If you are tormented by the question “Which X-series camera should I buy?”, then you should right now go straight to Zack Arias’ latest blog post at dedpxl and check out his big Fuji X camera Buyer’s Guide.
Oh, and guess which camera Zack Arias would save, if his studio was going up in flames? The answer can be found at dedpxl.
41 Responses
Hahah…that’s a great quote about his favorite camera…I know how he feels.
Nice stuff to read this Saturday afternoon having E2 + 14 + 23 + 35 + 55-200. 🙂
He’d save the X100T, but it’s the XT1 that he uses to work with. Strange.
His in-depth description of each model pretty much shits on all of them for one reason or another – albeit in a sugar coated way.
Every camera made can be shit on for various reasons. You should see how much I take a shit on my @#$@ PhaseOne camera body. Total piece of shit with shit on top. 🙂
It’s true. The X100 is my love. The rest of my gear is needed for paying jobs. I love my job. I love I get to do this for a living. If I had to walk away from it all though and could only keep one camera it’d be an X100T.
Cheers,
Zack
Zach’s gear is all insured, as is his studio. Just by being a PPA member you get gear insurance. He would save the X100T because he loves it, but get to reclaim everything else if there was a fire.
Not meaning to take a swipe at you, Zach. You are the man.
Correct. I was simply trying to create a metaphor to let folks know where my love is.
Cheers,
Zack
if my house burns, I prefer to save the photoalbums of me as a kid, rather than the macbook air I need for my daily work.
That’s it: first we save the things we love (X100T), then the things we need (X-T1)
And now I better make a scan of my kids pics and save them on the cloud 😉
The Fuji system is relatively new still evolving and IMHO It is good now, the *free* X-T1 firmware coming out on December 18 will make it very good (at least for X-T1 users) and after new models (X-Pro 2, etc.) come out in 2015, the system could be great. Meanwhile, it was nice of Arias to take time to write and post such a detailed article.
Why did you highlight “free”? Were you used to paying for firmware upgrades?
You pay for the firmware upgrades when you buy the camera … so they are not “free”.
By that reasoning, pretty much nothing in the world is ever truly free (cue in the TANSTAAFL adage). Perhaps I should have asked “were you used to paying *separately* for firmware upgrades?”
I’m used to not getting any ‘meaningful’ firmware upgrades at all and what I mean by ‘meaningful’ is, there are so many upgrades in the December 18 firmware release that it will be like getting a brand new ‘camera’ for free.
Fair enough, thanks for clarifying your point.
(Looking at the title image) Rrright, and that man talks about cure for GAS.
I know right? It’s a bit insane. And this after I did a major clearing out of gear earlier this year. It’s time to prune a bit more.
Note that everything I own is in my bag for a reason and none of it is sitting on a credit card statement. Piece by piece and year after year my kit grows. Slow and steady.
There’s filling your camera bag with tools you need and then there’s just buying shit you don’t really need or you think it’s going to make your photos better. Right?
Cheers,
Zack
It is a beautiful collection…
I am still an X-Pro 1 user, waiting impatiently for something great with the X-Pro 2.
I would, however, be more excited about a medium format X-Pro like camera…that would be a beauty, but obviously very expensive, and highly unlikely.
“Filling your camera bag with tools you need” – seven X100* and a mike (for Fuji X system, mind ya!). Tell me again, what kind of shoot may require that?! Matrix-style karaoke fly-arounds?
PS: By the way, thanks again for your opinion on Profoto Air system, it saved me a ton of money. Had a chance to work with it a couple of months ago; it’s a crap indeed. I’ll stick with PCB and CyberSync.
Remember that I’ve done a number of shoots for Fuji. Sometimes those shoots come with gear. As I stated in my post, I haven’t bought all of those. What I like about having a number of these is I can regularly loan them out to people. 🙂
Glad I didn’t steer you wrong on that air system.
Maybe you should negotiate better. If I had 4 X100’s, I certainly wouldn’t let Fuji barter for cash with more of them.
I. Love. These. Cameras. I want to swim in them. Plus, the more I have the more I can loan out to friends when they need them.
Cheers,
Zack
I am on the fence about adding the 50-140 to my kit. As a wedding photographer I use the Nikon equivalent often, but have been transitioning to using the x-t1 more and more. The time has come to either upgrade my d700 to a d750 or finally jump all in with the Fuji system. I currently use the x-t1 with 18-23-35-56-60 and x-e1 back up
Might be worth holding out for the 90?
I’m on the fence with NOT being someone who currently makes money from Photography, and who is currently without a camera. I can look to the X100T with a smile, but then it’s that dreaded feeling of this camera can never take a second lens (not buying into the converters). So I could buy the X100T for about the same price at the XT1 body and is low on funds, could get the 18mm.
I think the 18mm is very underrated. I love mine. I do not own any version of the x100, but as a primary camera I would personally not want to be without the ability to change focal lengths
Glass before body.
