Woodworth

Fuji GFX50s & 110/2

Fuji X-E2 & 27mm

I'd have to go for 14mm, 23mm, 56mm and 90mm. The 56mm is the sweetest one by far, such a lovely lens!

For me, the addition of IBIS will be a dream come true. The ability to get that extra bit of stability without the use of a tripod/monopod, the ability to lower the ISO and the re-assurance that I probably won't miss that shot. That above anything else is what I would like.

For £300 you could certainly get a used X-E2 and quite possibly a X-E2s. I'd go for the latter. If you like the DSLR style of your X-T2, maybe a used X-T10 would be a good option. Whilst all of these have a lower resolution sensor and lesser AF capacity when compared to an X-T2, they are very decent and as a second camera, not to be sniffed at! Try MPB or Ffordes both of which stock used Fuji and seem to me to be decent camera shops. I'd avoid the X-Pro1 and X-E1 simply because they are older models the ones I've mentioned above are better specified and a bit younger.

Early morning, just after sunrise. Cyprus. X-E2s with 50mm f2.

Heat in long exposures is not going to be an issue because using any form of stabilization for long exposures would be counterproductive. When a camera is tripod mounted anti-shake can introduce vibration - which then degrades the sharpness of the image. So, for long exposures, use a tripod and switch anti-shake off! As to longevity, I don't think IBIS is any more likely to fail than any other moving mechanical component, such as the shutter.

I've just taken receipt of both of these lenses and am absolutely delighted with them. I know that they are expensive and that the GFX50s is hugely expensive but with the very generous discounts if you buy a body and lens together and the money off offers on the lenses on their own, I took the plunge! I felt sick to the stomach spending this kind of money but it is for my work and not a hobby and so far I have absolutely no regrets (except the large hole in my bank account!). I've just taken some head shots for an actor and the quality of the 110mm f2 is beautiful. I can count every single hair in his eyebrows without any sharpening! Very easy files to work with, apart from exposure modifications, I hardly need do anything to get a great image. Well done Fuji!

Back in the day, I took many beautiful photographs with an Olympus OM-2 which is about as featureless as they come. There is however something called progress ans that is a good thing. Maybe today's cameras are overloaded with features that some do not understand or need but experience has taught me that it is good to have the option. Think of a Swiss Army knife with all those blades, you probably only use the main cutting blade 95% of the time but those seemingly useless other blades and gizmos may well be the only thing that will do the job at a crucial moment. IBIS seemingly for some is like the tool on a Swiss Army knife often described as being the blade for "extracting a boy scout from a horses hoof" and perhaps those people can't see the need nor want to have it, but personally I think IBIS is the very tool that enables me to take better pictures when the conditions demand it.

Now, that's a question! For as long as we want interchangeable lens cameras there will need to be both camera and lens. Quite what kind of camera and by what means the image is viewed and captured is difficult to predict. The advantage of our current mirrorless designs is the absence of a mirror box enabling better optical design and so higher quality lenses, very much like the Leica M lenses. The trouble with Leica M cameras was the viewing of the image, this has been effectively solved with electronic viewfinders. So perhaps the basic mirrorless concept is pretty much as good as it will get. Minor improvements to the basic concept, better AF, improved ergonomics, etc but nothing revolutionary. Where I think the next step will come will be with the sensor. There are curved sensors in the pipeline and these will probably become commonplace in time. Perhaps the kind of sensor will change, after all we have had the same basic concepts (albeit with improvements) for some time now. CCD, CMOS etc are very much yesterday's technology, so will there be something with better colour, higher resolution or greater dynamic range - who knows? Whatever it is, there will be a group of people who will hate it and desperately cling onto their mirrorless camera!

When I started as a professional photographer we used film (remember that?), I had a 35mm outfit, a medium format outfit and a 5x4 outfit. Camera bags were heavy (Hasselblad, 3 lenses, 2 backs and a Metz flash is no lightweight option!). It took time to develop film in smelly chemicals and "spotting" prints was a necessary pain. Long print runs (say 100 prints of the same picture) meant careful monitoring of the developer and retouching was an expensive luxury. Then came the DSLR - wow! It was amazing because it made life easier, faster, lighter and altogether more efficient. Some had to be dragged kicking and screaming away from their film cameras - seeing any similarities here? Now film is mostly for bearded hipsters and a few students it seems. A lot of us humans are slow to adapt to change. Many are comfortable with the familiar. I think that perhaps there will always be a small market for the DSLR, after all, the Victorian painter Paul Delaroche famously cried “At this moment, painting is dead” when he realised the potential of photography and yet we still have people buying paint and canvases today. Anyone seen a cheap Picasso for sale? There may be fields where the DSLR is better for some reason for a while at least. For me the present and indeed the future is mirrorless. Now that the likes of Nikon and Canon have finally awoken from their slumber and are taking mirrorless a bit more seriously, the end may well be nigh. Their rumoured full frame cameras will set the date (dependent on their sales), but I think that just like the TLR camera was succeeded by the SLR, the DSLR will be succeeded by the mirrorless. The date that perhaps the DSLRs will rest in peace may be pretty soon, maybe 2020? I think that Paul Delaroche (if he was still around) might then say “At this moment, the DSLR is dead”.

Good to hear that you're getting one, I imagine you'll take some great pictures with it. I've somewhat tempered my views with the benefit of time. I was bitterly disappointed with the X-E3 initially because it had not lived up to my expectations, however that does not make it a bad camera. I got an X-Pro2 instead and am enjoying using that for now. I'd still like to see an X-E camera with IBIS and a tilt-able screen, in style perhaps a kind of smaller X-Pro2 without the optical finder but that is either a pipe dream or a future Fuji - who knows?

X-E2s & 50/2 The morning sun and trees, Cyprus.

