My journey from full frame Canon, to Fuji, to full frame Sony and back to Fuji again

I started off photography about 8 or 9 years ago with a 20D my dad handed down to me after he bought a 5D2 for his business. I imagine he was in some way hoping his interest in photography would manifest in someone down the line, as none of my siblings before me seemed to take much interest in it (though my little sister has recently started shooting as well).

I enjoyed it, but I never really cared about photography while I owned my 20D, too distracted by other hobbies and being in my late teens/early 20's at the time.

It wasn't until my 20D was stolen that I began to realize that I had a genuine interest in photography... we don't know what we've got 'till it's gone... they paved paradise and put up a parking... sorry, I'll try to keep this on track....

A shot from my stolen 20D from Munich Germany (one of those distractions I talked about)

I longed to have that camera back, so I bought myself a Canon T2i (550D) to replace it.  I loved my T2i.  That camera made me eager to get out and shoot and learn, and learn and shoot some more.  

I found myself very quickly obsessed with photography, when I wasn't shooting I was watching videos or reading on how to improve my photography, joining forums, the lot.

A shot from my T2i with a cheapo (and great for the price in my opinion) Sigma 18-50/2.8-4.5

I shot with my T2i for about a year and before long I found myself wanting more from my images, because of the internet being... well, the internet (full of the usual sensationalism), I decided it was my camera holding me back and it was time to upgrade.  

I was making a little money shooting and doing it so often I felt I could justify a nicer camera and I bought myself a Canon 6D... because you know, it's only better if it's full frame obviously.

I loved my 6D because it opened the door for me to shooting manual lenses.

I got my first manual lens from a friend who bought a Yashica ElectroAX with a 50/1.7 DS-M he found in a thrift store that he decided I should have as a random gift. He didn't realize I had never really shot film aside from a few times with my dad and unfortunately back then I had no interest in learning how to develop it... but I bought an adapter and threw the lens on my 6D and quickly fell in love with using MF glass on digital cameras. I bought a precision focusing screen for it and started my MF lens collection... which is now growing out of control. If someone has a remedy, please share, the itch is so hard to ignore 0_0

A shot from that first Yashica lens on my 6D

I sold my T2i to a friend pretty much as soon as I bought my 6D and I shot with only the 6D for a few months before realizing that I hated taking it everywhere... even with a lightweight 50mm lens on it, it was much heavier and bulkier than my old T2i (which was often still too bulky to bring everywhere), so I took advantage of the super cheap EOS M that had recently come out and used that for a bit... again, loving it.

A shot from my EOS M with a Yashica ML 50mm f1.4

For a while I used this setup, the 6D for my enjoyment/paid gigs and the M for my daily camera, but I got frustrated and wished I could just have an in-between camera... so I then looked to Fuji.

I settled on an X-E1 because I was able to find one for pretty cheap with the 18-55mm, so I ordered one and almost immediately fell in love with the thing. I loved the body, I loved the size, the weight, the controls, the looks, the lens and even the RAWs... all of it.

I kept the 6D and X-E1 as a kit for a little while, until I realized I was far more often reaching for my X-E1 and leaving the 6D at home.

A shot from my X-E1 with the XF 18-55mm

After a while I just wished I could combine the two cameras (sensing a trend yet?), I wanted something that could give me the true "full frame look" (more on that later) and the better high ISO handling of my 6D in a body more like the X-E1, so I delved into the Sony a7 world with the a7R.

I got the a7R knowing full well that I really wanted an a7S or a7ii (which I think had only just been announced), but the a7R was way cheaper on the used market and I knew I could buy it, test it out for a bit and then flip it at little or no loss, sort of a long term rental is how I justify it... in fact it worked out perfectly because I ended up breaking even on it after a couple months of use with it... score!

I loved that it was small and a lot lighter than my 6D. It seemed to fit the bill perfectly, but I hated it's sensor and the noise the shutter made (you've all heard the stories, they're all true). The 36mp sensor was awesome for base ISO, but once you got beyond 1600 the X-E1 files were way better to work with, they had much better color reproduction and far less color noise. That really shocked me about the a7R... but anyway, I sold the a7R and my 6D and bought myself a barely used a7S.

A shot from my a7R with some vintage prime... unfortunately I really can't remember which one (likely a Yashica 50mm of some nature), but this shot took me longer than I'd care for to clean up in post, the color files from the a7R at higher ISO's is seriously just awful. This shot had color noise, color shifts and really hard to adjust white balance.

