Part three of my adventure with a mirrorless camera
The Fuji only came out of the bag yesterday when I took out my 70-200 mm lens. I was very busy and there was a lot going on for several hours, there was no moment to relax and use an unfamiliar camera. I always have a fear of missing a great shot, and if I am working in an environment that I’m familiar with I know when things are busy and things are quiet, however, yesterday was a fashion show and backstage a lot of things are happening at the same time, so I made a decision to leave the X-T1 in my bag (and based on the images I captured on Saturday I didn’t think I would be missing anything – this is not a criticism, the Canon 6D can do everything except float in the air).
Today is the end of the test period and I am very grateful to my local camera shop for allowing me to use a camera and lens over the weekend but now it has to go back. The only possible drawback I can find the camera is the image quality, which as I keep saying is my problem. For example, with my TG-4 I can get some great looking shots and the lens and sensor are much smaller than the ones in the X-T1 so I think that I will need to conquer my fear of losing quality.
There is one quality that the Fuji has that I haven’t mentioned yet, because it’s something that I only started to notice this morning and that is how the camera makes me feel. We often talk about something feeling right, and in this case she certainly does. It’s not as comfortable to hold as the 6D because I have large hands and the camera is smaller but I love the dials and switches which give you so much control over what you are doing. In a moment you can change any parameter you want without having to dig through endless menus. The Canon is also fast, normally you just press a button and move the dial, you don’t have to take the camera from your eye.
Really the Fuji for the basic controls is even easier, you just have to move the dial. When I remember which dial is where this will probably be a lot faster, and when I stop accidentally moving the aperture ring things will improve! I’ve also managed to switch from auto focus to manual focus by using the strap and I’ve changed from normal shooting to double exposure probably with an errant finger or thumb.
My experiment with this particular camera is not over because I have decided to buy it. It takes me back to my Canon FP, it brings a kind of joy to photography which is hard to explain when modern cameras are so good. It’s a modern camera that makes me feel like a photographer, and I don’t mean that the Canon doesn’t, but for me there is that extra sense of simplicity, control and perhaps creativity so you become one with the camera, not just physically but something in the way you control it. It’s very difficult for me to explain, in Japanese there is a word for horse and rider working together (I’m probably the horse in this partnership) and I think that is applicable here, you become part of the camera and it’s slightly less technical than a dSLR, perhaps what I’m saying is it’s fun – I feel this camera is putting fun back in photography!