Over the year and a half I’ve had my X100S, I’ve shot about 85% of my photos with it, even with a Canon DSLR. In July I added an X-Pro1 and 35mm lens, feeling like I was ready to transition into the system. So you could say I outgrew the restraint of a single focal length, but I still carry the X100S with me whenever and wherever I go out and leave the Pro behind unless I’m purposefully shooting landscapes. For all intents and purposes, the X100S is my primary camera.
Your mileage will vary, but it sounds like if you think you will feel restricted with an X100S, you will be. However, instead of jumping into the X-T1, you should go by the adage “glass before body” and start with a used X-E1 (less than $400 US) and use the rest of your budget for lenses, batteries and accessories. You can take pictures now and upgrade the body later. If you want to start with an 18mm, you should follow your instinct. Also, if you are on a budget and want an alternative to the super-expensive 56mm f/1.2, use an old Olympus, Minolta or M42 manual focus 55mm or 58mm you can pick up for less than a C note on eBay or Craigslist. Get a $30 Fotodiox adapter and you have a solid telephoto for less than 1/5th of the cost of the Fuji. Does it matter if it is as sharp as the Fuji? I can distinguish fine facial hair on women with my yard sale Minolta 55mm f/1.7 wide open at 100% crop, so it’s good enough for me.
Just some advice to consider, Scott.
The beauty of the X100T is that you don’t have to think about which lens to use. Part of the simplicity and allure of this special camera. I have the XE2 with 18-55 and was thinking about getting the 14mm but am having second thoughts about picking up the X100T instead.
I like this guy (and not only because he likes Fuji Cameras).
There are a few technical mistakes (Sensors etc) but I don’t care because he nailed the most important part: Emotions!! That’s one big reason why we all are using fujis (both the cameras and pictures have them!)
Yeah… sorry for the technical mistakes. I don’t keep track of all the nitty gritty stuff under the hood. There’s the older sensors and the newer ones. And maybe something in the middle was in there somewhere. 🙂
Cheers,
Zack
I’m so excited about the upcoming lens part of this series!
Point of fact: Mr. Arias writes about the X-Pro1, “Some still love this camera for the original X series CMOS sensor and they swear by it. I’ve moved on to X-Trans and I’m good to go with those sensors.”
The X-Pro1 actually has an X-Trans sensor. Maybe he’s confusing it with X-Trans II?
I believe he was talking about the x100 which has a cmos sensor with a Bayer array
Perform a search on the quote I provide, and you land square in the section on the X-Pro1. Perform a search on the text I provide in my reply to romi.foto, and you land square in the section on the X100. Honest!
yeah. he said the original x100.
Ah, ah, ah! what he wrote about the original x100 is slightly different: “Some folks still prefer the original X series CMOS over the new Xtrans CMOS. It can sort of be like people who preferred VW air cooled engines over water cooled engines. Or cast iron over teflon. The original X100 is still, to this day, a great little camera and I’d be happy to keep shooting with one if that was my only option.”
Zack,
Been an admirer of your work and thoughts on photography for a while now.
For a pro like yourself, that in the past has done amazing things with a single flash, I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the Fuji flash system as a whole and where you think it can be improved. It seems to me, that if Fujifilm wants to seperate itself from the rest of the mirrorless market, it could make an intelligent flash system that a pro could really grow his system around.. Nikon did good with it’s creative lighting system and I think Fujifilm can and should do better.
Happy holidays
I’m no Zack, but I’m a strobist (studio, location, conceptual, travel: http://molnarcs.500px.com). This is what I’d need in a competent flash system, and I’m sure Zack would agree with many of those points. Perhaps he would have different priorities, these are mine:
1) Rear Curtain Sync – pretty please!
2) Radio based off-camera flash with full manual control from camera position.
3) TTL. For most jobs, manual is sufficient or even better than TTL. But in some of the most challenging and fun situations remote TTL kicks can kick ass (small events in clubs, festivals, dance performances, live music etc.)
4) Good ergonomics. Size, power – take a look at those lithium-powered Godox flashes. No more battery management overhead, those babies pack a punch (they are equivalent to 4AA in flash + a 8AA power pack). The receivers are tiny, no need for battery.
5) HSS – I think this is fluff, but I know it’s important to a lot of people. To me, HSS comes with too many compromises, such as tremendous power loss when you actually need it most. And while your flashes are starving for power, output may also lose shot-to-shot consistency. An ND filter solution is better, and my x100t has one built in 🙂
+1 for rear curtain sync!
I bought an X30 a couple of weeks ago. I love the size and ease of use but I wish it had a full size sensor. So I get the comment about buying a 911. But I ran into an issue this past weekend that moved my focus completely away from sensor size. I was at a graduation with my X30. The stage was blocked off so the closest I could get to it was about a 100 feet away. I missed having a bigger zoom. I thought maybe I should return my X30 and get an X series with interchangeable lenses. What do you guys think? For those of you who use an X100, do you just crop a photo if you want a close up and get close enough to the subject? This will be my one and only camera so please keep that in my mind. Any advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
I have an x100 which I love. I sold my nikon kit for it. However I am buying an xt1 in the next few months. The x100 makes you think about composition which has been great for me, but I’m lookingg forward to having zooms again (note I’ll never sell my x100 though. ..)