November 17th, 2024
Fujifilm. Everyone loves them. They make pro aps-c bodies. I think aps-c is the perfect medium for me (small-ish cheap-ish lenses). So I went to try some.
There's an anual photography festival near where I live that organises touch and try photo walks in cool landscapes, with various brands. This year "my brand" was absent, so I used the opportunity to try the Fujis that interest(ed) me - the X-H2s and X-H2. I really like the idea of equal bodies, one for speed and the other for high res.
Like every social media hostage, I needed to brag about a new camera in my car.
Let me preface the following by saying that I don't really intend to talk badly about Fuji - I think they are one of, if not the most interesting brand right now. They approach the market in a totally fresh way, and I love that. Also almost all of their cameras are unique. My experience with them wasn't great though.
While not completely unexpected, I both enjoyed and didn't enjoy using the cameras at the same time, if that makes sense. I really enjoyed the few lenses I tried, the files I got back are quite something, some pretty cool features not otherwise found in aps-c cameras and... that was about it.
The files look like a painting. This has very little editing done to it.
I went in meaning to try mostly the X-H2s - I've started shooting motorsport somewhat seriously, and the fast stacked sensor and fast burst rates intrigued me. I also shoot concerts and live performance (theatre and dance), so good autofocus is important to me as well.
First - fast burst speeds are overrated. I almost never use the maximum 11fps my current camera offers. It would be cool to have, yes, sometimes I miss a moment in between two shots of a burst, but I can definitely live without it. Not to mention culling 15+fps bursts is a nightmare. Second - the Fuji autofocus, while not entirely bad, especially for people, was quite a bit behind my current camera (I tried it on the festival venue with the other participants, before going to the photo walk. I realize I only have landscape example shots on this blog, but even for still landscapes, the autofocus was somewhat unpredictable, I can't really explain it). In video it is supposedly even worse, but I didn't try any video on the day as it wasn't a priority and I had less than an hour with the camera.
Lastly - the body was a bit uncomfortable in my hands, and the menus... Oh my, and people have been complaining about Sony menus online for years? I wanted to set back button focus like I'm used to using, and even the Fujifilm ambassador that was helping and guiding us couldn't find the setting easily. And even though I didn't try any video, I also know you can't set different custom buttons for photo and video and that's another bummer. One thing I really liked unexpectedly was the little top screen. Pretty cool with the camera turned off especially.
I'm still pretty impressed with the files looking so painterly and requiring very little editing, while also handling more heavy edits quite well.
In conclusion, I'm still part of the Sony Master Race, and the a6700 will stay with me until it falls apart. I re-confirmed how great a camera it is even falling short in some aspects. All joking aside, it was a bittersweet experience, because Sony treats aps-c bodies as hobbyist cameras, and I love aps-c for the size and value proposition, but would like a more pro featured body in the near future, but it won't be a Fuji (though I posted a picture on Instagram and got several Fuji users following me instantly 😅).
At the end of the day, almost any camera would do what I need, being better some way or the other, but for now, I like the success rate I get with the Sony, and the quality of life features (like the menus and the customisation) are way more suited to me. I also need to film myself playing guitar, the Sony stays.
I'll leave you with another Fuji shot from that day, they really do look great. I hope it's not just some illusion from my brain.
Miguel
Disclaimer: neither Fujifilm nor Sony know I'm writing this. They don't even know I exist.