itchy shutter finger

I agree with cbimages' comment about the unsuitable aperture. Additionally, the 1/4000 shutter speed and ISO 100 seem unsuitable to me for a low light situation. As a starting point, I would try something like ISO 1600 and a shutter speed of 1/60 in order to get the aperture into the lens' serviceable range, then adjust from there.

Akritas, I don't think any Fujifilm X camera fails your needs. If I were to shoot mostly street and landscape. I would select one of the rangefinder form factor bodies for its small size, and some prime lenses such as the 23 mm, 35 mm, or the 27 mm pancake lenses, again, for their small sizes. The X100x series have an extremely loyal following among street photographers, and of course lens selection doesn't happen there. On interchangeable lens bodies, the zoom lenses are usable for these purposes, but not quite as small. To make a good selection, I think you need to define some selection criteria, such as: do you prefer fixed or interchangeable lens? do you wish to shoot much video? (Then you need the higher power of the X-T3, X-T30, or the X-Pro3) do you prefer a rangefinder shape or an SLR shape? do you need what I call "Pro Features", which are weathersealing and dual card slots? (Then you need the X-T3, X-Pro3 or the X-H1) what level of mobility do you need for your LCD screen? (The X-E3 screen is fixed and the X-Pro3 screen well, disappears, others articulate) what do you just simply like? do you have budget constraints? The grand-daddies of high-performance Fujifilm X bodies right now are the X-T3 in SLR form factor, and the X-Pro3 in the rangefinder form factor. My personal recent choice was on the lower end because I shoot no video, and as an amateur, if the weather gets too bad, I take it indoors. The surprising thing to me is the fact that I feel like I gave up nothing in image quality, camera/lens quality, or ease of operation at the lower end of the range. I bought an X-E3, and now that I've used the system for a while I can say with certainty that if I had to replace it today with an unlimited budget, I would choose the X-E3 again, maybe in black this time instead of silver. I, too, migrated from Nikon, albeit film, and I don't miss it a bit. I can customize my Fujifilm to operate like the familiar Nikon, but in a system about a third the weight and size. Good luck on your selection, and I hope you come to enjoy photography with your Fujifilm gear as much as I do.

One difference between the XF and XC that I fail to see addressed is the lens coating. In nothing I can find on the XC 35 f2 is the EBC coating mentioned. Did I miss this or the glass indeed not coated?

I don't think the f2 version was out when the survey was started in 2016. Perhaps Admin can update this since there are so many new lenses.

Is this thread still a thing? I know I'm late to the party, but after looking at all that food, I feel compelled to comment. But first, I must say, many compliments to Chef! Your food looks awesome. As the second post notes, this is real food, not the staged stuff. I'm probably not smart enough to just stay out of this, especially since the thread is so old. However, I looked at all your photos on Flickr, and noticed a couple things. First, I see that every shot was in Auto Exposure mode, and your metering mode varied some. Your lighting also seemed to vary from ambient to occasional flash, although I didn't see any utilizing TTL. I haven't photographed any food, but I've done some product shots for my wife's craft endeavors. As a starting point for a shoot, I would suggest the following: If you're having trouble matching your lens to the framing in a manner that suits you, consider a small telephoto, but from what I see, your 50 mm lens should do OK. Put your camera in Manual mode. You'll need to know more about the scene than your camera does. Set your metering to Multi mode. Use a good speedlight off-camera with an umbrella or softbox. A light stand for your key light, and a tripod for the camera. Have a white reflector or two to control the shadows. Set the aperture wide open for framing only. Set the shutter to sync speed, or slower. Set the flash on manual at 1/4 power, and face it into the umbrella. Now set the aperture to f8 or f11. You won't be able to see the shot well, but the flash is now essentially your exposure, shutter speed, and key light. Take a test shot and evaluate. Move the flash power and/or compensate it until you get an exposure that suits you. If you don't want to go so far as the umbrella, you can probably do well bouncing the flash and using a reflector or two. You also mentioned you're working in a small space. I find using Camera Remote works well when you can't huddle around the camera body. Once you get a composition and light coverage you like, make the flash power the fine tuning for the exposure. I don't see a scenario such that the flash will do a good job on-camera. It needs to be off. Did you get an EF-X8 flash with your camera? I find that little flash in Commander mode works extremely well triggering any larger flash with an optical slave mode. I hope this helps literally anyone, but I can't write more right now; I'm going to the OP's website to look at more food right now.

