Then I saw the Fuji digital cameras with old school controls. Real shutter dials and aperture rings. And remarkably good lens quality. At first, the lenses were too few and didn't satisfy my needs, seeming to be more for street photography and portraiture (I mostly focus on nature, wildlife, landscapes). But I kept tabs on the system and watched it grow and mature.
The first time I saw a Fuji camera in the wild was during a snowfall at Great Falls, Virginia. It was a cold, windy, snowy morning and I drove to Great Falls, having an adventure just in the drive. I walked in the snow to the viewing area, setup my DSLR, and started shooting. Then a guy came up next to me with a tiny camera. I blinked. I looked at my huge setup. I looked back at his gear, and noticed the Fuji logo. I wondered to myself... why am I carrying all this? But I continued to do so for some years. Not without pain, or making a choice of which lenses to carry on a hike.
By the time the Fuji X-T1 came around, I was pretty excited. I felt certain that it wouldn't be long before the Fuji would match all the nice tech I had in my DSLR and the lens selection would meet my needs. And the next generation did indeed do that, as I expected. It was plenty good enough to replace my high end DSLR. But I still hesitated. My DSLR lenses are superb. I get great results from the system, and the cost of switching systems isn't cheap.
Then two things happened. One, I was officially diagnosed with a bad back, explaining why I have had so much trouble getting a good fit with backpacks. And Two, the X-T3 was announced.
I read the specs and, honestly, had to re-read them. The X-T3 specs blew away my DSLR. We all know reality never lives up to the hype, but still... there were many useful improvements that caught my attention. I already knew the older Fuji generation would satisfy my needs, but the X-T3 took it to a new level. So I read reviews, watched the videos, and weighed the options. And pulled the trigger. Here was a camera that matched my DSLR and then some, but was half the size and weight.
The camera arrived and I've been playing with it. I only have a pair of lenses so far; the "kit" 18-55 (which is a remarkably good lens for the price), and the 14mm wide angle, which is simply superb. The 14mm seems to be just as good as a friend's Zeiss ZE 21mm at a small fraction of the weight and size. I've used each lens enough to know they work well.
Should I count the adapted Minolta lenses I kept from long ago? I've been using an old 58mm f/1.4, and my old favorite, a Kiron-made 100mm Vivitar macro lens. I found this old macro doesn't stand up to my newer DSLR macro lens, but hey, it's fun. The 58mm, though it has low contrast wide open, has very nice bokeh. I have a couple of other manual lenses as well.
The nostalgia factor is high. Using old all-mechanical lenses with an electronic viewfinder is trivial. Focus peaking does a pretty good job.
When I put a couple of lenses in my pack to carry with me on a short outing the other day, I had to double check the pack... because it is so light I couldn't believe it had a camera inside. Even my 9-year-old thought the pack was light.
The AF is fast. I think it is as fast if not faster than my high end DSLR (no measurements, sorry). And it is accurate.
Using electronic shutter mode, the X-T3 can go up to 20 fps with zero blackout. This is tremendous for tracking birds in flight, etc. I just need to get the Fuji 100-400 to make use of it. More on that when I have real world experience.
The eye focus seems to work quite well. I have to get used to this feature... I'm still used to picking the AF point with a joystick. Once I get a fast X portrait lens, this feature will be great to have.
The focusing works in much lower light than my DSLR can handle. And it can "see" in light I can't see in. I can see a dark room via the LCD that I can't see with my own eyes. That's impressive.
The touchscreen is nice overall. I customized it to use the settings I think I'll change the most often. It is nice to AF on the spot I touch.
The tilt screen is even better. I can finally get those weird angles without killing my neck, my back, my knees, etc. I can get the camera to ground level, in either horizontal or vertical, and tilt the screen out to easily view it.
The viewfinder even has better eye relief than my high end DSLR. For someone with glasses like me, who uses the viewfinder, this is very helpful.
Fuji has made so many nice little touches to the system that I'd never be able to list them all.
And the controls! They make sense. I know the settings just by looking at the camera. The menus aren't bad either (I only had to hunt for how to turn on the touchscreen... turning it on is not in the same location as the settings for how the touchscreen works). A shutter dial, Aperture rings! I don't have to hunt for which button to press to adjust the basics. ISO, shutter speed, and aperture are right in front of me (though I wish the 18-55 ring had aperture labels). Of course, the settings show in the viewfinder and LCD as well.
And here is some crazy talk... I think the build quality of these Fuji lenses is superb. The rings turn as nicely as my older manual lenses. The zoom is as smooth as anything I've used. The manual focus feel is nearly as good as the best Zeiss lenses I've held. I have less play in the mounts than I do in my Canon L glass.
All of the Fuji X lenses are focus-by-wire. I didn't think I'd like that, but I found a setting to put the lenses in "linear" focus mode. In linear mode, the lenses don't vary how much focus by how fast I twist the ring; it stays constant by the amount of turn... and feels the same as my old manual lenses. In general, I use AF with AF lenses, but I thought this was a very nice feature. It let me be precise and it felt natural. You can also switch the direction of focus in manual focus mode, if you don't like the default.
For the record, I looked seriously at many other options of all brands. After all my research, I think Fuji is the only serious APS-C system available now. The lenses are generally small and of great quality, the sensor is strong, the features are great... and it fits my hands, my budget (after I sell my DSLR gear), and my weight requirement.
I have a couple of gripes so far:
- One is that, while the main dials are great, I sometimes touch buttons or the screen in ways I didn't expect, and a setting changes unexpectedly. I expect this problem will go away as I learn the touchscreen controls.
- Another is the lens caps; the center pinch is difficult to get on and off under normal conditions, and 100% impossible to use with gloves on. Obviously it is easy to replace lens caps.
- Then the remote release just feels super cheap. It has a thin cord and flimsy plastic case. I may take advantage of the old school physical plunger-type release.
- The microprism manual focusing mode hasn't worked well for me with my old lenses.
- Lack of IBIS.
We'll see how it all goes and how I feel after the honeymoon is over, and perhaps the nostalgia wears off.
