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Tag: ILC

Will I Buy the Fujifilm X-T5?

The Fuji X-T1 was released in 2014 to celebrate Fujifilm’s 80th anniversary, but the X-T1 (and X-E1) led to a mirrorless camera revolution. As someone who was never satisfied with the design elements of popular DLSR cameras, I immediately understood a design similar to the classic 35mm SLR camera could have its advantages and be more of a flexible, all-around camera. And that’s precisely what the X-T series became for me.

The X-T4 was released when the X-T3 was just over a year old, but the X-T3 sales continued to be strong. I was not too fond of the flip-out style LCD on the X-T4. I don’t take selfies, and I don’t make videos. I was not too fond of the focus on video features. I hated almost everything about the X-T4. The X-T3 was Fujifilm’s top-selling camera of all time. It was only recently discontinued.

On 2 November, Fujifilm announced the X-T5, the latest iteration of their X-T line of cameras. Based on what I have read, the X-T5 will be a hit with photographers like me. To me, the X-T5 is a return to the original design intent of the X-T1, a digital camera inspired by the designs of a classic top-end 35mm film SLR.

I print my images poster size. The 26 megapixels in my X-T3 can get the job done (I use the Raw Details or Super Resolution feature in Adobe Lightroom), but the 40 megapixels in the X-T5 will mean that I don’t have to use software to compensate.

During the Spring, I take a lot of bird photographs, especially of migratory Warblers. It remains to be seen if the faster focus of the X-T5 will improve focus on the lenses, namely the XF100-400mmF4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR and XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR. Any improvement in focusing speed will help with photographing fast-moving birds. The addition of IBIS also helps but isn’t crucial. I have very steady hands.

I don’t need or want the battery pack. I’m not too fond of the bulk.

I "Just got to have Nostalgic Negative", though. 🙂

I will upgrade from my X-T3. Ritchie Roesch already preordered his. I will be spending $1700 minus whatever I sell my X-T3 for.

Read some first impressions from photographers I trust.

But whatever technical features a camera has, means nothing if it’s not a piece of gear that you WANT to pick up and shoot with. The X-T5 stays true to the heritage of the X-T line, maybe even more than its predecessor, the X-T4. The classic dials, the sturdy but compact body and the elegant lines inspire me to shoot more and better. ~ Bert Stephani

... while still photography and video have, for all intents and purposes, merged these past years, filming remains a craft that, ultimately, requires its own set of dedicated features and tools. With the recent X-H2S, Fujifilm has created exactly that kind of no-compromise, hybrid shooter.

And now, the X-T5 gets to reclaim its soul. ~ Patrick La Roque

I expect Jonas Rask to do his usual "long read" experience report soon.

Sunday Paper - School Start Times, Interchangeable Lens Cameras, Open Sourced

  • Mercer Me: The Hopewell Valley Regional School District (HVRSD) considers later school start times for middle and high school students given that current early start times were chosen to solve transportation issues and may cause mental health issues and stress in children. I expect that Montgomery Township and West Windsor Township may do the same. Princeton Township already has.

  • Washington Post: We are ensuring a technological period where what's real and what's fake can't easily be determined. Is that your spouse on the phone or an AI?

  • The Online Photographer: Some of us are old enough to remember family vacations with either mom or dad snapping away on a film camera. Some of us are old enough to have done the same with a disposable film camera of a compact digital camera. At the end of the year, an elder would assemble prints of these photographs into an album, and occasionally, at least a few times a year, the family would gather and share stories captured by the images. But our kids may experience their family adventures through the lens of a smartphone camera and the impermanence of social media.

  • Vox: .. Recode by Vox is launching Open Sourced, a multiplatform journalism project supported by the Omidyar Network that will expose and explain the hidden consequences of tech — the good, the bad, and the complicated.

Entry Point

What's the Entry Point? | DSLRBodies | Thom Hogan by Thom Hogan (dslrbodies.com)

So we're now in an era I'd describe this way: 24mp, full frame, US$2000 as the primary entry point the camera companies want you to pick, with 24mp, APS-C, ~US$1000 as the fallback for the price conscious. Anything outside of those two has to have a unique reason to exist, something that would make you ignore the three primary attributes I just described.

I agree with Thom's analysis. I am in the market for a new ILC and feel that a 24MP sensor is what I want. But the current price tags of offerings from Fuji, Sony and Nikon have me feeling "cautious" and I don't feel I need full-frame. APS-C is suitable for this hobby. Thom thinks $1000 is the right entry-point for a 24MP APS-C camera. I think I would spend close to $1600, especially if a 24-70mm (35 mm equivalent FOV) lens was included within the basic kit.

One final comment for the professional crowd: one of the on-going problems professional photographers have had in the digital age is that competent amateurs often are in the right place at the right time with entry bar cameras (i.e. ones that produce usable images for the media). If the bar is at 24mp full frame, that really means that the pros have to up their game considerably, as 24mp full frame is enough for a two-page magazine spread, even at high ISO values.