Ovi , I have had all models upto xt-3 and all were lovely ..but as others have mentioned the xt-1 has the most organic look to images ( I miss mine) and still looking out for a graphite one..the cheap plastic lenses perform nearly as as good as the XF (metal) lenses ..and I also had sony a7ii ..didn't like it! As you say..something about them that feels more like a gizmo / computer than a camera. Almost soulless.
In the end if gas itching..get a fuji...but sadly I think when the novelty of playing with a new toy fades , you will realise not much has changed...apart from minus money in the bank.
Gas is real folks! As we all probably suffer from here
BTW viltrox lenses all perform fantastically on fuji
Thanks. I haven't though much about it since I made the post. Actually I forgot all about it until Saladin started to post again.
Since the original post I did upgrade to Sony a7 Mark IV and added the Tamy 70-180mm f 2.8 and, to be honest, I've been very impressed with the setup and can't find much regrets getting it (despite the long term cost of it).
And here's why:
*The image quality has been outstanding in almost every condition I threw the setup in. I do hope that people understand that some of the situations I use it/have to use it is quite difficult. Indoors and without flash (from fear of triggering seizures) for portraits of adults with learning disabilities (which some of them are non verbal) and do not understand requests like posing or even standing still. I often have to shoot at ISO 6.400 to 25.600 and a minimum of 1/125th sec. Sometimes in extremely dark conditions, like disco events. I also push the DR to its maximum to get the most context of the events, emotions and surroundings. When I do look for a single person portrait then I can be creative with the exposure like High Key or Low Key but often with groups I need the versatility of shooting in variable ligh conditions like outdoors or variable lights setups.
*The autofocus is brilliant, but not without faults (no camera is perfect). I depend a lot on Real Time Face and Eyes Tracking (and I am sure this statement will feel lieka disappointment for some photographers) because I shot documentary images of people's daily lives. And not only that but I have to always pay attention to my job as a support worker and look after them at the same time. I have little time to prepare or react for an image and anything that helps me maximise getting the shot offloads the stress of doing my job as well. I have many co-workers who don't understand the kind of stress and anxiety I have to do this every day, especially when most of them just thi k I make a pretty picture by pressing a button. As for the autofocus performance, it has been quite reasonable and dependable even with my Tamy lenses, in dark conditions, with moving unpredictably subjects. I do miss some shots sometimes but more often I get the image I wanted (or more the one because I shoot in High Continuous in such situations).
*Ergonomically it's not the greates setup, the Olympus and Panasonic cameras that I have owned are a lot better at that, but it's functionally a huge improvement on 2nd gen Sony Alpha cameras and there's not a lot I can ask for more of my Sony A7 Mark IV. Even the battery life has been great, lasting me almost a week of sporadic shooting on one battery.
*The lenses have been the biggest surprise for me, very positive suprise. Both Tamron 28-75mm f 2.8 G2 and Tamron 70-180mm f 2.8 have been amazing, very sharp especially at f 2.8 (where I use it often because of low ligh) and with very VERY low CA (which is one of my most frustrating IQ problem to deal with in post). They are very managble in size and weight, barely any bigger or heavier then similar APS-C lenses and I can actually carry the Sony a7 Mark IV with the Tamy 28-75 mounted in my hoodie pocket and the Tamy 70-180 in my trousers pocket (just don't ask me if I'm happy to "see you") or the camera in hand and the lens in the hoodie pocket. Also what impressed me and it makes it harder to switch systems or brands is the fact that f 2.8 zooms give me the DoF control of f 1.8 primes on APS-C and f 1.4 primes on Micro Four Thirds eiththe versatility of zoom, which is amazing to me. It might not be the same for photographers who had access to this for decades or who has different priorities then shallow DoF (I still shoot stop down where I need it).
In the last year and a half I have shot over 400 (final, edited) images that I am very proud of for the residence I work with, not because I use 35mm FF but because I brought their personality and life into an image they can see and enjoy (some of them are printed). I do wish I could share them here, these images are the my best achievements in years.
And I hope my next progress will be pet portrait photography once I can, slowly, trade in my day job for that (but it may take more then a year to get there).
Sorry for all the Sony praising on a Fuji thread. I am still interested in trying Fuji for travel and street photography, when I want to just have fun and feeling more engaging in making th image. I admit that shooting with Sony off the more serious stuff like the ones I mentioned above feels a bit less interesting, kind of like from typing code in terminal console (like back in the 90s) to pressing a button and everything is done automatically. I'm even tempted on trying the OVF experience and DSLRs (because I only experiences it for about a year back in 2009 and for the last 13 years it has been mirroless setup only).
Maybe I can find a Fujifilm X-Pro 1 cheap enough to try, I do miss the rangefile style body (I loved my Panasonic GX-7 and even the larger GX-8) and the OVF.
Yus, GAS is real and I'm not sure if it's just me but living most of my life only being able to dream of having this or that, using only a f 3.5-5.5 kit lens and a 50 year old nifty fifty f 1.8 to learn photography. Since I moved to UK I have been able to afford a bit more then before and with my curious nature and interesta to learn (like other aspects of photography like wildlife, macro, portrait, night and astrophotography) it has been quite a wild ride of trying different things to beat of my abilities and financial opportunities (and costs/consequences). Is this the point where I should accept that my mid-life crisis is not sports cars, divorce or expensive holiday but wondering what kind of images I can get with different gear (not necessarily better)?
