I need to say it. The Fuji x-series are not for me anymore. Most reviews praise the x-series, and while the cameras are great, they had to go. And Fuji is to blame for it. Let me explain how I came to this conclusion…

A bit of x-history

I probably was the first having the x100 in Croatia and I even managed to shoot a complete wedding with it. Yet, the camera lacked and could not stand my needs as a pro so I sold it. Several years later, I bought the x-pro1 for personal usage with the xf35/1.4, a great combination. Slowly the kit expanded: more lenses, more camera’s. For the first time since the digital age I had the idea I matched my contax g-series and I was very happy. Shot a bunch of great images.

Enter mediumformat

The quality of the x-series is great, but I always longed for the medium format feel. A bunch of sigma DP’s were added to the collection, and the image quality was wonderful. At 100iso, and each lens came with its own body. Awkward, and totally useless for long-exposure photography. When my local (read Scottish) dealer had a great offer for the GFX50R + some lenses I decided it was time to upgrade. For years I was looking for a second hand digital hassy but never took the step as I was taken back with the age of digital backs.

The new GFX series was newly designed and awaited a bright future and their roadmap for extension looked promising. After ten months of usage (though small due to lockdowns), the GFX is here to stay. Sublime image quality and handling as a medium format: it slows me down, though with the GF50 it feels like my Mamiya 7.

Daily life

Though the GFX is great, it’s a bit heavy to carry around daily, even with the GF50. For this, I kept a x-pro2 with a 23mm and 35mm, a perfectly small set which I basically carried every day with me and though images were good, may be even great, something was missing for me. It simply could not match the quality of the GFX. May be lens quality was slightly less, may be the smaller sensor caused this feeling.

Capturing daily life is the toughest kind of photography for me. Set-up shoots are easy, cause due to the attention given, results are satisfying. Daily life though is sometimes less exciting, without colour, without anything. To translate this into photography, is tough. In that sense, to me, the camera should inspire me. Though the x-pro2 is - till now - the most beautiful digital camera I had, it didn’t inspire me enough… always those questions: which lens, which film simulation…

Of it goes…

So, despite its beauty, the x-pro didn’t gave me the inspiration to shoot. I needed to know why… the 35mm was magical, but too tight for daily life, the 23mm was ok-ish, may be lifeless. I remembered one of the most fascinating lenses I had: a zeiss 35/1.4: pure magic though I always enjoyed 28mm as well. Then, as the devil was playing with me, ads starting to show up on instagram: the new Q2M… and I started reading reviews and so on… It looks like a great camera. But then, for me, too expensive. With digital being advanced as is, I’d rather buy the one-but-latest version which is always so much cheaper… So, of it goes: sold my x-pro2 and its lenses, and bought a Q. Can’t wait for it to arrive.

Back to basics

At the beginning of last year, I wrote a post about ‘back to basics’. How to decrease the amount of gear in order to what I need. The GFX is here for long exposure photography and for studio/posed portraits. The set I have is great and except for a tilt/swift lens, all I need/want. Having a compact camera (though most probably sublime), with a fixed lens for daily life should simply push me shooting more daily. I think my journey ‘back to basics’ has finished… finally.

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x-series: end of an era | review

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