Cameras:
Started off with a small Samsung point and shoot that I bought to use on a year abroad in Germany. Moved up to a Canon Powershot S90, then purchased my first DSLR, a Nikon D90. Moved from the D90 to Fuji X100, had an X-Pro 1 for a while, now have just the trusty X100 and a Fuji XT-1 (mainly used for scanning negatives).
Big fan of Fuji cameras, I wrote an article a while back on them:
Fuji X Experience
I first saw a Fuji X camera when the original X100 was released in March 2011. I wanted one as soon as I saw it. Three years later at the start of 2014 I bought my own.
Why did it take me so long to purchase the camera? The price. With a DSLR and a multitude of lens sitting on my desk I could not justify the price (£1000+ at the time) for a camera with a fixed lens.
In 2014 the camera was at a price where I couldn’t resist any longer! Generally buying three year old technology is not something I would advise however with cameras and photography my thoughts have always been slightly different. Cameras that take a good photo will always take a good photo – that is not dependent on how old it is or what new models are now available.
Visually the X100 is a beautiful piece of design, it was it’s design that initially attracted me to the camera. It was one of the first digital cameras to pay homage to the design of old rangefinders à la Leica M range. Several other brands in recent years have followed suit. The unobtrusive retro design make it discrete. Many non photography people still do not understand it is a digital camera even when I show them the shot on it’s LCD display.
One of the things I decided when I got the X100 was that I was not going to mollycoddle it. This was a camera to use, not to keep for special occasions or be overly protective of. As such it has a few bumps and scrapes as it has gone everywhere. No lens cap just a filter, hood, leather strap and a thumb grip to make it easier to operate one handed.
Having read many reviews from 2011–2014, one thing was clear; despite the quirks and qualms of the X100 – this camera made waves in the photography world with amateurs, professionals and photographers I respected. To quote just one of the common conclusions, “the camera has soul.” Zack Arias’ chosen desert island camera.
Some key innovations in the X100 set it apart from any other camera for me. The leaf shutter and built in ND filter being two that really stood out; The leaf shutter is unlike any other camera I’ve ever used, almost impossible to hear even in an empty room, a huge advantage for any street photographer wanting to be a fly on the wall. The built in ND filter allowing me to stop down three stops – allowing shooting in bright sunlight wide open at f2 to get that beautiful bokeh/depth of field.
The fixed 23mm (35mm equivalent) f2 lens on the X100 is superb. It is a great focal length close to that of our eyes, great for an everyday lens and for my interest in street photography. This camera was my first fixed lens camera, it taught me to zoom in and out with my legs rather than the lens.
It didn’t take long before my Nikon was gathering dust, just as many other reviewers had experienced. The Fuji handled nearly everything I could throw at it whether shooting a gig or an entire holiday. My recent trip to Vietnam was shot entirely on my X100 alongside a Gorillapod, a few spare batteries and my iPhone. The Nikon would have been far to cumbersome to lug around. Other photographers on the excursions did carry large DSLRs and potentially dismissed my smaller X100 as a mere point and shoot or film camera.
My Grandad has been an keen photographer his whole life. In recent years he has handed me down many of his old legacy Nikon Nikkor lenses. As my Nikon DLSR was no longer getting used it felt like a shame to not use this great glass other than when I shot the odd roll of 35mm film. There were also times when shooting with the X100 that although the 35mm focal length would suffice I would have liked to have had my 10–24mm wide angle lens or my 50mm for a tighter shot on occasion. The Fuji X-Pro 1 was the solution.
I bought the X-Pro 1 (the X100’s big brother with an interchangeable-lens system) in 2015, again 3 years after it came out. The X-Pro 1 for me was not as a replacement for the X100 but to accompany it. I decided not to sell the X100 on because 1. I knew the resale value of the X100 wouldn’t be very high as it’s in used condition and 2. I didn’t want to part from that 23mm lens.
The X-Pro 1 was a direct replacement for my Nikon D90. I wanted the flexibility of an interchangeable-lens system for more focal length options. I am yet to buy a Fuji lens for it. I purchased a Nikon-Fuji adapter for my Nikkor legacy lenses. Although these lenses are purely manual focus on the X-Pro 1 they do a great job focusing with Fuji’s ‘focus peaking’. Next in line to purchase for the X-Pro 1 is Fuji’s 35mm f1.4 Fujinon lens (50mm equivalent) which gets a lot of praise and possibly their 16–50mm.
Kaizen plays a huge part in customers’ brand loyalty towards Fuji. Fuji update their cameras both in terms of performance and features more often than any other camera brand I’ve ever owned. These updates breathe new leases of life into older cameras. Both my X100 and X-Pro 1 had several iterations of firmware updates before I purchased either of them. Fuji have also no doubt improved on the X100 with its two successors (X100S/X100T) and will i’m sure improve upon the X-Pro 1 with the much rumoured X-Pro 2 expected later this year.
Above all, the thing I personally like the most about the Fuji cameras is that they are simply easy to shoot with. They remove barriers to making a photograph. I like that they have a physical shutter speed dial at the top similar to old film cameras, I like that the aperture is on the lens and not on a scroll wheel. I like that the cameras’ options are easy to access and not hidden deep within complicated menu systems. Simplicity and UI are hard to achieve but Fuji seems to have managed it pretty well. I particularly like the ‘Q’ button on the X-Pro 1, a ‘quick’ access button to anything you may need to instantly adjust – WB/film simulation/jpg size etc. The user adjustable Function Fn button on both cameras is also incredibly useful; I have mine set on the X100 to turn the ND filter on/off and on the X-Pro 1 for quick access to ISO adjustment.
I agree with many others that although these two cameras are not perfect (no camera is), they both have a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ that make them shine. Fuji have always been known for their colour representation in their 35mm film and they are now standing out for their digital JPEG equivalents. Recently I only shoot JPEG as I trust that the camera will do a good job in camera.
For my style of photography DSLRs are now completely irrelevant, so is my former want for the sought after ‘full frame’ sensor cameras that cost $$$. I know my older X100 and X-Pro 1 will still take an amazing photograph for many years to come and i’m happy with that. If I feel the need, maybe in three years time i’ll update them to the X100T/X-Pro 2.