If it is not seeing my colleague one last time before he heading back to his country, I would not have this opportunity to visit Jewel Changi Airport. It was almost a year since my last visit to the Jewel and everything still looks the same, just added a few more barricades and scanning counters.
And I finally get to bring my X-E3 and XF23mm F2 for a spin. The last time I used the XF23mm was like in December 2019. Shots are all straight out of camera.
First of all, I would like to thank Sony Singapore for providing the loan for Sony A7C, Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM and Sony FE 85mm F1.8. The units were loaned and had returned back to them. All the shots shown here are taken by me and some shots were edited with minor adjustments with Lightroom Classic.
In this review, I will discuss less about the specifications and the hardware of this camera. What I will going to share is more towards my experience of using the Sony A7C. Before I start my review, I have to let everyone knows that I actually have a day with the Sony FE 24-105mm F4 OSS. That’s because the staff has prepare the wrong lens for me and they are responsive and replace it with the 24-70mm the following day. Let’s begins…
Design
When I first unbox it, I am really surprise how compact and small is this rangefinder style camera is. It comes with a large and comfortable enough hand grip for me to hold onto the camera body. I quickly make a physical comparison with my Fujifilm X-E3. And wow! The Sony A7C is almost the same size as the Fujifilm X-E3 and yet it pack with a Full Frame sensor and an IBIS. I am impressed by how amazing Sony has put up lot of effort in designing this camera. For easy reference, I have create a reference table below.
| Sony A7C | 124 x 71 x 60 mm (4.88 x 2.8 x 2.36″) |
| Fujifilm X-E3 | 121 x 74 x 43 mm (4.78 x 2.91 x 1.68″) |
It comes with a fully articulating screen. Because of the way how I photograph my subject, this is not my prefer screen. When I do low angle shoots with the screen flip out and adjusted to the low angle viewing mode, I seems to have some parallax error and the shots turn out to be not the way it intended to be.
But having say that, this articulating screen is probably the best way to benefits many people and their needs.
Built
This little compact camera has a magnesium alloy body and it feels great to hold on my hand. Some people commented that the silver finish make it looks plasticky and less premium. But I feel that its look is clean and sleek and it also doesn’t seems to spell cheap built quality too. The weight at 509 grams is feel just right too. I still feel the weight but not too heavy until it soar my wrist.
Performance
Awesome, crisp and full of details are what best describe about the image quality. Despite being complain by many photographers about using the old sensor, the quality is not being compromise. The AF speed is pretty decent and fast. The eye-AF focusing is fantastic and literally lock to the subject very well. Noise at high ISO is well-controlled and clean. Basically, I think there is nothing much to complain about. Sony know this sensor still can perform well and very usable in the years to come. It also make sense by cutting down the cost to make it becoming one of the most appealing and cheapest full frame camera in the market.
I am surprise that the 5 stops IBIS performs reasonably well too. It helps to stabilize my shots well especially at night.
Battery
The NP-FZ100 battery is stunning good. I manage to run through a full day with just one battery (approximate close to 1000 shots). Anyway I only receive one battery for the testing. If you are using it for travel and you get to charge it on a daily basis, then one battery is actually sufficient. But for a person like me who prefer to have redundancy or backup, two is the minimum.
Best lenses to work with
Small lenses, such as compact prime lenses, are definitely the best options to pair with this camera. Throughout the course of using this camera for 2 weeks, I realize I do not like to use it with the 24-70mm F2.8 GM and I think that 24-105mm F4 lens is the “biggest” lens that you can pair with and still comfortable to hold.
Feedback
The first thing I have to say is that I have a big hand. And basically I only need 3 fingers to hold camera, leaving my little finger dangling. I think an additional grip for my little finger to rest upon is sufficient. I hope Sony will include an additional base in the package for the next generation of A7C.
The second thing I hope the second generation of A7C will have a bigger EVF. It is a pain for me to view a small screen. I know the target audiences are basically vloggers but having a bigger EVF shouldn’t do much harm.
The third is the AF joystick. I hope Sony will implement the joystick as I believe many photographers would love to have it as it helps to improve the flow of selecting the AF points.
Who is this for?
