Camera Recommendation...

[Shutterbug]

I'm a professional photographer. I shoot Canon DSLR's and lenses and, as much I love the images I can make with them, the reality is that it's getting tougher and tougher to lug that gear around the older I get. I'm only 58, so it's not like it's killing me, but I've found I just don't have the patience for lugging it through airports and trying to fit my bag in an overhead bin.

Last year, on a trip to Scotland, my daughter turned me onto a camera she'd purchased. I was dragging along one of my Canon 6D's, and she was carrying this little retro lookin' thing. I have to admit, it was cool.

But could it hack it?

Surely this camera would not be able to satisfy the pro in me; that guy who'd gotten use to producing print-ready images for CD's, DVD's and magazine covers. Surely it wouldn't do that.

But it did.

I bought the Fuji X100F last August, for a trip I was taking to New York with my lady in October.



I've been to New York City literally hundreds of times, so I certainly didn't need to bring the DSLR to capture it again. Be that as it may, I wish I'd spent more time getting into the manual a bit before we went, and I was only mildly satisfied with most of the images I got. Some were very good, most were... fine. Honestly, I was getting better pictures with my iPhone Xr.

Then I started paying attention to what the camera could do, and learning how to make it work for me. My "keeper rate" skyrocketed. I'm now really pleased with this camera, and it's now the camera I grab whenever I leave the house. It's a bit more limited than my Canons, in that it has a fixed 23mm lens, but it's a fast lens; an f/2!

One of the biggest features is that it has on board filters which mimic different films that Fuji made back before the age of digital cameras. It also has other filters which do selective color (which I've always seen as a gimmick), tilt shift and even one which give you that "toy camera" look from those old plastic cameras made back in the day. There's even panorama and movie modes. The camera has a built in flash, as well, but I've only ever experimented with it.

Here are a couple of images I've made with it:








I'd been using a Canon G 7X MKII as my walk around camera, but images from that never really blew my skirt up. I can't say that about the Fuji. I'm really, really liking this camera. I sold the Canon to my brother and he uses it as his "motorcycle camera".

The Fuji X100F certainly isn't the most inexpensive rig in the world, but I think it's worth every penny. Back in August the camera cost $1,169.00 at B&H in New York (can we talk camera prices here?), but it's currently down to $999.00, and that includes a few accessories.

And can we talk about that cool retro look?

Please...

[timfitz63]

Very nice!  I'll have to keep that one in mind myself.  In checking reviews online, it seems like most agree with you:  it's very highly rated at 4.5+ out of 5 stars.

Now if someone could just figure out a way to make a digital camera back to replace the film compartment door of a vintage "A" or "F" body Canon SLR so I can keep and use all of my FD lenses...

[Shutterbug]

Very nice!  I'll have to keep that one in mind myself.  In checking reviews online, it seems like most agree with you:  it's very highly rated at 4.5+ out of 5 stars.

Now if someone could just figure out a way to make a digital camera back to replace the film compartment door of a vintage "A" or "F" body Canon SLR so I can keep and use all of my FD lenses...

Oh, man, I hear ya'.

I've got an A-1 and F-1 which I loved using back in the 70's and 80's! I don't have a lot of FD lenses anymore, though.

I believe they make adapters for using FD lenses on an EF or EF-S mount...

[timfitz63]

Very nice!  I'll have to keep that one in mind myself.  In checking reviews online, it seems like most agree with you:  it's very highly rated at 4.5+ out of 5 stars.

Now if someone could just figure out a way to make a digital camera back to replace the film compartment door of a vintage "A" or "F" body Canon SLR so I can keep and use all of my FD lenses...

Oh, man, I hear ya'.

I've got an A-1 and F-1 which I loved using back in the 70's and 80's! I don't have a lot of FD lenses anymore, though.

I believe they make adapters for using FD lenses on an EF or EF-S mount...

They do.  But from what I understand, the adapters are imperfect solutions to the problem; they can affect the focal length, aperture values, and even available focusing range.

I have a conceptual solution that I'm very certain would work, is simple to implement, and would eliminate the problems associated with the lens mount adapters.  Problem is, I don't know enough about current CCD technology to know whether it could support such a concept...  Or whether the market would financially support my retrofit concept over adapters or outright conversion to newer camera bodies with better metering and features...

[jjrpilot-admin]

Great topic and photos! I’d love to see more from that camera!

[Shutterbug]

Great topic and photos! I’d love to see more from that camera!

I'm workin' on it!

Thanks!

[Shutterbug]

Here are some more shots from the Fujifilm X100F:

New York City, Central Park - "Alvin" (and he came running when the pedicab driver called him):




New York City, Washington Square Park:




Chloe, my brother's English Bulldog:




Chicago, "Cloud Gate" (aka "The Bean):




"Beers Over Beale" - Memphis, Tennessee:




Cleveland, Ohio, West Side Market:




My stylin' 2014 Chevy Malibu:




Anakin:




My buddy Chris' as he walked into his 40th birthday surprise party:




My buddy Mark:




My Guinness coffee mug, taken with the filter which mimics an old toy camera:




This camera has really impressed me. It also has a movie mode, which I haven't really gotten into yet (I don't do a lot of video), panorama, exposure and white balance bracketing, among a host of other features. I really dig this camera...