Fuji Saved by the X-E2

theo

Rookie
Location
57° 42' 49 N, 11° 59' 53
Name
Theo Hultberg
Hello,

I used to shoot slide film and Tri-X on my Olympus OM-4. Mostly rust and abandoned places – the slide film for the former, grainy black and white for the latter.

I kind of gave up on photography when the last lab in town that developed slide film shut down, and my friend got a Canon 5D. It was the first digital camera I had seen that took better pictures than film, and there was no way I could afford it, so why bother with photography anymore?

For my photographic dark ages the only camera I had was a Ricoh GR Digital II. Sometimes I borrowed a Canon 7 or 5 from a friend, but even if the pictures were techically good, I never got the right feeling. I used to crank up the ISO to 1600 on the GR and shot black and white squares. It kind of looked like Tri-X and it was fun, but I never took it very seriously and never made anything of the photos. Eventually I realized my iPhone took better pictures than the GR, so I gave up the last sliver of pride and shelved the camera.

My new Fuji X-E2 has changed everything.

I've had it for less than two weeks, but I haven't left home without it. It feels like it used to back when I first started learning how to work my OM-4. But better. I've noticed I still hesitate to press the shutter button, I'm still in the old-school mode where you only had that much film. I have to remind myself that I can push that button as many times as it takes now, and when I do it feels so good.

I'm not really sure what made me pick Fuji. I think the retro look was what made me look twice when I saw it in the shop window. I oogled it in the shop window and I read reviews online for weeks. The internet is great when you want to give yourself arguments for buying something. What decided it was something else, though. I saw someone on a forum mention that you could get an adapter for OM lenses. That was something I hadn't even considered, that I didn't know was even possible. Being able to get that box of OM gear from the attic and use it again was too good to pass on.

It turns out that those OM lenses aren't that great. The Zuiko 50/1.8 MC I used the most with my OM-4 is kind of rubbish. I never noticed back then. It doesn't matter, though. It felt so rewarding just to be able to use them again. The Zuiko 35/2 is not bad, and neither is the Zuiko 85/2.

Even though I kind of set out to use the old lenses primarily I also knew I wouldn't be completely satisfied unless I got a modern lens, just to know how good it can get, so I got the XF 35/1.4 for a good price on Ebay. I'm so happy that I did, it's just gorgeous.

Now I've gone a bit nuts and bought myself a couple of vintage lenses off Ebay, and adapters for lens systems with more letter combinations than I can remember off the top of my head.

I'd like to thank everyone who has posted pictures and talked about vintage lenses in these forums. I feel that the photographer in me has awakened again, and you've been a great inspiration. I can't wait for my new old lenses to arrive so that I can reciprocate.
 
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