Beside vloggers and travelers. With this competitive pricing and compact body size, it is attractive for people who want to start to use a full frame camera but do not wish to burn a hole in the pocket. Having said that, provided that the buyer is not planning to invest in bigger and pricier lenses in the near future.
Having said that, the suggested price of this A7C is even cheaper than the flagship X-T4. If you are a photographer who has this budget and wants to upgrade from a DSLR era, will you get a A7C or the X-T4? Looking at the starting price can be deceive as oftentimes consumers forget to include the lenses and accessories they intend to invest in. So before investing into a system, consider all the factors and most importantly, it makes you want to bring it out and shoot with it.
Conclusion from a Fuji Fanboy
Overall, it is a great camera with awesome eye-AF capabilities. I have to highlight again the size of this camera also spells that it work comfortably with small lenses. The old menu system does need to spend some time to learn and familiar with it. But of course, you can customize the menu for your needs. The SD slot is allocated to another side of the camera, which is unusual but might be a good move to position the card away from the battery slot area.
With its IBIS in such a small compact size camera, I am looking for a day when Fujifilm will implement the IBIS in their future X-E series (the newly launch X-E4 is not an IBIS camera). I can see there is a healthy competition and it’s not about full frame versus APS-C but how technology can improve our photography experience further in the future.
For more of my photos, do follow me below:
https://www.instagram.com/alwinkok_
https://www.instagram.com/alwin.portraits
Disclaimer:
1. All the shots taken here were shot by me.
2. I reserve ownerships to these images, if you wish to use my images for whatever reasons, please notify me and we can see how to works thing out.
I was at City Hall and was having a coffee time with a friend. Then I decided to meet my wife at Vivo city for a dinner. As usual, I love to see things while commuting, so I choose to commute by bus than train.
While on my way to the destination, I saw some nice street spots for street photography. I have the intention to alight from the bus and do some quick snaps. But based on my experience, I am surely late if I do it. So to avoid my wife waiting for me, I decided to shoot through the window while on the move. Surprisingly, not too bad. What do you think?
Did I mention my X100V is with me?
For more of my works, please visit my instagram here & here.
Disclaimer:
1. All the shots taken here were shot by me.
2. I reserve ownerships to these images, if you wish to use my images for whatever reasons, please notify me and we can see how to works thing out.
Recently, my friend engage me for photographing advise. He bought a DSLR with a 18-300mm lens 8 months ago. I shall not name the brand as I think the discussion over here is not about the brand.
How it was started is that he noticed my posts in Instagram on a similar event as he took and he noticed that my photos were sharper, the edges of the photos also looks better than his and his images suffered from purple fringing. So I requested to view his images and then I asked him what was the lens he used for the shot. After knowing what lenses he used for his shot, I told him it might be the lens limitations.
I also further explains that for a lens with such a long focal length and in a small & compact package has lots of trade-offs. First, the lens usually comes with smaller aperture value which, in return, requires to bump up the ISO to achieve faster shutter speed. Especially when shooting at the tele-end. Second, soft image quality is usually observed, this is usually due to the limitation of the glasses inside the lens. Third, chromatic aberration is hard to control. Every lens does have some level of chromatic aberration. Just how good does the manufacturer willing to control it.
So I also told him that I usually shoot with prime lenses and some decent zoom lenses and definitely not the travel zoom lens. I have also explained the benefits of using prime lenses and shorter zoom lenses. Sacraficifying my image quality and sharpness of the images over convenience is not my way of photographing. Both image quality and sharpness are something that you can’t recover from post processing.
When all was said and done, he still think that the convenience of not keep changing lenses is in his A-list, everything else is secondary. This is personal preference and I respect his preference. I have explained the pro and con and he should understand it. I hope he can continue to gain more experiences in photographing.
I have stopped posting for 3 months due to work, hobby and family. Here are my updates.
I have been shooting on the street more often from the start of “Circuit Breaker” phase 2. After months of staying at home, carrying my Fuji cameras around Singapore to fulfil my shutter therapy is awesome. You can see my instagrams as I am still actively sharing my photos.
And so for my job, as an engineer, I need to travel around Singapore for projects. Bringing my X100V to work is quiet fulfilling as I get to take some photos while commuting.
More gathering with family and friends (with a limit of 5 pax) over a dinner has become more luxurious and we treasure every moment even more than ever.
