Well, I shipped off 20 pounds of used camera gear this past weekend, and plan to use the proceeds to form the cornerstone of the next collection of gear. After nearly 14 years of lugging around the Canon stuff I’ve decided it’s time to bite the bullet and try something smaller. The decision is not entirely straightforward or simple, as I tend to be a very loyal consumer, and there is still a lot to love about the full frame cameras. And while I’m hedging my bets by hanging on to a solid collection of full frame gear, I’m pretty sure I can predict what is going to happen.
Many readers of this blog know that I have been exploring this move for some time. Over the last several months I rented a Fuji X-T1 and an Olympus OM-D E-M1. Both are wonderful cameras and have their pluses and minuses, and I know people who are faithful to both brands.
I was pretty sure that my choice was going to be the Fuji, so over the 4th of July weekend I rented it again, this time trying both the 18-55 and the 18-135 lenses. I haven’t yet placed the order – the sale prices expired before I was ready – but once I’m ready to go I’m planning to buy the X-T1 with the 18-135. My rationale is that it will be an excellent travel lens for those times when I only want to take one camera and lens, and it will give me just about all of the coverage I could want. Eventually I’ll probably buy at least one or two of the “pro” lenses, and I really want to try some of the excellent Fuji prime lenses, so I’ll keep my options open.
So while I continue to work on Colorado images, I wanted to process the Fuji files in order to evaluate them, and figured I might as well post a few. I know it’s possible to do with any camera, but I really like the fact that I can easily create a develop preset in Lightroom to quickly process a bunch of files. For the most part the results are very good with little fiddling. These have had a little bit of extra work done to them, but for the most part they are as shot with a Lightroom preset applied.
Love the reflections in the glass and really appreciate the composition and tonal range of all your images. Very nice work!
I have been using the Sony Alpha APS-C cameras and currently have the A6000 (really like). Still hanging on to my Nikon full frame but have been getting rid of the older stuff. The D750 rocks!
After many years, Lightroom is my go to image editor. I do like the cloud based Adobe set up using Lightroom and Photoshop.
Good stuff Tom D.
Hi Tom! Thanks for reading and for commenting. I considered the full-frame Sony but ultimately decided to choose between the Fuji and the Olympus. I’ve heard great things about the Sony cameras too, but I guess I was just afraid they wouldn’t be enough of an improvement size-wise over the Canons.
I’ve held on to my 5D Mark III and a reduced inventory of lenses for now. I ultimately want to end up with one camera again, and assuming it is not the Canon I’ll sell that stuff off soon, too.
As you said, “you rascal.” In my opinion you would not go wrong with the Olympus, Sony or Fujifilm. They are are good tools and a good photographer will learn to use them for their creativity.
Does this mean Cathy will have less equipment to lug around and no more 400mm lens and camera lying in her lap. 🙂 These are excellent images and confirms it does not matter what camera is in your hands.
I agree, Monte. Of course when you’re as good as we are the equipment is much less important. 😉 I read an article recently that indicated that it really comes down to personal preference, that they all have their advantages and disadvantages, so it’s just a matter of finding the right balance. Of course if someone was willing to send me something for free I would have little problem accepting it, but when it’s my money I get to pick!
Yeah, Kathy was getting tired of carrying around that 400. It started making this whining noise every time I handed it to her so I just had to get rid of it. Hopefully I can get something for it.
Fuji has a 400 on their road map for sometime in 2016. While it is certain to be much smaller than the Canon I’ll just have to see if that turns out to be something I need. Hopefully it won’t make that noise. Ugh!
Excellent. I don’t blame you for keeping a full framer around. I can’t seem to let go of mine. Nope. Not gonna do it. I love the small Olympus cameras, but something about a full frame just keeps me hooked. I think it’s that I’ve always been an aperture priority shooting kind of guy and I love the DOF control that I get with full frame.
I actually did my whole Europe trip with a full frame and a 50 mm, if you exclude the few iPhone shots that I took.
I’ve struggled with the idea of just buying smaller lenses for my 5D, but it’s still a mammoth camera by comparison, and even the smallish Canon lenses are bigger than the Fujis. With some of the Fuji primes going down to f1.2-1.4 I’m not too concerned about depth of field.
The main thing for me is that I want to simplify my choices. Having multiple lenses is bad enough, but having multiple camera systems is far from simplified. My goal is to actually make a complete transition to something. I just need to live with the Fuji system longer than a weekend to convince myself that it’s the keeper. So I’ll keep the Canon gear long enough to be sure, then dump the one I decide I don’t want.
I think the main reason I went with the EM1 is the in-camera image stabilization. Otherwise you have to make sure that the lens has IS incorporated in it. But as you say, it’s probably a toss-up. Oh, and the EM1 shutter speed goes up to 60 seconds. Better for night photography.
One thing I don’t buy is the alleged difference in DOF between Micro 4/3 and full-frame DSLR’s. My 75 mm f/1.8 lens does as well as any Canon lens I ever owned and the f/2.8 PRO lenses aren’t too shabby, either.
I also predict that you’ll eventually get rid of the Canon. Just because of equivalent image quality and the massive weight difference. And it won’t take very long at all……..
That’s my prediction as well, Paul. I just have to prove it to myself. So we’re on the same side of the bet! 😉