X-Pro2 & 35/2

As I understand it you need to make quite deliberate actions to use the touch screen and compared to something like a phone perhaps it doesn't work quite as expected?

I don't use a Bayer Sensor to plane my wood, my wood plane works so much better! So, a planed X-T100 would be an interestingly slim camera ! I think you mean planned (2x n)! Sorry I know it's not your mother tongue but I had to laugh!

Er, .... still 2017 in this part of the universe! But I agree with you about the lack of tiltable screen (and a bunch of other things) missing from the X-E3 also regarding the Nikon mirrorless, I'm looking forward to seeing what they do.

Shame you don't like them but I think that selling them as a set rather than individually means that unless someone wants exactly what you have to offer, you limit your options. As to overpriced, have you seen how much Sony lenses are being sold at and where exactly are the Sony 35/f2 (23/2) and the 80/f1.2 (56/1.2) to be found? As to over rated, I and many others disagree.

That's my reaction too but I'm hoping that the other controls will allow you to bypass the touch screen altogether.

I’ve been using Fuji since they introduced the X-E1. Over the years since I have had a number of Fuji bodies and lenses but have settled on an X-T2 and an X-E2s with various prime lenses. I have always found Fuji to be a great system to work with and have earned much of my income from their products. The lineage of each model seemed logical and each new version made progressive improvements such as improved AF or resolution for example. You can tell that the X-E2s is progression from the original X-E1 with nicely thought out additions or upgrades. The X-T2 is such a nice camera and certainly a step up from the X-T1. So far, so good. In my mind at least the line up worked something like X-A cameras for amateurs, casual shooters, etc. The X-T10/20 for the more trendy photographer, someone who liked innovation such as touch screens and blue tooth and the cute look of the camera. The X-E cameras for the expert photographer, the person who liked the rangefinder styling and the smaller size for travelling and discrete photography, a street photographers camera perhaps. the X-T range for the more demanding photographer, someone who wanted a more professional kind of camera in a DSLR style and the X-Pro for the same kind of photographer who preferred a rangefinder kind of camera. I’m probably wildly wrong here but at least it’s a stab at my understanding the lineage of the various Fuji offerings. Then came the X-E3 and messed it all up for me. Here was a camera that looked like an X-E camera but seemed more at home in a X-T20s? In the lineage, instead of a progression, someone seems to have left the logical path and gone off track with this camera. In my mind at least, the X-E3 should have been an upgrade from the X-E2s. Perhaps a X-E2s with the X-T2 sensor and AF but with the XT-20 flippy screen and IBIS. I can see how introducing bluetooth connectivity with a tablet and touch screens would appeal to an X-T20 user perhaps but where is the camera for the X-E1, X-E2 and X-E2s user? I’m trying desperately hard to find the good in the X-E3 and I will try one out but it simply does not appeal to me right now. I feel that Fuji have spoilt a good thing by letting someone introduce trendy features onto something that was historically more traditional. It would be a shame if Fuji lost their vision after all the success they have had to date.

"OTOH, I could very well see my wife wanting a X-E3, to use with the 27mm. She prefers to use the camera in "auto" mode most of the time anyway." It is kind of like an X100 with interchangeable lenses really. I think from what I've read that it may be possible to operate it without using the touch screen as the joy stick can be used to navigate the menu, if this is the case I will just switch off the touch screen and use it the old fashioned way. This way I think I can get on with it. If Fuji were to make a slimmed down X-Pro2 without the optical finder but with a tilt-able screen and IBIS, I would be overjoyed!

I have to say that despite all the hugely negative things comments I have made about the X-E3, I will probably get one. I hate myself for doing this , it's hugely hypocritical and I may well end up returning it immediately, but I have to give it a go. A bit like making children eat things they don't like a few times, I may well end up loving it ! Who knows? I've kind of got over my initial disappointment and am trying to like it.

I'd be interested to know just how many people like the X-E3. I don't know how to set up a poll (even though I don't think Fuji will pay attention to it!), but I'd like to see who actually wants to buy the X-E3 versus those who will choose to stick to the existing X-E camera or buy something else. There has been a lot of very vocal negativism, from me and many others as the X-E3 seems to be morphing into a smartphone and away from being a serious camera. I'd have been quite happier if they had chose to introduce it as an X-A camera with an EVF instead and given us an upgraded X-E2s with the new sensor, focus, joystick, IBIS and articulated screen - then we could all have been happy. In essence, it's too small and too gimmicky. To be positive, I welcome the sensor, the improved AF, the joystick and even the top plate re-design but that's where it ends. To sum up my wish-list, I'd have liked IBIS, an articulated screen and similar controls to the X-E2s.

The lack of physical controls - that's a very interesting observation. One of the features that I think most Fuji users like is the old fashioned use of dials and knobs (as well as the picture qualities, the lenses, etc, etc). I think you've hit the nail on the head. Also, comments like "a dumbed down X-T20" on the rumour site seem to reflect this observation. I don't like the way the X-E line is going so I won't be buying an X-E3 without a damascene conversion! I like the idea that I can operate the camera without having to think too much about what I'm doing. I'd prefer all Fuji cameras to have very similar button layouts so one can go seamlessly from one to another and not struggle to operate the camera because of differing button lay out. The X-E3 is just too far removed from the X-E2s to appeal as far as buttons/controls go. Also, in line with similar cameras from other manufacturers, I had hoped for IBIS and an articulated screen.

That's good to hear. I still have and use an X-E1 as well. Increasingly the temptation is to get the newest or latest thing, whereas the original is often still pretty good. I think IBIS won't lead to too many expensive camera bills and it can always be switched off when (or if) not required. It will be interesting to see whether the X-E3 is going to be anything like the rumoured camera (I hope it's better).