During these 3 months, I have assist a friend to get his product video launch. I have also written a few articles for Fuji X Passion and FujiLove blogs. In the name of passion, I am happy to provide my hands and legs for my friend and also present my thoughts in their blogs.
Here are the link to the posts:
The joy of using Fuji’s film simulations
While blogging is not my primary hobby, but I will be progressively updating with new contents in this blog in the months to come.
Thank you.
Early this year, the biggest Fuji Fanboy, Ivan Joshua Loh, had organized the “Best of Show” Exhibition in it’s 2nd year. This is an interesting exhibition, there is no theme or genre at all. Be it landscape, cityscape, sports, macro, fashion, foods or portraits. He has only one rule and it has to be “Fujifilm” camera. It does not matter if it is taken with film or digital. All you need to do is to hashtag “fujifanboys_2nd” in 5 of your most favourite photos. Apart from the top 10 winning prizes, all the top 25 photos will be exhibited in Fujifilm Studio Singapore for a month in July 2020.
I took part in his first exhibition competition last year and it was organized locally in Singapore. We actually submitted 3 photos via email and I was lucky enough to be 1 of the 25 to be exhibited in Fujifilm Studio. There was no prize back then but it was sort of an achievement because there was about 300 submissions and I was selected. It was probably one of the greatest achievements in my life.
I had submitted 5 for this year submission. Wish me luck. : )
The 2nd year Fuji Fanboy was called on 20 April 2020 and the deadline is 10 June 2020. There are approximate 3000 submissions so far as of today.
Below are the rules if you are interested to submit.
1. Maximum of 5 submissions per person at IG
2. Each submission is required to hagstag #FUJIFANBOYS_2nd
3. Submission deadline 10th June 2020.
4. Follow IG @FujiFanBoys
Disclaimer:
1. All the shots taken here were shot by me.
2. I reserve ownerships to these images, if you wish to use my images for whatever reasons, please notify me and we can see how to works thing out.
Buying camera is never an easy task to being with. Of course, if budget is not an issue, you can purchase what you want off the shelf from the store immediately. But there are still a group of people who are more cautious about money spending, especially for the young one, be it a student or a young workforce.
Continue from my previous post, my friend had replied to me he want to use it for mainly for travel and causal family and friend shoot during weekends when there is a gathering or two. So he also further asked me to help him to recommend him what camera, lenses and accessories he should prioritize within the given budget with his usage. He So after understanding what he wants, I had work out some camera models & lenses from various brands and accessories. Over here, it’s all about Fujifilm. So I shared with you what I had shared with him.
With a budget of SGD2000, I have a few models for him to try out. These are based on suggested retail prices, street price should be slightly cheaper. (Due to Circuit Breaker, I am not able to get the street price.)
Talk about camera body, X-T200 is the newest among this 3 choices but I will advise to get X-T30, given that it is using the latest sensor and processor. The longevity of the camera should last longer. X-T200, on the other hand, has bigger flip LCD screen for selfie and vlogger to use. Auto focus is not as fast as X-T30, probably similar to X-E3. Unless you love to selfie, X-T30 is my recommendation.
Usually I do not recommend XC 15-45mm lens but it seems that XC 16-50mm MK II is no longer available in Fujifilm Singapore. If I have to choose between these two XC lenses, I prefers XF 16-50mm over XC 15-45mm. Wait a minute, isn’t 15mm (22.5mm in full frame equivalent) is wider than 16 (24mm in full frame equivalent). Yes, it is wider and definitely helpful when you need that wide to cover some shots especially on landscape sceneries and group photos. The reason of not recommending is not because it has poor optic quality but because it is using power zoom lens which in my opinion is much slower than manually zooming.
XF 18-55mm is my most preferred choice among all 3 choices. This is my first and only zoom lens from Fujifilm. To me, it is the standard of what premium kit lens should be. As most of the time, even for for travel, I use prime lens, unless situation does not allow me to do so, I will use this XF 18-55mm.
If you notice, I also included XC 35mm F2 inside all the 3 packages. This XC lens features plastic barrel but the optic quality is the same as XF 35mm F2. Of course it is lack of aperture control but I think it is okay. It is Fujifilm’s fifty nifty lens. It is the cheapest prime that I will definitely recommend to newcomers if they are entering to Fujifilm’s playground.
