for as little as £300, seems to be gone now - If you can find an XE3 for that price you would not be disappointed.
For me the XT20 style feel a little cramped in format but its not a big criticism, I prefer the rangefinder style for the same results. If going central viewfinder the XT2/3/4 is undoubtably amazing but its worth noting that these cameras get progressively heavier/ bulkier where an XT4 is not far off SLR size...for bike carrying or lightweight hiking this detracts from the benefits of the smaller format. The big improvement on the XT1/2/3...is that the viewfinders are really big and bright.
As for all FujiFilm..if you shoot RAW then theres a can of worms to open in pixel level processing issues. I'm still on Lightroom perpetual and theres some noticeable issues, later version of subscription serviced versions solve it but then require a recent machine to get the best from the processing for speed and ease. CaptureOne can achieve better results for the later generation 24M cameras but weirdly not so much the 16M and the interface is a mess verses Lightroom...there are ways in Lightroom to get around processing issues through third party converters.
These issues don't detract from the benefits of the system though...and I wouldn't consider anything else short of a Leica M series...some of the Fuji prime lenses are technically so good its not such a far out comparison.
For lenses, Sigma recently signed a X-system license so expect to see Sigma lenses in Fuji mounts too.
If you want to match full-frame 24-135 the new 16-80 might be just what you want: XF is 1.55x so that's 25-125mm equiv.
Have had a Fuji X-E1 but moved over to an XT-1 a few years back - originally bought it second-hand as a back-up to my DSLR, but in reality I now use it more as the images are in most cases just as good as the DSLR but its far more easy to carry due to its size.
as pointed out battery life means carrying a couple of spares but they are so small that's not an issue.
I use my X-T1 exclusively with legacy manual focus lenses, often bought for peanuts in charity shops (although I also have some very expensive older manual focus lenses as well) - using manual lenses is so easy with the fuji system where you can live zoom to check the focus.
here are some examples all taken with manual lenses (the first shot was using a 135mm F2.8 lens which cost me £2 from a car boot sale !)
[url= https://i.ibb.co/8K34sxR/43482770394-c3229989d9-5k.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.ibb.co/8K34sxR/43482770394-c3229989d9-5k.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= https://i.ibb.co/QPpHRyk/48619700647-32f67d1422-5k.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.ibb.co/QPpHRyk/48619700647-32f67d1422-5k.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= https://i.ibb.co/zHDgDNr/39670711520-bb351aa4c0-5k.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.ibb.co/zHDgDNr/39670711520-bb351aa4c0-5k.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
Yeah, I was planning on getting an adapter to use the handful of K mount lenses I kept after selling my old Pentax film kit years ago.
Typically just after buying the X-T20 a nice-looking T1 cropped up for £200. Hey ho 🙂
I have one of the SpeedBooster adapters to shout my manual Nikon lenses on the Fuji. Great for macro work, focus peaking in live view makes things a lot easier!
You may be better off with the x-t20. I love my x-t1 but it’s focusing isn’t great and it is only 16mp. that is usually enough but not so good if you need to crop.
I think the only compromises with the 20 are the viewfinder is not as good and a lack of weather sealing. Having said that, I have used cameras for many years with no weather sealing without thinking it was a problem.
Irident do the X-transformer, which will take .RAF files and convert them to .DNG, applying the in camera lens distortion settings, and will also apply noise reduction and sharpening that get around the 'worms' you get in certain files. It'll bulk convert files, and also work as a plugin within Lightroom.
Good article on it here, https://yannickkhong.com/blog/2018/12/28/iridient-x-transformer