Simplify the camera

drd1135

Zen Snapshooter
Location
Virginia
Name
Steve
I'm packing my gear for my annual trip to Disney. My major photo venues there are the Animal Kingdom, the Flower and Garden Show, and the nighttime shots. I was packing the the XH1, XE3, the 40, 35 1.4, and the 50-230, but I think I may leave the XH1 at home. I'm more comfy with the XE3 and it's less likely to require my attention. Another example of "I'm not here primarily to take pictures". The night time shots may suffer a bit but I can use either the the fast 35 or the OIS zoom. The longer I do this the more I want a camera that just does the basics and has less buttons for me to hit by accident. I'm only posting this so I'm not just talking to myself.
 
I'm here Steve....you're not talking to yourself.

With your kit, I would shoot with the 35mm for everything but the Animal Kingdom. And there I would use the 50-230 exclusively. I might bring both cameras and just keep the 35mm on the X-E3, and the 50-230 on the XH1 so there's no need to swap lenses. Does the 50-230 feel OK on the smaller body of the X-E3?
 
I have shot comfortably with the 55-200 on a X-E2. So, with the 50-230 being so small and light weight, it should be very comfortable to shoot with on the X-E3.

You could go with the X-E3/35mm 1.4/55-230 and either a small Peak Design or Think Tank pouch on your belt to carry a lens in. As light as the 35 and 55-230 are, you'll never notice the weight on your belt. And maybe have the X-H1 locked up in your room for a backup body. Cause, you never know when a camera will fail or something may happen. And yeah, years of shooting weddings and events has the backup mentality firmly ingrained in my brain crater 😁
 
I went to Animal Kingdom a long time ago with a D100 + 80-200/2.8. That was just me - a spare day out of a week long business conference. It was a little short, but I had some cropping, so the 50-230 is worth bringing just for that.

Two cameras is a tough proposition if you're with the family. I would indeed just pick the lighter of the two bodies. Do you still have access to an 18-55? Those two plus a fast prime - done.

For a backup, bring a compact, for when you're just really tired (which usually happens around Day 3) but want something more than the phone.

It's scenarios like this where a superzoom that's fast enough at the wide end strikes one's fancy. RX100 VI or the RX10 IV come to mind.
 
The 50-230 is really light (only 2 oz more than the 18-55) so it's worth taking it to the Animal Kingdom. I inadvertently gave the effective focal length for the 27 2.8 (40). This takes no room and makes the XE3 really compact. The other night I was using the XH1 and somehow got it stuck in movie mode. I moved the dial on the left wheel but to no avail. I finally did a battery pull and it got better. It's a great body but it's best for a day devoted to shooting when I want to adjust many things. For whatever reason, I resonate with the XE3 even more than I did the Pen F and it makes shooting easy.
 
I'm here Steve....you're not talking to yourself.

With your kit, I would shoot with the 35mm for everything but the Animal Kingdom. And there I would use the 50-230 exclusively. I might bring both cameras and just keep the 35mm on the X-E3, and the 50-230 on the XH1 so there's no need to swap lenses. Does the 50-230 feel OK on the smaller body of the X-E3?
This is essentially my plan. I'm an old guy so I naturally cradle the longer lens in my left hand making the balance acceptable. The OIS will also help because some things are far away. The 35 will be the workhorse for the flower and garden show because I like the rendering.
 
I'm also thinking of trying B&W. This is hard because Disney is SO colorful, but I'm thinking at night when monochrome mutes some of the noise. I'll try to emphasize people. I mean, this is not a once in a lifetime trip. I'm shot this place at least 25 times so time for some specialized stuff.
 
I am really enjoying the XE3 with the 35 1.4. The 35 is on the big side compared to the body but I can cradle it comfortably in my right hand with a wrist strap and bring it to my eye while shifting grips. The combination is remarkably good for walk around photography. It’s just what I wanted, a camera that disappears in my hand and just lets me shoot. The touch screen is off and I use the joystick to change the AF point. Tomorrow I shift to the 50-230 for the Animal Kingdom.

By the way, shooting in B&W was a stupid idea.
 
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Re: B&W in-camera - it would be neat to be able to assign filter changes to a button. Better yet, customize it so it only cycles through either all or some color filters (i.e., I rarely use Blue).
 
If you have face/eye detection turned on, it cuts off the photometry settings. Face/eye detection has it's own light metering.
Huzzah! It was on. I normally don’t care about metering but I wanted the spot today. I also don’t shoot many shots with people so I forget about it. Here, it’s been on all day.
 
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I made some time to post shots, and the thread is

This kit worked like a charm. Both lenses worked in there intended locations and the X-E3 was a treat to use. The 27 never got pulled out because it was so easy to carry the X-E3 with the 35. That combo reminded me of my film cameras with a fast 50. Thanks to all for the discussion here. I was actually pretty happy with my results.
 
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