“XC class lenses can be viewed as Fuji’s budget oriented X-Mount lenses. There are currently only two XC lenses, both feature plastic barrels and lack the aperture rings often found on their XF R siblings. XC lenses also feature slower apertures but still feature ED and ASP elements to ensure consistent and high image quality. Often found bundled with Fujifilm’s lower priced mirrorless cameras, both the current XC lenses are under $400 and can be identified by the inclusion of ‘XC’ in the lens model designation.”
From Shutter Muse
How about accessories?
First and foremost: Filters
I used to mount filters a lot and I always believe that they help to protect the front piece of glass. Just like “screen protector” logic to mobile phone. But I was wrong. I dropped one of the lens (not fuji) without the lens hood before and it actually scratched the front glass. Conclusion: no matter how, hood over filter. Always mount hood. Unless you want do special effect with certain filters, then it’s okay. By the way, getting cheap filters might also degrade the image quality.
Second item: Battery
This is important. For me, I have tons of spare batteries. Currently about 9 batteries in used with 3 brand new in box. I always bring 2-3 spare batteries with me for shoot and about 6 spare batteries for travel. That shows how afraid I am of losing batteries to shoot. It is not an excuse that not able to shoot certain things when I want to and the reason is because I forgot to bring extra battery. Depending on the retail shops, they might give you a spare battery as a free gift. So I think getting an extra one more battery should be sufficient for starter, which mean 3 batteries in total.
Third item: Cleaning kit
Basic cleaning kit is important. Typically getting a package that includes a decent blower, wipes, pen brush and microfibre cloth is good to start with.
Fourth item: Dry cabinet
If you do not intend to expand your lens collection so fast and so soon, you may consider to get a reasonable size digital dry cabinet. A 30 litre size is selling approximately SGD89 in Singapore. If on a budget, a dry box is doing fine with silica gel.
Fifth item: Tripod
Cheap tripod does the function of being a tripod but usually it is not stable and weak when exposed to outdoor environment. I do not recommend getting it. Tripod is not really essential unless you want to explore long exposure landscape photography. If you do, purchase a good one. But you are on budget, save up on some money to get it. This is something you shouldn’t save money on or you might be regret.
Last but not least: Memory Card
Never ever invest in cheap memory card. Why? Why do you want to take the risk of having problem with your memory card? What if your photos are corrupted because of the cheap memory card? In my opinion, it does not worth the risk at all. The price of getting decent brand memory card is reasonable nowadays and I don’t see why we need to take risk in getting a cheap one.
The above are the general idea of what I have shared with my friend. I hope the tips are helpful in your adventure of getting your first camera.
On the other hand, I have also compiled as list between USA, Singapore and Hong Kong for your info. The price list is based on May 2020.
| Camera and lens description | Adorama (US) (USD) | B&H (US) (USD) | Singapore (SGD) | Hong Kong (HKD) |
| X-T30 w/ XF 18-55 | $1,299.00 | $1,299.00 | $1,999.00 | $6,290.00 |
| X-T30 w/ XC 15-45 | $999.00 | $999.00 | $1,549.00 | NA |
| X-T30 w/ XF 23f2 | NA | $1,348.00 | NA | NA |
| X-T30 Body | $899.00 | $899.00 | $1,399.00 | $4,350.00 |
| X-T20 w/ XF 18-55 | $899.00 | NA | NA | $5,050.00 |
| X-T20 w/ XC 15-45 | NA | NA | NA | $3,890.00 |
| X-T20 Body | NA | NA | NA | $3,220.00 |
| X-E3 w/ XF 18-55 | $799.00 | $799.00 | $1,399.00 | $4,540.00 |
| X-E3 w/ XF 23f2 | $749.00 | $1,052.50 | $1,299.00 | $4,680.00 |
| X-E3 Body | $499.00 | $499.00 | $999.00 | $2,520.00 |
| X-T200 w/ XC 15-45 | $699.00 | $699.95 | $1,148.00 | $4,580.00 |
| X-T200 | $599.00 | $599.95 | NA | $3,890.00 |
| X-A7 w/ XC 15-45 | $499.00 | $499.00 | $849.00 | $3,680.00 |
| XC 35mm F2 | $199.00 | $199.00 | $299.00 | $1,380.00 |
| XF 35mm F2 | $399.00 | $399.00 | $699.00 | $2,290.00 |
Disclaimer:
1. All the shots taken here were shot by me.
2. I reserve ownerships to these images, if you wish to use my images for whatever reasons, please notify me and we can see how to works thing out.