I really, really loved my a7S. It was the best camera I had ever owned, easily. The images it produced were astounding and the EVF and LCD were great (most of the time). It was a camera I knew would always bring home the bacon when I needed it to, even though everyone (again, on the internet) will tell you that 12mp is utterly useless as a stills camera... false, it's plenty. In fact, if you scroll back and look at the first image I posted in this thread, the one from my 8mp EOS 20D... that's hanging as a 20x30 in my living room right now and I've been complimented on it numerous times, it looks sharp and beautiful from normal viewing distances, 12mp is plenty.

And yet, before long I again found myself wishing it were a bit smaller...

I bought myself an Olympus Pen F 38/1.8 to use on it as a tiny lens solution, and although I loved the images that lens produced (shockingly good really given it's a half frame lens, I didn't even have to crop the images at all), it still left me missing my X-E1... which was something I really didn't anticipate even though I struggled with letting myself sell that camera.

A shot from the a7S with the Pen F 38mm (also, don't believe the lies portrayed in this image)

Because I missed my X-E1 so much and because I could afford it I ordered myself a used X-E2 in silver, which was the color I really wanted with my X-E1 anyway (apparently I'm a hipster) so it made me feel better about letting that camera go. I also got the XF 27/2.8 to go with it.

I used the X-E2 as my daily go-everywhere camera and I used the a7S for the more serious paid gigs or night time events or photowalk days (my friend literally laughed out loud when I referred to my a7S as my "big" camera at one point... he shoots with a D800). Then I started to leave the a7S at home more and more often... even after getting a couple of really nice lenses for it, the FE 28mm, which I still miss, and the FE Zeiss 55mm, which I was indifferent towards.

I began to realize that there was much more to the Fuji camera than just the size of it... I loved the body.  I loved it's dedicated shutter-speed and aperture dials, it's corner EVF and simpler settings, I also loved how much easier it was to get the look I wanted with it's RAW files largely due to the much better colors straight out of the camera/import.

When the firmware update to version 4.01 came out it was pretty much the biggest nail in the coffin for my a7S, it made the X-E2 feel like an entirely different camera. It vastly improved AF, added remappable buttons (unless that was there beforehand and I just somehow never realized it, which is entirely possible) and the silent shutter mode (a feature I adored on my a7S).

I rather quickly began building my Fuji lens collection starting with the XF 35/1.4 (which I had for my X-E1 and regrettably sold), then the XF 18mm, then the Samyang 12mm, then the XF 55-200mm... I had all this for the X-E2 while only 2 lenses for my a7S... all the pieces were coming together for me to realize which system I should be sticking with.

As with the 6D before it, very quickly I began to notice that the Fuji camera was being used far more often and with even more pleasing results than my a7S often times (remember, I loved my a7S).

A shot of my dad with the X-E2 and XF 27mm, showing him how awesome the X-E2's bounceable "Johnny 5" flash was to have while wondering why more cameras don't include one (looking at you X-Pro2!)

I thought long and hard about whether I could give up the "full frame" look of my a7S or it's much better extreme high ISO capabilities.  Then I had to ask myself if the "full frame" look was really significant or was it just my learned bias from reading way too much on the internet... it seriously just turns out it's the later for me... even though you would swear I had cursed someone's god by some of the reactions I got saying that in a Sony forum (no hard feelings Sony fans, I still love you and your cameras).

After looking through all my shots with the Zeiss 55mm and my XF 35mm I realized I didn't have a strong preference for one or the other, both were amazing lenses, just different, but the biggest difference for me was the Fuji lens was half the size, weight and cost... oh, and it had that awesome aperture ring that ALL lenses should have... which Sony clearly recognizes since they put them on all of their super-expensive lenses, but leave out the affordable options... the f*** Sony?

An example of the a7S with FE 55mm wide open

Vs; X-Pro2 (more on that later) with XF 35/1.4 wide open

I tried to get the two images I had with the most similar framing and processing... the similar expressions were coincidental.  Also note that the DOF of the first image seems much more narrow partially do to the subject being further away from the background (I note it because I can already hear all the caps lock warriors readying their fingers)

It was a similar story between my XF 18/2 and FE 28mm... in terms of DOF and "bokeh" they were pretty darn similar, almost splitting hairs in my opinion.  The reason I say I'll miss the FE 28mm will be shocking to many I'm sure... it's because of it's flaws.  The lens had character (something the FE 55mm sorely lacks), it had distortion, vignette and it flared sometimes... something we vintage lens fans just love, bring on the flaws!  But as far as it's "full frame" look over the XF 18mm... meh.