You make a good point that there are so many features in new camera designs that we never had in the film world. One really needs to determine which of those features, if any, really hold value for the buyer. I entered the Fujifilm world this past September, and I think my selection process served me well. I chose to intentionally ignore comparisons of cameras. Realizing that every camera body is designed for specific price points, purposes. and preferences, comparing them made no sense to me. Instead, I made a list of criteria important to me, and how I would use the camera. My background is also film, so I was looking for a minimal set of features. This happened to lead me to Fujifilm's lower cost options, and I chose the X-E3 over the X-T20 because I'm right-eye-dominant, and I was attracted to the rangefinder form-factor and button layout. I can honestly say that after four months, I have no desire for any other camera body. The X-E3 is perfectly adequate for me. In fact, I consider any other additional feature a negative. For example, I read many comments asking for the articulating screen; I don't want this on the X-E3; other models have this. I like the minimalist feature set and its ergonomic presentation. The point is I am happy because I matched my needs and purposes to the camera. If you buy based on comparisons, I'm afraid that's running down a rabbit hole because not every camera has everything, such as performance level, video capability, pro features (weathersealing and dual card slots), and form factor. I think the EVF only, such as the X-T30, is beyond adequate, and I think it's excellent. I know there are other viewfinders that others praise highly, but that info doesn't mean the EVF's only aren't excellent. I would think the X-T3 indeed has a sweeter viewfinder than the X-T30, but I don't think the X-T30 is at all a poor EVF. If it is anything like the X-E3 EVF, I would be quite happy with it. Autofocus performance is difficult for me to comment on because I don't know what performance level you need, nor can I quantify the autofocus performance levels of the various models. Your comment about settings is highly valid. I can say the maze of settings affecting autofocus on my X-E3 dramatically affect the performance. But I will say that after tweaking settings based on some internet comments and other sources, my autofocus performance is beyond adequate. I can also say that XF lenses seem slightly faster to me than XC lenses, but the XC lenses are not problematically slow. I guess I'm lucky that the items I selected objectively and systematically come in at the lower end of the price range. I literally consider all of my gear expendable because of this. I use common sense caution with my gear while out in the field, but I do not restrict my activities to protect it. I am an amateur, and I'm purely just having fun in my retirement. I do believe if I opted for higher end pro-model bodies and red badge lenses, I wouldn't be so courageous, and therefore not so creative with my photography.

Thank you for that information, Laurence. The last time I shot sports and other fast action, it was on film. The info in your blog is very much a leg-up on shooting sports with digital Fujifilm gear.

I offer a piece of sage advice: if any of your new gear isn't completely and entirely second-nature to you by the event date, leave it home. Your X-E3 will do a fine job. While different Fujifilm cameras have vast similarities, they are not identical, especially if your new camera body is an SLR form-factor. You can't go wrong with additional lenses, but be very clear to yourself which lens you will reach for in any given situation, or it's then just analysis paralysis on the fly. Fujifilm's XF zooms have great image quality, and will give you great images once you get the light worked out in the venue. My professional wedding photography career began and ended the same night in 2004 when by my best friends hired me to photograph their wedding. I bought new Nikon gear (an F100, N80, four lenses, and four flashes) for the event, but my practice time got used up on a heart attack and two surgeries. My familiar Nikon FE was unserviceable, so I took the new gear to the event, literally not knowing how to operate the unfamiliar electronic features, and suffering indecisiveness on lens selections. I shot 40 rolls of film that night, all of which looked like Kodak snapshots. I have never forgiven myself for failing my best friends, and to punish myself, I never further pursued professional photography. Dennis Green, a former American football coach once said "when opportunity knocks, you gotta have your bags packed". I found that to be true, but new photo gear comes in black cardboard boxes, not packed bags. On the brighter side, Congratulations! Prepare well, and make good on the honor your friends bestowed on you. If anybody gets this right, it's gotta be the Fuji Guy, right?