Every now and then, there will be some friends asking me about what camera to get. A gear that is able to get beautiful shot of their lovely subjects. I am glad they approached me to help them with making their decisions. I hope I can assist them to understand what they need before spending unnecessary money on an equipment.
My friend contacted me early last week. He said he saw my post in Instagram showing so many camera bodies and asked if I still keeping all my old Fuji cameras. After some causal talk, he started to ask me what camera should he buy if he want to invest in one of them.
And then, I started to throw him some questions so that I can understand what is his intension for willing to spend money on a camera whereas nowadays mobile phone also produce very pleasant results. After some sharing of tips and pointers, he decided to think over it. Notably I decided to share what are my questions over here and hope newcomers can do some considerations. Over here, I am not sharing about technical skills and knowledge but rather understanding what is your needs and wants before getting an equipment.
“There is no rush to get the camera. Take your time considering it and don’t forget to ask questions when you are in doubt.”
1. What is your purpose of having a camera?
If you are thinking of learning photography, then you have to ask yourself what is the reason to make you want to learn?
Photography is about forever learning and improving. Upon reaching the limit that you think you can’t proceed further with the current gears, you expand with additional one to continue to achieve it. It’s a passion that you have to continue to grow at your own pace. Patience to learn is one of the critical key components.
Let me share with you about an example:
About a decade ago, I had a friend who got a camera for a reason. He wanted to learn to shoot portraits so that he had more opportunities with shooting models. Thanks to the recommendation by the salesperson, he spent a lot of moneys on getting a camera body, together with flash and many lenses. Many months later, he asked me where can he sell all his gears. Out of curiosity, I asked him what was his reason selling them? He said he cannot achieved what was deem to be his expected results, also claimed he had to spend a lot of time doing learning how to shoot and process the photos. And so, he decided to call it a day.
If you wish to take beautiful shots for travel, daily lifestyle, etc., then you have to ask yourself this question: can your mobile phone do the job?
If your answer is you want better image quality, does not mind the hassle of bringing the camera out and also the hassle of transferring your photos from a camera to your phone (or maybe transfer to a laptop first) to post photos on social medias. I have no objection with your reason because you are clear of why you need a camera.
2. What is your budget?
Having a budget in mind is always important. It will set you a target of what you can buy within that given amount. When I first started to learn photography, I actually overspent the budget that I had. I spent exactly the budget on the camera, without knowing that I need to get accessories such as dry cabinet. Luckily, the camera did come with some starter kits like extra batteries, not so useful cleaning kit and an unstable tripod. So I had to spend more to for a dry cabinet.
My point here is that it is always better to give some allowance to the budget you set for. I think 20% allowance is a good spot. For example: if you have a $1000 budget, keeping $200 aside for unexpected purchase.
3. Are you looking at brand new or second hand market?
This is pretty straight forward. If you are looking for brand new, you can get advice from your photography friend on which good reputation shops you should get your camera from. If you are in Singapore or coming to Singapore for a holiday, you can also drop me an email or DM me in Instagram, I can share the information with you which my preferred shops.
As for second hand market, this is tricky for an inexperience person as you need some knowledge to spot the condition of the camera. For example: certain sellers tend to sell at a lower price than the market offers and we need to know why are they willing to let go at a much lower price tag.
Nonetheless, this might be a good option if you are unsure if you want to pursue this hobby further. If you are no longer interested, then selling off in the second hand market should be able to recover most of the money spend.
4. Is there any camera brand preference?
This is an importance question. You have to love the brand and the camera you are buying. If you are getting a camera brand that you do not like then it will be in a funny situation.
If you do not have any brand preference, I will suggest you to go and try the cameras out in the shops. After all, you have set your budget, identifying which camera within your budget is a simple task. If you are still uncertain with the camera and if your friend has the same camera you want, you can try to borrow from him or rent from camera rental store. Please try out the camera with at least one full week. If trying out for a few days or over a weekends, you might not have sufficient user experience with the camera. So I think a week or more is a preferred option. After all, it is not a small amount of money that you are going to invest.