FE 28mm @F/2

VS; XF 18mm @F/2

So then as far as I was concerned the only thing holding me back was the high ISO performance... then I thought about how often I actually needed anything above ISO6400 to be regularly useable... turns out, not super often.

That said, I definitely still wanted a camera that will deliver for my needs at ISO12800, and from the reviews I saw of the X-Pro2, it definitely did.  As good as my a7S for high ISO?  Flat out... no.  Of course not, but does that mean it's bad and that it should feel bad... of course not.  In fact, it's bounds ahead of the a7R I owned and I would dare say about as good as my 6D was, which blew my mind at the time coming from my T2i.

So I can't take any shots like this one with the a7S @ISO102,000...



...but the reality is that I rarely ever need to push a shot beyond ISO12800 and when I do, it's usually nothing special anyway (I only have 2 shots at ISO12,800 in my "personal pics" gallery on Flickr at the time of writing this).  So I realized I was ready to jump ship and go Full Fuji... and the thing that really surprised me is that I wasn't the least bit nervous about it!

Even going from my 6D to my a7S made me nervous, I thought for sure I would regret that switch even though I didn't even have any native Canon lenses when I made that switch.  With the Fuji switch though, not even a single bead of sweat.

So the wait was on for the X-T2 because I had no interest in the X-Pro2.  I tried out an X-Pro1 in a store once and didn't really get the appeal of the hybrid viewfinder, to me it just seemed easier to use the EVF at the time.  Because I wanted to try out the files of the X-Trans3 though, I decided to go try an X-Pro2 in person and went up to Service Photo in Baltimore.

I almost immediately fell in love with the body.  I thought just about everything about it was awesome, even the stuff everyone seems to hate (the ISO dial).  What surprised me the most though, was how much I loved the hybrid viewfinder.  Having the ERF in the OVF takes away my main concern with the OVF, the fact that it makes it hard to tell if I've actually hit focus... the ERF eliminates that concern, awesome!

After playing with the X-Pro2 for over an hour though (shout out to Service Photo's awesome patience!), I was still fairly sure I wanted the X-T2 largely because I fantasized about owning an X-T1 for it's awesome EVF goodies (I love the picture in picture option).

Because I knew I probably wouldn't be able to get an X-T2 at launch due to the short supply and high demand I began thinking about the X-Pro2 more and more.  I then decided if I could find a used one for cheap enough I would go ahead and jump on it since in the worst case scenario I could just sell it and get an X-T2 like I had done previously with my a7R before getting the a7S.  So before long I found an absolutely stellar used deal (but I'll talk about that another time) on the X-Pro2 and jumped on it.

I'm now loving the X-Pro2 way more than I thought I would! I've been using the OVF almost exclusively, I never thought that would be the case especially due to all the reviews brushing it off as a minor thing... what are they on, it's fantastic! The OVF is WHY you buy the X-Pro2 in my opinion, and you really don't know what you're missing until you try it... though it's definitely not for everyone (it's virtually useless with anything wider than 18mm and objectively useless with anything beyond 90mm).

Anyway, I'm very happy with my jump back (and now fully) into the Fuji world and I hope my story will inspire anyone else who's on the fence with their full frame kit (or any other) to give Fuji a very serious look... I definitely don't need full frame, it's my suspicion that most people don't either.

Will Fuji be the last system I ever shoot with... I doubt it, I'm far too fickle to make that call at this point... does that make my opinion less valid, that depends on your perception.  

You'll note that I italicized the word "love" for each camera I've bought (aside from the a7R), I want my standing to be clear that I'm not calling any of these cameras bad, just that for me the progression back to Fuji was definitely into the system that I loved the most.

People are naturally passionate about the things they own and use, I'm no different.  I was passionate about my Rebel, passionate about my 6D, passionate about my a7S and passionate about my X-E2... but this is the first time I've ever felt compelled to write a detailed post about it, this is the first time my initial excitement didn't leave any room for doubt, and this is the first time I've stopped looking at other cameras to buy in a long time.

Fuji, keep doing what you're doing.

Below are various shots from my Fuji cameras with various lenses

X-Pro2 + Samyang 21mm f1.4

X-Pro2 + XF 18mm f2

X-E2 + XF 18mm f2

X-E2 + XF 35mm f1.4

X-E1 + XF 18-55mm f2.8-4

X-Pro2 + XF 18mm f2

X-E1 + XF 35mm f1.4