I just don't get the negative comments on this video over on the Fuji Rumors page. I am mesmerized by the fact that Fujifilm sees photo gear for what it is - tools for those who have passion for photography; and has such high respect for photographers. The gear they produce is icing on the cake. It was fascinating for me to see the creative process, inputs and constraints that shape these marvelous products.

1. IS Shortcut 2. Focal Length in Information Display 3. Y Axis Level Indicator 4. Multiple Exposures >2 For my purposes, the FujiFilm X-E3 is the most near perfect system on the market. Note that I said "near perfect". I very carefully made my body selection based on feature set and minimalism. The optimal ergonomics was icing on the cake. No other Fujifilm camera body could make me as happy as the X-E3. That doesn't mean I don't think it could be just a little better, and rather than feeling the need of a different camera, I am hopeful for a modestly improved firmware as noted below. 1. IS Shortcut - There is no option to create a shortcut to turn off Image Stabilization via Fn, T-Fn, Q Menu, or MyMenu. XC lenses have no external switch to turn off IS (such as the XF lenses do), so the user must dive into the menu for this. Users who frequently go on and off the tripod currently must make that menu dive each time. As such a user, I would be very grateful for the ability to make such a shortcut. 2. Focal Length in Information Display - This would be helpful to zoom lens users. This information is available in exif, so I assume it can be polled for display. 3. Y Axis Level Indicator - Could be useful for scientific, engineering, or documentary purposes. I've grown so fond of the X Axis indicator, I can't imagine ever being without it again. 4. Multiple Exposures >2 - Fujifilm have done such an amazing job of maintaining the classic features we enjoyed back in the day. As I recall, however, every camera on which I could perform multiple exposures could perform multiple-multiple-exposures. I'd have no problem holding the photographer responsible for the exposure, but a photo with five or six exposures (without software sorcery) is still something I'd like to do on the X-E3. And that's it. These four features gets the X-E3 as close to perfection as I can imagine on it's current hardware base. And I can make a better case for keeping the X-E3 an X-E3 than evolving to an X-E4 (hint: any further hardware feature or feature that appears on other bodies are not "minimalist", which is something that holds high value for me.) Thanks for any consideration, and I'm pulling for you, Fujifilm.

I shot 35 mm film since 1978, and pretty much documented most of my life and the lives of my family. I only shot digital since 2004, and then only point-and-shoot, then later on, with phones. I recently retired, and looking for a way to spend some time, I decided to do some creative photography. I wasted a lot of time and effort to find a digital body to use with a substantial collection of existing Nikon film gear. I just felt like I was going to spend $3k on a body, and still have a 20th century system, so I looked into 21st century mirrorless rigs. I did a hefty amount of research before committing, but Olympus and Fujifilm both made the short list. The deciding factor was the collection of internet user comments. I noticed next to no one reported broken Fujifilm equipment, while Olympus comments not only reported many failures, but also difficulty getting repair services. So, I bought Fujifilm, and I'm beyond happy with it. At the moment, I have an X-E3 w/XF 18-55 kit lens, an XC 50-230 OIS II, and an XC 16-50 OIS II. Not finding any deals on the XF 55-200, I went with the XC because I only shoot the occasional outdoor shot with a lens that long. After experiencing the XC 50-230, I added a used XC 16-50 to use in harsher environments than I feel comfortable subjecting the XF 18-55 to (bad weather, beach sand, etc.). I use the supplied EF-X8 flash for light TTL, but mainly as a commander for an array of flash gear from my film rig. It works flawlessly. The whole system does. I don't think the X-E3 gets as much love as some other models, but it is absolutely the one for me, and its price point had nothing to do with it. I'm coming out of film, and the last thing I need is an overwhelming collection of buttons and menu options. I sought, bought, and expected 'minimalist', as Fujifilm calls it, and not only is the feature set spot-on, the ergonomics of them are optimal for me. I've owned this rig a little over three months now, and I am ALWAYS anxious to get my hands back on it.