But if you do have brand preference, narrowing down to that specific brand and models is a simpler task.
5. Interchangeable lens or no?
Interchangeable lens always give you the flexibility to upgrade lens or camera body as time goes by. Able to change lens give you more varieties of lens to suit your needs to explore more. For example, you are interested to go into sports or birding photography, you can purchase a telephoto lens to meet your needs. Or you are into macro photography, you can purchase a macro lens.
But if you are a causal shooter, does not intend to invest more and only bring out for family occasion and travel during holiday. Maybe a non-interchangeable, powerful enough camera should meet your requirement.
Of course, if you are into learning photography, either one is fine. But I believe an interchangeable camera is definitely the better choice as it does not limit your learning within that lens.
6. As a starter, what lens should you get? (For interchangeable camera)
If on a tight budget, having a kit lens and one prime lens should be a good starting point. A typical kit lens provide you a sufficient focal length coverage from wide to mid-tele zoom range and it covers most common usage and versatility. On the other hand, a prime lens give you a good learning experience of using a fixed focus length lens and it also does provide faster speed for low light situation.
7. What should I spend on the remaining budget?
With the remaining 20% budget, you can spend on extra batteries and memory cards. Usually camera shop does run some promotions and giving out extra batteries and memory cards but no harm getting another one set extra.
Not forgetting about cleaning kits such as a good microfiber cloth (but I use chamois leather) and blower to blow off dust.
As for dry cabinet, if you still have budget, you get consider getting one. Otherwise, I think getting a dry box with silicon gels do helps too. If you still have budget remains, keep it for future use.
One last pointer, there is no rush to get the camera. Take your time considering it and don’t forget to ask questions when you are in doubt.
Thank you for reading.
Disclaimer:
1. All the shots taken here were shot by me.
2. I reserve ownerships to these images, if you wish to use my images for whatever reasons, please notify me and we can see how to works thing out.
“In view of the COVID-19, Singapore Prime Minister first announced the “Circuit Breaker” (CB) measures in 3rd April 2020 that kicked in four days later and last for a month, forcing people to stay at home and work from home at much as possible in effort to limit the virus’ spread. While there are many non-essential services closed, you still can go to supermarkets and food center to get your needs and foods.”
Before the commencement of the CB, I usually travelled around Singapore every weekend to fulfil my shutter therapy. With this CB in place, basically you are unable to do thing as you used to be. So what can I do at home? How can I spend my weekends to satisfy my shutter therapy?
Product shoot is the first thing that came into my mind. It has been a good 1.5 years since my last product shoot was done (not counting with the recent X100V product shots). I love to shoot product shots in my early days of photography and I love to shoot abstract from it as I love to see the details from it. With that in mind, so I decided to pick it up again. I also intended to shoot with different products every week and hence, It is going to be my “Stay Home” series.
Shooting a product is simple. Just find a product and shoot. It’s fast and quick. i.e. flower, lens, phone, spectacle, kitchenware, fruits, etc.
But getting from a different perspective of the product is not simple. It took a lot of time spend to explore different angles of the product and trial and error to see if the results meet my expectation.
So initially our Government mentioned a month of CB but extended for another month in the recent updates. So from 4 products to shoot, now I have to source for another 4 products to shoot. While writing this post, we are still 4 weeks away to the end of the CB.
Over here, what I posted here are the product shots that I have done for the past 4 weeks. You can look up what products I shot during this period in my Instagram account.
Disclaimer:
1. All the shots taken here were shot by me.
2. I reserve ownerships to these images, if you wish to use my images for whatever reasons, please notify me and we can see how to works thing out.
I love the photos. Do you think it would be a good choice to photograph things like keyboards?
Hi, the filter size on the X100VI is 49mm while XF23mm f2.8 is 39mm and XF23mm f2 is 43mm. However,…
Hi Alwin. Does the square hood also fit the 23mm f2 on the X100VI? I might be interested. Best regards
[…] XF23mm f2.8 R WR has quickly become a well-loved lens within the Fujifilm community. When it was first […]
X100 was announced back in Photokina 2010. Lots of praise from the media and online reviewers. Fujifilm nailed the design of the retro-style enthusiast rangefinder camera with traditional analogue control dials. It was a great hit and instantly built up a large pool of fans base. I am one of them but… Here’s the “but”… As a student, the price tag scared me off.
One year later, they announced the X10, a younger brother of X100, and it fulfilled my dream of having my first Fujifilm camera. Like I mentioned in my earlier post, it was a fun camera and I love the film simulations. Despite that, it did not spark much joy for me.
Occasionally, I went to the retailer stores to play with the X100. I love the build quality, it was good to hold it in my hands and I was blown away by the hybrid viewfinder. On the other hand, the focusing system was not snappy enough, the shooting menu was not as good as what it is today and the images seem to be soft at F2. For the price tag, I have to give it a miss.
Almost 3 years later, X100S had arrived at the shore and I still had not made the purchase. In fact, I wasn’t shooting a lot during those years and I still can count how much time I had actually brought my camera out for a click. It was my low point, it had become a hassle to bring the camera out and slowly I lost my passion for shooting.I still read up the reviews, tested it with a few clicks at the retail stores and nothing more beyond these two points.
Another 3 years later, X-T2 caught my attention unknowingly. I knew there was a X-T1 but it was X-T2 that captured my interest. It sounds crazy but it really ignited my passion towards photography again. I even placed a pre-order for it and I got my first Fuji prime lens, XF 23mm F2, to go with it. From that day forward, I had been using the 23mm on most occasions. The versatility of 23mm is just great for street, travel and documentary, isn’t it?
In 2019, when I got my XF 35mm F1.4, things had changed a little in my path. I became obsessed with this lens as it gave me some sort of characteristic feel in my images. It boosted my passion for shooting even more. To be honest, I have left out the XF 23mm since then. The 35mm lens made me keen to bring my camera even on my working days. However, due to my working environment, I have to carry my heavy loaded bag for meetings almost everywhere in Singapore. The overall size of the camera and lens may be compact but it is not that small when I want to put it inside the office bag. This is where I started to miss the Fujifilm compact camera series. the X100, X70 and XF10.
So, what compact camera does Fujifilm have to offer?
XF10, X70 and X100.
First of all, X70 had stopped production without a successor, not many retailers were selling it and even those retailers that were still selling it, would not recommend me to get it. XF10 was a “cut-down” version of X70, I tried and I was disappointed with the poor autofocusing and laggy interface, so I skipped. With this elimination method, that’s left with X100F. But it was 2019 already and X100F was in its third year cycle, which also meant that it may have a new successor in the pipeline. No one but Fujifilm knows when it will be announced. Since I am not an impatient person, I waited.
After two months of waiting, the successor had finally said hello to the world. I happened to have the opportunity to try out the successor and I must say I love it. It’s that kind of first love. Beauteous, aesthetic, elegant, ravishing…. This is what I am waiting for. This is not two months of waiting but a good 10 years. This is the sexy camera that I have been waiting for since 2010!
To tell everyone how much I love this X100V, I immediately brought it out to shoot with the packaging hand carried along. The photos presented over here are my virgin shots with it.
Sidetrack 1: This successor, which is the fifth X100 series, is also my fifth Fujifilm camera. Not sure it is coincidently or fate. Since there are lots of reviews on the web, I will not discuss the technical term or review this X100V in this blog.
Sidetrack 2: This X100V is initially planned to be my weekday camera, I was happy to have it with me and snap some interesting shots while I commute to my destinations. But now it has become more than just a weekday camera, it’s my everyday camera.
Disclaimer:
1. All the shots taken here were shot by me.
2. I reserve ownerships to these images, if you wish to use my images for whatever reasons, please notify me and we can see how to works thing out.
Hi Marcus, thank you very much. I would like to assist you with your decision, however, I have no idea…
I love the photos. Do you think it would be a good choice to photograph things like keyboards?
Hi, the filter size on the X100VI is 49mm while XF23mm f2.8 is 39mm and XF23mm f2 is 43mm. However,…
Hi Alwin. Does the square hood also fit the 23mm f2 on the X100VI? I might be interested. Best regards
[…] XF23mm f2.8 R WR has quickly become a well-loved lens within the Fujifilm community. When it was first […]
Alwin Kok 
Hi Marcus, thank you very much. I would like to assist you with your decision, however, I have no idea…